Digital River

Do not buy your software from Digital River! If Unilocal allowed minus stars, this company would get a minus 5. You will live to regret it if you purchase from them. And here are the reasons why based on personal experience. I recently purchased the 2013 Kaspersky security software for my PCs. When Digital River’s name came up as the seller I immediately got a sense of déjà vu and a bad feeling but couldn’t put my finger on it. Shame on me for not following my gut… I ordered the software for ½ off, which was then followed up by 2 emails, one from Kaspersky, one from Digital River with a $ 7.00 S/​H charge added to the cost. This did not appear on their website.
I went to their site and entered my order number to dispute the S/​H and from there got a major runaround. Kaspersky’s site does not recognize your order number, so you then have to go to the Digital River link on their sent email, which also does not recognize your order (after numerous attempts). I finally recalled the ‘bad feeling.’ I had purchased some software many years ago from a company, which was represented by Digital River. You don’t know this at the time of purchase. It shows up only ‘after’ you purchase your product. It was a nightmare dealing with Digital River back then. Apparently, Kaspersky uses Digital River as one of their fulfillment houses, who makes it very, very difficult to contact them (like a maze), everything is automated. After hours of valuable time trying to reach them to no avail, I became so frustrated I decided to just cancel the order. Another nightmare. I had so many emails in my inbox between Kaspersky (who wouldn’t take any responsibility for what Digital River was doing) and Digital River that it then became a new nightmare to follow which was which, which I think they must do on purpose, confuse the customer so they’ll go away.
By the time I got a human response to my request to cancel the order they said it was too late, the item had already been shipped. Hello… I tried to cancel it the same day but by the time they get back to you after dozens of automated emails, it’s a couple of days, past the time allowed to cancel. One guy told me to refuse shipment… funny, as it’s mailed to you, not shipped UPS so it doesn’t come to your door in order to refuse it. Another email said there was a link below to follow instructions on how to return it. There was no link. Plus they clearly state that if you don’t follow the exact instructions on how to return it they can’t guarantee a refund. What a freakin’ scam.
I won’t forget next time how difficult it is to deal with Digital River… if you are purchasing anything online, especially software, beware if the shipper or fulfillment house is Digital River. Plus, I found the same exact software on Amazon for $ 20.00. DR charged $ 57 with tax and shipping. Don’t know why I didn’t check them first as I buy almost all my software on Amazon as they usually have best prices. Brainfade, I guess.
I have heard from several IT people that Kaspersky is one of the best PC security softwares out there, not the memory hog that Norton is, which I’ve been using for years. Thought I’d give Kaspersky a try for 2013 to see what all the hoopla was about. I plan to keep the software DR sent simply because I don’t want to get caught up in their email hell again and have absolutely no confidence I’ll get a refund without investing days of chasing it down. Chalk it up to a valuable lesson.
I design websites for a living and am pretty IT savvy… buy a lot of software, but again got snowed by Digital River… my fault for not following my gut when I saw their name again. Hopefully, you’ll learn from my 2 mistakes… do not buy anything from Digital River, much higher prices, impossible contact, and returns are hell. No replies necessary, I already know I’m an idiot for buying from them again!