Hello,
A few months ago I purchased some Nikon camera software from a website (non-eBay) claiming to be a legitimate reseller of Nikon products. I received a product code for this purchase together with download instructions and at first all appeared to be in order.
However, recently I reinstalled the software on a new PC and when I did this I received a message saying the product key was invalid. Nikon USA then informed me that the Key I had received was a pirated code and had been disabled, so that I could no longer use the product I had paid for.
I confronted the seller with this and they said bizarrely that I needed a new keycode for a re-install. I passed this onto Nikon USA and they told me that a new code shouldn't be required for this but that the second code was also pirated and invalid. Nikon USA then clarified that the website in question was NOT a legitmate seller of their software - either in the USA or elsewhere - and so could only be selling unauthorised pirate versions.
I then did some research on the intermet and found that many other people had been the victim of this fraudulent merchant.. What's worse - the information was that the company had originally accepted Credit Cards as payment but after many complaints, the Credit Card issuers ceased doing business with the company and so it switched to PayPal for accepting payments. Amazingly, it is still doing (fraudulent) business - using PayPal as a mechanism to defraud innocent people.
I paid $269.90 for software which I can no longer use and which is illegal.
When I tried to get my money back via PayPal I could only find the option of 'Dispute Resolution'. When I entered my details, the automatic PayPal form said that my claim could not be entered because it was beyond the 45-day Dispute Resoltion Period - my software appeared to work ok for the first 3 months until I reinstalled it.
I contacted the seller and demanded a refund for having been sold pirated software. At first they denied this, but when I replied with evidence from Nikon USA and others of their fraudulent activities. They have not replied to any subsequent emails.
I contacted PayPal AUP Violations to inform them of this criminal activity and the response I received was:
"As much as I would like to forward this to the relevant department, I am not able to do so"
So I am $269.90 down, with a PayPal system that won't help me and a fraudulent vendor that ignores me while continuing to defraud other innocent victims.
PayPal do not appear to be concerned that their site is being used to profit from selling stolen merchandise. Actually, I'm not sure whether they care or not because so far I have not managed to contact a human being.
Please tell me - is there anything I can do to get my money back?
Thank you for your patience.
T Harrell
PS: I am happy to supply further details as required.
