In the last couple of years I had gotten a Cricut Expression, then a bit later there was a deal at Michael’s to buy a few cartridges and get a Free copy Design Studio via mail-in rebate.
I did everything and got an email response with my accepted rebate and all the information in that email to download and Activate the software officially.
I did that … downloaded, and had trouble with it running on my then Win XP latptop. I tried another computer, same OS, same problem. So I looked online, and found a scrapbook online dealer who had an older copy of the software on their site for dowload. I downloaded it and used my serial number for activation and it worked! (I actually wrote about it all on this blog at the time.) But I didn’t ever really use it. That was a computer that was left behind long ago.
This past Autum (2009) I was able to buy a Gypsy. I had tried to, before that, initiate support to get my Activation released so that I could install and use it fully, but I found little help in that. At one point on provocrafts site I had a support ticket open, and then another time I went back and it was all re-done, they upgraded something or something and my stuff was gone. I re-submitted and at some point after doing more and more with email I did get a response in February that they’d help me in customer support if I sent my proof of purchase & serial number to them.
I did, but never got a reponse, which is good since I did get a NEW computer again just last week. So having software that is like this is difficult, it doesn’t allow for re-installation easily. Anyhow, if I’d gotten a fulfillment then I would have maybe installed and activated, or might not have, since I wanted to, at that time, Upgrade to Win 7 and wanted to clean install, thus would have to re-install everything, so I could have had the freedom to wait, then when the opportunity to buy a new laptop came around I would have been able to get Design Studio running right now.
But no. I’m writing about it here that I’ve sent a second email to them. This time I got an automatic response email assigning me to a Support Ticket. It’s a never ending cycle. Support Ticket open, lost. Support Ticket open, ignored, finally email gotten later that it was closed, then later got email from a support person saying they’d help if I’d send this and that to them … so nothing happened when I did, I let it go. So today I tried and saw that it was a month ago that the last stuff happened, and maybe they reset my code without telling me? No, the serial number I have still doesn’t work. So I re-submitted via email, putting the “proof” in as an attachment of an email. That’s the only PROOF I have. They had better accept it or at least say something about it. I won’t be ignored.
The point of this is I hate making phone calls, and so I don’t have that as an option. It shouldn’t be so hard to get this resolved via email, for goodness sake. Just ’cause phone calls help some people get their activation available again doesn’t mean that’s the only way it can be done when it is stated in email to me that I can do it by email to support. So … I’m waiting.
The biggest beef I have about this is that it’s so hard to re-install something when you have such controls over unlocking the product like provocraft has. It’s nice to be official, but very limiting on how it works out.
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