Do not buy microsoft windows on ebay, here's why

[1 FMF]

I bought windows 7 professional off ebay,
it activated and passed windows genuine advantage at the time of installation. The package looked legitimate, had a COA and according to microsoft passed all their how to tell [censored].

what can easily be done is to replace the windows key with an MSDN key. The MSDN keys, if not already blocked, will activate and pass WGA and you think your good, until 3 months later when they expire. At that point, ebay and paypal buyer protection does you no good, and all microsoft will tell you is your a victim have a nice day and all their links on how to fix take you to their site for "buy a new key for $150".

So it is a big loophole / back door with microsoft's licensing system as best i can tell at this point. Their is no way for you to know if you have a legitimate key or an MSDN key, until it is blocked by microsoft.

Consider all windows 7 on ebay to be counterfeit, especially any listing that is no where close to the going price for that particular sku.

most people would say you should know better than to buy windows for a ridiculously low price. And their are listings on ebay for super low prices. Their are also listings for reasonable prices, which I got mine for $140. And there's also full retail price listings on ebay or very close to it, but even that doesn't mean jack because you can receive a counterfeit key and not know for 3 months so if you're gonna be scammed at least hope it's for the least amount of money.

 

[Vizzy]

Considering all the FRAUD that occurs on Ebad I don't know why anyone takes the chance....more often than not you are going to get burned.

 

[ET16]

What happens when you complain to ebay about such things?

 

[1 FMF]

not sure how long ebay is but after 3 months there is no recourse. The seller, discountdistributors1, on ebay was on there for close to a year, had past sales of windows 7 with positive reviews of those, and had no negative reviews. I even did a positive review like 2 weeks after installing win7. All I can do now is watch if my seller has any more items for sale, which he does not and I'm sure will not be using that username again. All I can do now is flag selling items. Otherwise ebay provides no means for doing anything, they don't care. I found a phone number to call ebay, was on hold for over an hour then they were closed. I haven't bothered calling back, I did flag over a dozen windows 7 listings figuring if I was a big enough pain ebay would at least contact me, they have not yet. I will go flag more win7 listings on ebay right now actually.
Ebay is set up like anything else these days, no phone numbers and I cannot even find an email to just contact ebay. It has to be about a current listing, mine is over 3 months old now. I was able to phone paypal and they said 45 days if i remember correctly for their buyer protection.

again, i fault microsoft the most. i expect a better licensing system from a billion dollar company.

some schmuck working at best buy or staples could do the same thing, fill the retail boxes with msdn keys and the buyer would not know for 3 months. Then the buyer goes back to the seller, what are they gonna do? You think a store will believe the buyer, even if it was a day later? You would have to open it right there in the store and have them record the key, and phone microsoft and verify the key is good.

 

[John_K]

I have bought many things on Ebay with no issues. But I never thought of anything like this. It makes it too late to ask Ebay to help. Thanks for sharing and I will be careful with software.

John

 

[wavinwayne]

I've purchased and sold many items on ebay without a problem. Computer software is one category that I have always steered clear of, for the above reasons. Sorry the OP got burned; a pox on the scammers!

 

[rshaw125]

Charge it back on you credit card.I had a similar issue that paypal would do zero. my visa card charged it back with in 24 hours.

 

[1 FMF]

yes that is about the only real protection you have.
at this point the seller and microsoft owe visa the money.
if i had used paypal and paid out of my checking acct i'd be out, fortunately i used my cc thru paypal.

but considering what actually happened, i would pay the $140 for the satisfaction of meeting the seller and a microsoft rep, more so a microsoft person since they are the ones allowing this to happen.

activate windows, microsoft says it is genuine,
3 months later microsoft says not genuine, pay us for new license key. F them.

 

[punisher]

If it's too good to be true....................

I have run across Windows7 Ultimate for $85 on Ebay, unfortunately a couple of my customers, young ignorant customers, did to. Works for 3-4 months then the dreaded WGA warnings show up and kills the deal. Beware of buying just the keys and/or recorded media.

EDIT: I have run across XP and Vista disks, with COA stickers, at flea markets here in TX. The disks are not quit right if you know what you are looking for, and the COA stickers are some sort of reproduction that looks close to the genuine. It's enough to fool people that want to be fooled.

 

[daves66nova]

Isn't there an escrow service that paypunk has? you can keep the money there until,maybe 4 months,then have the money released?

 

[tmorris1]

Don't think they are MSDN keys. I don't think they expire as long as the subscription is active.

 

[1 FMF]

In my case, I was told specifically by microsoft that I had an MSDN key that was only good for 3 months, and I have found other online reports of the same thing happening.

But by far the biggest thing happening, the main problem, is microsoft blocking the key when they see it is abused- that hundred or however many computers are activating under the same key because it is being fraudulently sold- then they block it and everybody running under that key then finds their copy of windows as not genuine.

once again, if when I activated microsoft told me I had an MSDN key I could have done something. Instead they told me it was genuine when it was not genuine. What is their definition of genuine? What is the point of Windows Genuine Activation if any key that simply works they report as genuine?

 

[Rand]

MSDN are genuine keys... its just a loophole.

the scammer probably gets a msdn account that costs 350/year.

gets a hundred licenses and then a few monthes later cancels?

The keys dont automatically expire. I have been using w7 for over a year with msdn key.

(of course I have a msdn subscription)

I do agree that when it validates your key you should have a checkbox or something to tell it what type of key its susposed to be.. then it could tell you what it actually is... or something similar.

 

[tmorris1]

You got a genuine legal key, but it was probably activated thousands of times so MS shut it down. I think my MSDN keys are only good for like 10 activations on different computers and they are supposed to be used for testing or development purposes.

 

[Rand]

The other possibility is its a school key. Alot of keys are available for classes that typically expire in 90 days.

like when I was taking a windows networking class I had to install 4 vm's which was allowed with the key that came with the book.

Is that type of key called an msdn key also? no idea