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*****beware - semsim ripoff!!!*****

P

petejnetwork

Junior Member
Guys, I just want to bring your attention to a dodgy website that is selling CCNA tutorials. One of the products sold on this site is a CISCO Switch Simulator. I downloaded the free version and then paid $29.99 to unlock the full version. After receiving an email to say that my payment had been received I tried to unlock the product only to find that it didn't work. I emailed SEMSIM asking for help, but unfortunately did not receive a reply. As there was no telephone number on the SEMSIM website, I tried googling the company to see if I could find a contact number. I found a number for an address in Oklahoma and made a long distance call (I live in Liverpool, England) to ask for help. The conversation went something like:
Ring Ring
Lady answers:
Lady: 'Hello'
Me: 'Hello, am I through to SEMSIM?'
Lady: (Pause) 'er what?'
Me: 'Im sorry, I may have the wrong number. Is this SEMSIM?'
Lady: (not very bright) 'er.....yes, this is SEMSIM'
Me: 'Great! I wonder if you could help me, I bought the.....(interupted)
Male Voice: 'Hello'
Me: 'Hello, I am through to SEMSIM, right?'
Male Voice: 'Er.....yeah....'
Me: 'I have just paid $29.99 for your Cisco Switch Simulator, but I am unable to activate it with the code I have been given. Can you help me?'
Male Voice: (Pause) 'No, I can't help you' (Hangs up)
Now, I am quite angry, but being so far away it is not as if I can go and knock on this guys door and demand my money back. So, I send another email and wait for a response. Four days pass by and still no reply to my email. By this time I had reported this to my bank and they refunded me the $29.99. I also reported it to every online Fraudulent activity website I could find in the UK and US in the hope that something could be done to stop other people being ripped off. Now, I know $29.99 is not a great deal of money, but nevertheless it is still theft of money I have worked hard to earn.
So, if anybody is googling Cisco tutorials, please, please do not be tempted to buy anything from http://www.semsim.com/. If you take a look at the website, you will see that they have a special $10 discount that runs out at midnight tonight. Well, that special $10 discount message is on there every day. Some of the books and training materials on the market are expensive enough without some lowlife stealing money off people. It seems as though I am not the only person this has happened to either. There are more horror stories about this man and his company on the internet.
Finally, if Arun from SEMSIM is reading this then do the right thing and refund my money. It doesn't belong to you!!
Ok, I'm off to post this on every networking forum I can find. You have been warned friends! If anybody knows of anywhere else I can report this to, please let me know.
Cheers!
Pete
PS I should add that I have had two automated responses from SEMSIM that gave a standard troubleshooting reply. Both these responses were a waste of time and not a direct response to my initial plea for help and then my refund request.
 
I did the demo of semsim when i was studying cisco, their demo seemed awfully iffy so I "borrowed" the full version to see if it was worth actually paying for and it was utter crap. Not even worth the download.
 
petejnetwork - You should dispute the charge with your credit card company if you can't get a refund from semsim.
 
Yep, I got taken by this scam as well. I purchased the software and received an email stating I would receive another email within 24 hrs with instructions for download. Didn't get a second email. Emailed the company 2 times regarding the matter and tried to email a third time and they blocked my email address. I saw information about SemSim all over the place before purchasing but didn't research reviews beforehand. I guess before purchasing anything on the web from a company you are not familiar with, you should first search reviews to see if the company is legit. Guess any scumbag with a computer can rip you off these days.
 
if u paid via CC dispute it.

Save email logs.. and forward them to the CC company.
Show them that u couldnt get a working product, you tried and failed at all attempts to get fix at software, yet it still is not working as listed.

Most CC companies will not even bother talking to the vendor again (under 50 dollars), as long as u can show the email logs that u attempted and tried to fix the problem but ran into a wall on your end.
They will just reverse it, and give that shaddy software company its own medicine at what they are doing to you.
 
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