Rosetta Scam

[burbuja0512]

So... just wanted to give you all a warning. A little while back, I made the decision to purchase Rosetta Stone software for Portuguese. Like everyone with a budget, I was appalled at the high prices, but really wanted to give it a try in spite of mixed reviews.

Anyhow.. somehow I ended up on http://www.rosettaus.com/, which looked EXACTLY like the regular Rosetta site only cheaper - look and see for your self. The official site is [url=http://www.rosettastone.com/][/url]. Rosettaus.com costs $150 and the real thing advertises a $479 price.

Well, a week or two later, the product arrived from China. It looked exactly like what I would expect a Rosetta Stone box to look like, but the box actually broke when I was opening it and the discs were obvious copies. I have to admit that I kind of suspected something funny due to the price, but I didn't really care.. after all, I was saving money.

Anyhow, the system did work for about two uses and then stopped functioning totally. I uninstalled and reinstalled several times and nothing. I decided to go to the site for tech support... funny no tech support number or anything like that. I emailed the contact option given and nothing. Then, finally I remembered that at one point I had been sent a tracking number, so I emailed the customer service rep that sent me the shipping tracking number.

She tried to do troubleshooting with me via email and in spite of a very poor grasp on the English language (hmmmm... maybe she should use the products that she's selling.) Once I sent her screen shots of the error messages I was getting and she realized that it just wasn't going to work, she offered me a 50% refund. I said that I don't want money - I want a working Rosetta Stone program. Every time I asked for them to ship me another one, she would respond with a slightly higher refund offer.

Finally, I explained to her that I could get my money back because I used a credit card to pay. I just wanted to give them a chance to give me a working product before I did this. Well, she never did agree to re-ship another Rosetta Stone set, but said that she could give me an 80% refund, which was the price of the product, but that the other 20% covers shipping which cannot be refunded.

Anyhow... I am tempted just to take the offer so I don't have to hassle with the bank, but still not sure. I told her yes and will be watching my credit card statement closely.

Just wanted to warn you all here so you can avoid this and I also thought it was interesting based on some of the news stories I've heard lately such as the fake Apple store in China..

[Tasman]

So... just wanted to give you all a warning. A little while back, I made the decision to purchase Rosetta Stone software for Portuguese. Like everyone with a budget, I was appalled at the high prices, but really wanted to give it a try in spite of mixed reviews.

Anyhow.. somehow I ended up on http://www.rosettaus.com/, which looked EXACTLY like the regular Rosetta site only cheaper - look and see for your self. The official site is [url=http://www.rosettastone.com/][/url]. Rosettaus.com costs $150 and the real thing advertises a $479 price.

Well, a week or two later, the product arrived from China. It looked exactly like what I would expect a Rosetta Stone box to look like, but the box actually broke when I was opening it and the discs were obvious copies. I have to admit that I kind of suspected something funny due to the price, but I didn't really care.. after all, I was saving money.

Anyhow, the system did work for about two uses and then stopped functioning totally. I uninstalled and reinstalled several times and nothing. I decided to go to the site for tech support... funny no tech support number or anything like that. I emailed the contact option given and nothing. Then, finally I remembered that at one point I had been sent a tracking number, so I emailed the customer service rep that sent me the shipping tracking number.

She tried to do troubleshooting with me via email and in spite of a very poor grasp on the English language (hmmmm... maybe she should use the products that she's selling.) Once I sent her screen shots of the error messages I was getting and she realized that it just wasn't going to work, she offered me a 50% refund. I said that I don't want money - I want a working Rosetta Stone program. Every time I asked for them to ship me another one, she would respond with a slightly higher refund offer.

Finally, I explained to her that I could get my money back because I used a credit card to pay. I just wanted to give them a chance to give me a working product before I did this. Well, she never did agree to re-ship another Rosetta Stone set, but said that she could give me an 80% refund, which was the price of the product, but that the other 20% covers shipping which cannot be refunded.

Anyhow... I am tempted just to take the offer so I don't have to hassle with the bank, but still not sure. I told her yes and will be watching my credit card statement closely.

Just wanted to warn you all here so you can avoid this and I also thought it was interesting based on some of the news stories I've heard lately such as the fake Apple store in China..

Thats why I always say to myself "you get what you pay for"

[thiagocastro]

I have sent the Real rosetta stone an email about the fake website. i didnt mention your situation obviosly. I think that it is BS that they would charge you that much for fake stuff. i hope you get your money back.

[ryoder]

China needs to wake up to the fact that they have an economy based on producing sub-par products and cheap knockoffs. At some point the US should do something about this as we the consumers and taxpayers are getting screwed.

[Shawn A]

So... just wanted to give you all a warning. A little while back, I made the decision to purchase Rosetta Stone software for Portuguese. Like everyone with a budget, I was appalled at the high prices, but really wanted to give it a try in spite of mixed reviews.

Anyhow.. somehow I ended up on http://www.rosettaus.com/, which looked EXACTLY like the regular Rosetta site only cheaper - look and see for your self. The official site is [url=http://www.rosettastone.com/][/url]. Rosettaus.com costs $150 and the real thing advertises a $479 price.

Well, a week or two later, the product arrived from China. It looked exactly like what I would expect a Rosetta Stone box to look like, but the box actually broke when I was opening it and the discs were obvious copies. I have to admit that I kind of suspected something funny due to the price, but I didn't really care.. after all, I was saving money.

Anyhow, the system did work for about two uses and then stopped functioning totally. I uninstalled and reinstalled several times and nothing. I decided to go to the site for tech support... funny no tech support number or anything like that. I emailed the contact option given and nothing. Then, finally I remembered that at one point I had been sent a tracking number, so I emailed the customer service rep that sent me the shipping tracking number.

She tried to do troubleshooting with me via email and in spite of a very poor grasp on the English language (hmmmm... maybe she should use the products that she's selling.) Once I sent her screen shots of the error messages I was getting and she realized that it just wasn't going to work, she offered me a 50% refund. I said that I don't want money - I want a working Rosetta Stone program. Every time I asked for them to ship me another one, she would respond with a slightly higher refund offer.

Finally, I explained to her that I could get my money back because I used a credit card to pay. I just wanted to give them a chance to give me a working product before I did this. Well, she never did agree to re-ship another Rosetta Stone set, but said that she could give me an 80% refund, which was the price of the product, but that the other 20% covers shipping which cannot be refunded.

Anyhow... I am tempted just to take the offer so I don't have to hassle with the bank, but still not sure. I told her yes and will be watching my credit card statement closely.

Just wanted to warn you all here so you can avoid this and I also thought it was interesting based on some of the news stories I've heard lately such as the fake Apple store in China..

I would do the "hassle with the bank" - it's a chinese knock off company??? They're not going to challenge, provide documentation, etc... Get all of your $$ back.

Shawn

[burbuja0512]

Thats why I always say to myself "you get what you pay for"

I couldn't agree more, however that was not what I was thinking when I bought the set originally. What I was thinking is "who the heck does Rosetta Stone think they are charging almost 500 dollars for this?" I mean seriously.. unless they surgically implant the language in my brain, that price is ridiculous. So, that's why I wasn't all too sad about realizing that it was a knock off, BUT it's still not right and the fact that Rosetta Stone is crazy-overpriced doesn't justify it.

@thiagocastro - thank you that was a great idea to email Rosetta Stone!

[cookderosa]

ughhhhh so frustrating!!! Sorry that happened, I hope you get all your money back! Look into getting a second hand copy from a homeschool swap if you still want to save $. We have French, and love it, but paid full price

[Espndude0496]

Hey, if you are looking to save a lot of money, try the InstantImmersion program. I found it to be a lot better than the Rosetta Stone program, and the best part is, I only paid $50 for a new copy. Has all of the same features as Rosetta Stone, obviously minus the cost. Best money ever spent on a language program.

[burbuja0512]

@cookderosa Homeschool swap is a good idea. I did try to look on ebay, but unfortunately Portuguese doesn't seem like a very hot seller lol so I couldn't find a used copy. It really doesn't hurt to keep trying though.

@Espndude - that is interesting and if I can't find a used copy of Rosetta within the next month or so, I may try out your suggestion. What I am discovering about Portuguese is that since I speak fluent Spanish, the basic lessons are painfully boring for me. I can already read the language, so maybe I don't even need to get the "best" program out there. I just need something that will help me get used to the sound of the language.

[CLEP101]

"VUZE"

That's all I'll say on this topic.