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Microsoft Ticks Me Off - Broken CD

jaw04005

jaw04005

macrumors 601
Original poster
Aug 19, 2003
4,589
620
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I just purchased Office 2004 for myself so I purchased the Student Edition because I'm in college. Open up the box, and the cd is cracked. First thought is to ship it back, but MacMall informed me that would not be an option, because now its considered "open". They tell me to call microsoft for a replacement cd, and kindly provide the number.

So thats what I do. I have to call a long distance number--but whatever--and they are very polite. The rep informs me that a replacement disc would cost $25.00 + $9.00 shipping + Tax. I told her that the cd was originally broken, and after speaking with her supervisor she decided to "let me have it for free" as she put it. (Yeah right, I already paid for it once) Anyways, she took down my information and said that I would receive a confirmation email. I did, and it listed my ship date (about three days from the day I called).

Well, I got another email the next day and was informed "due to increased demand" this item was backordered. That was about 4 weeks ago, I received an email this past WED that said my item had shipped, and I received the CD on SAT.

Here is the problem, the cd is not like the original installation disc. It is a generic cd, with the office logo on it and has huge letters that state, "NOT FOR RETAIL OR OEM DISTRIBUTION, NOT FOR RESALE, UNLICENSED SOFTWARE". The CD nor the installer states "Student Edition" like normal, and the CD came with ONE new product key. What the heck? This poses two problems, 1) what if for some reason I decided to sell office? I successfully sold my Office v. X cd along with the license. I tend to do that whenever the latest version of Office is released to recoup some of the upgrade costs.
2) Student Edition comes complete with three seperate product key's, that allow for 3 installations. This CD contains only one, and the product keys included with the packaging do not work with this CD. Now, I can only install Office on ONE of my computers that are networked together, legally. And if I do install it on my Powerbook, illegally, and the product keys are the same---Office will only allow one instance to be running on one of my networked computers at a time, without quitting.

So, I called Microsoft, after speaking with two reps and a supervisor they tell me this is what I'm going to get---thats what a replacement CD looks like. Hummm... Don't know what else to do! The part no for this CD does not match my Student cd that is cracked, it appears they have sent me a "retail" office 2004 replacement CD that doesn't include a license.

Josh
 
If you are in a university, I'd go looking at the university store for a "Student" edition. People were getting XP Pro (for students) for around $15 a pop. Yes, you heard me, $15. I imagine Office can't be much more, plus you actually see the physical CD in front of you if you wanna inspect it.
 
personally i would have made Macmall take the cd back, because i figured that there would be problems dealing with Microsoft, sorry about the problem, i wish things would have turned out better for you
 
Mav451 said:
If you are in a university, I'd go looking at the university store for a "Student" edition. People were getting XP Pro (for students) for around $15 a pop. Yes, you heard me, $15. I imagine Office can't be much more, plus you actually see the physical CD in front of you if you wanna inspect it.
Click to expand...

Not at my University, the bookstore does not carry software and will only give you a pamplet that says go to EDU.COM.

Some of my professors said there is no agreement between Microsoft & my university because IBM is in charge of our campus infrastructure and IBM has it running on IBM's form of Linux and not Windows Server 2003. This pissed the campus MS sales rep off, and so no deal was made to offer cheap versions of Office 2003 (WIN) or Office 2004. Go figure. Most of my MCOM professor's push OpenOffice, but OO is slow and I have problems viewing some types of documents.
 
I woulda called up the shipper (UPS or whoever) and chewed them out!

you could just blame it on them ya know ;)
 
I work at Compusa and if that had happened we would have let you exchange, we will exchange software for the exact same software if there is a problem, you need to contact macmall again and in the future use a store that can give you better support.
 
NusuniAdmin said:
I woulda called up the shipper (UPS or whoever) and chewed them out!

you could just blame it on them ya know ;)
Click to expand...

If the outside box isn't damaged, you really can't prove that the shipper caused the internal damage.
 
tomf87 said:
If the outside box isn't damaged, you really can't prove that the shipper caused the internal damage.
Click to expand...

sure ya can, just dent up the outside of the box a lil :p
 
upperblue79 said:
I work at Compusa and if that had happened we would have let you exchange, we will exchange software for the exact same software if there is a problem, you need to contact macmall again and in the future use a store that can give you better support.
Click to expand...

I talked to my "account representative" at MacMall. They are going to ship me a new one, she apologized and said I shouldn't have had to deal with Microsoft's replacement service.

It comes in a hard plastic case, haha. It would be hard to make that case look like it had been damaged in shipping, not that I would do that anyway!

So everything is good now. :) Thanks for the advice!
 
NusuniAdmin said:
sure ya can, just dent up the outside of the box a lil :p
Click to expand...

That's a very immature way of thinking. If you ordered something and received a box that was all dented up, you would have notes attached to your signature from UPS. They keep track of that stuff. So if you sign for it, and do not make note of the damage with the driver when you sign, you can be caught for fraud. Besides, you're asking that another company pay for another company's issue, which is MacMall. MacMall should be replacing the defective CD, not the delivery company.

Back on topic, why not just use your Student serials with that CD? Don't they work?

EDIT: Never mind about the serials, as it looks like you have it sorted out. Congrats!
 
My neighbor's daughter is a teacher, and when she purchased her first Mac (an iBook) she purchased the Student/Teacher version of Microsoft Office 2004 as well. We get her brand new iBook all set up, and then go to install Office. Getting the DVD case open was the easy part. First I tried to take the disc out without breaking it. I didn't break it, but I didn't get it out, either. Then she tried ... same result. We're both looking at each other in complete disbelief, wondering "are we on Candid Camera"? Finally I try one more time, pushing down (really hard) on that stupid button, pulling up on the edges of the disc, which by now is taco shaped. It finally came loose, and didn't break, but, man, what a struggle! Just out of curiosity, where was yours cracked?

Regards,
Marc

joshuawaire said:
I just purchased Office 2004 for myself so I purchased the Student Edition because I'm in college. Open up the box, and the cd is cracked. First thought is to ship it back, but MacMall informed me that would not be an option, because now its considered "open". They tell me to call microsoft for a replacement cd, and kindly provide the number.
Click to expand...
 
Mav451 said:
If you are in a university, I'd go looking at the university store for a "Student" edition. People were getting XP Pro (for students) for around $15 a pop. Yes, you heard me, $15. I imagine Office can't be much more, plus you actually see the physical CD in front of you if you wanna inspect it.
Click to expand...

You were ripped off! I got mine for $5. :)
 
lol whatever man =D. Good deals around? I'm happy. Just as long as we don't come close to the $1xx price of retail haha.
 
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