PSP4 claims my copy is PIRATED and will be DEACTIVATED!

[LarrySH]

Out of the blue, I have begun receiving warnings and then an urgent notice over the course of today that my PSP4 is supposedly pirated, and that it will soon be deactivated.

The specific urgent message states:

"You may not realize that you're using pirated software, but we must act on it. "
"We will be deactivating this illegal copy soon, at which point the product will no longer open."

I have purchased and registered with Corel each and every version of this software since it was released, and have over a dozen software purchases from Corel registered on their web site. My serial number is plainly obvious to them and to me. No way is this a pirated copy.

I tried to find an email address or phone number to contact them since I use this software heavily in my work. Of course they, Corel, provide neither one.

This is totally outrageous !!

I would welcome any advice as to how to proceed here. I tried to reinstall, but of course the installer does not work properly. This installer issue is yet another matter which I could begin yet another thread on, since Corel installations have been, to put it very mildly, a huge PITA. They just do NOT properly test their software......

Any advice would be gratefully apreciated. Thanks in advance,

Larry

[LeviFiction]

Corel has a terrible support plan in place.

Email supposedly only properly supports installation issues.

Phone support requires that you buy a support ticket before they give you a phone number to call.

[LarrySH]

The support itself is useless and Corel has created the perfect sh!t-storm here with a false accusation of theft, a deactivation, and no way to get their help.

Talk about taking a dump on a loyal customer....

Why would anybody EVER want to use their products?

I am done dealing with these self destructing dumbwits.

[LeviFiction]

Depends on who you get for support.

I have dealt with poor support from Corel in the past but I have also dealt with excellent service.

Have you checked to see if the Protexis Service is running?

[LarrySH]

Thanks for the suggestion. I do indeed have Protexis running, two services in fact:

ProtexisLicensing
and
PSI_SVC_2 (with the Description Protexis Licensing V2)

My comment about support arises from the observation that I have NO apparent support option here unless I wantg to pay them for it. Since I am a legitimate licensed owner being forced to contact them due to their mistake, declaring my software pirated, saying they are about to deactivate it, the very least they SHOULD offer is a way to contact them to fix this bloody mess of their making.

How am I supposed to solve this problem if I can't speak with someone there, email them, or contact them without paying a fee?

Their uninstall and reinstall is also a true mess, and neither their installer nor Revo Uninstall, a usually excellent tool for clean removal of their program, fails to remove the program and allow reinstallation.

I was forced to use Acronis to recover a backup from a week earlier in order to get a working copy of the software restored. A total PITA and a lot of wasted time. And now the replacement software is issuing the very same complaint, that it is pirated and will be deactivated.

[LarrySH]

Here is the urgent warning screen as an attached JPEG

[LarrySH]

Then I attaempt to reinstall and see this:

[LarrySH]

And this:

[LarrySH]

And initially this:

[df]

So does clicking on contact Corel Customer Service just take you to the Corel website?

[LarrySH]

Yup. No real useful link. Same landing spot for all visitors to their site merely offering paid assistance or free initial installation help with a special code required to submit an email.

[Ken Berry]

Others on this Board have reported that they usually get (free) quick responses when they post on the Corel Facebook page. Unfortunately, I don't have the URL, though imagine it would be easy enough to find. And hopefully they would take some fast action on your complaint since it is not something they would want on such a public forum as Facebook!!...

[BrianCee]

you can find the Corel software Facebook page here :-

https://www.facebook.com/Corel?fref=ts

[LarrySH]

Thank you most sincerely Ken, Dan, and Brian for your kind assistance.

I am not a Facebook user and really do not wish to establish a Facebook presence to resolve this type of matter. I will, if Corel fails to provide some type of remedy, resort to using not only Facebook but a number of public forums to report on how this matter arose and how it was ultimately settled or not.

I want to ask a question regarding the "Online Support" which I found mentioned on the Corel support page. They operate only Monday to Friday but it appears they may have some type of human contact possible. Anybody know if this is true and if so can I make use of this, and if so, is there also a fee involved?

Incidentally, I have now gotten my final "Deactivation Notice" from Corel. I will copy it below.

Thanks again for the help,

Larry

[hartpaul]

Jut did a check on the Corel site and although they had a section which said
"Online Support
Monday – Friday: 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. AEDT"
There was no link or info about where to go to find the chat section.
I did find on the support page

Tell us what you think about our new Technical Support services.

So maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
In anycase I completed that survey and told them about the lack of a chat support and how many were getting frustrated and also gave them the example of Bigfishgames ,com where you have access to a chat session with support staff for up to 8 hours each day. I have used that a couple of times and have been happy with responses each time.
I logged into my account on te corel site and looked at my registered programs and also my order history. There was also an option there of emailing support about problems.
Have you copied your order information and also the program details and Key to Corel .
In my case I have always purchased direct from Corel.
Did you do the same or purchase from a third party supplier ?