Yes fellow designers and computer software users. I too was scammed. My experience was a bit different, but the same company "Authorised Software Reseller" with a new website http://oemdownloadsoftware.us
I purchased Captivate 4, paid $104, received (2) emails with User IDs and passwords to log on and download the software, used only (1) of them, received the download, opened the Acitvation key doc and there were (3) Activation Key's listed. Each worked (1) time, then poof, now none of them work. And I too have received the autoresponder (4
hours and we'll get back to you.
Geesh with all my years experience, it never occured to me to actually click on the Associates and Partner site logos to see if they clicked through. Where was my head? I was hot to download the software (Captivate 4) because it's no longer available on their site, and a client will only accept that version for the deliverable. So now I've wasted $104.00, I researched several sites and all listed $99 - $120 for it, and I figured the price was good because the version was obsolete with Captivate 5 being released.
Please fellow designers and software users, geesh, take your time, don't rush, and research it. Heck, even when I did paste their website in to search it for anything bad, nothing came up, it was only when I put in the Parent Company listed with the word complaints on the "About Us" page did these forums come up.
You'd think MS, Adobe, CNET and BBB would at least try to do a better job. I saw a news wire where MS took several business' small and large in towns all across the US to court on piracy. Well, why not have your guru's research the online one's and all the software big wigs form a task force to get em all on a regular basis. Geesh, really? Do we have to do all the dirty work? Maybe they'd do a bit of it on their own for a change. Seems all companies want now is for the general public to inform them when there's an issue and if they have the time and the end result payoff is enough for them, they'll put a bit of effort into it to stop the fraud on the general american and international public.
So now I sit here with a deliverable due and non working software.
Don't get caught up in the same 'ole scam I find myself in. Research, research, research, LOL.
I just had a thought, hmmmmm, wonder if that 2nd User ID and password will let me get 3 more Activation keys? LOL, I did notice when it let me in on one of the keys, if I didn't close my software I could keep closing docs and reopening them and others and it didn't log me out or ask for another key. hmmmmmmm..... interesting, worth a try at this point. I'll write an update on how that goes.
M.