Hey guys. As you might imagine, we have yet again been asked to moderate a thread that we make clear in the first post that we can't and don't moderate. This is really starting to be an issue. Every month or two we're asked to resolve disputed business here. This is not our job and people should not be relying on us to do it. I am glad that it seems that a number of people are getting refunds, but we shouldn't be put in a position where we are forced to follow up and figure out who got refunds and who didn't.
To offer some advice that really should be obvious:
- Assume by default that software or game keys are shady. If you are getting a serious discount on software, it's because someone is exploiting a loophole somewhere. Maybe it's cross-region buying, maybe it's a temporary price error, maybe it's exploiting some web glitch, maybe it's a bundle key being resold in arbitrage, maybe it's a spare key from a video card, maybe it's an obvious scam, maybe it's stolen. But there's no such thing as a free ride and if you're buying something in this product category you need to be ready to lose your shirt.
- If you care about not being scammed, find out the provenance of the keys. Honest sellers should be able to be honest about where they got their key. We don't require that sellers say how they got the key, but as a buyer consider looking for that information. If someone is reselling a spare key they got after buying a video card, it's almost certainly safe. If someone is selling 50 keys they got from exploiting a checkout glitch on a site, hmm, I wonder if those might get revoked. Labadal, just a few posts above, does the honest thing by pointing out exactly the provenance of what s/he's selling, and I think that makes me feel more comfortable believing that the keys are real. The fact that so few people ask their seller (because they'd rather just get the game for cheap, reason be damned) suggests that this is primarily a demand-side issue, not a supply-side issue.
- Feedback is the primary mechanism for resolving disputes. Moderation is not the primary mechanism for resolving disputes. If someone sells 50 keys and they get revoked and they won't refund, the correct response is to file 50 negative feedbacks against the user. What's the first line in the OP and why do you think it's there?