Avoid Online downloads !

[hjoseph7]

<p>About a year and a half ago, I went to the Adobe website and purchased a copy of Photoshop Elements version 6 software editing package. I did this after my Adobe PS E 4 got corrupted. Anyway I remember going to the Adobe website and downloading a try-out version, then a couple of days later purchasing this item. I think it took a couple of hours for the software to download to my computer. Anyway this version was allot better than the previous ones so I was pretty satisfied with my purchase. Although I hardly use PS E, since I have a full version of PS, it came in handy when it came to catolgueing, sending emails and quick edits.<br>

I'm not sure why, but when I tried using the package this week I kept getting an error message stating that " MY LISCENCE HAD EXPIRED AND I HAD TO CONTACT MY SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR OR ADOBE" I contacted Adobe since I'm not sure who my system administrator is. I got on the phone with a call center based in India. The person I talked to after giving me the third degree, told me they had no record of my purchase although they had my name, address, phone number, SSN, mothers maiden name, name of my pet and name of my next door neighbor on their files.<br>

They told me they could not do anything for me unless they had the serial number of the software package. I told them I purchased the item 2 years ago and could not remember the serial number. They told me the serial number was sent to me by email and to check my files and records. I checked my email but came up empty. Adobe then told me "SORRY SIR BUT WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU RIGHT NOW " .</p>

<p> </p>

[rainer_t]

<p>Harry, frankly, you had better named this thread "<strong>Always record serial numbers of products you bought</strong> ".</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>I prefer to purchase the hard copy version of software with real CDs and all, as it's more difficult for me to permanently misplace the codes needed to reinstall the software. I'll even wait a few days for this. Unfortunately, some software is only available for download.</p>

[konrad_beck1]

<p>My PS E5 shows under Help ---> System Information:<br>

<br /> Adobe Photoshop Elements Language Version: 5.0 (20061222.r.----) <br /> Operating System: Windows XP<br /> Version: 5.1 Service Pack 3<br /> System architecture: Intel CPU Family:6, Model:13, Stepping:6 with MMX, SSE Integer, SSE FP<br /> Physical processor count: 1<br /> Processor speed: ---- MHz<br /> Built-in memory: ----- MB<br /> Free memory: 423 MB<br /> Memory available to Photoshop: 908 MB<br /> Memory used by Photoshop: 55 %<br /> Image cache levels: 6<br /> Serial number: 10571039xxxxxxxxxxxxx<br>

<br /> So you might find yours there.<br /> It actually also shows at the entrance screen under my name (you might have disabled to show that screen).</p>

[jackaldridge]

<p>When I tried to convert my software from PC to Apple I was told by our friendly foreign 'expert' there was no record of me ever owning Photoshop. When I called Adobe to suck it up and order what I needed the chap told me he could verify my purchase and made the switch for me. You might want to call sales in the good ole' US of A and see what they say.</p>

[robert_wilson11]

<p>Similar display for registered copy of PhotoShop Elements 6 under System Info on the Help menu. However, if the OP never registered his copy after receiving the serial number he may well be out of luck. Indeed, the fact that he's getting a license expired message may be because the software was never registered in the first place. Agree the real lesson to learn here is register your software and keep track of the serial numbers. Good luck and I hope you can locate that serial number.</p>

[dkm]

<p>I had similar problems with PSCS and the Indian call center, but it had nothing to do with electronic downloads. My computer died and I replaced it. I had the original CD, but it was an upgrade from an earlier version. CS had some funky install requirement where you had to perform some special keystroke sequence to get it to load if you didn't have the older version loaded, which I couldn't do because the older version was on floppies and the new computer doesn't have a floppy drive.</p>

<p>My records on the Adobe site showed all the relevant serial numbers, so I thought it would be no big deal and called to get the keystroke sequence. The Indians put me through the third degree just as you described and in the end refused to help - even with me having the CD, the serial number, and being listed in their database. I even had my original receipt from when I bought it. My only recourse was to buy the CS3 upgrade, which happily accepted my CS CD as proof, and installed properly.</p>

<p>Now there's probably nothing wrong with upgrading although I would have preferred to delay the purchase having just bought a new machine. But there's something very wrong with being treated like a criminal by the people who "support" the software. I don't know how much money Adobe believes they're saving using the Indians, but I've had a sour taste regarding Adobe ever since. As a result my next upgrade won't be CS4, I think I'll upgrade my Corel suite instead.</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>It isn't the call center people, it's the Adobe policies and systems. The systems are stone-age - they still can't link a phone order tied to your customer number to your online account with the same customer number. Simple tasks take weeks - I had to fill out a "destruction of software" form, fax it to them, and then wait the "7-10" days for someone to approve a form which had my signature and the software serial number. Microsoft will do the same thing over the phone in minutes for their software. And then they told me I could upgrade on Windows as long as I liked, but due to an error in my file dating back to PS 5, I couldn't upgrade and switch to a Mac without more faxing and waiting. I think it took seven weeks to finish. The stupid thing (for Adobe) is that the number and length of calls translates to well over the $200 they ended up getting from me.</p>

<p>Plenty of software companies can deal with online downloaded software in a pleasant and efficient manner. The original poster's point is wrong - it's only about Adobe policies.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>You know I hate to be an old fuddy-duddy, but convenience came with a price when it came to IT. I have been in the IT field on and off, for 20+ years, so I get a first hand look at all the problems they are encountering.<br>

Back in the days there was maybe a handful of Computer programming languages and each company you dealt with had their own computer(s). <br>

Now everything is spread out over(over seas) servers, telephone lines, high-speed connections and who knows what else and there are thousands of different languages and interfaces trying to communicate with each other.<br>

When something goes wrong these days, I swear to you it's hit or miss. Nobody knows what the heck is going on, so you got to virtually start unplugging stuff until you get to the bottom of the problem ! There was no such thing as hackers, back then so security was relegated to the Staff at the company where the computer was located.<br>

The security guy was usually somebody that served in the armed forces and kept close watch of the files being requested. Now, any gifted hacker can have access to these files. The whole computer industry is saturated with vey annoying User ID' and passwords. You need a password and you need to register for a recipe on how to cook meat-loaf. <br>

Despite what computer software manufactures claim about the portability of their programs, a new version of that program, a new computer, a glitch on the telephone lines, hackers you name it can create all sorts of havoc. The whole industry is moving too fast for itself !<br>

Sorry for the Rant, but I'm going to try what Konrad said and click on the Help screen. Robert if I remember correctly I DID register this product, but don't take my word for it. Jeff, luckilly I paid less than $100 for PE vs 6, so it is not that bad, but if it was anything more that that , I would really be RANTING. </p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>wow. I have bumped heads with offshore technical support<br>

they are working from a sort of script and cannot decide on their own.</p>

<p>the first and ultimate Gotchawas in 1985 when Ibm came out with the IBM AT 286.<br>

most busises used lotus 123. and ibm used core data hard drives<br>

lotus 123 allowed 2 installs and the Key floppy disk had to be in the drive.<br>

the core data hard drives would fail and " go blank"<br>

the drives permitted one to reformat and re-install everything.<br>

but then the end user had used the 2 installs.<br>

Lotus seemed to think prople were trying to Rip-Off a free copy of their $495.00<br>

program and IBM denied for over a year there was any problem with the hard drives.<br>

this led to people finding work arounds and bypassing the copy protection.<br>

this may have led to the unraveling of the Lotus empire<br>

and later there were $29.95 programs that did exactly the same thing.<br>

all because of a stiff necked suspicious attitude.<br>

not quite the same but still interesting.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>"the first and ultimate Gotchawas in 1985 when Ibm came out with the IBM AT 286.<br />most busises used lotus 123"<br /><br /><br />The guy that developed Lotus 123 is the same guy that developed "Picture Window Pro" a Photography editing software package. It is not as slick as Photoshop, or even as slick as PE vs 6, but the beauty of it is that it uses minimal RAM( internal memory). Back in the days, there was no such thing as Gigabytes, not even Megabytes, so programs had to be written real small and efficient. Photoshop is Mammoth, because it hogs up allot of memory.<br />Prior to Personal Computers, there were only Main Frame and Mid-frame computers that cost into the millions of dollars. IBM had a virtual monopoly on those computers. Then came the PC(personal computer). At first everybody laughed thinking it was just a fad, but when the PC finally was able to Multitask(perform several functions at once) it became a serious challenge to the mainframe computer.<br />Companies loved the PC because they did not have to purchase, or rent a million dollar machine and pay IBM millions of dollars a year in maintenance and insurance fees. The only problem with the PC's was, you guess it memory. There is so much memory you could stuff into one of those little machines(back then). <br />So then came the Servers which are nothing but miniature versions of the IBM mainframe and mid-frame computers. They were manufactured by companies other than IBM. Although IBM has jumped on the Server bandwagon now.<br />With Servers came the Internet. You could have done the same thing with Mainframe computers, but it would have been way too expensive. When you go to an ATM machine you are probably accessing a Mainframe computer which works behind the scenes. <br />With the internet came a proliferation of software packages that could do everything but tie your shoes and serve you coffee in the morning. This was good, but in a way the industry lost the standards it once had. Some things fit together and other didn't. They are now working to standardize things, but there is some reluctance in certain corners. <br /><br /></p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Harry, most companies have contingents for your dilemna, ie: the serial number is lost/forgotten, but they can track you via the credit card number you purchased with, coupled with email address, mom's maiden name, etc. Too bad to hear, I would persevere.</p>

<p>One thing my flakey memory has done for me: I know I will forget/lose important registration numbers, codes, passwords etc, so I log everything, religously, in a log file (text format), plus pdf's of confirmation emails.</p>

<p>BTW, why does it matter that the call center is in India? Does that have some bearing on the matter? Come on...</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Yeah, I never order software unless I get a disk, for this exact reason. Had the same problem with Rhinosoft FTP, and early versions of ACDSee.</p>

[dkm]

<blockquote>

<p>BTW, why does it matter that the call center is in India? Does that have some bearing on the matter? Come on...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Oh, it matters. The attitude is very different.</p>

<p>As noted above, the call center personnel follow a script, and heaven help if you have a problem not covered by/that deviates from that script. If you're very very lucky they will let you speak with a supervisor, but sometimes they flat out refuse, and other times they hang up on you.</p>

<p>In my case I took the American approach, i.e. "What can I send you to prove who I am?" I could have faxed, emailed, snail mailed - anything to prove I was who I said I was and deserved the help. The problem was apparently outside the script, however, and the answers I got were both rigid and off target.</p>

<p>I have a friend who works for a large international bank with some programmers in India and some in America. They work for the same company, and yet she's experiencing the exact same problems communicating with her Indian counterparts. It's not that they're incompetent or they don't speak the language (obviously), but they have their own way of doing things - and they have that attitude.</p>

<p>If that works for them at home, that's fine. But it's a really poor solution when they're supposed to be supporting American customers. Sooner or later that's likely to impact the bottom line.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>The reason why I mentioned India is because it was only a few years ago that Adobe's customer service was based in California. I use to call them and get some college age kid who would try to help me out. I really can't compare the services between USA and India based call centers. Sometimes you get somebody that knows what they are doing sometimes you don't .</p>