Paradise Found

There are countless benefits to living in Bermuda. Unfortunately, there are a few downsides. One of them is that I refuse to have a US billing address. I do have a US Shipping address (via Zipx), but all my debit and credit cards have billing addresses here. And that seems to cause major issues with certain (supposedly global) online companies.

I am currently trying to order LightRoom 2 from Adobe. They do not have an online store dedicated to Bermuda, so I tried their online US store. Can’t order from there without a US billing address.

I then try their live chat. That helpful individual gives me a toll number to call. I call that number and it is no longer in service.

I call their main customer service number. They tell me they can’t help and that I should try CDW online. I try CDW and they don’t have the product in stock.

Not quite fully discouraged, I try Adobe again and talk to their sales team. They can’t help as I am not US-based, but transfer me to someone who can. But he can’t, because I don’t have a US billing address. He asks if I have relatives in the US that could help me. No. He then tells me to go to the Adobe.com website and try selecting my country from there. I tell him it is not listed. OK, he says, try selecting the country closest to where you live. Um, I reply, that would be the US. He asks if I am sure about that? Yes, absolutely. OK then, he says, try the country that is the second closest to Bermuda – that might help. OK, I reply, that would probably be Canada. He immediately asks – but do you have a Canadian billing address? No. At this point he comes to the conclusion I have already come to – OK, sir,well, we can’t help you.

So after half a dozen visits to adobe.com and at least 5 calls with their sales or customer service people, it turns out that they cannot help me place an order for their software. All this from a supposed international company.

Why is it that I never have any issues like this ordering from Amazon? They don’t care if I have a non-US billing address. They don’t care if I ship to a UK address, a Bermuda address or a US address. They just make sure that I can buy what I want with no obstacles.

Adobe, you need to revisit your online store policy. You need to wake up to global e-commerce. You need to take a leaf out of the book of companies like Amazon, who truly understand how to service a global online audience.

And yes, I still really want Lightroom. For now (hopefully), I just have to live with the trial version.