licence sticker query

[andyturpie]

Hi guys,

 

Just a quick query, can a company which supplies recovery media refuse to supply the discs if the licence key is unreadable?

 

I have a friend with a acer laptop and they want 50 quid for a set of recovery discs and wish to know the licence key. I have explained and sent photographs with the sticker intact but due to movement of laptop on knees etc, the black text has been erased.

 

I know for a fact that recovery media always comes with a pre-inserted OEM key which never matches whats on the sticker if you use a key viewer program.

 

My understanding is that media containing windows shouldn't be charged for, but its the actual licence to use which is chargable. Anyone know the legal side of this?

 

Cheers,

 

Andy T

[tmcd35]

Are companies other than Acer allowed to supply recover media? Are they acting on behalf of Acer? That'd be my first thoughts. From MS's standpoint, AFAIK, the recovery disks should only work on that model of laptop and they should require a license key unique to Acer as an OEM. So without a license key on the bottom of that laptop or access to another Acer with a valid license key the disk shouldn't work (without you hacking it (key viewer program))?

 

So if the company is legit - I don't quiet see what their problem is? They sell you the CD knowing it's useless to you unless you have a valid license key, which I assume you have on the bottom of the laptop?

 

If the license key is faded and unreadable then you should get in touch with either Acer directly or Microsoft and see if either will supply you a new license key, but my guess is the official line would then be - buy a new copy of Windows.

[FN-GM]

If the license key is faded and unreadable then you should get in touch with either Acer directly or Microsoft and see if either will supply you a new license key, but my guess is the official line would then be - buy a new copy of Windows

 

 

Actually no. If you have a damaged COA sticker, Microsoft will replace it. You have to peel the old one off best you can and send it off. They will accept it ripped etc.

 

Anyway surely if you give them the serial number of the laptop they will know its one of there thus they know it was shipped with a legit copy of windows.

[pete]

Assuming it's the original manufacturer, they should be able to look up the shipped license via the machine serial.

 

IIRC the recovery media is pre-serialed (i.e it's not like a volume media kit where you still need a key), so they're shipping media + key.

[Poco]

there is a program called belarc which is free and legal to use which can tell you your windows key.

 

they can charge you for the discs as they are charging for the media and the admin. poor excuse but thats the legalities im afraid. if it is Acer you will be dealing with a company called Infoteam and i have dealt with them on a few occasions and not had much luck in dealing with them so i feel your pain on this one.

 

you will need an OEM image to use the key also but im not sure how you could obtain a legal copy of that.

 

As for linking it to a serial number that isnt relevant for them at this point as i am sure they would have qualified his serial number in teh first instance of the call. what they are conerned with is the costs relating to sending out the media. also it is the other way around as to what you think should be charged for. they cant charge you for a key you have already purchased by buying the laptop but as i said they can charge for the media and admin. the price is excessive in my opinion though. hope that helps

[andyturpie]

there is a program called belarc which is free and legal to use which can tell you your windows key.

 

they can charge you for the discs as they are charging for the media and the admin. poor excuse but thats the legalities im afraid. if it is Acer you will be dealing with a company called Infoteam and i have dealt with them on a few occasions and not had much luck in dealing with them so i feel your pain on this one.

 

you will need an OEM image to use the key also but im not sure how you could obtain a legal copy of that.

 

As for linking it to a serial number that isnt relevant for them at this point as i am sure they would have qualified his serial number in teh first instance of the call. what they are conerned with is the costs relating to sending out the media. also it is the other way around as to what you think should be charged for. they cant charge you for a key you have already purchased by buying the laptop but as i said they can charge for the media and admin. the price is excessive in my opinion though. hope that helps

 

Thanks for the response Poco, but the customer has already been charged the fee the cost isn't relevent as hands up did not create the recovery disks, but because the licence key is faded, it cannot be supplied hence why they are now saying they cannot send the discs and wish to send back a refund. I cannot believe they sit and customise each and every set of recovery disks to every individual key sticker and I believe if a customer has has ACER proven registration of the laptop purchased from new there is no reason why the discs cannot be sent to them without the licence key details, its just poo service really....

[Poco]

it wont each individual one i think it would probably be the batch of OEM keys. not sure if your the end user as you said the customer but if your a reseller see if you can get an Acer account manager to help you out. PM me if you dont have one and i will forward the details of the one we use. you never know mate but good luck!

[andyturpie]

Thanks for the kind offer POCO,but I gave in last night and used my last win xp pro OEM disc and licence on the lappy, thankfully one thing acer do is supply a decent driver download site lol. But in future, I will be making people aware of how bad a system they run and is a prime example of how outsourcing some sections of a service a company supplies can actually impede customer service, not improve

[Arthur]

I have a friend with an Acer laptop and they want 50 quid for a set of recovery discs and wish to know the licence key.

£50 is way too much IMO. You can buy another copy of Windows 7 for an extra £21.76. OEMs didn't even charge that much for replacement media during the Vista to 7 upgrade programme.

 

If you still had Windows 7 on the laptop, all you needed to do was backup your activation info using ABR, download and burn the relevant ISO from Microsoft, re-install Windows without entering a product key and then restore the activation details as soon as Windows is installed. It's as simple as that and perfectly legal (you already have the license, COA and SLIC data stored within your BIOS).

 

My understanding is that media containing Windows shouldn't be charged for, but it's the actual licence to use which is chargable.

I think £10-£20 would be a fair price personally (to cover shipping, handling and the cost of the discs themselves which can't be more than 50p).

Edited November 23, 2010 by Arthur