Purchased used Mbox 2 Pro w/iLok, iLok says device is not mine

[jonjenkins]

OK, so I know I am not the first one to go through the nightmare that is iLok authorization upon resale. Ouch. Here is my story, any help is sincerely appreciated.

I purchased an Mbox 2 Pro with iLok in late 2009. It came with Pro Tools 7.4.2 LE which I happily ran using the existing iLok until this holiday. We recently bought a Macbook Pro, so I attempted to move to the new system. Turns out OSX 10.6+ needs a Pro Tools upgrade, so no time like the present. Long story short, I finally had to come to terms with my iLok device--when I plugged it in on the iLok site, it said I couldn't access it, "registered to another user". I called the guy who sold it to me, and he said "well I since resold and transferred all of those licenses ... TO SOMEBODY ELSE! I am very sorry but there is nothing I can do and I don't know the contact information for that person."

When I contacted iLok to explain the situation, they have basically taken the stance "sorry, if it's not your account, you are SOL." They will try to contact the other buyer, but who knows what will happen.

I cannot believe that if you physically have all hardware in-hand, and present this type of case you are unable to upgrade or take any advantage of the hardware you own. Essentially, I am looking at starting from scratch if I am not mistaken... so I will be $500-600 "out" for the Mbox 2 Pro I bought, plus I will have to start-over as a NEW customer, not an upgrading customer. Avid, please help. This cannot be so. If it is, I think I may have to seek a different vendor because I'll be so jaded.