Mar 30, 2010
I just had the worst customer service experience ever. I was having trouble downloading a version of Pinnacle Studio 14 which I had just purchased online. I attempted to call tech support and got nothing but the run around.
When the tech support answers, the man says I have called the wrong company, he could help if I had purchased the program from a different reseller, but because of the site I used he was unable to assist in any way. Hmmm – I had called the number directly from the website where I made the purchase, but they needed to give me the number to a completely different company.
I was irritated.
I called the new number and the person that answered there said he was unable to help with issues regarding the website. He said he could process orders, but he couldn’t offer tech support on the program or help with the download. He couldn’t understand why someone would give out his number, but he ensured me that he would get me the correct number.
Now I was getting angry.
I called the third number – still hoping to find someone who could shed some light on the issue. When I the phone was answered, it was THE SAME GUY I TALKED WITH ORIGINALLY AT THE FIRST NUMBER!
Now I am pissed!
This was insane! I was going around in circles! This tech repeatedly told me that he was unable to assist me in any way. He didn’t know why the other person would give me a number that came back to him. He said his number was listed on the site because he is “general support” for multiple resellers – but he can’t offer support for download issues or problems with the website because of where I had purchased the program. (I purchased the program from the companies main site!) He could not even cancel or refund the order. The only thing he could tell me is that I need to call the number he gave me last time we spoke.
Now I am livid.
I called the other number and spoke with a female tech who was also unable to assist with my problem. I was done with the games. I told her to cancel the order and refund my money. But… she said she couldn’t.
Apparently before I could get a refund from Pinnacle, I would need her to email me a form which I would need to print out and sign, then fax back to them so they could process the refund.
Can you guess what the form said? It’s a “Letter of Destruction.” Basically, in order to get a refund I need to fax them a signed sheet of paper saying I have destroyed all copies of the software I never received.
I explained to the woman that I hadn’t received a copy to destroy – which was the whole reason I was calling in the first place… it didn’t matter. No form = no refund.
After spending over an hour on the phone and calling 4 different times to 3 different numbers, all I have accomplished is that I have received a form which I get to sign saying I have destroyed all copies of the software that I was never able to download in the first place. I’m tempted to simply dispute the charge with my credit card company and not deal with their stupid form.
Apparently the people at Pinnacle tech support don’t know how to do anything other than pass-the-buck.
This has got to be the world’s worst customer service.
I also had a very bad experience with their customer support. I was forced to buy a Studio upgrade when I got Windows 7. I purposely stuck with Studio because I already owned a Pinnacle analog capture device, and the specs said they were compatible. I registered my product as instructed but could not log on to access internet chat tech support. In fact, I could not even send an e-mail ! I phoned them (not a free call, by the way) and spent 20 minutes on hold, then another 15 minutes with someone who ended the converstation saying “I’m not realy tech support, I’m just getting information, someone will call you back”. Someone did call me back – about 6 hours later. But HE did not have any of the product information I had provided in the previous phone call. I explained I was in the car at the time and asked him to call back the next day. Of course no one ever did. Because I was up against deadline and did not want to learn a new editing program, I was forced to buy new hardware to go with Studio 14. I will never do business with Studio/Pinnacle/Avid again. I wish I had read the user forums before going down this path. At the very least, from now on I will search a company’s web site to see if they have an easy e-mail link.
When I open up your Feed it seems to be a ton of garbage, is the problem on my part?