I was a victim of the recent Software King scam that Microsoft is now suing for selling counterfeit software and product keys. I have gone the route of contacting the Better Business Bureau (BBB) which in my case was located in Canada even though I live in the United States. I reported it to Microsoft.
I purchased Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 on November 25, 2016 from them and received only the link to download the software, but the product key was delayed because they said it had to be reviewed. Reviewed? Later I discovered others were told this lie.
I had contacted Software King by email and received no satisfaction from them because they kept giving me the runaround. I told them repeatedly in email exchanges between them and me (signed Support Team) that I tried to activate the software for the first time and received an error showing it had been activated too many times.
When I told Support Team this, they accused me of installing it on more than one computer. I told I only installed it on one computer and I could not activate it. Their solution was to use the phone activation. I said why should I use phone activation for new software since they claimed it had never been used. I knew then something fishy was going on. I even mentioned in an email they might have an employee stealing activation codes and selling them. They never responded to anything that could be considered an accusation probably because it was true.
After much frustration, I decided to take action because these liars were not cooperating. I submitted a complaint on the BBB's website, but I was taken to the Canadian page for this company. I always thought they were in the U. S. because I have ordered from them before and never had a problem. That's the only reason why I came back to order again.
The BBB sent me an email showing Software King refuses to give me a new product key because they said it is valid according to Microsoft's webpage where product keys can be verified for authenticity. Here is the link I used:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/office?culture=en-US&ref=macdl
Strangely enough the website showed the product key was valid, but once I entered the country where I lived it showed the key was for a different version of Office Home and Student. It was for the "Tech G" version. I don't even know what that is. I figured that's why the product key didn't work. I told this over and over to Support Team before and I mentioned it in my complaint to the BBB.
So I am getting nowhere with Software King who I have not responded to since I filed my BBB complaint. The BBB only submitted Software King's position and they would not give me a refund or a new product key so I responded back to the BBB that did not accept it. I first wanted a new key then I changed it to a refund. Then I realized they cannot credit the debit card I used because that card was mysteriously hacked a few days after I used it to purchase at Software King. I wondered if there was a connection. So that card cannot be used and I will not give them a new card number because I do not trust them.
I am wondering if all of the people including myself are going to be provided with legitimate product keys that we paid for or are we going to have to wait until the lawsuit is over. I am not in a hurry for it, but I did pay nearly $90 for this bootleg software that I thought was supposed to be legitimate.
Microsoft is welcome to use all my email conversations between Software King and myself in their lawsuit. Fortunately I used email instead of the phone for all communications even though it is all lies from Software King.