Mrs E’s taking the RMA box to the UPS joint after work today, and the Amazon seller in question (RetroSoftware) got back to me a few minutes ago. My hunch about it being an innocent mistake on their part is reinforced even further by their response. They were incredibly nice about it all.
They’re aware of the Chinese/Singaporean bootlegs on the market, and they actually do have a routine for spot checking and discarding bogus inventory. Unfortunately, the batch of CS5 Extended they got from one of their reputable suppliers came during a location move and accidentally made it onto the shelves. They’ve pulled all of their remaining inventory of CS5 Extended off Amazon for double-checking.
They’ve offered to source the real thing and honor the original $699 deal, even if it means a loss for them. I appreciate the offer, but I won’t be taking them up on it. My inner businessman thinks they’ve lost enough money already, and my inner customer is pretty much in the “once bitten, twice shy” camp. I’m going to send them a nice thank-you note in response and consider all this a lesson learned.
A truly decent response–you are gentlemanly. That said, the retail price (about $1400??) comes with no manual–and no I don't like having the pdf/html open on one monitor while I'm working on the other. Still, I do love CS5, even though I'm still exploring it.
May I suggest a possible alternative? Take a community college class and buy the entire suite as a student. The educational discount is simply jaw-dropping.
I don't think the educational version can be used for commercial work, and I'd have to pay for the class anyway. I'd rather just buy the thing outright. 🙂