talkmagic.co.uk

Hi guys.

Just thought that I would share something with you to help you avoid the position that I am in now:

Last year I purchased "Weapons of a card shark" from Expert Magic. It was a download video, so I did the right thing and made a back-up to cd.

I've recently had to format my pc, and re-install all of my movie files. However, I didn't backup the Windows Media Player licences and now my video files won't run.

I have some Ellusionist video files, and after a few emails they eventually re-sent me the licence codes for free. However Expert Magic are refusing to answer my emails. I've emailed them 5 times now - using their contact details and also an address from the 'readme' file when I downloaded the video. As a result, I can no longer play my "Weapons of a card shark" video.

So two lessons here I think

1) Be aware that Expertmagic.com do not appear to have a very good after sales service and therefore I wouldn't ever recommend them. It's been two weeks since my first email.

2) Pause before you hit the 'Add to Cart' button on a downloadable magic movie. Often they are tied to one PC and if you have problems like myself, you could be in a position where you are unable to watch your movie. It might be worth spending the little bit extra and having a bit more patience and order an actual DVD.

Cheers Guys!

TLD - I'm afraid you're not the first to have experience problems with expertmagic.com.

Their support forums are frequently peppered with folk who have similar stories to yours.

About two years back (yes, it's a LONG-STANDING issue), I found myself in a similar situation following my purchase of 'Melt'.

To cut a very long story short, I sent no less than 15 emails, over a four week period, most directly to Eric James, with NO RESPONSE WHATSOEVER.

Finally, out of sheer frustration, I took to complaining very publicly and very loudly (albeit in a polite manner) on their forums. Only then did Eric finally deem to get in touch with me...and that was after he spent a week trying to delete my complaints, and me re-posting them; not a happy situation...

I wish you luck in reaching a resolution

sounds like a horrible situation. Do they have a phone number you can call, people can't ignor you as easily on the phone. Also might be worth getting in touch with trading standards to find out where you stand with this.

Hope you get it resolved soon

Hi again.

Thanks for the replies. Well, they've had lots of emails from me now and I've not had a single reply back.

It's definitely the last thing I'll ever buy from them, and I'm going to educate all of my magic friends with this story and make sure that no one else ends up suffering at Expertmagic.com.

Oh well - I've learnt a lesson here - it's just a shame that it's cost me around $25!!

I'll keep hassling them, and if I do get a response I'll let you guys know!

Cheers,

I had the same experience with an Income Tax software company. I had to re-format my hard drive due to technical difficulties and then could no longer activate the product because the activation key was already used (by me). Repeated phone calls, a fax with my dilemma including the bar code of the original box as proof of purchase did not not get me anywhere and they outright refused to give me a new activation key.

Because of the rampant software piracy even legitimate, paying customers are treated like criminals... and it's very frustrating.