I bought a new computer and it didn’t come with Outlook in the version of Office that came with it. I live and die by my email and calendar — so I needed to find some place that I could either download it immediately — or run to the local computer shop.

A quick Google search hooked me up with www.shopnroll.com, which promised an immediate download LINK of a “Full Retail – Genuine License” version. So at 8:01AM I place my order. I should have smelled a rat, as when I checked out — it told me that I selected Paypal. I hadn’t select Paypal — and after doing a couple browser backs and re-placing the order — I found that there was no option for any payment.

OK — so I got this far — and although I didn’t like the deception of telling me that I selected something that I didn’t select — I paid for it with my personal Paypal, despite it being a company charge. I immediately get an email saying something to the effect that they have to manually approve the charge — before they will send me the serial number and the other information required by Microsoft to activate the downloaded application.

Now this really pisses me off. I’ve now paid for something I need right now, but I’m at the mercy of when they get around to it. If I’d known this, I would have bought elsewhere — as I needed it now — not (if and) when they get around to it.

At 11:47AM — still nothing, so I open a support ticket asking for my numbers to activate.

At 5:53 PM — still nothing, so I go and check my support ticket — and it has been deleted. I open another.

At 7:05PM — still nothing, so I reply to the email address on my receipt. At least they hadn’t deleted my second support ticket yet! I’ve searched the web site, and there is no contact information — you can’t even tell if they’re in the US — which I doubt.

The next day, 7.22 AM — still nothing. It has now been a full day since I was charged and I still can not activate a program I needed to have used 24 hours ago. The support ticket 494D8568 is still active, yet unanswered. The email sent to them is also not been answered.

At this point, I can only assume they’re a fraud, or at best — the worst software house I’ve ever run into for Customer service.

Please do yourself a favor and avoid this business like the plague.

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Update:

60 hours later and still no answer. I’ve complained to Paypal and to Microsoft — and not been answered by either of them either. I’ve send over a dozen emails and service ticket replies to ShopNRoll and not received an answer.

I did a Google search and found that to be very disturbing. My search on “Shopnroll + paypal” and “ShopNroll + Fraud” tells me that I’m not the only one to get suckered. These searches appear to indicate that ShopnRoll and Shoparhive are from India and the bogus downloads without the key comes from Digital Zone and/or Digital River. Further reading tells me that the reason they don’t take credit card and only accept Paypal is because they been dropped from every credit card processor they ever used for non-compliance of terms — whatever that means! The link below is from the ShopNRoll site as an answer to why they only accept Paypal:

http://shopnroll.com/help_center/article/008/12/i_don_t_want_to_use_paypal_i_would_like_to_use_my_credit_card_directly/

Further — I read complain after complaint where Paypal is a participant in the scam — in as much as that you have no recourse  from Paypal if it wasn’t used on an auction. While at the moment Paypal hasn’t answered my complaint — but I read a dozen copies of emails sent back to customers where they tell the customer is beat because it wasn’t an eBay auction.

UNLESS YOU KNOW THE PERSON PERSONALLY AND TRUST THEM — NEVER USE PAYPAL TO PAY FOR AN ITEM THAT ISN’T EBAY. IT APPEARS THAT THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT BEING A TOOL FOR FRAUD.

Well I learned my lesson about buying downloadable software that is advertised as being “Genuine” and Full Retail Version”. Cost me $50 and a couple of days. I hope posting this causes thousands from avoiding ShopNRoll, Shoperhive, Digital River, and Digital Zone for anything.  I also hope that whenever you run into someone that will only accept Paypal and not any other form of payment — that you should be smelling rat.

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Epilogue:

After sending emails every hour, reporting to Microsoft as selling pirated software, giving them a link to this site, and reporting to Paypal as a fraud — they refunded my money 2.5 days after my purchase. I was lucky enough to get my money refunded (but wasted a lot of time in the process) — but don’t count on being so lucky. ShopNRoll is a fraud!

Earthlink

This is the absolute worst experience of any business I have dealt with. These people are truly evil!

I have used Earthlink for two years now and have been on their unlimited ISDN plan for a year. Every month I am billed $29.95. This month I get my American Express Statement and see that I am billed $1,909.75. That is 64 times the plan I had agreed to. I feel like I am about have a stroke and call their customer service to find out what the problem is. A recording informs me the wait is 52 minutes. It winds up being 74 minutes before Shamika answers the phone. I tell her that there must be a mistake because I have Unlimited ISDN. She tells me they do not offer Unlimited ISDN. I tell that they did — and how can she explain my bill, which has always been $29.95 — now $1,909.75. She says I must be using it more — and then hangs up on me. My blood pressure goes to 400 over 400.

I call back and wait 51 minutes until Oleander gets on the phone. He appears to be a nice person — but does not have a clue. Gives me an incident number of 31056209. Finally, he puts his supervisor on the phone — a person by the name of Thomas Montgomery. This person tells me that they switched everyone off Unlimited in August and not only do I owe the $1,909.75 for August 23rd to September 23rd — but that from September 23rd until October 4th I owe another thousand. He was actually taunting me. I asked if he was really enjoying this and he said its business. I asked how he felt they could get away with that and he said that they sent me an email. I said I never got one — and he calls me a liar. I start to get a little angry and he starts laughing and then hangs up.

I called my attorney in the morning. She said there is no way they could do that, that I must have not spoken to the right people, and that she would call and get it cleared up so we would not have to sue them. After two hours of calling around and trying to get this clear up — someone told her that her call was not going to get her anywhere and then hung up on her. Now she is the most mildly mannered person I know. I have never known her to speak too much above a whisper.

It is obvious that we will have to sue these suckers to get this fixed, as all I have seen on the Internet is horror stories. I have never in my life sued — but I would love to be the lead member in a Class Action on this one!

You must email this page to anyone you know who is using or intends to use Earthlink.net

Do not forget to check out Earthlinksux.net where a former DSL tech tells of how they read your email and track where you are going on the Internet!

Update: Despite spending over $1 million dollars in the last two years on my American Express — they appear to not be willing to back me up on this. It appears that I will have to file my first lawsuit ever. I have always been proud of the fact that I have resolved all previous issues with companies without depending on our Judicial system!

Update to the Update. Earthlink sent American Express some mumble-jumble that did nothing to address the dispute. American Express in their Infinite wisdom (my companies have spent over $2,000,000 in the last two years on American Express)  had their Vice President write me to say that they’d eat the $2,000+ I was over-charge. Bonus points for Amex — but doesn’t excuse the actions of Earthlink. My guess is that this page will cost them many times the $2,000 they screwed me out of.

RUN, DO NOT WALK, AWAY FROM EARTHLINK BEFORE THEY CHANGE YOUR PLAN AND CHARGE YOU 64 TIMES WHAT YOU AGREED TO.