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.
