SoftMan Products, LLC | BuyCheapSoftware.com review: Do not buy from them 20

I think anyone who buys software has to do their own homework especially if they are sold free upgrades to future versions. This is not the vendors fault. We as software consumers have to become educated before we purchase anything.

I personally have bought many items from this vendoor with absolutely no problem and I have also returned items with no problem so this issue that you had could have been avoided if you had done your homework first and called Adboe.

It's never simple to spend a few bucks to buy cheap software on any website. Risks are commonplace so it's VERY IMPORTANT for us buyers to read, review, and make sure that we are not shelling out our money on software or oem's that may not offer the features or services we are looking for. And as for your case, it would have been best if you had consulted with the Adobe Customer Support before buying any of their software from buycheapsoftware or from any other website selling their products. Remember, there's always a "catch" or a fineprint as to why these websites sell the products at such an outrageously low price. Find out the quirks first before spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on any software. Personally, I've tried buying from buycheapsoftware before and I enjoyed their service. Their customer service is very good also. It was very easy dealing with them.

Purchased software online on Saturday May 15. It was a digital purchase, and my expectation was an immediate email with the downloadable software, and the necessary authorization code to install it.

No response from the company came until Wednesday May 18. The link was to the Adobe website, and the software downloaded just fine. When I went to enter the code give, it showed invalid.

I emailed buycheapsoftware.com and their response was:

"The serial number is correct. Here is the the number for Adobe customer service [protected]. Their tech department can resolve most issues. Please let me know if they are unable to help you."

I called the phone number provided, and it took 1 hour to get someone one the phone, and another 30 minutes of verification and questions before they told me that the code was valid BUT that it was for a Windows PC, not Macintosh.

I emailed Sharon Kelly (CS rep) letting her know the code wasn't valid, and got this reply:

"I am sorry about the mix up with the Mac and Windows serial numbers. We are currently out of stock on Mac serial numbers. I will know tomorrow when we can replace it."

I called Adobe back, went through the same wait period, and then was told that Adobe could not do anything because the company, buycheapsoftware.com was not a direct OEM. I would have to work this out with them, there was nothing they could do to help.

I emailed back to buycheapsoftware.com with the following message:

"This is very bad customer service. What is going on?

If you didn't have this to sell, then it shouldn't be offered. This is starting to sound like a scam."

The reply came from the owner of the company (found by WHOIS lookup of the domain), Jonathan Dracup.

He said:

" We are not trying to scam you and I personally assure you that we will straighten this problem out for you very soon. We are a very honest and reputable internet company for over 13-years.

We were told by our Adobe Distributor that these PhotoShop Elements 8 download key code serial numbers work for both Mac and Windows as long as you download only one or the other. It will not work for both, just one and only one time. They are still very positive it works for the Mac download, as they told me again just a few minutes ago by phone. They are confused and I am too. We did not have this problem in the past, but have only sold these for the last 4-weeks. At this point our distributor said they can provide us with a replacement serial number tomorrow or if they cannot we can refund your money by Friday or latest by Monday.

We are very sorry for this inconvenience and promise to correct it for you quickly."

I called the phone number for the company at [protected], and spoke with Jonathan. With the Adobe representative on speaker phone, he claimed that the code works for both Windows and Mac. The Adobe person disagreed.

I complained to him that after all this time, I still don't have working software, and that I am getting the runaround from both companies, as they finger point at each other. Jonathan claimed I was lying about spending time on the phone over this issue, and then said I had just purchased the software on May 18 vs. May 15.

He then called me "immature" for spending 3 hours of my time on the phone, and said that he had "better things to do with his time". Astounded, I asked if I could record him dressing me down personally, and he agreed.

I have been in online retailing for 10 years, and have never witnessed such poor customer service. I would never recommend this company or purchase from them again.

Unfortunately and unlike the BBB site, this website is very one sided and does not give the internet reseller a special place to reply and give there side of the story.

My name is Jonathan, the GM at BuyCheapSoftware and I am the person who wrote the very polite email Andy posted above and spoke to Andy on the phone the first day he called us with the problem. I kindly expressed to Andy that I could not fix the Mac key-code issue that evening, but I could in the morning. I never called him "immature" although he was freaking out as if we had killed his dog. I expressed to Andy that if I could not give him a working code by noon PST the next day I would refund him in full. I said refund by Friday because sometimes it takes a day or two to show up on the customers credit card account.

I explained we had not had this problem before with any Macintosh customer buying this $36 Adobe Elements 8 Mac download code. We do our very best to resolve problems in a reasonable amount of time. and we have been a online software reseller for over 13-years in Los Angeles.

Andy just called and I told him we refunded his card already and we do not want to do any business with him. Even though Andy has his full $35.95 refund he is is now calling us every 2-minutes, harassing, cursing, making threatening and yelling at every person who answers our phones.

Of course it would be beneficial for Jonathan to paint himself as pure as the driven snow, and me as the evil customer. I stand behind my words and actions, and am not afraid of the truth coming out - in full context.

It gets to the point of how Jonathan (who is the OWNER of the company, not just GM) operates. More half-truths and lies to mask the true character of him and his company.

When there is a serious concern with his business practice (selling something he doesn't have the capability to deliver), he goes on offense to paint the CUSTOMER as the bad guy. There is a pattern of behavior, and it's pretty obvious that the majority of people who have received this treatment have been silenced by Jonathan.

Not only that, I have found that in the past, he has filed threatening lawsuits against customers who have complained to him. This isn't just about Jonathan's behavior, but he directs his employees to create fictitious names, hang up on people who have a legitimate concern, and to create offensive dramas. I'll post some more information on this later.

Jonathan, since you are now willing to engage in a public discussion about the interaction, I have some questions/comments for you to address:

1. Deny that you hung up on me in our first conversation.

2. Justify hanging up on someone as "polite", or explain how that fits your your self-portrait of being such a good guy in this transaction.

3. You not only said the word "immature", you repeated it when I asked you whether you really said that. You went a step further and added that you had "better things to do with your time", citing a barbecue . Your attitude was far from polite, it was offensive, sarcastic (reflected in your post above), condescending (again, see above), and quite plainly a matter of perspective: It's obviously no big deal to you to sell something on 5/15, make excuses on 5/18, and give indeterminite promises to fix it in a day, or two, or seven. If the buyer protests about that not being acceptable - YOU START MAKING THEM THE BAD GUY. You prove this right here with your own post. I am the bad guy for making a big deal about this.

4. Deny that your employee Sharon passed me off to Adobe when I reported that the code didn't work.

5. Deny that after informing you that Adobe said your code was for Windows, that you claimed it was for BOTH platforms.

6. Deny that when I put you on speaker phone with Adobe to clear up YOUR DISAGREEMENT WITH ADOBE about whether the code works for both platforms, you changed the topic to providing a refund. Why? Did I ask for one? Or, was a refund your simplified way of making me go away because I was discovering your shoddy business practice?

7. Deny that in the conversation this morning between you and I this morning, I was still requesting a valid code, and that you again forced the issue of a refund? Why is that?

8. Deny that you have admitted you have NONE of this software available, and as a result of our interaction, you had to pull product from the site.

9. Deny you gave instruction to all employees of your company, including Sales and the Receptionist (or whatever title you give to the person who answers the phone when you press zero) to hang up on me upon identifying me.

The bottom line is that the world deserves to know that you are basically selling software that you don't have in inventory, and you may or may not have access to a supply. Once you have the buyer's money, THEN you see whether you can locate the appropriate codes to unlock the software.

If there is failure, then you blame the software company, and tell the buyer it's their responsibility to resolve with the software company. If the buyer is persistent and says "Hmmm, something here isn't right", you go on the offensive and claim they are a bad buyer that is bothering you too much. You nuke the transaction by refunding them, and then lie about it being a "polite" experience.

This is a pattern of behavior, and while few have dared to make this information public, I am not going to be submissive while you make veiled threats against me and my company. You clearly want to squash any derogatory reviews of your company, without admitting the responsibility for your dilemma is clearly your own responsibility.

Make up whatever story you want - I'll be here to make a rebuttal when necessary.

Jonathan - tell us all how you justify the treatment of this individual:

http://nowscape.com/suck/buycheapsoftware_webcam.htm

Did you get your pound of flesh suing him? Was he a crazy bad guy too?

Or, maybe your conduct was so outrageous and unprofessional with him that he too had to go to extreme lengths to ATTEMPT to resolve matters with you.

I just realized - as your employees were saying that you would call me back in 5 minutes, you were composing this little defense on this board. Shows your priorities.

Instead of dealing with the customer who is having the issue, you tell your employees to hang up on me (which is why you can say I was calling back every 2 minutes - it was really only about 30-60 seconds per cycle) and then you write your "I am completely innocent" BS here on this board.

After looking through the complaint posted above, it seems there is no level you will not stoop to over a customer complaint. The buyer was trying to return an item, provided you with proof of shipping it back, and you still wouldn't give them a refund. Until I have PROOF of your refund, I don't believe it has been processed. You have had all day to provide proof, and nothing has been sent.

Second, it astounds me that you would have the WIFE of one of your employees, who is apparently not aware of how poor a PR situation she created when she threatened your customer, threatened the lawsuit for posting the content of his interaction with you on a complaint board - like this. But you went a step further - you tried to get the customer FIRED FROM THEIR JOB.

If anyone bothers to read what was posted on the link above, it is without a doubt to me or any reasonable person that you guys care about one thing, and one thing only - you and yourself. You don't give a rat's [censor] if a customer is screwed or made whole. You are, plain and simple, unethical and immoral in your business dealings.

Bought an ANTIVIRUS software from BUYCHEAPTSOFTWARE and it was only for a one-month coverage! The cost was $16.95 or something like that. Nowhere did they advise the one-month coverage. I am mad at myself because I should've known that "WHAT SEEMS TO BE TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE PROBABLY IS NO GOOD."

I just purchased a copy of Windows home premium 7 full 32 or 64 bit DVD retail box version from BuyCheapSoftware.com. I should receive it within a few days or so. I looked long and hard at the website and am very confident that I will get what I payed for. Things happen, things go wrong from time to time. I don't understand why people have to escalate to such a level as to become so unreasonable and immature.
I will be posting back with the results of my transaction whether it was good or bad, or even if I made a mistake along the way.
Thank you.
Robert Moore

I worked for BuyCheapSoftware (Softman Products LLC) back in 2005 for nearly 6 months. I was fired on a PTO Friday, over the phone, with no notice, and given a $200 severance check. When I tried to claim any unemployment, they fought it; when I (with the mistake) used an employee whom I thought was a friend as a job referral, she went on about how late and unproductive I was. Considering she came in with her buddy/Jon pet 30minutes late every day herself.
The only good thing out of the company is that Jon offers to buy from Costco across the street every so while. Besides that, they are racist ('jew jokes' in the packing room by sales rep. and Jon himself), gender-biased, heck, the only cool cat there is the man working on the OEM's and IT issues (not Glen) . I'm sorry, but I was embarrassed to work there and it was a blessing in disguise to be let go/fired.
Never have I been humiliated by asking for Yom Kippur off... regardless of given the day off, Jon replied say: "oh, we hired another jew did we" (since Avi - stock worker, and his older sister were Jewish too).

Sorry, but everything Jon says here that the consumers says he did I believe.. he's full of himself.. and I can totally see him calling you immature for being on the phone with Adobe too long.. ###, he once told me that he knew I hadn't been in the army since I sounded so 'wet' on the phone.. Basically, an ### himself, racist, being sued by Microsoft (from OEM fraud) -- keep it up Jon.. keep up the bad work.. oh yeah, just cause your location is in 'posh' Marina Del Rey, doesn't mean you have a posh business. Your whole business is a scam.. Flagging any and everyone with a Discover card, and/or living in FL or NY trying to order something!

STUPID ME...I WAS PANICKED WHEN MY NORTON EXPIRED...I AM ON LINE ALOT AND CANNOT RISK
BEING CAUGHT BY A BUG. I FOUND BUYCHEAPSOFTWARE AND ORDERED THE 2013 UPGRADE.
I DIDNT CHECK THEM OUT - I GUESS TRUST IS WHAT I LIVE BY - BURNED THIS TIME. THEY DIDNT GIVE ME A LINK FOR THE SOFTWARE, JUST A KEY CODE. I TRIED IT - NORTON DIDNT LIKE IT. I DISPOSED MY OLD VERSION AND LINKED TO A TRIAL VERSION. IT LOADED, BUT WHEN I TRIED TO USE THE CODE SENT TO MY BY BUYCHEAPSOFTWARE, IT DIDNT TAKE IT. I CONTACTED THEM. THEY TOLD ME TO CONTACT NORTON...WELL NORTON DIDNT SELL IT TO ME THEY DID. I TRIED THE CODE AGAIN - SAME BAD RESULT.
I WROTE BUYCHEAPSOFTWARE - A MS.MELISSA MONROE WHO CURTLY RESPONDED THAT THEY DO NOT REFUND FOR KEYCODES. I TOLD HER THAT THEY WERE WELCOME TO CHECK WITH NORTON TO SEE IF THAT CODE WAS USED AS I CAN ASSURE THEM IT HASNT BEEN BECAUSE IT DOES NOT WORK !
THEIR LAST RESPONSE WAS THEY DONT REFUND AND TO CALL NORTON ! BE ADVISED. AGAINST USING THIS COMPANY. THEIR POLICIES, DEMEANOR AND ATTITUDE WILL LEAVE YOU WITH LESS MONEY IN YOUR POCKED AND TONS AND TONS OF PROBLEMS.

I"m a IT manager in a company being a customer of buycheapsoftware for long time. It's really sad to read all these complaints, need to give other insights to the company. First of all, I'm very reluctant buying any software through online, if it's possible, I only order retail box and only from brand manufacturer. But I was recommended to buycheapsoftware, did read many online reviews, and started buying only retail box and contacted Microsoft to verify the keys, we didn't have any issues, we bought SQL server 2005, windows server 2008, Visual studio, many before, never had any single issue of the keys.
If you're looking for a reliable discounted software reseller, I have seen many they claim they're legit, buycheapsoftware is the only one I would recommend if anyone asks. And all the reviews about the company I read were just some other issues not related to the legitimacy of software they sell. Buyers be aware of this very important factor. It's not really easy to find an reliable software reseller.

I read through this board again, found some people mention about keys for downloadable softwares. well, , , as I said, I have bought only retail box so that I can have proof of purchase and check keys with microsoft before I go further. Also, downloadable software is very dangerous. Anything can happen when keys are transferred from Microsoft to resellers, some bad guys in the middle can just copy and paste to their excel stealing them and use somewhere. If it's possible, always buy retail box or volume license.

Scammers, stay away, i ve been scanmmed too, paid for 2 office 13, keys never worked, never replied, never refunded. Any district attorney is nor reading all the above to start an investigation?

Just been scammed recently. I desperately needed a laptop I could take away with me on deployment. It is my one link to home when I am away from my family and allows me to talk to them. As anyone who has been away from their family for a period of time, this link is vital. I bought the Norton Anti Virus software in good faith but my god what a shock this has been. Yes I should probably have researched before buying from this company but I thought why not? They seemed legit enough. Sure enough as soon as I sent the money to them I got the code and sure enough as per everyone else on this site my code didn't work. Then the software refused to download. I called McAfee who confirmed that the code was invalid and to talk to the selling company. I have sent emails and contacted them on Facebook. I have tried to call but absolutely nothing. I feel utterly disgusted by this and the fact that these guys are clearly nothing more than thieves stealing our hard earned cash and giving us nothing in return. I am now going to have to find the extra funds to pay for new anti virus software as I leave next week. This was one hassle I really did not need prior to leaving. I hope they feel utterly disgusted with themselves.

Thank you all very much. I'll save my money for someone else.

BUYCHEAPSOFTWARE.COM is a FRAUDULENT BUSINESS that sells activation keys for software multiple times.

I have read these complaints as well as those on the BBB site and they are all very similar. My Office Professional 2013 Software that I purchased in November 2013 stopped working with a message that said I needed to reactivate. I tried and could not. I called Microsoft and was told that this product had been blocked and flagged as "Abused" since it had been activated 18 times. I have only installed and activated this on my one computer. After receiving the standard response from Buy Cheap Software, "It worked when you bought it ..." I contacted the BBB to file a complaint. In Jonathan's first response, he has taken no responsibility and has blamed me stating that I must have tried to reinstall the software. He has also blamed Microsoft saying that this is a problem with Windows 10. I had Windows 10 installed for 2 or 3 weeks before this deactivation happened. Interestingly enough, I purchased another version of Office in October 2015. This is currently still working (on Windows 10), but has now been activated 5 times - only one activation is mine.

I plan to pursue this in whatever forums I can find and would encourage everyone who has had a terrible experience with this company to do the same. I also find it terribly misleading that this company still maintains an A rating with the BBB. I have stated in my complaint that they should be downgraded. The general public depends upon sites and organizations like the BBB to provide good information when they are researching companies. Just because a company has settled all their complaints by paying the customers off does not make this a company worthy of an A rating. There are plenty of people who would feel bad and not pursue this, so there are many others that have suffered this same fate with this company.

THEY SOLD ME NORTON ANTI VIRUS COULD NOT BE INSTALLED I DEMANDED MY MONEY BACK OR WOULD EXPOSE THEM ON BBB AND NEWS SAID HE WOULD REFUND ME NORTON SAID THEY WERE SCAMMERS THEY PUT A OND DAY TRIAL ON IT ALSO SAID MY COMPUTER WAS INFECTED IT HAD 4MONTHS OF FREE HP ON IT NOTHING WRONG DEMANDED 100$ TO FIX 1 MINUTE LATER 50$ I SAID NO HUNG UP ON ME I CALLED SUPERVISOR GOT RESULTS