Here's how the story plays out... I have sealed retail copies from US disty of the day,and it listed on eBay. I installed a copy at home, but after following the crumbs down the rabbit hole, I decided to unlist it. I'm almost positive no ebuyer would entertain the persistance and id end up with a return request.
The package comes with the CD and a personilization floppy disk. I made a copy of the floppy and continued with the install. While flipping through the documentation, there were a few notices about having to obtain some kind of additional key from Autodesk.
Armed with the instructions and my serial number, I called in. I spoke to quite a few representatives. They all told me my serial number was invalid.
They opened a case. I sent photos of eveything.
Eventually, after vollys of emails, my invalid serial number became a valid serial number and they wanted a proof of purchase.
After sending in records from disti and more photos, they told me they would get back to me.
They finally did -- one day, I was minding my own business and I received a new message:
Dear Lorenzo,
Hello from Autodesk!
Once again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. We escalated your concern to our experts and upon further investigation, we were able to identify that serial number is a valid Autodesk license.
They provided the access code, and i was able to install it on my machine. They were also very quick to offer additional assistance should i need.
It was not easy and took a lot of persitence. It literally took a month.
