This is an actual transcript.
Thank you for choosing Adobe. A representative will be with you shortly. Your estimated wait time is 0 minute(s) and 24 second(s) or longer as there are 1 customer(s) in line ahead of you.
[5 Minutes pass]
You are now chatting with Shankar.
Shankar: Hello! Welcome to Adobe Customer Service.
Shankar: May I please have your email address registered with Adobe while I review your request?
David: david@[mpow].org
David: I’m end-user support for my organization. As far as I can tell, our organization never registered this copy of RoboHelp and I don’t have the packaging, so I haven’t been able to determine the serial number. (Without the serial, I cannot register for technical support)
Shankar: As I understand that you are using Robohelp 8 and you have issue with the search tab, Is that correct?
David: correct.
David: Using WebHelp layout.
[Minutes pass]
Shankar: Thank you for waiting. One moment please.
Shankar: I’ll be right with you.
David: Thank you.
[Minutes pass]
Shankar: Sorry for the wait. Please do stay online.
David: Will do.
[Five more minutes pass]
Shankar: Since this is a technical issue I am unable to assist you, I apolozise for the inconvenience. However, I will provide you with our contatct details of our Specialized technical support team and they would be able to resolve the issue.
David: Thank you. Awaiting contact details.
Shankar: Click here for the Technical support?
[David confirms again that even accessing technical support requires a serial number]
David: That’s going to be difficult. I WANT to register the product, but cannot get the packaging to determine the serial.
[Five minutes pass]
Shankar: Thank you for waiting. One moment please.
[More time passes]
Shankar: I’ll be right with you.
[More time passes]
Shankar: May I know the serial number of the product please?
David: As I just said, I do not have the packaging for the product, so I don’t know how to FIND the serial nunmber.
[More waiting]
Shankar: Sorry for the wait. Please do stay online.
[Yet more waiting]
Shankar: You need serial number to register the product.
David: Yes. I JUST SAID THAT.
Shankar: Is there anything else I can help you with?
David: YES. I AM TRYING TO REGISTER THE PRODUCT OR DETERMINE IF IT HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN REGISTERED, BUT CANNOT BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING. HOW ELSE DO I FIGURE OUT MY SERIAL NUMBER?
Shankar: May I know the software is Box product or the download version please?
David: I wish I knew. I do not know.
Shankar: I checked in your registered email address the serial number is not registered.
David: Please advise how I can register?
[More waiting]
Shankar: I’ll be right with you.
[More waiting]
Shankar: Thank you for waiting. One moment please.
[Far more than one moment passes]
Shankar: Please login into your Adobe account and click on the Register New Products to register the serial number.
Shankar: Is there anything else I can help you with?
David: YES. HOW DO I LOCATE THE SERIAL NUMBER WHEN I DON’T HAVE THE PACKAGING?
Shankar: May I know do you have proof of purchase please?
David: May I request that you please re-read the history of this chat before we proceed?
Shankar: I am sorry without the proof of purchase and the serial number I will not be able to assist you.
Shankar: Is there anything else I can help you with?
David: Please answer my question. Without the packaging, is there any other way to find my serial number?
Shankar: If you registered the serial number, However I checked you have not registered the software in your Adobe account.
David: So there is no other way to determine the serial number?
[More waiting]
David: hello?
Shankar: I am sorry to say that please contact the technical department of your company to know the product and the serial number.
David: Do you understand that you have wasted 30 minutes of my time in order to give me an answer I asked for in the first 60 seconds?
Shankar: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Good grief. I’ve had bad customer service before, but this is ridiculous.
First, the inept service rep seems to be trying to manage a number of chat sessions simultaneously and can’t remember what we discussed 5 lines before.
Second, I don’t believe that this software (which must be activated before it can be used) does not store the serial somewhere on the computer where it is installed.
Just awful.
November 5th, 2010 | Tags: #thisisbroken, adobe, customer service, this is broken | Category: Technology | Comments (3)
