how to contact ahead (nero) by phone...?

[somethingwitty]

I posted to the tech support forum asking for advice on how to get two OEM versions of nero working together; i.e two brands of recorders, and I want to use both. Haven't gotten a technical answer yet, and ahead's support replied with a standard "you have a bundled version, please purchase full for $19", which neither answered my question nor made sense to me, seeing as how I've absorbed the cost of two versions in purchasing the recorders...

I'd like to try and reach a real live person at ahead, but so far here's all I've got; the email they sent included a fax number, so I searched for ahead on bigyellow and found a phone number. I called during their business hours, and couldnt find a live person...waiting/hitting zero didnt work, the other options led to recordings followed by an autodisconnect...One of them gave me a $1.29/minute tech support #, but that seems a little (ahem, VERY) steep, and what I've looking for now is a customer service rep...sooo, long story short, does anyone have an extension of an actual live human being on the other end of (818) 956-5930 (the # i found at bigyellow)?

thanks in advance...

 

[waylman]

so you've got 2 burners on 1 machine?

 

[notfred]

Aren't they in Germany?

 

[Hossenfeffer]

So you want separate installations of Nero for each burner? Why, pray tell?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

The full version allows writing to more than one drive, right? There ya go.

I hope you're using SCSI

 

[somethingwitty]

i have a cd-rw and a dvd+rw, one by memorex and one verbatim...both have OEM versions of the software, and each can only write to it's own model...I'd like to get both working, but the "newer" version forced me to un-install the old one before I could install it.

Ahead is incorporated in CA as well; got the following in my email reply
Ahead Support Team _________________________________________________________
Office hours are from Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm PST

Ahead Software Inc.
Glendale, CA 91203
FAX: (818) 956 7094

I searched bigyellow for ahead in glendale, CA...and found the # I posted earlier, but havent been able to reach a live person there...hitting zero restarts the recording, and other options give me email addresses then hang up on me.

 

[waylman]

doesn't the dvd+rw do everything you need it to do?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

The versions of Nero that you got with each of those drives were made specifically for those drives. There's no way to make them cross-function. You've got to buy the real version.

Come on, it's only $20. Christ.

 

[somethingwitty]

I just called and inputed the name of the person who'd replied to my initial email (the one who sent me the reply that was practically an autoreply with no info at all) and reached someone in corporate at ahead. They basically said that there's nothing they could do, try to wait for a better email reply or pay for support. so yeah, waiting it is.

To answer the questions mentioned, yes the dvd+rw does everything the cd-rw does-the reasons I want both versions working are a) the cd-rw is faster and b) the principle of the fact that I paid for it should mean something...I have this cd-rw, I paid for it, I should be able to use all of its features. Now, yes, I know it's only $20...But I don't think the amount that'd I'd be paying extra is relevant. What if $20 was really important to me? (ok, then I probably wouldnt have a dvd+rw, but still...).

Also, I'm not asking ahead to HAND me a FULL version-my intended question, IF I could ever reach a customer service agent, is whether there is a code they can give me that would unlock one version to accept the other brand, provided I gave proof of ownership (i.e. serial # or something). Now, in the event that they wouldn't/couldn't give me such a code, I would consider at that point whether to pay the $20, and would probably send them a polite letter expressing my understanding of their reasoning but my disappointment with their restrictions...But honestly that's up to me-if i want to "waste my time" making this post, calling them, sending that letter, etc that's my prorogative; maybe I would rather spend a half hour or so on this than $20.

 

[Kevin]

$20 and you don't have to go through all this wasted time and aggrevation...

 

[somethingwitty]

Originally posted by: Kevin
$20 and you don't have to go through all this wasted time and aggrevation...

lol, perhaps, but maybe I consider spending extra money to make two versions of the same program play nice with each other to be aggravating, although definitely a lot quicker I'm not pissed or anything, I'm not yelling and screaming, and I don't mind sitting down for 5 minutes to write a letter expressing my opinion. I'm just waiting for an email reply now, hoping for a customer service agent who can unlock one version for another brand (if that's even do-able) and/or for a chance to politely express my thoughts as a customer.

 

[Kevin]

Are you using Nero 5.5?

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Originally posted by: FFMCobalt
The versions of Nero that you got with each of those drives were made specifically for those drives. There's no way to make them cross-function. You've got to buy the real version.

Come on, it's only $20. Christ.

Actually, it's just a serial number difference, not a software difference. Why should he pay $20 for something he already payed for once? Budda.

Edit: not once, twice

 

[wfbberzerker]

Text

 

[zeroidea]

I really think your only option is to obtain a full-version serial number. I had the same 'problem' - my VeloCD came with an OEM full version of Nero 5.5, my DVD-R came with an OEM version of Nero Express... Annoyingly, when I changed the serial from the CD-burner's to the DVD-burner's, my install switched over to the handicapped express version and I no longer had the option to enter a new serial number..

It might be helpful if you were to consider that one of the 'features' of the full version is support for multiple recorders, and that the OEM versions included free with burners are just inherently limited to working with the single burner they were included with.