So better stay away from Steel Beasts dongles

[bob48]

Now unlocked.

[MikeGER]

no more Rumble in the Dongle please  ;)

sing
Once there was a battle there (In Grogs Lair, in Grogs Lair )
Hundred thousand people there (In Grogs Lair, in Grogs Lair)
All those people gathered there (Grogs Lair, Grogs Lair) to see the rumble about the Dongle there (There (There))
(in Grogs Lair)
^-^

[Ronin_GE]

I have my own opinion on the issue...but hey, opinions are like assholes: Everyone has one.

I just wanted to forward a posting made by a SimHQ member "Paul Morrison", that was intended to help the OP and I hope it does.


"In the interests of tying a nice bow on this one, I'm going to provide the following as a free service to SimHQ (you're welcome).

I'm a lawyer, licensed to practice law in the Province of Ontario, Canada. I've been an TA in the area of contract law at a highly regarded Canadian law school. I've researched and helped write several books dealing with specific forms of contracts, and I'm now in private practice in which about 90% of my work involves, in one way or another, contract law. I do consumer protection and contract law litigation, amongst other work. US contract law, while having its own particular legal twists on a state by state basis, is derived from the common law, which is also the basis of Canadian contract law. So, to the extent I'm about to provide an opinion on the outcome of your dispute, should you choose to litigate it, my opinion is based on Canadian law, which, while similar is not identical to US law.

All that said, this is what I think:

Ryan, your beef is really with your airline.

You purchased a license to use a piece of software and a hardware dongle. The dongle was delivered to you and apparently worked as advertised prior to being lost. Title to the goods passes at a time no later than delivery, which means that liability for loss or damage to those goods passes at that time as well. Basically, it would be like buying a car, smashing it after you leave the dealer, and then trying to return it.

From a legal perspective, E-sims *COULD* give you another one, if they wanted. But that's up to them, and them doing so would be a gift. There is no legal requirement to give a gift. Absent a specific contractual clause which obligates e-sims to replace a dongle after loss or damage, there is no obligation for them to do so.

However, I do have some good news. Generally speaking, airlines engaged in international flights (which includes domestic connecting flights) are bound by the Montreal Convention. Per the Montreal convention, the limitation on lost baggage is 1000 SDR. SDR is an International Monetary Fund unit designed to provide a cross-currency calculation. Currently, 1000 SDR = $1361.03 USD. So, if you lost luggage on the way to or from China, you're entitled to the actual depreciated value of your items, up to a maximum of $1361.03 (or whatever the SDR value was on the date of loss).

The upshot is, the airline should be paying for a new dongle, because they lost it, and their $100 max lost amount is bogus under the Montreal Convention.

I hope this helps, have a nice day."

[RyanE]

Good advice.  We were told that $100 was the max to be paid.  Our VP of Corporate travel says he got $300.  I'll pass the info on to the VP and see what he says.

[RyanE]

I also want to point out, because it appears you didn't read all the posts in the thread.  I have from the get-go never said esims was under any contractual obligation to replace the dongle.  I have pointed out multiple times that typical practice for a lost security key is placement cost of the key plus any processing charges.  In fact, esims will do that if you provide the old dongle back to them.  Of course, in my case that isn't possible.  My issue was that, from a customer service perspective, it made little to know logical or business sense to not let me pay a fee to replace the dongle.  esims says that I have to basically rebuy the SW.  The arguments generally made on the forum are around common sense and customer service.

Thanks for the advice regardless and I have to see if the international agreements apply here.  My main concern is I know the luggage was lost between a stop in SF to change planes and my final city.  I am not sure if the international agreements apply and there is something similar domestically.  I passed through immigration and customs in SF and reboarded another plane as my luggage was rechecked.  I would think the travel VP would know, but am checking.

[jomni]

Lost luggage (items) are covered by travel insurance.  Did you buy one?

[bayonetbrant]

I also want to point out, because it appears you didn't read all the posts in the thread.

I don't think Ronin_GE would be disputing that, and I don't think the guy he's quoting is reading over here.

Regardless, we've been over all this before :-\

[RyanE]

never have

[Ronin_GE]

I also want to point out, because it appears you didn't read all the posts in the thread.

I don't think Ronin_GE would be disputing that, and I don't think the guy he's quoting is reading over here.

Regardless, we've been over all this before :-\

Of course I wouldn't dispute this. I did not read the whole thread...after checking pages 1-2 and 15-16, I assumed the rest of the post are in similar fashion. IMHO at least 14 pages of wasted forum space.

[JudgeDredd]

nm  ::)

[RyanE]

So just a quick update...

1) I got $400 back from the airline and a few things from my company.  Luggage never found and esims says the dongle never showed up online.  So esims's theory that I am out trying to scam them out of a dongle is becoming moot.

2) I have been using a time-based license that esims sent me that I can use until esims decides what to do about my missing dongle.  I had about a month left on it.  I had a hard-drive failure a couple days ago.  So I sent a note to esims thinking they would just deactivate my old license and let me activate a new one with the remaining time on it.  But, guess what...no can do.  If you have a time-based license, and you have a HD failure, you are also pretty much screwed.  In fact, this might be more risky than the dongle.

I know I shouldn't be surprised by esims at this point, but if anyone thinks the time-based licence is the better alternative to a dongle, they are mistaken.  I gotta tell you, esims just wasn't built for the retail market.  And this is the type of thing that has me concerned with the decisions being made around Matrix's Command game.

[Nefaro]

Reminds me...

I need to sell my dongle.   Haven't been playing lately, and not sure if I will be anytime soon.  May as well cash 'er in.  Gonna get Ebay'd next month.

Was of the understanding, when I purchased, that transferring ownership was just fine.

[undercovergeek]

Reminds me...

I need to sell my dongle.   Haven't been playing lately, and not sure if I will be anytime soon.  May as well cash 'er in.  Gonna get Ebay'd next month.

Was of the understanding, when I purchased, that transferring ownership was just fine.

You're the shady figure seen hanging round luggage carousels then?

[RyanE]

Reminds me...

I need to sell my dongle.   Haven't been playing lately, and not sure if I will be anytime soon.  May as well cash 'er in.  Gonna get Ebay'd next month.

Was of the understanding, when I purchased, that transferring ownership was just fine.

I would actually consider buying it from you.  If you can confirm it can be transferred, I would seriously consider it.

[Nefaro]

You're the shady figure seen hanging round luggage carousels then?

Everyone knows dongles and carousels don't mix!