Dear Adobe,
I think you suck. Or more specifically, I think your activation mechanism for the product called “DreamWeaver” which you acquired with the equally sucky MacroMedia (since they dreamed up this feature).
If I have a valid serial number, and I wish to transfer it to another computer – then I should be able to. Telling me that the software was sold “to my platform” is unacceptable. I bought the software and it was sold as a universal CD. So why the hell can’t I migrate that license to a PC?
To top it off, your instructions for contacting customer support are wrong, and they lead the customer into an endless cajoling maze of doing things that simply will not benefit them. The “telephone activation” system doesn’t work at all when transfering a license, and yet you made me spend 10 minutes listening to your voice system cajole and annoy me when your instructions of “hit 0 for an operator” simply resulting in RESTARTING THE WHOLE DAMN THING!
I doubt you’ll ever even see this post, but it makes me feel better. You suck.
Love,
Joe
Rhonabwy 
Joe,
Your recent experience with our award-winning customer support operations has been brought to our attention. Please come through the backdoor to our Tier 2 customer support website at http://tinyurl.com/133t and click the red button to receive immediate Escalation. The red button at http://tinyurl.com/bn2zz will allow you to leave feedback and your contact information so we can send you a complimentary license for the latest version of this software.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to reply.
LikeLike
yes, I let that through intentionally. Nice one Nate… I especially like the second link…
LikeLike
Why do you sign it “love Joe”. It’s clear that you don’t and saying you do strikes me as condescending.
I hate it when our expected response is to thank someone for dicking us over. I hate it!! I refuse to participate it. I don’t know what the right thing to say in those circumstances is but I refuse to say thank you!
😛
LikeLike
You can transfer the license – however, you have to deactivate the thing on machine #1 before activating it on machine#2.
Yeah, I know. It sucks rocks. It frustrates the hell out of me too.
LikeLike
Next rev they’re going to include a little code wheel printed on dark paper. ;-P
LikeLike
Oh Tara – that’s the bite. You can’t transfer the license between different Operating Systems. I actually don’t mind the “you need to transfer it” so much – once I learned how it worked, I was fine with it. But when you undo the license from a Mac, it won’t redo onto a PC. Presumably the reverse is true as well – but we didn’t try it.
THAT is why Adobe sucks.
While I’m fundamentally annoyed at the activation process, that isn’t just Adobe suckage. That’s a bit more big-company-wide industry suckage. It works for them, but the holes in the experience are all on the user’s side – like when they use multiple machines (ahem), or worse yet take a catastrophic hit to one of their machines (such as a laptop hitting the floor). The resolution process takes users into the “customer abuse process” which so often is labelled with “support”. If you’re patient enough, and smart enough to avoid the automated phone traps, you’ll get it. Sort of like Indiana Jones tomb raiding really.
LikeLike
Ok – so I ordered Macromedia Captivate at work… apparently they sent me an email or something – which looked like spam so I deleted it (I guess)… THAT was my activation thingy. I called, an hour, 2 coutries and many persons later no result. So I figured I would Google this shit before calling again and I stumbled upon your blog. I am thinking I may just throw out the software – it can’t be that good anyway – there is no way I am calling them back, life is too damn short.
Oh, nice garden btw 😉
Steve in Toronto.
LikeLike
That’s weird and retarded. I had an older copy of MX (the first MX there was) that I transferred all over the place, but… who knows. I haven’t done any web work in a while, and I’m Mac-only again at home, so… haven’t had room to try with the current copy.
LikeLike