IAMA guy who just bought 2,000 Diablo 2 cd-keys. AMA.
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Posted Nov 29, 2009, 11:03 PM UTC · edited
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How are you going to find buyers before 2035?
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If this tragedy happens, let me know and I'll take one off your hands - I can't pay you for it, but you can rest a little easier knowing you've made a redditor happy!
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So if you get a key, can you register it to your battle.net account and download it from the blizzard site?
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You can let me know if you have any more to get rid off :)
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Hmm. Did you just give him the D2 key? Or an expansion one, too? Because if you have an extra expansion key, I'd love to take it. Lost my copy of LoD a while back and only have my original D2 key linked with my Battle.net account...
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I might just have to buy one off of you. I'm a Diablo virgin (gasp!) and have heard glorious things about it.
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how much took did it take?
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I don't know why but this has be laughing hysterically.
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Be too.
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be three
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Before.
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wat?
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I wanted to provide some candid feedback on my experiences with the OP, and the service he is marketing here. I think it is VERY important that everyone have a look and make an informed decision.
After coming across the thread and reading a couple of dozen enthusiastic and supportive messages, I got Diablo II nostalgia and decided to satisfy it, after all what's $5, right?
Going through his website, and paying through PayPal was quick and painless enough. However when it came to receiving the CD keys, it took him over half a day.
What I received was one working key and one "used" one. Since you can't use LOD without the Classic key, and it was the Classic that was pre-registered both were useless until he could send me a working one.
I emailed immediately, and received a canned response. "Patience," I thought "this guy is just setting up his site." After nearly 24 hours I emailed again. No response. I PMed him through Reddit, no response.
Finally (after several more hours) it was PayPal Resolution center time. THAT got an immediate response! But instead of being apologetic, he was demanding. "No help before removing your claim on PayPal!" A little backwards, no?
I insisted and he eventually sent me another pair of keys with a note about "I'll probably get fired for this." Neither of the keys worked and he did not return any more emails. By this point the excellent article posted here was posted by someone, and it rung pretty damn true:
r-squared.blogspot.com/2009/10/exposing-two-bit-scammer.html
I didn't need much more convincing that this was a scam.
I elevated my complaint on PayPal higher based on this revelation.
I was denied IMMEDIATELY.
Why? Well because this scammer piece of shit knew what he was doing. PayPal does not provide protection on non-physical good (no tracking code). PayPal also does not provide protection for things bought outside of eBay (because they cannot go back in time and see if the seller had for some reason changed the description of the goods on the site, etc.) Hating on PayPal is another topic for another day, but suffice it to say that this guy is positioned to take your $5, thankyouverymuch!
THIS is why it is VERY IMPORTANT for ANYONE who's getting the run-around from this SCAMMER to dispute the PAYPAL charge IMMEDIATELY.
If the see a pattern of abuse they then MAY choose to act. It is pretty lame, but it is better than nothing. And this bottom-feeding scumbag does not deserve even a penny from anyone on this site.
Think about how he violated the trust of the Reddit community. THIS is a way to defend IAMA from spam and scammers.
$5 isn't the issue for me personally and I doubt it is for most of you. But this scam works because most people are willing to say "fuck it, it's only $5".
PLEASE PLEASE spend five minutes on PayPal to at least try to put this piece of shit in his place.
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After reading this site http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/2009/10/exposing-two-bit-scammer.html, all I have to say to this d2keys scammer is FUCK YOU, you piece of shit scumbag. You're a disgrace to all us Canadians. Seriously, go fuck yourself.
Originally I was thinking of buying some of your keys, but thankfully procastination did me a favour for once.
Threatening children and attempting extortion? You either belong six feet under or behind bars.
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I'm sorry he got your money. I filed immediately for a claim and got mine back. The email he's posting below is infact my email I'm one of the few people that got my money back fast enough so he could only react with threats. I like how he thinks my emails prodding for the fake legal threats are you. My email is practically the same as my reddit username. Call paypal up MegaLowMan, don't even let him get $5. I got mine back just ask them to check the email for other disputes.
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Look at how much time this guy has wasted. All of these people having to send multiple e-mails because he can't give them what they paid for. Much worse than the $5 is all of the wasted time chasing down this scammer.
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Do you know if it's possible to dispute the transaction if I wasn't logged in at the time I paid?
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Definitely. If you paid with your credit card and not an existing PayPal balance (as I did) you should call your credit card company and contest the charge.
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The problem with that though is if the transaction still went via Paypal the chargeback will go to Paypal, and you could risk getting your Paypal account suspended.
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Like LicanElite mentioned, you got us confused. But your reply and language certainly do reveal the true nature of character.
A scammer and a thief. You manipulated the inherent trusting nature of IAMA for your little scam.
I wish that there were harsher recourse available to me (and others in this forum) for your fraud, but I guess ridicule and getting caught on your lie will have to suffice for the time being.
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I haven't read about a single one of these 372 people. I think one of them would post an IAMA by now. You're kinda transparent. And your original post (the scam), now that I read it, shows your attempt to be someone you're not.
my friend, who is also american
alllriiigghhhtt... thanks for the heads up; you're american. Awesome! Why would you tell us?
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If you nuke my legitimate key, I'm going to fucking murder you. I can't play Dungeon Siege 2 because somebody got my legitimate key banned. Don't fucking do that.
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Good. I like that game.
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Ok.. so if they are legit, and from a factory sealed box, why are they scattered in excel, word and html pages? (mentioned in an earlier reply). Sounds fishy.
Good luck though! I havn't played for a couple years, you've got me thinking about it again dammit.
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Do you do Reddit discount?
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You might single handedly bring back this game btw ;)
And please do a reddit promotion!
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with blizzard you can mail your old cd case + key and they will issue you a new one.
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Well, start posting them.
EDIT: So he's not giving them away, but just bragging about it? Fuck.
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Are you posting this because you are trying to sell them?
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Damn. Because I was just looking to buy 2000 diable 2 cd-keys asap. I would have paid any price. ANY price...
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GOTCHA!
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How much for one?
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You should advertise that these are LEGIT keys and if you register them with battle.net you can then download the game legally.
Blizzard made it available awhile back, if you have a legit key you can submit it to their website, register it to your account and it gives you access to downloading the digital version, completely legit.
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Holy crap, I didn't know that! Now I just need to find my cd key... or perhaps even buy a new one :)
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That's what I like about Steam too. Managed to find my old Blue Shift CD, reg'd it, and got a bunch of games. I like that Blizzard is doing the same (my LoD disc is a bit worn by now).
What I don't like is I also have several other games that the CDs are FUCKED, and I don't have much recourse even with the keys.
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That's why I made ISOs of my games. Saved to hdd and DVDs.
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This is exactly what I'm doing since I lost the discs and key a long time ago.
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Free SOJ?!?
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I can't give you one for free, but if you let me borrow yours, I can dupe it for you.
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My inventory is filled with stamina potions. Lets do this!!!
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Ok, now put on this vendor gear and pick up your corpse.
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Ok, thanks so much for doing this.
Wait, what the fuck? My gear!!! Prepare yourself for some any whispers.
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so i can sell shit in the AMA? And i get a pretty star just for proving that i'm selling shit? And you wont ban me for spamming AMA? I love this place!
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This doesn't seem to be spam per se. This guy is answering questions, and has not once asked people to buy. He even gave one (maybe more?) away for free.
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On the one hand, that just demonstrates what a good marketing venture this is.
On the other, I don't think anybody who's not obsessively selfrighteous cares.
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really? He's giving a few away to get people interested. Is this your first time viewing spam?
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Someone asked him how much, and he answered. This is an AMA after all.
What I meant was that he isn't making any unsolicited sales pitches. Unsolicited is the essence of spam.
I'll hold off on my spam judgment for a while. If he reposts this in a week, I'll consider it spam.
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What I meant was that he isn't making any unsolicited sales pitches. Unsolicited is the essence of spam.
If you find that someone had an open request for someone to describe a ton of <random software keys> that they are selling, then I'd agree that this is solicited.
Otherwise, it's unsolicited.
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so the link in his post doesn't point to a site where you can buy it? If it looks like spam, and smells like spam, its spam.
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all day copy/pasting? why didn't you use a script?
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That is exactly what came to mind when I read AndBack's post.
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Haha yeah 208 always gets me!
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And now you have 2 problems. Also, my name is amusingly similar to yours.
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I ordered mine about 3 hours ago, and sent a support email 2.5 hours ago. Nothing as of yet. I'll edit this if that changes. The more I think about it, all this would have taken is 10-20 keys for some legit I-got-working-keys comments, with the 100+ additional sales being gravy. Owell just $5.
edit: Got two keys, for classic and lod. Each of them returned:
The authentication key you entered has already been claimed. Each authentication key can only be redeemed once. Please refer to your games section of the home page to review the keys attached to this Battle.net account. If you're sure you have not previously claimed this key, please double-check the spelling and enter it now.
Emailed support with the info and asked for new keys.
edit: That email was almost a full day ago. No reply aside from the reddit response you see below. I'm prepared to say it's a scam, myself, now. I was trying to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Hey, diablokey guy: You're a dick.
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Just an update, he's not allowing any refunds for "security purposes"
EDIT: Looks like this same guy is also running http://www.diablo-keys.com/ where he has sold "over 5000 keys." This is obviously a scam.
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I'm surprised people are still buying from this guy. There a quite a lot of people saying the same thing, all he has for them is excuses. Only a few people have said they received theirs, but I'm not sure those people aren't his alt accounts.
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Indeed... well $4.95 is the sweet spot, I guess. :) Since I figured it was a 50/50 prop going in, I almost don't mind.
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Me either. Been almost 24 hours. My gmail is Moptop650.
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I'll give it until the end of tonight, if i don't get replacement keys, i'm filing a dispute.
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you haven't even responded to me..
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I have not yet received my replacement key either. However, support contacted me this morning 5 minutes after midnight. But I have yet to get a replacement as requested.
EDIT: Support got back to me and gave me a working key now.
Very happy customer again!
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I have yet to receive my key.
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I call BS. I've been waiting for a Classic key for over a day...
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I ordered a pair of keys last night. They were delivered, however they did not work when I went to claim them. I've sent a few emails to support but have heard nothing.
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not to be a douche, but if not too many people are having problems with it why is it taking so long to answer the emails and get new keys sent out? I ordered 2 and only received one..and that key was already claimed... :( I've emailed you twice and will edit my posts when/if I receive working keys
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I did. You posted this four hours ago, but my second email requesting new keys was sent 13 hours ago, at 11:08 pst, and still has no response. My hotmail addy is 'doubleplus76.' As I mentioned before, I'll gladly update my above post when and if everything comes through as legit (if a little drawn out and disorganized). Thanks for replying here though.
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How long after an order is paid should the keys be sent out?
I ask because I ordered two sets, and it's been half an hour. Perhaps the site shouldn't claim we'll get 'instant delivery'? Or are they coming at all?
Edit: It's been 2 hours (since he said he'd send them out manually in 30 minutes), and I haven't seen anything in my email yet. I'll post back here if I ever get keys, but until then DO NOT BUY.
Edit2: It's been 4 hours now, and I did receive two keys in my email (though I ordered 4). Both of them were already registered: "The authentication key you entered has already been claimed." Either he got ripped off or he's scamming, since he claimed to have checked all these.
Edit3: After a couple emails, he sent me 4 working keys. His explanation for the problem was that "I had a FLOOD of orders, some keys were sent twice as the database wouldn't update properly, etc. It's a mess!" This seems possible to me, since he was doing it manually. I'm not confident he's on the up-and-up, but I'm satisfied.
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Oh, so "our powerful script" doesn't exist yet? It's kind of unsettling that the payment confirmation page button redirects to a 404, but as long as you send it, manually or otherwise, it's good.
EDIT 1: I've got the keys now, but just like for nevinera, they don't work. I've sent a request to have them replaced, will post an update how it goes.
EDIT 2: 20h elapsed, still no reply.
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He hasn't yet, and it's been a few hours. I'll edit into my first post if he ever does.
Edit: legit and working keys received.
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Hopefully. It'd be pretty disappointing if it turned out to be some silly way to scam.
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aah. this explains why i haven't received mine yet also. ah well, i can wait til tomorrow.
edit: I've received keys but they don't work. battle.net says they've already been used :(
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I used to have 10 from my botting days. I am friends with the guys who still write most of the bots/progs for D2... I still spend way too much of my time in my D2 IRC chat. Good luck selling them; there is a new patch being released soon. Cross your fingers for a ban wave :)
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There's been a new patch being released soon for the last year, same shit.
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I know haha, ive been checking it for a while. If a patch is released ill replay dII
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Why would they ban people? Sorry, I'm not very tech-savvy, but used to play D2 a lot; back in my day the worst thing that happened was "duping" of items (which I never actually saw happen). Are these still the problems or what?
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b.net is full of bots doing diablo/baal runs in hell. As far as I can tell they are farming items to be sold online for real world gold. :O
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Fair enough- is in-game gold still worthless, or has it become worth something like in WoW?
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Utterly worthless. Runes are current currency.
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How did you check them to see if they worked?
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Not true, unfortunately. I bought a keyset from some chinese site (my stupidity, I admit) only to find out they had also sold it to someone else. I registered the keys on the battle.net site and one day got a message saying my key was in use. Paypal denied my claim too, fuckers.
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How did you test them if you don't have them all in a database yet? Why did some not work if they were brand new?
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Not sure if D2 had this problem, but when my D1 key was voided because someone had ripped off my key, I just started typing in numbers and letters. It took a little while, but I finally happened upon a combination that was still valid, effectively voiding that key for the poor schmuck who bought that disc and tried to get on Bnet later on. Unless Blizzard found some way to fix this phenomenon, I am betting this is what happened to your 17 dead keys.
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What did you pay total for the keys? How can you be sure your 'friend' won't sell them to someone else too? How do you plan to market them?
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So you paid 6x higher than the next highest bidder?!
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Seriously. Should have anchored at $800 and gone up from there. Negotiations 101 man.
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Creepy++;
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I think it's a great idea, actually. Just er.. not with your sister. o_0
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Wat
FTFY
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Thanks for the reply. Have you considered you might not actually have the right to distribute the game itself? Just because you purchased CD keys does not instantly give you the right to e-distribution of the whole package.
I'm not saying that to be a copyright wagging bag of dicks, I'm just saying, its business so that might be something to consider.
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EULA among other things. But I was talking about the game client itself.
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What he is doing here is essentially the same thing as GameStop reselling the game. He's not distributing the client, nor is he claiming to be Blizzard, or affiliated with them.
I'm pretty sure that's he's in the legal clear.
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How much money do you think you'll make from this?
How much are you selling each key for?
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I would suggest starting higher especially if they're real. To much of a discount can make buyers wary about the legitimacy of your product. You will also have more room to bargain.
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Hm, keep me in mind, I think I'd like one sometime. just need to get some cash in the paypal account.
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Do you know nothing about selling D2 keys? The average sale price on a (pair) of keys is $4.
Edit: Anyone downmodding me is free to attempt to explain the game mechanics to this guy, if I'm wrong - downvote, but since I guarantee I'm not - don't waste your time.
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IMHO there's no need for books. Pay 300 bucks to a freelance developer to make an fancy site for you, and then just spam around.
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I didn't notice the website when I made the comment. Then I read something about a website around the thread and looked for the link.
To be honest I think this is one of the cases were the crapiness of the site adds a factor of "This is not a scam", so it's ok. And you deliver the keys with a script, which is wonderful :)
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How the hell did you score a good domain?
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What's your plan if someone claims one doesn't work, is muted, or already in use, then slams your business publicly because of it?
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If I wind up with four keys that work, I'll go back and change all my posts to the contrary.
Edit: keys received!
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Any reddit discounts? =)
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Considering as he's selling them for about $2.10, I don't think a discount is necessary :)
Edit: nevermind, maybe that was the price he paid. I don't know what he's charging.
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A pair sells for $4 usually.
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Which is a good deal considering Blizzard is still charging $20 for D2 and $20 for LoD, making a set worth $40 retail.
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The retail price comes from getting the box, packaging, and physical cds. The $4 is purely for a magical set of numbers allowing you to play online.
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In case anyone doesn't know yet this is a scam. I actually got him to go the entire length explained in this blog. I haven't had a laugh harder then someone threatening to sue over 5 dollars and swearing on the internet. http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/2009/10/exposing-two-bit-scammer.html
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You are not affiliated, but you are the same person who scammed that guy. Exact same M.O. You are just trying to reinvent yourself with a tale of a bunch of keys bought at a bankruptcy sale. You have been peddling these worthless keys for years. The fact that you felt like you needed to tell everyone that you were American, like your friend. Who does that? Someone pretending to be American. The fact that you made a comment above about a word being of French origin. You would know that, because you are French Canadian. Right, Frank?
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You know, this would be a good place for his real name to become known.
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He sent me keys, but the key for classic did not work, it said "Key is invalid." when I input the key into the battle.net account site and the key for LOD said that the key was already in use. I have emailed his support email but beware that there are perhaps some or all bunk keys.
Yeah. Putting mine say it's already been claimed.
Not liking the look of this.
I'm going to sit over here in my "I told you so" corner.
Edit: I can count 5 instances of invalid keys being reported by Reddit users alone. OP claims 99% working, which means that his margin of error is 20 keys (out of 2000). Of the 122 he's sold, 16.39% have failed.
Use a credit card. If they don't work and 2000diablocdkeys doesn't resolve the problem, you have your credit card's protection.
doesn't cc protection only kick in after $50? Also, he was recommending that everyone sign up for that shitty trial pay, possibly because its harder to say he took your money since all you did was sign up for shit.
Paypal disputes are actually better for this kind of situation. I'm not worried personally, because I'm not buying any (I have three sets of my own). I'm extremely familiar with the scene itself and I'm just trying to make a few things known.
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Same here my key is invalid, and I'm starting to get worried.
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Well you have yet to contact me through your support, issue me a new key or issue a refund. I may have to go through paypal. You were on dubious grounds to begin with and since you have sold me bad keys I don't have much more patience.
My keys are already claimed as well.
I got 2 working keypairs out of 3 ordered, and have faith the last one will arrive once OP gets his crap in a hat.
Even if it doesn't show and all I get is 2, that's $15 I spent on 2 keypair and I have 2 very happy friends playing with their early Festivus gifts.
My advice to the OP is to set up OScommerce next time and let it manage the operation. Much, much simpler compared to the Hell he's catching right now.
edit got the last working pair a few min ago. I'm happy. Then again, I'm not a member of the "instant-gratification-gimme-gimme-now" internet generation.
Sending some keys twice is a pretty big issue. How do you explain sending invalid keys, though? (MarchHare's post)
For what it's worth, I did order a pair of keys last night, and they did register on battle.net fine this morning.
I also got a working pair of keys. I ordered one set, and at first I got a pair that had already been claimed. After a couple e-mails back and forth, I did get a set that registered on my battle.net account. (It seems like he only checks his e-mails around midnight, Pacific time.)
So, to sum up: keys are legit, guy is not a scammer, just needs to get his act together.
Yup, ordered mine this afternoon and they arrived about 5 hours later.
Both work, downloading the mac client now.
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TLDR: OP is quite possibly a scammer.