Dealing with cd-key thieves

R

robbed

Guest
How to cope with apparent fraud related to a CD-key that may have been compromised in the original packaging?

I received a copy of Half-Life 2 as a Christmas gift that seemed to be an original, intact copy of the game. Had a lot of projects going on at home and did not get a chance to install untiil last night.

Upon installing the game, it went to Steam and asked for me to enter the CD key... did... It connected to the server and cogitated around for about a minute before coming back with a message indicating that my CD-key had already been used and was "therefore, invalid". (Trite...)

Lots of searching around the Steam site seems to basically indicate that I'm nothing but screwed. I've tried to make contact with customer support with no response. (I imagine they don't give a lot of time to concerns that they see as probable piracy)

Some things I would like to know...

1. How can I make the bastard who somehow connived the CD-key from my packaging pay the price for their crime?

2. If the game manufacture and distributor cannot control the potential tampering with the packaging, isn't such an overzealous means of copy protection fundamentally flawed? It very much leaves the general consumer at risk of simply being out $55+ without recourse. It seems very wrong. It's not possible to know in advance if a particular copy of the game has been compromised.

This episode ruined the final days of my first vacation in a few years.

This is not a case of piracy... I was given the game by my sister and brother-in-law, who already had their own copy of the game. My sister bought the copy the day before Christmas and insists that it was not tampered with before being given to me. To me that leaves only the possibilities of some kind of error at Valve in generating a duplicate CD-key, or tampering with the product box by somebody.

Somehow I don't expect to get reasonable customer support from Sierra/Valve on this because they simply won't believe my situation. But at the least, it would be better if they could remove the game from the thief. Personally, I would like to prosecute them for fraud. But I feel that Valve and Sierra share some responsibility for the situation, as they allowed a situation where my sister was sold a useless pile of plastic for $55+.

In my anger over having my activities (and lack thereof) determined by a thief, I went out today and purchased another copy of the game. However, I haven't broken the seal on it and I'm starting to have second thoughts. This doesn't feel right. I suppose if I were a thief, I could do a similar thing and appropriate the code from the box and carefully seal and return the damn thing. But I'm not a thief.

You can't convince me that this situation is reasonable.
 
First, contact steam and valve. If they don't answer you after a few days you can contact services such as the "MAXIMUM PC" watchdog that have a little more control over other companies when it comes to getting support. I don't think you should have bought another copy. Just make sure you have a proof of purchase and you should be able to get a serial code, or your money back.
 
That really does suck, but think about it. Don't go blaming Valve for something some moron did with the copy of HL2 you happened to recieve. I'm sure Valve has a lot of people with problems just like yours, so patience may help. Also, is it not possible that you can return the messed up copy?
 
Pretty certain refund is impossible because the package has "now" been opened.
 
I don't know, because that has happened to people I know, and I don't really want it to happen to me. :(
 
robbed said:
Pretty certain refund is impossible because the package has "now" been opened.
Click to expand...
It depends on where it was purchased. Some stores will refund you if you claim that it does not work. They should provide you with a new copy. If they don't then you are pretty much screwed... :|
 
Also I suppose if I were dishonest I could reseal the box and pretend it were never opened. But that just screws somebody else in exactly the same way.
 
heh... thanks for the support. I have a an extremely short fuse on injustice, especially related to thievery, and my soul's hurting. Want to play HL2 tonight but can only do so by wasting money on the injustice. Yuck.
 
Robbed you're being too nice/shy about it all. You have to get up all in their face about it. Send angry emails, call, just act angry overall without losing youe cool. People don't respect you unless you make yourself seeme determined. My mom can get a refund for anything, even if I purposefully put lighterfluid on it and set it on fire, she just gets all up in their koolaid and voila! You need to do the same.
 
Don't let your soul hurt, hurt the soul who stole your CD Key. :farmer:
 
Where did your sister get the game? I've had stores take back opened software from me. You just have to be very courteous and explain your situation. Saying things like "I know you don't normaly do this" doesn't hurt either.

Story in point: I got Internet set up at my new apartment. I boot it up and get online to go get some free (legal) anti-virus software, and apparently in the first 5 minutes of my computer being on teh intarnet, I get a virus. My service gets disonnected. I call and they explain that their system can detect trojans and worms and such on individual cable modems and then shuts down service for that modem when it's detected. The guy on the phone explains that they won't turn it on until I can tell them that I've got Anti-virus and firewall running. So I go to Target (only place open this late) and grab a box that says "Norton Antivirus" and one that says "Norton Internet Security". I take it home, open the boxes, and realize that Norton Anti-Virus is included in Internet Security. DUHR. So I went back, explained myself thoughtfully and got my refund.

My point is, I'm sure that if your sister had her receipt and went to whatever retailer she got the game from she could explain what happened. Be sure and tell them though that that particular game won't work for anyone else who buys it, and that they basically need to destroy the game. I suppose you might be able to get Valve to contact whoever is using "your" CD-key, then they could ask each of you to mail/e-mail them a copy of the receipt or a photograph of the little slip-case with the CD-Key on it. Then all you'd have to worry about is how good of a Photoshopper the little criminal is. In any event, good luck!
 
TheSomeone said:
...she just gets all up in their koolaid and voila! You need to do the same.
Click to expand...

HAHAAHAH

I used to know this girl in Jr. High who would say to people:

"Stay out mah koolaid when you don't even know the flavah!!"
(said with sassy snapping and neck-movements)
 
How did you get a virus within five minutes? If I am correct you have to download it, what were you doing?
 
I don't know yet where she got it...

Can this possibly be as rare as it seems? I've been searching all day on the Internet for anecdotal stories and I find none. Angry thieves who have been cut off, but I could not find one story from a legitimate customer that seems parallel. Weird...
 
Wow, way more rare than I thought...I figured this was just like every other game, pirated instantly.
 
You know, probably someone returned that CD in the first place.
 
Rob, maybe the criminal never touched your copy of the game. Ive heard of some stories of people using a key generator to randomly guess a working key.

Have you checked the www.steampowered.com ? I believe there is a sticky on there about CD-key issues
 
Invalid CD Key = Damaged goods. Get a refund. Tell them the product is faulty because the activation key is invalid.
 
You could either pay the $10 fee to have a new key (damn you VU!) or return it and buy of Steam, which is better in every way unless you desperately want a manual/box/printed CDs.
 
Ask Valve what to do. They're the ones who can tell you whether to return it to the store, send it in to them, or whatever.
 
just demand that your retailer give you your money back or exchange it, they have sold you a product that does not work. you WILL at least get another copy, it's the law.
 
simply ..go the store explain !!
I had the same , and I the owner of a new copy now =]!
:afro:
 
you have my fullest support man...i'm 100% against piracy.

and if i were you and have $$, i would hire a lawyer or some P.I to track down the thief.

this is how it should be done...well tts if ur extreme
 
Where did you get the game at? I remember i bought battlefield 1942 from Walmart. I'm all excited, i get home install it and when i connect to a server it won't let me saying invalid cdkey. I promptly go right back to walmart and explain that someone must have bought this game, opened it up to get the cd key and then returned it. The person simply let do a straight trade. This time i took a box in the back and it worked like a charm.


Edit:

Now that i think of it. I think that i had the same thing with Unreal Tournament 2004 (amazing game). I bought this one at EB games. I brought it back and explained my situation, and yep, no problem, i could just grab a new game from the shelf.
 
robbed said:
In my anger over having my activities (and lack thereof) determined by a thief, I went out today and purchased another copy of the game.
Click to expand...

Why didn't you just get the receipt from your sister and swap it for another copy?
 
robbed,
are you sure you didn't enter the wrong CD key? I am NOT calling you an idiot, just make sure you double check. Those things happen.

In order to prove to Valve that you have a legit copy of the game, you might want to take pictures of the discs, receipts, etc...

If that doesn't work, do this. Go to your local courthouse, file a lawsuit for $75 (cost of the game + court costs), explain in that lawsuit what you explained here, and wait. Hopefully Valve will send you a check for $75, since it is highly unlikely that they will pay a lawyer to defend that case.

Good luck.
 
this reminds me.....at a pcworld near where i live they had all the hl2 boxes out on display with no cds in the box and they thought they were safe. dumbasses didnt relise that the case has the cd key printed inside it which someone can take and just type into steam under the 'register a game i own' section and get the game for free
 
Stores do not give refunds on opened software. They DO replace defective items. I suggest you take the game to the store and get a replacement. It will be helpful to get the reciept from the gift giver.
 
robbed said:
How to cope with apparent fraud related to a CD-key that may have been compromised in the original packaging?

I received a copy of Half-Life 2 as a Christmas gift that seemed to be an original, intact copy of the game. Had a lot of projects going on at home and did not get a chance to install untiil last night.

Upon installing the game, it went to Steam and asked for me to enter the CD key... did... It connected to the server and cogitated around for about a minute before coming back with a message indicating that my CD-key had already been used and was "therefore, invalid". (Trite...)

Lots of searching around the Steam site seems to basically indicate that I'm nothing but screwed. I've tried to make contact with customer support with no response. (I imagine they don't give a lot of time to concerns that they see as probable piracy)

Some things I would like to know...

1. How can I make the bastard who somehow connived the CD-key from my packaging pay the price for their crime?

2. If the game manufacture and distributor cannot control the potential tampering with the packaging, isn't such an overzealous means of copy protection fundamentally flawed? It very much leaves the general consumer at risk of simply being out $55+ without recourse. It seems very wrong. It's not possible to know in advance if a particular copy of the game has been compromised.

This episode ruined the final days of my first vacation in a few years.

This is not a case of piracy... I was given the game by my sister and brother-in-law, who already had their own copy of the game. My sister bought the copy the day before Christmas and insists that it was not tampered with before being given to me. To me that leaves only the possibilities of some kind of error at Valve in generating a duplicate CD-key, or tampering with the product box by somebody.

Somehow I don't expect to get reasonable customer support from Sierra/Valve on this because they simply won't believe my situation. But at the least, it would be better if they could remove the game from the thief. Personally, I would like to prosecute them for fraud. But I feel that Valve and Sierra share some responsibility for the situation, as they allowed a situation where my sister was sold a useless pile of plastic for $55+.

In my anger over having my activities (and lack thereof) determined by a thief, I went out today and purchased another copy of the game. However, I haven't broken the seal on it and I'm starting to have second thoughts. This doesn't feel right. I suppose if I were a thief, I could do a similar thing and appropriate the code from the box and carefully seal and return the damn thing. But I'm not a thief.

You can't convince me that this situation is reasonable.
Click to expand...

you must have goten a used one! (valve should have put DO NOT REFUND PRODUCT on it or something) the cd-key is glued to the first account that uses it, making the used game useless
 
actually, it is the store's fault for selling your sister a returned game.
 
If they won't take it back, just go to a store with a liberal return policy and buy a new copy of the game.

Then return the old one that doesn't work.

I do this all the time with everything. I hate when you buy something that costs $$$ only to have it break in 6 months, thats BS. By then you don't have the receipt so this is the only option.

Anyway it works...

You can do it at Best Buy for example.. If they say "oh this is opened you cant return it", just tell them you bought your PC there 2 years ago, and just last week the sales guy assured you this would run on it, but it doesn't.

As a side note, I almost had the same situation as you. I had to reinstall Windows, so I had to reinstall HL2. Only I couldn't find the damn CD key anywhere! I had all the CDs but no key. Anyway I eventually found it, but if I didn't, I'd have to buy a new one and return the old one (minus the CD key), or buy a new one, use the CD key, and return it. Hey it screws the next guy, but honestly, don't be mad at the guy who stole your key, be mad at VALVe for making it the way it is. This just goes to show how much Software piracy sucks, because now it's having a very annoying effect on those of us who do pay!
 
NJspeed said:
If they won't take it back, just go to a store with a liberal return policy and buy a new copy of the game.

Then return the old one that doesn't work.

I do this all the time with everything. I hate when you buy something that costs $$$ only to have it break in 6 months, thats BS. By then you don't have the receipt so this is the only option.

Anyway it works...

You can do it at Best Buy for example.. If they say "oh this is opened you cant return it", just tell them you bought your PC there 2 years ago, and just last week the sales guy assured you this would run on it, but it doesn't.

As a side note, I almost had the same situation as you. I had to reinstall Windows, so I had to reinstall HL2. Only I couldn't find the damn CD key anywhere! I had all the CDs but no key. Anyway I eventually found it, but if I didn't, I'd have to buy a new one and return the old one (minus the CD key), or buy a new one, use the CD key, and return it. Hey it screws the next guy, but honestly, don't be mad at the guy who stole your key, be mad at VALVe for making it the way it is. This just goes to show how much Software piracy sucks, because now it's having a very annoying effect on those of us who do pay!
Click to expand...

Return policies don't apply to open software, and in some places, open computer components are subject to a 15% restocking fee.
As for yourself, you are a thief.

The guys best bet is to talk to the manager of the store where he bought the game and explain them why he thinks he has been ripped off.
 
If I were you I would get a warezed version off the net. You've given valve their money, they owe you a game. If they wont give it to you nicely, steal it off them. Dont feel bad about doing that, because after all, you're the one thats been robbed.

I hear there are several warezed versions floating around on the net.
 
Finally we're seeing the true effects of Software Piracy. The same way people think that robbing from a big chain supermarket doesn't hurt anyone - downloading games doesn't either....right? Wrong. It hurts the consumer as Publishers must include more and more intrusive methods of combating piracy.

Robbed, just take the game back to the store and explain what happened - they should be ok, although I think some stores have been warned about accepting returned copies of HL2 for this very reason.
 
I bought my copy of HL2 from Gamestation. I picked up the empty case and took it to the checkout. The guy fumbled around in a big draw. He took out a disc that was in a plastic wallet with the inlay card for the game attached with an elastic band. He just poped them into the case I handed him. I could see the cd-key sticker on the inlay card plain as day. Any employee could help himself to any cd-keys.

I think cd-keys should be like a scratch card. You scratch away the surface to reveal the key. At least then you would know if it had been used.
 
Mazing said:
I bought my copy of HL2 from Gamestation. I picked up the empty case and took it to the checkout. The guy fumbled around in a big draw. He took out a disc that was in a plastic wallet with the inlay card for the game attached with an elastic band. He just poped them into the case I handed him. I could see the cd-key sticker on the inlay card plain as day. Any employee could help himself to any cd-keys.

I think cd-keys should be like a scratch card. You scratch away the surface to reveal the key. At least then you would know if it had been used.
Click to expand...

Thats a great idea! You should send it to Gabe and see what he thinks of it!
 
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