# I was just on Adobe chat and the service is still bloody pathetic



## BananaRepublic (Mar 5, 2019)

I was just on Adobe chat and the service is still bloody pathetic. It so clear that there just trousering the millions and dont give two craps about there customers.

H Christ !!!!!


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## Derrel (Mar 5, 2019)

Buuuuuuuuuut.........the two most-popular apps are only $10 monthly in perpetuity!


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## tirediron (Mar 5, 2019)

Derrel said:


> Buuuuuuuuuut.........the two most-popular apps are only $10 monthly i*n perpetuity*!


Is that a certainty?  Granted they haven't gone up since Adobe started their blackmail... subscription service, but I wasn't aware of any guarantee on that rate....


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## crf8 (Mar 5, 2019)

$10 a month forever is ridiculous 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Jeff15 (Mar 5, 2019)

Stuff $10 a month and buy stand alone editing..........


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## smoke665 (Mar 5, 2019)

Don't mean to minimize your complaint but this not the first time you've complained about Adobe. Over the course of a few years and many updates I've had few if any problems with Adobe software and when I did customer service responded promptly. That's not to say I haven't had problems caused by my operating system or hardware. Fortunately it's such a popular software that a little Google research will usually give you the answers you need to get going. Out of curiosity I went to chat today, and as I suspected the overwhelming majority of problems were either hardware or operating system issues. Very few if any tech support or help desks will help you diagnose a problem with OS or hardware, unless there is a known conflict.

I can't speak for all but having spent a ton of money over the years on business software, I can say the level of customer service I've had experience with is in direct proportion to the purchase date unless you buy a separate help plan or are willing to pay $$$ on an individual use for answers. I for one prefer the subscription plan, as every year between business, financial , other software, and the updates to same I'm going to spend a certain amount whether it's by the month or in a lump sum, for me it's a cost of owning a computer.  Having been burned on purchases many times over the years, I much prefer to not have several thousand dollars invested only to find out something doesn't work, and the company's gone.

The nice thing about the subscription plan is you don't have to renew, no one forces you to continue for perpetuity. If you're truly not happy with it buy a stand alone. For those that don't want to pay rent there are any number of options out there at all price levels. Just remember you don't own the software you buy, you own a license to use that current version for a certain period of time or until the company decides to stop supporting it. Then you basically own a coffee coaster (assuming you got a disk and not a digital download).


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## Derrel (Mar 5, 2019)

Adobe apologists are everywhere. Remember, Adobe's trial balloon before initiating the first combo of PS/LR for $10 monthly with a 12-month contract?They though that *$50 a month* for *Photoshop only* would be acceptable to the majority of their users! The hue and cry was deafening. Adobe heard the millions of irate customers by adding Lightroom and knocking $40 a month off their tithe request...errrm....now you know why I call attention to Adobe's business model/corporate attitude so frequently...


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## smoke665 (Mar 5, 2019)

@Derrel Not an apologist for Adobe, but pragmatic about a subscription model for any software. For years in business I had no choice, but to drop thousands of dollars on software that invariably had problems or didn't perform as advertised. Then you're faced with problems every time you upgrade your OS or hardware because the software isn't compatible, forcing you to pay for an upgrade the software that will be just as obsolete in a couple of years.


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## Derrel (Mar 5, 2019)

Adobe upgrades were how (IMMSMC, $199 about for an upgrade every 24 months?) much when Adobe suddenly switched from stand-alone to subscription? What about Adobe's initial idea of $50 monthly?

For most users, image editing SW is not a business expense, with all that entails...

I discontinued  MY monthly PS/LR subscription in  early 2017....after two years and $200-plus in subscription fees for little advancement compared to  against my last stand-alone versions of LR And PS....


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## smoke665 (Mar 5, 2019)

@Derrel I suspect that it's not coincidence that many have gone to the $10/mo price. Office 360, Intuit, QuickBooks and others with a purchase price in same range are all offering a monthly rate in the $10 range. It's a price point that seems to work.


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## Derrel (Mar 5, 2019)

What about Adobe's initial idea that $50 a month was a reasonable rental rate for Photoshop alone? What does that say about the company's view of its main offering and the installed base ?


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## jaomul (Mar 6, 2019)

Derrel said:


> What about Adobe's initial idea that $50 a month was a reasonable rental rate for Photoshop alone? What does that say about the company's view of its main offering and the installed base ?



It says they are greedy and they chanced their arm with an extortionate pricing structure. Very few of these big companies really have customers welfare at heart, it's all a bottom dollar thing.

As a matter of interest, what software do you use now? I jumped ship from Adobe last year and went back after a few months due how good the combo works for me.


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## Overread (Mar 6, 2019)

Just out of interest what WAS the original problem that resulted in the poor customer service? It might be that what you asked was abnormal/difficult/strange/poorly worded.


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## smoke665 (Mar 6, 2019)

Derrel said:


> What about Adobe's initial idea that $50 a month was a reasonable rental rate for Photoshop alone? What does that say about the company's view of its main offering and the installed base ?



To me it says their initial market research was off. These companies are in business to maximize profits, the same way you would do in your own endeavors.  The subscription model is the way the industry as a whole is moving. Look at Capture One, they currently market their full version on a subscription plan at $20/month, or a purchase option. If the subscription base tops purchase sales, how long do you think they will continue with the purchase model? Again I'm not pushing Adobe, it's just one of the options available, and the whole buy/rent argument is a straw man fallacy. Like going to a restaurant, if you don't like the price of the steak, don't order it. If the steak comes out tough or cooked wrong then you have a legitimate complaint, but that's irrelevant to the price. Like the software you don't keep eating away on that steak while complaining about it's price, quality, service, etc. That's all I'm saying, make your choice and move on if your not happy, there's other choices on the menu.

As to the OP and problems as @Overread mentioned above, more information on the problem that led him to customer service would be beneficial. The combined experience of TPF is fairly extensive and any number of people would be willing to help find a solution.


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## BananaRepublic (Mar 11, 2019)

smoke665 said:


> Don't mean to minimize your complaint but this not the first time you've complained about Adobe. Over the course of a few years and many updates I've had few if any problems with Adobe software and when I did customer service responded promptly. That's not to say I haven't had problems caused by my operating system or hardware. Fortunately it's such a popular software that a little Google research will usually give you the answers you need to get going. Out of curiosity I went to chat today, and as I suspected the overwhelming majority of problems were either hardware or operating system issues. Very few if any tech support or help desks will help you diagnose a problem with OS or hardware, unless there is a known conflict.
> 
> I can't speak for all but having spent a ton of money over the years on business software, I can say the level of customer service I've had experience with is in direct proportion to the purchase date unless you buy a separate help plan or are willing to pay $$$ on an individual use for answers. I for one prefer the subscription plan, as every year between business, financial , other software, and the updates to same I'm going to spend a certain amount whether it's by the month or in a lump sum, for me it's a cost of owning a computer.  Having been burned on purchases many times over the years, I much prefer to not have several thousand dollars invested only to find out something doesn't work, and the company's gone.
> 
> The nice thing about the subscription plan is you don't have to renew, no one forces you to continue for perpetuity. If you're truly not happy with it buy a stand alone. For those that don't want to pay rent there are any number of options out there at all price levels. Just remember you don't own the software you buy, you own a license to use that current version for a certain period of time or until the company decides to stop supporting it. Then you basically own a coffee coaster (assuming you got a disk and not a digital download).



 Was it Ted Kennedy who said "Once bought stay bought" anyway my query was actually about the lean adobe have on my bank account, aka, my subscription. firstly the guy took 40 minutes to acknowledge I had logged onto the chat window and then with the 7 minute intervals between sentences  I spent another 45 minutes trying extract an answer. It was like water boarding a mannikin.  Yes I have had a history with adobe hence my original statement. You can checkout whenever you want alright but try doing that when the cancel button isnt showing as an option in subscription management.


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## BananaRepublic (Mar 11, 2019)

Overread said:


> Just out of interest what WAS the original problem that resulted in the poor customer service? It might be that what you asked was abnormal/difficult/strange/poorly worded.



How can I cancel my subscription. what lead me to ask that you say, well the cancel subscription thing wasn't showing in my profile.


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## smoke665 (Mar 11, 2019)

BananaRepublic said:


> How can I cancel my subscription. what lead me to ask that you say, well the cancel subscription thing wasn't showing in my profile.



Letting any company debit your account automatically is like attaching a "leech from hell" to your money. For those companies that require it, I keep a couple extra credit card accounts,  just for that purpose. When I have a problem with a leech, its' a simple matter to transfer the others debiting the card to a different one, and cancel the card. End of problem. Or you can simply transfer the others and put a hold on the card until your problem goes away, then reuse it at a later date.


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## Overread (Mar 11, 2019)

BananaRepublic said:


> Overread said:
> 
> 
> > Just out of interest what WAS the original problem that resulted in the poor customer service? It might be that what you asked was abnormal/difficult/strange/poorly worded.
> ...



So what made you want to cancel in the first place? 
Also where was the cancel button - which I take it was the problem you had?


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## Overread (Mar 11, 2019)

smoke665 said:


> BananaRepublic said:
> 
> 
> > How can I cancel my subscription. what lead me to ask that you say, well the cancel subscription thing wasn't showing in my profile.
> ...



Seems rather longwinded? Wouldn't it be easier just to cancel the direct debit by contacting your bank. Banks will do that pretty quickly and once its gone its gone unless you approve it again. Plus if you've also cancelled it at teh company end then there shouldn't be any problem. Far easier than juggling money in and out of various accounts and moving registration stuff around.


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## smoke665 (Mar 11, 2019)

Overread said:


> Seems rather longwinded? Wouldn't it be easier just to cancel the direct debit by contacting your bank. Banks will do that pretty quickly and once its gone its gone unless you approve it again.



Automatic debits are different then recurring bill pay offered by a bank. With automatic debits, you've signed a contractual agreement giving an outside company permission to debit an amount from your bank account. Most banks (at least they did) consider this outside their control (being between you and the outside company) and will refuse to stop the debit, requiring you to close the account and reopen a new account (which is a lot more difficult then switching a credit card). Federal law says you can send a "Revocation of Authority To Debit" to the outside company, and a notice to the bank that you have issued a "Revocation of Authority", not sure of the time limits in doing so, or the time required to become effective. Some banks might also require a stop payment order, but then look out for recurring stop payment charges every time the outside company tries to debit your account.


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## Overread (Mar 11, 2019)

Hmm it might be a bit different in the UK - rules over here might be a bit better at letting you stop a payment at the Bank. Of course if you don't cancel your direct debit and the company can't withdraw funds then they might well query this - either sending an invoice; a termination of contract etc... 

Then again whenever I've cancelled a direct debit its been an easy and amicable situation so I've never had to do anything out of the ordinary.


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## Derrel (Mar 11, 2019)

After 20-plus years as a  
 BUYER of Photoshop,I
AM nowunimpressed withAdobe and have stayed with LR  3.6 since 2013 or so.


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## smoke665 (Mar 11, 2019)

Derrel said:


> After 20-plus years as a
> BUYER of Photoshop,I
> AM nowunimpressed withAdobe and have stayed with LR 3.6 since 2013 or so.



You're such a rebel Derrel! LOL If you decide you want to live a little more daring I think I still have a copy of Corel Paintshop X9.



Overread said:


> Hmm it might be a bit different in the UK



Could be. I once let myself get suckered into letting a company debit my checking account....it didn't go well. Won't ever give them control of anything but a throw away account again.


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## BananaRepublic (Mar 12, 2019)

Derrel said:


> Buuuuuuuuuut.........the two most-popular apps are only $10 monthly in perpetuity!



My C


Overread said:


> BananaRepublic said:
> 
> 
> > Overread said:
> ...



I just wanted to stop the auto renewal from happening as it would be forgotten about by the time the renewal date came around. Typically for a racket organisation the stop auto renew button was not a option for self selection, ie greyed out, so I had to contact chat and the only solution the guy gave me was to battle through chat a month before the renwal will take place to stop it taking place.


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## BananaRepublic (Mar 12, 2019)

Overread said:


> smoke665 said:
> 
> 
> > BananaRepublic said:
> ...



That can then reflect on your credit score as a renege


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## BananaRepublic (Mar 12, 2019)

Overread said:


> Hmm it might be a bit different in the UK - rules over here might be a bit better at letting you stop a payment at the Bank. Of course if you don't cancel your direct debit and the company can't withdraw funds then they might well query this - either sending an invoice; a termination of contract etc...
> 
> Then again whenever I've cancelled a direct debit its been an easy and amicable situation so I've never had to do anything out of the ordinary.



Im in Ireland,


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## smoke665 (Mar 12, 2019)

BananaRepublic said:


> That can then reflect on your credit score as a renege



Stopping a company from dinging your account has nothing to do with your credit score. If you have a contractual payment agreement for a certain period of time or for a certain amount total with a company and don't make pay, then it can reflect on your credit, but how you transfer payment is irrelevant. Had a similar situation come up last year. My MS Office 360 is on an annual subscription. The card linked to payment was compromised and a new one issued, but I forgot to update MS. Of course when they tried to ding my card at renewal it wouldn't work. I got a nice email asking me if I wanted to renew then please update my card information. Had I not, my subscription would have stopped at the renewal date, and there would have been no further commitment.

In the case of Adobe, it is a 12 month subscription, that can be cancelled during the year but there is a 50% of remaining months early termination fee. How to cancel your Adobe Creative Cloud plan or membership There is no charge if you cancel within 14 days after renewal. According to the web site you can opt out of the auto renewal at any time during the year without penalty by going to Manage Account page or by contacting us in your region.

I wonder if because of your country location, you are going through Adobe's billing partner? According to the Adobe site, online changes are not possible if you are. You have to call customer service for change (see above).


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## Derrel (Mar 12, 2019)

smoke665 said:
			
		

> In the case of Adobe, it is a 12 month subscription, that can be cancelled during the year but there is a 50% of remaining months early termination fee. How to cancel your Adobe Creative Cloud plan or membership There is no charge if you cancel within 14 days after renewal. According to the web site you can opt out of the auto renewal at any time during the year without penalty by going to Manage Account page or by contacting us in your region.



Got to dis-incentivize (the relatively new word)early terminations!


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## Derrel (Mar 12, 2019)

BananaRepublic said:


> SNIP> the stop auto renew button was not a option for self selection, ie greyed out, so I had to contact chat and the only solution the guy gave me was to battle through chat a month before the renwal will take place to stop it taking place.


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## Jean Green (Mar 12, 2019)

They probably have a lot of customers and just can not cope with such a big amount of submissions.


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## BananaRepublic (Mar 13, 2019)

smoke665 said:


> BananaRepublic said:
> 
> 
> > That can then reflect on your credit score as a renege
> ...



No I was on to support the billing company as you put would be in charge of stashing the money in various scrooge McDuck ways nothing more. I again reiterate that I am in Ireland, were I might add adobe have a European corporate headquarters/brass plate, for tax purposes. I have dealt with adobe customer service in the US  and  found them equally stupid so Im pretty sure there just globally incompetent, but not when it comes to money stashing.


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## DanielPSAC (Mar 15, 2019)

I just wanted to say as someone who has been using Adobe Photoshop since Photoshop 7 that the monthly pricing is a dream.

$120 a year which entitles you to updates vs a single purchase that used to cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars at one point if I remember right (and no updates).


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## BananaRepublic (Mar 16, 2019)

DanielPSAC said:


> I just wanted to say as someone who has been using Adobe Photoshop since Photoshop 7 that the monthly pricing is a dream.
> 
> $120 a year which entitles you to updates vs a single purchase that used to cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars at one point if I remember right (and no updates).



On the face of it your right but its $120 for ever. Even after your dead they will still have a lean on your estate unless you have reminded someone in your will to stop the auto renew.  The updates within the year are minor  to the extent that they do not have  noticeable improvements and there customer service is just awful plus adobe servers are regularly hacked.


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