Bought pirate software, what to do?

[WhiskeyPapa]

I purchased some software on eBay, Quicken 2004 Home and Business. I received what I am almost certain is a pirate copy. My first clue is that the printing on the CD feels tacky, not smooth. The image also looks sort of fuzzy, like it was scanned, then printed. Roxio CD Creator says it's not a recordable CD, but it still looks fishy. Also, the documents included with the CD look like the were simply duplicated onto cardstock from a color copier. Again, the text is fuzzy like it was copied.

What should I do? Demand my money back? Send it to Intuit? Forget about it?

If I wanted a pirate copy, I could have downloaded it for free.

Unfortunately, I used my "real" 100% feedback account to buy it, not my "throwaway" eBay account I sometimes use. I really hate to risk getting negative feedback.

[DarkFury]

How did you pay for your purchase? If by credit card, you can probably fight to get your money back on this (then you can report the seller to the various enforcement agencies)

BTW... when you bought it for the "rediculously low price of..." on Ebay, did you go and look at the feedback ratings of the seller? Usually you can get a clue as to whether or not they are selling the "real deal" versus fakes here.

Did they make any claims as to the item being "real"?

[ray]

To avoid tarnishing your 100% feedback, I would avoid leaving the seller negative comments.

You can check to see if your registration # is a pirated key:

http://www.intuit.com/piracy/registration.html

To report piracy to Intuit, you can go here:

http://www.intuit.com/piracy/report.html

[WhiskeyPapa]

I paid with PayPal, and the seller had 100% feedback (40+ positives), including several positive comments for the same software. I now see that he registered only 3 weeks ago. I'm guessing he sells for a while, gets a few negs for pirate software, then signs up under a new name.

The ad says it's "BRAND NEW and sealed Never installed" and "Full Retail Version", but is shipped without the box.

The price was not out of line with other similar software. I should have known better, but honestly, I didn't think people were so bold about selling pirate software.

[DarkFury]

Yeah... Ebay is the "Wild Wild West" of the Internet...

You just gotta be careful... :D

[WhiskeyPapa]

I filled out the report form at Intuit's web site. I'm not going to bother asking for my money back, since all this guy does on eBay is sell pirate software. I really doubt he's going to say "So sorry, here's your money back..."

Still trying to decide if I should leave a neg... I'll probably report it to eBay so they'll pull him off.

[johnnymk]

I once got a pirated copy of AutoCad from half.com. When I received it, it was a copy on a Circuit City CD. So I Emailed the guy. He stated "Don't you know what the real thing costs?"
I Emailed his response to half.com and eventually my money was refunded.

[DarkFury]

I filled out the report form at Intuit's web site. I'm not going to bother asking for my money back, since all this guy does on eBay is sell pirate software. I really doubt he's going to say "So sorry, here's your money back..."

Still trying to decide if I should leave a neg... I'll probably report it to eBay so they'll pull him off.
When I said "ask for your money back"... I was talkin' about from your Credit card company and PayPal... not directly from the seller (although he will get hit with it when PayPal takes back the funds from his account should they agree with your dispute.

You can file a buyer dispute claim with PayPal citing "fraudulent software" as the reason for the dispute, but you have to file it within 30 days of the auction close... so the clock is now ticking.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

Report it to ebay... Call quicken and see if its a real one....