So you read my rant that published last night about Adobe confirming a platform change for CS4 with their online support. Then when talking to them about actually doing it, now that a $2000 computer is in the house, the story changed.

It seems that @MilesForrest sent that blog post on to Adobe and a nice lady gave me a call. Ultimately the wife still has to upgrade to CS5 but at a significantly reduced cost. While not 100% happy because some money still has to be spent it’s way less than anticipated and it’s a value that can be worked out even with a 5 week old baby.

The Rub

The real issue here is that many companies only help you once they see some bad press. I had issues with a local bank a few months back. The local branch and phone support was terrible. The other local bank where I am a customer was more helpful with my issue even though they couldn’t resolve it. I tweeted about my frustration with CIBC and figured I’d be out $85.

Well, CIBC read my tweet and got in touch and solved my problem in 10 minutes. Now the fact that they solved my problem is awesome the fact that it took a tweet sucks.

The front line support for many companies is terrible and utterly broken. There should be no need to tweet or blog about things to get help. Someone should just fix it for you the first time not when they look bad.

The End of the Story

So at the end we’ll still be looking for Adobe alternatives if they’re out there. Yeah the anger that was there originally isn’t quite so hot, they stuck out an olive branch that we’re willing to take for what it is. We’re always looking for places that offer solid support instead of support only when they look bad.