Bro, we typically don't discuss outside sources here. For a new guy to pop in and ask "anyone heard of this guy?" He's traditionally met with a roast. Welcome to ASF
Then that my fault for asking that but I had no idea man.
Normally an ordinarily, I really have a zero tolerance policy for bullying and hackling and whatnot, I don't make it a habit of banning people however if in the event someone did something unacceptable, they will get a break or time out.
But in this instance OP he was literally giving you the unwritten rule, with the new member hazing type antic, we really try not to go to out of control with it and he reeled it back in by letting you know he was busting chops.
When hanging around these parts you got to have thick skin brother, besides the minor hazing and hackling here and there and some sarcastic banter with a rough game of two hand touch football, for the most part this is a very helpful and unique community where people will actually go out of their way for you dude. So with that said welcome to the community.
What you could do is reach out to some of the vendors that do sell this product, if you did not purchase from them you can kindly ask them that you would just like some assistance if they know how and where you can go about authenticating it.
Even if you didn't get it from them, I don't see it being a big deal with them not being forthcoming and willing to help you..
Moving forward, it's always best to use a source and the sponsor that is vetted by the community in regards by the members with their personal feedback, you can find that in subforms.
There is no real formality with vetting, there is no process, no one gets vetted and approved, when I say vetted it's more or less the anecdotal reviews and testimonies from members that people can put into consideration, you can take it all with the grain of salt, read between the lines with the bullshit but for the most part there's a lot of solid sources here with some good information....