Thank you for asking.

In very simple terms, the Adobe representatives with whom I recently interacted had only a rudimentary understanding of the English language. Ordering the product was difficult due to the inability of the sales agent to understand what I was ordering. That was the first 15 minute phone call, in which I was given an order number and was told the product would be received within 5 days.

When I checked the status of the order 4 days later it was listed as "pending." I called customer service and spent another 20 minutes speaking to a sales representative who eventually told me he didn't know why the order hadn't shipped, other than it needed to be reviewed by "the management team." He had no idea why this was necessary, nor was he able to find out. His only advice was that I should patiently wait for a few weeks and if I didn't receive the order I should call back. I was not satisfied with that response.

When I called the third time, I spent another 17 minutes on the phone talking with a sales rep who told me the reason the order wasn't - and would not - be shipped was that it was incorrectly placed by sales rep #1. I was told the order would need to be cancelled, and that sometime before May 25 I would receive an e-mail from Adobe telling me how to place a new order. I was also told that I would need to download the software, and that purchasing a tangible DVD for CS 6.0 was not an option.

On phone call #4 I finally spoke to an Adobe rep in the US who told me that I was misinformed by the first 3 sales reps with whom I spoke. The US sales rep answered my questions and resolved my issue in about 4 minutes.

This whole experience - which is similar to other recent interactions I've had with Adobe's offshore service center - is why I feel so frustrated. To compound that, I went to Adobe's web site to offer constructive feedback and could not a find a single link to a customer service feedback form. If there is a general link for feedback it is buried on the web site where few people would find it. It is as though Adobe knows that its customer service is bad, and doesn't want to customers to be able to tell them why. I guess ignorance is bliss.