Adobe Redux

Part 1 is here.

I finally received all of the emails from Adobe needed in order to follow links, get my software, and install it... or so I thought.

This morning, I went to Adobe's Licensing website to download my install files and get the new version of the software on my system. I figured it would be pretty fast, and I could start using FM 9 this morning as I continue my project for the client.

The downloads went smoothly but I noticed on the Serial Numbers page of the website, only FM 10 was shown. I figured that the one serial number must be good for both products and continued with the installation of FM 9. I got to the serial number screen of the installation process and it wouldn't accept what I provided.

I went to Adobe's support site and got stuck in an endless loop of "Start here" and "if this page doesn't answer your questions" links that just took me from one to the other. I finally figured out where the Adobe support call number was, called them, and spoke with a nice woman about the issue.

Initially, she kept asking me questions that, apparently, the answers didn't matter. For example, she asked me if I was on the Licensing site now. Yes. Can you see the licensing for your former product? No. Oh, well, I wouldn't, she said. Er, okay. Why ask me then? Do you plan to continue using the FM 7 license? Probably not, I said. Well, it will still be valid regardless, she answered. Er, okay. Why bring it up then?

I briefly explained the entire FM 10 and a back license to FM 9 issue. I then explained that I was installing FM 9 but the emails said the Licensing website should have my serial numbers and it did not. I was stuck on the serial number entry screen and needed that number so I could complete the installation. She then told me that the reseller who sold me the back license should have provided it. I explained that he was explicit that it would be provided by Adobe via the Licensing website. She put me on hold for a few minutes.

She came back and told me that one of the two emails that Adobe sent me should have the serial number listed for the back license. I opened the two emails and read to her the part where it explicitly states to go the Licensing website to obtain that information. She put me on hold again, for a bit longer.

She returned and told me that with back licenses specifically the customer must call Adobe to obtain the serial number, that it will not show up on the website. I then reread the passage from the emails, explained that not one of the many, many people from both Adobe and the reseller ever explained this to me, and that everyone directed me to the Licensing website. I then asked how I was supposed to know that when the official information provided by Adobe contradicted what she was telling me? She put me on hold for even longer.

When she returned to the call this time, she explained that she went to her manager, explained the situation, and had the manager create a serial number for me. She provided me the working serial number, and then apologized on behalf of the company, the original Adobe rep I dealt with, and the reseller. She agreed with me that the email was unclear and said that she and her manager discussed it and were sending this issue report up the chain of command to see if they couldn't get the email more clearly worded to avoid this problem in the future. She then promised to send me an email containing the information. I thanked her and finished my installation.

When I received the email from Adobe asking for my opinions of the support case and how it was handled, I gave her generally high marks (she was, after all, able to solve my problem in one phone session). I also made sure to make the same comment about the how the email should be more clear on the process for obtaining serial numbers for back licensed products.

Adobe is a very large company with many product lines. It is in many countries. But the processes I had to go through in order to simply upgrade my software from an older version to a newer version would be daunting to many people. I know a few people who would not have been as persistent as I was in both getting the correct pricing as well as getting the serial number. Some would have been irritated dealing with an India call center (both for the pricing and for the support call); I'm not-- as long as I can understand you and get the information I want, I don't care who I'm talking to. I only have issue if I can't get the assistance I need or cannot understand the person with whom I'm talking.

In the end, it all worked out and I now have Adobe FrameMaker 9 on my system, which is the same version my current customer is using. We should not have any more compatibility issues with my projects going forward. But I should not have had to go through such a frustrating process in order to upgrade to this point, and especially not when dealing with a large company like Adobe. Customer service should always be job one, and they dropped the ball repeatedly in this case.