Alias Online Store went out of Serial Numbers
So a few weeks ago I decided to buy myself an upgrade to Alias Sketchbook Pro 2. Which by the way features some nice art from Bobby Chiu on their website, which you can buy from Bobby.So I went to their online store entered all the needed information and finished my purchase with downloading the software. I received the usual e-mail receipt which usually also contains the serial number. But guess what, not this time.
Instead I got these lines:
Serial Number:This serial number is required to activate your Alias software product.
Alias SketchBook Pro – Mac OS X Digital River ———————————————————– Serial Number Not Available Save this e-mail. For security reasons, we cannot re-issue this activation code via your account at the Alias|Wavefront Store. You will need this activation code if you ever have to re-install Alias SketchBook Pro.
So I was a little bit confused, maybe I had missed something in the order process. But thankfully Alias has a nice email and phone support. I opted for the email support because the phone support is only in the business hours. So I wrote a short email to the Alias support to get some clues where my serial number went.
I haven’t received any serial number for my order, I got an confirmation email but there isn’t any serial number.Thanks for your help,
Timon Royer
Shortly after I received an answer.
Dear Timon Royer,We apologize for any confusion. Our products are not serialized. You
will receive an ‘Activation code’ once the product is registered.
Instructions for obtaining activation codes are contained in the product
registration package once the software is loaded on to your computer.Thank you for contacting the Alias US online store. If you have any
further questions or concerns, please “reply” to this e-mail.Sincerely,
Jonothon M.
Customer Care Center
This confused me even more, why do I need to enter a serial number when I start up Alias Sketchbook when the products aren’t serialized. I hadn’t received any sort of activation code and the only way I could even prove that I bought Sketchbook was by my order number from the online store. So I wrote them back even more confused.
Well I’m still confused. I’ve ordered the download version of Sketchbook Pro 2. This is what I received in the confirmation email from Digital River:
If order includes a download software product, see following info:Serial Number:This serial number is required to activate your Alias software product.
Alias SketchBook Pro – Mac OS X Digital River ———————————————————– Serial Number Not Available Save this e-mail. For security reasons, we cannot re-issue this activation code via your account at the Alias|Wavefront Store. You will need this activation code if you ever have to re-install Alias SketchBook Pro.Where do I need to register my product, and how if haven’t got any activation code or serial number?
To the defense of the Alias support, they are very fast answering your emails and they’re are always polite. But maybe they should read my emails more thoroughly. Here’s what I got back from them.
Dear Timon,We apologize again for any confusion. That confirmation is based solely
on a proprietary template that we are unable to change at this point,
due to other mitigating circumstances. You will be able to reinstall
Sketchbook again if necessarry.Thank you for contacting the Alias US online store. If you have any
further questions or concerns, please “reply” to this e-mail.Sincerely,
Richard N.
Customer Care Center
So I’m really on my own, I’ve got a Sketchbook download version that’ll work only for 15 days without a serial number. Some proprietary template is denying my serial number. But thankfully I’m able “to reinstall Sketchbook again if necessary”, whatever that means. So I asked some of the nice people on the forums of the PixelCorps and one told me that he had called Alias and they told him that the store was out of serial numbers. No I’m not kidding, that’s what he told me. He didn’t get his serial number either. Alias told him that they’ll get new ones by December 21. Which they didn’t get at least not for me. Here’s the original quote by Jim Kanter:
Spoke to Kevin at Digital River (the online storefront for Alias).
He said that they ran out of serial numbers and should have more by end of Wednesday (Dec 21). Use in demo mode until then.
But to my surprise, a week after the last response from Alias, I received an email from them.
Dear Timon Royer,Your serial number is: (comment: serial number removed by me)
Thank you for contacting the Alias US online store. If you have any
further questions or concerns, please “reply” to this e-mail.Sincerely,
Adrell M.
Customer Care Center
That’s it, now I’m a happy Alias Sketchbook Pro 2 user. I still don’t know why this all happened and why the support wasn’t able to answer or understand my questions. Maybe some people can enlighten me on this. 
