Office 2013 deactivated

Last April (2016) I purchased Office 2013 pro from NerdsforLess and received a product key which I applied to download from MS website. A couple weeks ago this product was deactivated by MS. I could not re-apply product key either over the Internet or by phone. I talked to MS tech support who told me that MS had deactivated my Office software because the product key had been leaked and that the seller (NerdsforLess) would give me a replacement key. Bob, at NerdsforLess, denied he knew anything about the key being leaked (he actually accused me of leaking the key--yeah right, a personal, professional person is going to sell a key as opposed to a large discount reseller!) and refused to refund my purchase price or provide me with a replacement key. My question is: How can MS justify deactivating my product key when I have proof I paid for the product and there is no way to know who leaked the key? MS did not consult me on this and as far as I can tell, did not research the leaking. So how come I get screwed when I played by the rules (paying for a product and properly registering it)? Thank you for any comments.

dtopa said:

My question is: How can MS justify deactivating my product key when I have proof I paid for the product and there is no way to know who leaked the key? MS did not consult me on this and as far as I can tell, did not research the leaking. So how come I get screwed when I played by the rules (paying for a product and properly registering it)? Thank you for any comments.

Played by the rules? No you did not play by the rules. You went to a gray market site you bought a key that was way to cheap of a deal to be legitimate. No one would sale you a real license for any Microsoft software on the cheap like that. It all comes from illegitimate means. Your ignorance does not absolve you from your actions or the risk you take when you deal with gray markets.

@dtopa,

Did you get a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) with the Microsoft logo on it with the Product Key?

Yeap, I checked their web site and doesn't have any physical address, first red flag, no phones, second one. And the prices are too cheap, so surely looks like a scam.

If the price is too good to be true, it's not true.

Hmmm, I was hoping for some more practical advice (other than you got what you deserved). So, I guess let me defend my choices. The price was not ridiculously low--I paid a little less than $100 and that seems to be about what many others are selling Office 2013 for. No, I did not get a COA and I have become used to purchasing software without getting a CD (in the last year I have purchased both Quickbooks and Photoshop Elements, both from the manufacturer and both were installed from a download and a key set by email). As for the standing of Nerds4Less, I didn't know them so googled their website and did not find any warnings or claims of betrayal, etc. And bricks and mortar don't necessary guaranty anything and I think the obverse is also true. So, I gather the collective opinion is that I am SOL in trying to get MS to reactivate my Office software. Thanks peeps.

dtopa said:

Hmmm, I was hoping for some more practical advice (other than you got what you deserved).

The folks here are good people, we probably all wish that we could give you some more practical advice. I didn't want to sound judgmental, I think that happened to you stinks. But we aren't Microsoft employees, nor have any official ties to Microsoft aside from using he software ourselves. We can certainly empathize with your situation, but i don't have any suggestions for having Microsoft re-active your software.

dtopa said:

price was not ridiculously low--I paid a little less than $100 and that seems to be about what many others are selling Office 2013 for.

Above, you said that you were using Office 2013 Pro. The Pro version of the standalone version of office should be around $350 to $400 as shown here at NewEgg. The Home and Student version is usually around $125-$150. So, again if you find a place selling Office Pro for less than $100, you got a ridiculously low price and that would make most of us here raise a red flag immediately and we would say you aren't buying a legit key from a legit vendor.
Microsoft Office Professional 2016 - Download - 1PC-Newegg.com

dtopa said:

No, I did not get a COA and I have become used to purchasing software without getting a CD (in the last year I have purchased both Quickbooks and Photoshop Elements, both from the manufacturer and both were installed from a download and a key set by email).

Buying from the manufacturer is a really good way to go. You know they have a record, and you can argue with them if they ever dispute your legality since you dealt right with them. In this case, you probably didn't buy Office Pro from Microsoft because you should have found out that would have set you back nearly $400.

dtopa said:

So, I gather the collective opinion is that I am SOL in trying to get MS to reactivate my Office software. Thanks peeps.

Yes, basically. Your only recourse is with Nerds4Less. Nerds4Less took your money. They may or may not have legally obtained that license key they sold you. But it's not Microsoft's fault if they cheated you. And it's not Microsofts responsibility to reactive software that you may have been scammed for.

A good bet would be to get an Office 365 subscription. That is straight from Microsoft for $99 a year (5 installs of the Professional version) (Or $69 a year if you only need 1 copy). Considering that 1 copy of Office 2016 Pro is around $400 ,it would take you a minimum of 4 years of subscriptions at $99 to get to that point with just a single install. And you also get 1TB of OneDrive space for use on 5 different MS accounts included with that subscription. (so that's 5TB of storage space in total)

Sorry for your loss, but as an IT Manager I used to buy thousands in dollars each year in licenses and programs, and I always look for very known online stores like CDW, Newegg, etc. I even don't use Amazon for that, unless is the OEM like Microsoft who is the seller. As pparks1 mentioned Office 365 Subscription is your best bet, that's the one I use for work and for my personal computer. I don't think the store you brought the software will help you, and if they do, is gonna be another "shared" key, so it's best for you to stay away from them, report them to Microsoft, and buy an Office 365 Subscription. What ever you will do, I wish you best of luck.

Thanks pparks1 and kekinash for your sensitive responses--I can see about half of this group ;>} are caring souls--I do take responsibility for poor judgement in making this purchase and not assessing the validity quotient. To kekinash's point, when I ran my own company, I always bought from CDW, or Fry's or the manufacturer because I could not afford to have an interruption in business. Now that I am retired, I wanted MS software for the computer in my garage to use about twice a month and did not want to spend $400 for redundant software so I was looking for the cheapest deal. I know I can either live without Office on my 3rd computer or pony up. My mistake was not knowing until now how business/purchase processes have changed over 30 years. Message received, thanks for your help. Best, Dan