Help with CD-KEY Activation for Steam

Okay when i reinstalled the game (i earlier installed with phone activation), i faced problems with cd-key activation through steam. Apparently i went to the keylookup webbie to check my cd-key and both the phone and online cd-keys pop up for me. I copy and paste em into the steam validation setup and lo and behold, 'the cd-key is not valid' and they tell me its an 'invalid product code'. I checked it over twice, thrice and it shouldn't even be a problem since the website acknowledged my cd-key.

So did SI forgot about my retail cd-key when dealing with Steam?

Apparently i read up the support site on steam and they tell me that 'O's and '0's are not used in the CD-KEY format and they advise me to try 'Q' or 'D' in place. Well here's what: I got 4 'o's and '0's in my cd-key so after trying a few combinations of it, i gave up on the steam installation.

Now i'm hoping someone from SI could get me a reply before i go for phone activation again. Any advice would be appreciated.

And just if you're wondering - Yes i bought an original copy. This is the very first time i've encountered problems dealing with cd-keys from original boxed copies.

Try accessing this link and checking your code:

http://keycheck.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/

If that still fails, try contacting SEGA Customer Services - they should help....