4 Replies Latest reply: Nov 9, 2013 10:13 PM by pwillener RSS

    How do I provide feedback to Adobe?  Is anyone listening?

    Bakerxxxxx Community Member

      Periodically I find situations in using Adobe products where I can't imagine why the product or service is set up or operates in a particular way.  When I go to Adobe web site there is no avenue for feedback.  I wonder, does Adobe make it difficult to give feedback because it doesn't want to hear from a very loyal customer?

       

      Today, for example, I got a message to update Adobe Acrobat Reader.  This sent all kinds of beware signals in my mind because of past experiences. (see explanation below)  So I decided to give feedback using a feedback button on the updater.  The feedback assumed I was already done the update because it asked me to give a general impression of my experience.  So I stopped there and proceeded first with the update.  However after I finished the update, the feedback button had disappeared.  Why?  Because the last step in the updating process was to reboot.  Once I rebooted, I could not find a feeback mechanism anywhere in the Adobe web pages.

       

      So here's my feedback on this particular experience.

       

      1.  Make a feedback mechansim appear after bootup in a manner similar to the message asking me to update.

       

      2.  And now to the feedback I wanted to send Adobe.  Stop 3rd party companies from sending "update" messages for Adobe Acrobat.

       

      Explanation:  Although it hasn't happened recently, in the last few years I have received multiple times an Adobe update message that I'm now guessing came from Google instead of Adobe.  I think it came from Google because I kept receiving the message even after the update was completed.  More important, after the update I discovered that Google Chrome was installed.  I really don't like Chrome.  It messes with and controls a lot of things on my computer that I don't want to have happen.  For example, after discovering Google Chrome on my computer I uninstalled it. But then I found the attachments and forwards people sent me in e-mails no longer would open when I clicked on the web page addresses in the e-mail.  All I got were blank pages with some kind of "sorry" message.  So I searched the Internet for about an hour and eventually found one helpful soul who explained how to unscramble the Google Chrome uninstall problem.  Get this, first I had to install Foxfire and then make it, not Internet Explorer, be primary.  Later on in the process, I was able to switch back to Internet Explorer as primary. There was a lot more involved but the outcome was successful.  My conclusion, two hours of wasted time after updating a product from a company I totally respect, Adobe Reader. 

       

      Please tell Adobe to stop letting third party companies use it's updating mechanisms.  Not knowing for sure if the update is coming from Adobe or from some other company is real incentive to ignore update messages, which in turn means the product in question becomes less and less effective.

       

      Thanks for listening.

        • 1. Re: How do I provide feedback to Adobe?  Is anyone listening?
          Claudio González CommunityMVP

          This is a user to user forum,

           

          There used to be a link for feedback, but its not working now´. You may perhaps try this:

           

          https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

           

          Unfortunately, it does seem

          that Adobe is making direct communicatio with clients more difficult all the time.

          • 2. Re: How do I provide feedback to Adobe?  Is anyone listening?
            pwillener CommunityMVP

            Adobe does not send out "messages" regarding product updates, nor does it let 3rd-parties do that.  Most likely you received spam that tries to trick you in downloading other software or malware.

             

            Adobe software have their own update mechanisms, and most of these can be enabled or disabled by the user.

            • 3. Re: How do I provide feedback to Adobe?  Is anyone listening?
              Bakerxxxxx Community Member

              Pat,

               

              Thank you for your time and your thoughts about my experience being spam related.  I agree with that as a possibility, but read on. 

               

              Maybe my use of the word "message" was misleading.  In my entry above I was referring to a pop-up message for updates that happens at the end of boot up process.  I've always regarded those updates were linked to software installed on the computer and therefore trustworhty, especially when the company logo was included.  I'm a bit more cautious since the Google Chrome incident, but still find it difficult to be totally certain about the origin of the update.

               

              In the subsequent updates for Adobe Acrobat, after the Google Chrome incident, I discovered a small checked box on the lower left hand corner of the update page.  And beside the box in very small print was "install Google Chrome".  I can only guess who was behind that connection, but I never imagined it was from anyone other than Adobe or Google, since those were the only programs that appeared to be related to the "message".

               

              I'm not trying to make a case against Adobe, far from it, other than to give them feedback for what its worth that somehow their product is being combined with another company during updates on my computer.  The computer in question is dedicated almost exclusively for Adobe products including Creative Suite Master Collection which I use in my photography business.  My intention are to keep all images and videos relatively secure by minimizing the risk of things that you explain can happen, so there is no e-mail correspondece or Internet searches other than to Adobe company sites.  So, updates are about the only outside connection I have with that computer.

               

              Thanks again. 

              • 4. Re: How do I provide feedback to Adobe?  Is anyone listening?
                pwillener CommunityMVP

                That may have been a legitimate update message, or it may have been a fake.  I don't know, because I have never seen such a pop-up notification.  The reason is that I have automatic updates disabled (for Adobe Reader), and I always update it manually on the day an update is released.

                 

                The CS Master Collection updates through its own update mechanism, which is far more difficult to fake than Adobe Reader and Flash Player updates.  Both of these have been exploited by malware.