Vista Upgrade Certificate Problems

[stevem326]

Has anyone had any luck redeeming their Vista Upgrade Certificate that is given to anyone who buys a new PC with XP between October 27, 2006 and March 31, 2007?

I bought a new PC in December 2006 with XP Pro so I can upgrade now to Vista Business (OEM Version) for a very nominal fee ($12.94). So I go to a website to do this ModusLink over the weekend and everything is going fine. It accepts my Vista Certificate number and my COA number from XP Pro. Then, I get to the last page where I'm ready to pay and it says the credit card authorization failed. So, I put the card info in again...and it fails again...then I try a third time...and it fails again. Then I try a different credit card and it fails too!! So I stop at this point and send an email to customer service.

The next day they reply back saying call us and we'll resolve the problem over the phone. So I call them and a rep says that a Supervisor will call me back within 24 hours and that they've been having some problems with credit card charges going through with many, many other people as well. So, here I am, three days later (72 hours) and nobody has called me. In addition, my credit card has been charged FOUR TIMES for $12.94. Unfreakin' believable!!

How can a company like Microsoft do a contract with these idiots in the first place (the company is called ModusLink...but they should change their name to MoronLink if you ask me).

Now, most times when I call their 800# I get a busy signal or...and this is even worse...I called today and it said, "Our hours are 9AM - 7PM EST"....and then, "Our offices are now closed, please call us back during our regular business hours"....and it's 11:30 AM EST!!!

UN - FREAKING - BELIEVABLE!!! Thank you Microsoft!!!

 

[stevem326]

Wow, I actually just got through to MoronLink...on hold right now...but that's progress :Q

 

[stevem326]

Okay, maybe I spoke too soon...sorry Microsoft. I was able to place the order over the phone with a live rep but the first credit card we tried failed twice and we had to use a second card that miraculously worked. She said their systems crashed last week due to the volume of orders and ever since they came back up they've been having the credit card problems...

 

[VooDooAddict]

good to know though .. I'm checking my CC statement to be sure I was only charged once.

 

[stevem326]

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
good to know though .. I'm checking my CC statement to be sure I was only charged once.

Yeh, probably a good idea...I've been searching a few forums and apparently there are quite a few people having the credit card problem right now who are trying to upgrade to Vista through the Certificate Redemption program. The rep I talked to said it's definitely an issue and their tech people are trying to resolve it.

 

[bigdaddy51]

That stupid 2 bit website is down AGAIN. My order remains at coa validated, and they have had my papers at least 5 weeks.

 

[stevem326]

Well, don't give up yet...it's supposed to take 6-8 weeks to get your DVD (that's what my upgrade redemption certificate said anyway)...at least you're way ahead of me anyway!

 

[Mark R]

Quite - MS really screwed up on their choice of redemption company. ModusLink really don't seem to be up to the job.

When I got my vouchers a few weeks ago - I had to wait a 4 or 5 days, because their upgrade site didn't even work at all - Couldn't even get as far as the coupon/COA numbers.

 

[stevem326]

Originally posted by: Mark R
Quite - MS really screwed up on their choice of redemption company. ModusLink really don't seem to be up to the job.

When I got my vouchers a few weeks ago - I had to wait a 4 or 5 days, because their upgrade site didn't even work at all - Couldn't even get as far as the coupon/COA numbers.

Yeh, I have to totally agree on that one. You would think that a company like MS (with the kinds of resources and money that they have) would be able to contract this project out to a much better company than ModusLink. The rep who took my order over the phone didn't even know the difference between MS Office and MS Vista (or even XP for that matter)....he thought I was upgrading from XP Pro to MS Office...unbelievable

 

[Beelziboss]

Moduslink is probably just a Multi operations Call center that won the bidding war for this job. Im sure the phone reps got little training if any on this project.

 

[stevem326]

Hey Everyone...just wanted to post that I got my Vista Business DVD today. I have a quick question though...the DVD says "Upgrade" on it but the manual that came with it appears to indicate that I can do an upgrade installation or a clean installation...does that sound correct? Even though the DVD says "Upgrade" on it?

I'd like to wipe my HD completely clean and then install Vista, however, since it says "Upgrade" on the DVD doesn't it mean it's going to search for an XP installation to upgrade? Or will a clean install of Vista work on a totally wiped HD?

Thanks a lot for any advice!

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: stevem326
Hey Everyone...just wanted to post that I got my Vista Business DVD today. I have a quick question though...the DVD says "Upgrade" on it but the manual that came with it appears to indicate that I can do an upgrade installation or a clean installation...does that sound correct? Even though the DVD says "Upgrade" on it?

I'd like to wipe my HD completely clean and then install Vista, however, since it says "Upgrade" on the DVD doesn't it mean it's going to search for an XP installation to upgrade? Or will a clean install of Vista work on a totally wiped HD?

Thanks a lot for any advice!

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5932

 

[stevem326]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: stevem326
Hey Everyone...just wanted to post that I got my Vista Business DVD today. I have a quick question though...the DVD says "Upgrade" on it but the manual that came with it appears to indicate that I can do an upgrade installation or a clean installation...does that sound correct? Even though the DVD says "Upgrade" on it?

I'd like to wipe my HD completely clean and then install Vista, however, since it says "Upgrade" on the DVD doesn't it mean it's going to search for an XP installation to upgrade? Or will a clean install of Vista work on a totally wiped HD?

Thanks a lot for any advice!

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5932

Thanks!! I wonder if MS has fixed this (or if they plan to fix it). In other words, when I go to validate my Vista upgrade installation maybe they'll ask for an XP Product Key as well? I can just do the traditional "upgrade" installation but I've had problems with those before (upgrading from 98 to XP was a nightmare for me). When it comes to an OS, I think a clean install is the way to go.

 

[tkistre]

We purchased a Compaq in Jan 2007 with Windows Media Center Edition installed. It allowed me an upgrade to Windows Vista Premium for free. I made the order online and mailed the paperwork to them on 01/24/2007. I received email updates continously throughout and finally got our update DVD's in the mail yesterday, 03/19/2007. This upgrade was performed through ModusLink.