"I tried to purchase a software download from them and after a week they said they 'shipped it'. I have yet to even recieve and order confirmation from them. I tried to dispute the claim and they told me they can't refund the purchase after having been sent. Literally never even verified my identification. Costumer support was worthless, like talking to a wall. I have to contact a lawyer to get this seteled. NEVER buy from this company, they are a fraud."

"This Academic Superstore is a software supplier that provides discounted software to students, faculty, and nonprofits. Their prices are reasonable, often less than some of the developers directly. However, I wasted an entire week waiting for their support team, and it would appear that their process requires all orders to be managed by their support team. After a week, my order was canceled, and support was of no help. Here are the details:

I placed an order for Parallels software on 2/10/2020. On the order page, purchase eligibility is noted, and in this case, both faculty and students are eligible for discounted pricing (the same eligibility is listed as of 2/23/2020). Verification of eligibility is only done when an order is placed.

After I placed my order I was taken to a page to verify my eligibility. The page asked for documentation; there were a few ways to authenticate. I choose the option for a current pay stub, an option on the list for faculty. I am a full-time college professor; I have been using the student/faculty version of the software for years. As my pay stub did not list my job title, I sent over an employment verification document from Equifax, something my HR department provides for work verifications. After sending these documents, I noted I received an email asking for verification documentation from their customer service team. I replied directly (as suggested in the email if help was needed) and in the email, I noted that I had sent the documentation and to advise if additional info was needed. I sent this email from my University email account.

02/13/2020 (3 days later) - I received the following generic email: "Just confirming that we got your request. We're on it. "

02/13/2020 (about 10 min after prior) - I received a generic email: "msoden commented: Please find below the only acceptable forms of proof ... Pay Stub (cross out confidential information)" with additional info and a list of other acceptable documents to verify eligibility to purchase. I also did this with my .edu university email account, as with prior emails sent.

02/13/2020 (about 15 min after email) - I sent a direct email to the customer service rep with an attachment of my current check stub.

02/14/2020 - After 24 hours of no reply, I resent pay stub attachment and an email asking for a follow-up on my order.

02/15/2020 - Another 24 hours later, I received the following email: "We apologize for the delay in answering your help request. Unfortunately our support team is experiencing a higher volume than normal. Our team is working hard to get to your ticket as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience, we'll be in contact soon."

02/18/2020 - Received an email with the subject line: Order with Academic Superstore is Canceled". No additional info was added. I replied an inquired why it was canceled.

02/18/202 (about 15 minutes later) - I received a generic email stating: "msoden commented: It is a student edition. Must provide one of the eligibility documents below as proof of student status..." In this case, only student eligibility info was available.

2/18/2020 (about an hour later) - I sent an email to their customer service team stating how dissatisfied I was with their service. I shared how their service was very slow, my order was canceled after providing documents they requested, and little details were made available. I also noted how I was disappointed for what appeared to be their error. I included screenshots from their own website, which clearly states I was eligible to purchase the product at a discounted price and that my info was sent multiple times as requested.

2/19/2020 (about 24 hours after I sent my email above) - I received a generic confirmation of email receipt: "We apologize for the delay in answering your help request. Unfortunately our support team is experiencing a higher volume than normal. Our team is working hard to get to your ticket as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience, we'll be in contact soon."

As of the time of this review on 2/23/2020, I have received no additional followup. When I log into my account on their website, I can see the order has been canceled. On my eligibility page, there is a note that documents have been received, but my eligibility is not listed. This would mean if I want to purchase something else, I would need to go through the same, very long process, and who knows what would happen. I also note that the software is listed as student and faculty; at this point, I am not sure if faculty can purchase as my questions were never answered.

In the end, I will purchase the software directly from the vendor. It is slightly more expensive, but at least I will get it in minutes, versus not knowing for days if I will get it or not. This company advertises some great prices on software for faculty and students. However, their customer support is horrible; customers will have no idea if the order will process or not, and it could take a week or even longer to find out, one way or another."

"I hoped that the other reviews were just unreasonably impatient people. This company has the most infuriating and inept customer service I have experienced - they will simply and rudely tell you there's nothing they can do. I am still waiting almost a week after my eligibility has been verified to receive a digital download. If you are able to wait weeks for a digital download, this company is probably fine. "

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"Extremely slow. Poor communication.
Worst customer care ever.
They'd take your money straight away but leave you hanging for days with no response or updates on your order. The 'contact us' is useless. They never respond to their emails. I'd pay more just to get good customer service.

DO NOT BUY ANY PRODUCTS FROM THEM."

"I understand that it takes a little while to verify academic eligibility. But after they verified it, the order still hadn't been processed 24 hours later. It's a digital delivery item - it should be instant. It's not like they need to ship it.

When I called the customer service line, the lady was incredibly rude. She just kept saying "It doesn't work like that." I actually laughed because she was so unpleasant, and she said "I'm not sure what you think is funny. Read the FAQ on our website." She offered no solutions and no proposed timeline. At this point, they have my money and I don't have my software.

It's worth paying a little more to avoid working with this company."

"Worst experience ever. Purchase from the actual endnote company. Disputing the purchase now with credit card."

"This company tooks several days to review eligibility requirements for Endnote, so after two full days I cancelled the order by phone 6 times, numerous emails, and numerous direct website messages. I did this exactly per their policy. NO one ever returned my call and charged the cancelled order, not only once, but twice. The first attempt was cancelled by my bank, so they waited a month later and charged again by making a small change to the submission. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. You will not be satisified. Use another store. "

"I bought a QUICKBOOKS program through them, and at first I didn't know I had to provide eligibility but the girl I spoke to through their customer service, a few days after I purchased it, was extremely helpful and she took my eligibility through her email & my program was shipped later that day. It's unfortunate so many people had a negative experience, but they were great with me. "

"I ordered a digital download on Monday for a software I needed for class on Friday, which I thought was a reasonable amount of time to receive it. The FAQs for the site state that digital downloads are received between 1-3 business days. It is now Friday and I have not received the download. My new plan was to cancel my order, get a refund, and purchase from another vendor. After waiting 30 min for customer service to answer the phone, I was told that she would put a flag on my order and they should get back to her within 24 hours; but then informed me there was no customer service on the weekends. I then asked for a refund and then was told I could not get a refund because my order was already processed. I was then told she didn't know when I would get the download. She then said there was no other way to help me and she promptly got of the line. I am extremely unhappy with they way their business operates and the lack of candor their customer service agents had. I will never buy from this site again and will discourage others from using it as well. "

"I think it is amazing how easy it is to spend money at Academic Superstore, and how difficult it is to get help when you need it. I purchased the University version of office 365, spent an amazing amount of time trying to get it to install properly, and never did. I did not get a valid activation code, nor any way of getting any help. As I write this review, I have wasted three days of valuable study time, my old version of office does not work properly, my new version of office does not work properly, and now I have to dig for mercy from my professor to get my assignments in without penalty. Shame on Academic Superstore for not providing phone support."

"Great prices for a student on a budget like myself. Highly recommend! "

"This is a subsidiary of journey ed. They resold a ptc licensed student version of cre elements. The problem was they sold it to Hutchinson High School. The software would not install. I had to threaten them to get a refund. Mostly I dealt with Alicia and she was no help and put me out to dry. I contacted PTC and they were clueless. Half the people at PTC never heard of journey ed or academic superstore. Be carefull...this company does nothing to help or provide technical support.
Zero stars"

"Be careful, this company is completely devoid of ethical business practices.

Ordered a copy of Avid Media Composer for my K-12 student. Provided verification of eligibility docs as requested. Eligibility was accepted and confirmed.

A week later I get a notice from Avid that K-12 students are not eligible (they used to be). I requested refund from Academic as product was never received.

Alicia from "customer service" responded that they do not offer refunds for electronic purchases and that I should have know K-12 was ineligible.

Have filed dispute through credit card company.

Although I had purchased from them in the past, I will NEVER use Academic Superstore again. I would give them zero stars if I could.
"