Software reviews and how not to request them!

Now, I don’t mind being asked to review products – indeed I positively ask for it. However, as it’s a free service, I would at least expect a little bit of effort from those making the request.

So, step forward Digiarty Software, who asked me to review their two latest products – a free iPod media converter and a free DVD to iPod ripper. Which would be good, if I actually owned an iPod. Besides, the email missed one essential detail – any kind of link to the product or their website. A quick “Google” found it though.

Having said that, lines in the email such as “Here May I request a review of these software on your web?” doesn’t bode well. Was I really sent an email from “Sophia”? (curiously, it was a Sophia who contacted me to review EASEUS software a while ago. Hmmm)

Now, their website is very professional, which always makes me wonder why software is being given away free, especially when I can see they have an affiliate program. In this case, they also sell commercial software, which is their money maker. However, there’s something about them that doesn’t sit right.

There are spelling and grammatical errors throughout the site and their “Privacy Policy” page has obviously been ripped from the Intel website. Unless they meant to write…

This policy covers the Intel Corporate website and is applicable worldwide.

Their is no reference to where they are based, although the site contains many examples of “broken English”. Who would buy from a site with such a lack of identity? Indeed, when installing the software the copyright notice makes mention of being “protected by United Kingdom copyright laws”. This is then followed up by “The sole owner of this product is Digiarty Software, Inc.” I didn’t think that UK companies used the “Inc.” suffix?

So, next thing to do – look up the website in popular “checkers”. First up, the McAfee Site Advisor. This shows no problems with the downloads, and a contact country of the US. Next, Browser Defender shows much the same, but this time the US is identified as the location of the server. However, the contact is rather different.

HanZhicai
ZhiCai (softsupport@vip.sina.com)
+86.2885258636

I wish I knew where this contact information was sourced from, because a WHOIS lookup doesn’t provide anything of use (the contact information appears to be protected). However, the above name doesn’t appear on other sites, making reference to the aforementioned software.

Sorry, but I’m not going any further. If I’m going to download and install some “free” software, I need to be able to feel the source is trustworthy. In this case, I don’t.

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15 responses

David

1st September 2009

And, today, the mysterious Sophia has contacted me again. This time asking me to review another product.

I think I’ll point her in the direction of this post, and see if I get any more requests 😉

Stephen Chen

4th September 2009

Wooo, I tried the free dvd to ipod ripper, it worked very well~~

Dean Wilson

23rd January 2013

Bought a WinX DVD package. A link was sent for me to download the package. I had 3 downloads and it expired early Feb. I clicked the link and I was taken to a “Page unable to load” so I returned to the email and clicked once again and was informed I now only had 2 downloads left. Not wanting to risk losing ALL of my download opportunities, I sent an email asking for assistance. I got a reply apologizing for the inconvenience and went on to say that the package I bought was a holiday special or something and that some of my registration codes were being withheld until I sent an ADDITIONAL $10.00…! I simply replied telling then I thought this was VERY unethical and simply requested a full refund so I could spend my money with a company who would treat me with dignity and respect! Am waiting for a reply… BEWARE!

Adam_Mao

24th December 2014

Dear Dean Wilson,

I think you misunderstood my colleague.

The “2 downloads left” you mentioned was provided by the third-party payment platform. Everyone is always free to download programs on our official site. And my colleague did send you all the programs you purchased with download links and new license codes.

Your registration codes would never been withheld since you are a paid customer. The ADDITIONAL $10.00 you refered to was for WinX Blu-ray Decrypter. It was offered free as a gift and my colleague just sent you a promotion about it. If you are not interested, you can simply ingore it and still use it free with the free key provided.

We are sorry if there is anything else that is misunderstanding.

Adam Mao
Sales & Tech Support Team
Digiarty Software, Inc.

Reply
1. David Artiss
  
  24th December 2014
  
  May I suggest Adam (if that is your name), that your colleague miscommunicated rather than the customer misunderstanding him. The customer is always right and it won’t help to suggest they were the one in the wrong.
  
  Reply
  1. Adam_Mao
    
    25th December 2014
    
    Hi David,
    
    Yes, Adam is my name. I thank you very much for your suggestion. Miscommunicate must be a more proper word. We do apologise for all those miscommunications.
    
    Adam Mao
    Sales & Tech Support Team
    Digiarty Software, Inc.
    
    Reply

Sand Bloom

31st January 2013

I have been trying to contact Digiarty Software, Inc. in conjuction with a License Code that does not work. All I get are automated responses stating they would contact me within 24 hours which never happened. This company is a scam.

Adam_Mao

24th December 2014

Dear Sand Bloom,

I am not able to locate your email or order with your name.
Would you please contact me with more details? My email address is adam at winxdvd.com.

Adam Mao
Sales & Tech Support Team
Digiarty Software, Inc.

Reply

Michael Graubart

27th February 2014

Interesting. I downloaded Digiarty’s ‘MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition.app’ on or around 19 February, 2014 (I give the date because of what happened subsequently). It did not work. I tried to rip individual titles, the main movie and ‘additional features’ from a DVD: the app. garbled them. I tried copying the entire DVD: the link for doing that was nowhere to be found in any menu, etc.

I e-mailed the company’s ‘Support’. A Mr. Adam Mao replied, telling me to use ‘DVD Backup’. I replied saying that it did not exist. He sent me a screen-shot — which turned out to be of the paid-for version of the app. — and offered a cheap(ish) deal. I sent him a screen-shot, demonstrating that ‘DVD Backup’ was not shown. No reply.

I found some different software to do the particular job I needed to do, but in searching for it found a reference somewhere to a free app. on the Digiarty site with a slightly different icon and name: ‘MacX Free DVD Rip Copy for Mac.app’. So I returned to tye Digiarty site and downloaded the new free app. It works correctly. There must have been some fast work: the faulty free app. was removed from the site and the new one put up there within 2 or 3 days of my raising the alarm.

I wrote again to Mr. Mao. He replied at once. His reply shows that he knew nothing about the new app. (so who put it there?) and had forgotten that the previous free app. did not work, because he asked me to use the (non-existent!) ‘DVD Backup’ link to make a full .iso copy of my DVD and send it to him.

As far as I know the free app. that does work is still there on the Digiarty website. It might be worth grabbing it before it, too, disappears.

Adam_Mao

24th December 2014

Dear Michael Graubart,

I am really sorry for such a misunderstanding. I was just confused by “free app” and “new free app” you mentioned in your emails. However, as the free version is not as powerfull as the pro version, there is little we can do to figure out why it was not working and I suggested you to use our pro version and provided a full key.

Reply
Adam_Mao

24th December 2014

Would you like to try the pro version to see it is fully working for you? You can keep the pro version as long as you like. There is no charge needed.

Reply

matt

30th May 2014

I too have been taken by digiarty! I purchased the converting program and it does not work. I contacted them several times and finally got a reply from Adam Mao. I asked for a refund or explanation of why it isn’t working. He insist on going around my question and they refuse to give a refund. I am looking for a way to stop this from happening to others. It’s not so much about the money, it’s more about someone getting rich off of our “stupidity”. It disgust me

Adam_Mao

24th December 2014

Dear matt,

I am not able to locate your email or order with your name.
Would you please contact me with more details? My email address is adam at winxdvd.com.

Adam Mao
Sales & Tech Support Team
Digiarty Software, Inc.

Reply

Larry

28th December 2014

I also got scammed by this company, they refuse to give refunds even when their software does not work, with several emails back and fourth, to this day they point you to their refund policy….stay away this software is just another canned version of other software that does not work…on the net…do yourself a favor and just get Handbrake…(it’s FREE) and works GREAT! I will not recommend this company or their products….stay away!

Sue

10th January 2017

I am so glad I found this page. I too bought some of their products because they advertise it as an alternative to DVD shrink which it is not. So when I requested a refund they flatly denied it regardless of their 30 day refund policy. So I plan on disputing the charge when it posts and everything I have found online suggest this company is scamming people. I also have contacted the Chinese Minister of Commerce to see how I can file a formal complaint with their government regarding digiarty for false advertising and fraud. Everything I have found will definitely help me get my money back with the CC company.

They tell you their products are “try before you buy” but without buying you can’t use the full product which is clearly stated on their page as to what is the differences between the trial and full products. This company needs to be brought down.

David

1st September 2009

And, today, the mysterious Sophia has contacted me again. This time asking me to review another product.

I think I’ll point her in the direction of this post, and see if I get any more requests 😉

Stephen Chen

4th September 2009

Wooo, I tried the free dvd to ipod ripper, it worked very well~~

Dean Wilson

23rd January 2013

Bought a WinX DVD package. A link was sent for me to download the package. I had 3 downloads and it expired early Feb. I clicked the link and I was taken to a “Page unable to load” so I returned to the email and clicked once again and was informed I now only had 2 downloads left. Not wanting to risk losing ALL of my download opportunities, I sent an email asking for assistance. I got a reply apologizing for the inconvenience and went on to say that the package I bought was a holiday special or something and that some of my registration codes were being withheld until I sent an ADDITIONAL $10.00…! I simply replied telling then I thought this was VERY unethical and simply requested a full refund so I could spend my money with a company who would treat me with dignity and respect! Am waiting for a reply… BEWARE!

1. Adam_Mao
  
  24th December 2014
  
  Dear Dean Wilson,
  
  I think you misunderstood my colleague.
  
  The “2 downloads left” you mentioned was provided by the third-party payment platform. Everyone is always free to download programs on our official site. And my colleague did send you all the programs you purchased with download links and new license codes.
  
  Your registration codes would never been withheld since you are a paid customer. The ADDITIONAL $10.00 you refered to was for WinX Blu-ray Decrypter. It was offered free as a gift and my colleague just sent you a promotion about it. If you are not interested, you can simply ingore it and still use it free with the free key provided.
  
  We are sorry if there is anything else that is misunderstanding.
  
  Adam Mao
  Sales & Tech Support Team
  Digiarty Software, Inc.
  
  1. David Artiss
    
    24th December 2014
    
    May I suggest Adam (if that is your name), that your colleague miscommunicated rather than the customer misunderstanding him. The customer is always right and it won’t help to suggest they were the one in the wrong.
    
    1. Adam_Mao
      
      25th December 2014
      
      Hi David,
      
      Yes, Adam is my name. I thank you very much for your suggestion. Miscommunicate must be a more proper word. We do apologise for all those miscommunications.
      
      Adam Mao
      Sales & Tech Support Team
      Digiarty Software, Inc.
      
Sand Bloom

31st January 2013

I have been trying to contact Digiarty Software, Inc. in conjuction with a License Code that does not work. All I get are automated responses stating they would contact me within 24 hours which never happened. This company is a scam.

1. Adam_Mao
  
  24th December 2014
  
  Dear Sand Bloom,
  
  I am not able to locate your email or order with your name.
  Would you please contact me with more details? My email address is adam at winxdvd.com.
  
  Adam Mao
  Sales & Tech Support Team
  Digiarty Software, Inc.
  
Michael Graubart

27th February 2014

Interesting. I downloaded Digiarty’s ‘MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition.app’ on or around 19 February, 2014 (I give the date because of what happened subsequently). It did not work. I tried to rip individual titles, the main movie and ‘additional features’ from a DVD: the app. garbled them. I tried copying the entire DVD: the link for doing that was nowhere to be found in any menu, etc.

I e-mailed the company’s ‘Support’. A Mr. Adam Mao replied, telling me to use ‘DVD Backup’. I replied saying that it did not exist. He sent me a screen-shot — which turned out to be of the paid-for version of the app. — and offered a cheap(ish) deal. I sent him a screen-shot, demonstrating that ‘DVD Backup’ was not shown. No reply.

I found some different software to do the particular job I needed to do, but in searching for it found a reference somewhere to a free app. on the Digiarty site with a slightly different icon and name: ‘MacX Free DVD Rip Copy for Mac.app’. So I returned to tye Digiarty site and downloaded the new free app. It works correctly. There must have been some fast work: the faulty free app. was removed from the site and the new one put up there within 2 or 3 days of my raising the alarm.

I wrote again to Mr. Mao. He replied at once. His reply shows that he knew nothing about the new app. (so who put it there?) and had forgotten that the previous free app. did not work, because he asked me to use the (non-existent!) ‘DVD Backup’ link to make a full .iso copy of my DVD and send it to him.

As far as I know the free app. that does work is still there on the Digiarty website. It might be worth grabbing it before it, too, disappears.

1. Adam_Mao
  
  24th December 2014
  
  Dear Michael Graubart,
  
  I am really sorry for such a misunderstanding. I was just confused by “free app” and “new free app” you mentioned in your emails. However, as the free version is not as powerfull as the pro version, there is little we can do to figure out why it was not working and I suggested you to use our pro version and provided a full key.
  
2. Adam_Mao
  
  24th December 2014
  
  Would you like to try the pro version to see it is fully working for you? You can keep the pro version as long as you like. There is no charge needed.
  
matt

30th May 2014

I too have been taken by digiarty! I purchased the converting program and it does not work. I contacted them several times and finally got a reply from Adam Mao. I asked for a refund or explanation of why it isn’t working. He insist on going around my question and they refuse to give a refund. I am looking for a way to stop this from happening to others. It’s not so much about the money, it’s more about someone getting rich off of our “stupidity”. It disgust me

1. Adam_Mao
  
  24th December 2014
  
  Dear matt,
  
  I am not able to locate your email or order with your name.
  Would you please contact me with more details? My email address is adam at winxdvd.com.
  
  Adam Mao
  Sales & Tech Support Team
  Digiarty Software, Inc.
  
Larry

28th December 2014

I also got scammed by this company, they refuse to give refunds even when their software does not work, with several emails back and fourth, to this day they point you to their refund policy….stay away this software is just another canned version of other software that does not work…on the net…do yourself a favor and just get Handbrake…(it’s FREE) and works GREAT! I will not recommend this company or their products….stay away!

Sue

10th January 2017

I am so glad I found this page. I too bought some of their products because they advertise it as an alternative to DVD shrink which it is not. So when I requested a refund they flatly denied it regardless of their 30 day refund policy. So I plan on disputing the charge when it posts and everything I have found online suggest this company is scamming people. I also have contacted the Chinese Minister of Commerce to see how I can file a formal complaint with their government regarding digiarty for false advertising and fraud. Everything I have found will definitely help me get my money back with the CC company.

They tell you their products are “try before you buy” but without buying you can’t use the full product which is clearly stated on their page as to what is the differences between the trial and full products. This company needs to be brought down.

Software reviews and how not to request them!

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