the face-mashingly unbearable futility of trying to talk to ADOBE

[gethin]

I've been trying to report a bug to adobe since 2017.  This is not my record. That goes to a bug between lightroom and photoshop that appeared in 2008.  I tried and failed for years on that one. They say, don't they, the definition of madness is repeating the same futile action over and over...

I'm thinking about making a short film about what you have to do to get adobe's attention.  I've tried the forum, and the uservoice site (where they, in a Trump-esque stroke of not-testing-for-coronavirus genius, removed their bug-reporting form).   I tried phoning them, and then doing a chat session. I was lucky to make it out of that one alive.  Honestly If there had been any sharp object on my desk I would've been a goner. 

Recently I looked up a bunch of the senior devs and quality managers and tweeted them, or wrote to them on linked in.  Just now I've been sending any employees who engaged in any small way a message via their forum. I have very very low expectations. 
I was thinking maybe I could pull some stunts to get their attention. Streak in their offices, or skywriting maybe? 

Yes I know i should move to resolve.  But I'm deep in the sunk-cost fallacy, OK? 

Here's my latest pointless waste of time:

https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/40860028-fix-time-remapping-ppro2017-ppro2020

 

 

[bjohn]

I stopped using all Adobe products (except Acrobat, which is pretty much unavoidable in my work) about 10 years ago for this and other reasons. Since the early 1990s, I have never once had a positive Adobe experience. The software is mostly great, but obtaining it, updating it, and getting support for it are among the worst experiences I have ever had with any company in the software business.

[kye]

Think about it like this.

FCPX, PP, Resolve, and other programs, will all exist in some way over the next decade.  In all likelihood they will have new versions, new features, new bugs, various frustrations and limitations, and various performance levels doing different tasks on various hardware platforms.

Over the course of the next decade, which do you feel would be the best total experience for you?  ie, experiencing the ups and downs of PP for that whole time, going with an alternative for that whole time, or sticking with PP now but transitioning at some point in the future.  Think about the hardware required, the whole package.

If you feel you'd be better off with another package, then think about the best time to switch.  Over the next decade you'll buy multiple new computers, cameras, and other equipment, so think about the best time to switch.

Factoring in the next decade, switching platforms isn't such a big deal, especially if the grass is actually greener on the other side - you'd be eating better grass long after the scrapes from climbing the barb-wire fence have healed and long been forgotten.

Changing software packages isn't a chore, it's an investment.  You invest time, energy, money for the software, maybe new hardware even, but you would do so if the return was worth it over the longer-term.  Think about the cost of your frustration.  How it impacts your quality of life and creativity.  How demotivating it is.

If it's worth making that investment, then choose when is the best time.  In the middle of a project with a deadline isn't that best time, maybe there are other factors to consider too.  but if it's worth switching then schedule it in your life, then do it.

[Inazuma]

This is in such contrast to Blackmagic. Whenever Ive had a problem with Resolve, I just email them and get a response within a day or two. And that's for a FREE product! Back a few years ago I even got a direct response from a senior engineer there.

[Anaconda_]

2 minutes ago, Inazuma said:

This is in such contrast to Blackmagic

The thing is, Blackmagic aren't busy laughing at their customers, so they have more time to respond.

[gethin]

I bet Blackmagic have never had people streaking though their offices 🤔

 

[kye]

I bought the Studio edition of Resolve and logged a support question some time back, and they directed it to a support partner of some kind here in Australia (I think they were a dealer or something - they had a different business name), who then emailed me back and forth to diagnose and help me out.  I was trying to work out how to optimise my MBP + eGPU setup and at one point they checked with a BM engineer about something.  

It was a very positive experience overall, and I was kind of surprised because I'm used to being a customer of other brands and basically you get their forums or it's impossible to even find a phone number for them, so customer service isn't something I'm used to even thinking is available, let alone getting help from really knowledgable folks.

[Andrew Reid]

Even Photoshop (2020) is getting worse now.

They are working very hard to go backwards in every way.

Wish the competition would get their act together.

At least with video we have Resolve but for Photoshop there isn't really much else.

[newfoundmass]

Affinity Photo is decent, but ultimately I switched back to Photoshop because it was just easier and more convenient. 

[noone]

Not being a professional anything, I gave up on Adobe at Photoshop 4 many many years ago.

I do sometimes think I might get a recent version of Elements but not anything I need.

My limited video wants are met by Power Director.

 

Have you tried going via a different country/area , maybe through an intermediary?

[gethin]

The only thing I haven't tried is writing to Adobe management. 

Adobe doesn't really have regions for its product support.  Writing to Adobe Australia I'm sure would be a waste of time, but no more so than all the other wastes of time so maybe I'll try that.