zladytu B
map-marker Portland, Oregon

Norton blew up my flat-panel monitor

In October 2010, I purchased Norton Internet Security 2011 and installed and registered it. A few days later, it threw a message that it was expired and needed to be updated. I rebooted my computer and it worked -- life was good. Then a few more days and it once again said it was expired. On October 25, 2010, I went to Norton.com/support and found this scenario in the FAQs, indicating that it was a known problem. At this point, I entered a chat with a support specialist (name and case number available upon request). I spent more than five hours in a chat with him, during which time he repeatedly crashed my computer. The last time, the monitor did not come up, apparently having damaged by the repeated power surges from the crashes. I hooked up a generic monitor and saw the tech's final message that "since you are not replying, I assume your problem is solved". Sorry -- no. I then called 1-80*-745-**** and got a tech who fixed it in about 10 minutes. I told him that they had blown up my monitor, but he neither admitted nor denied it. A few days later, I received an email from Symantec asking me to critique their "customer service". I wrote exactly what had happened, and got not so much as an apology. I wonder how many more computers or monitors this have been damaged by this defective program. By the way, I saw an ad in yesterday's paper for "NEW Norton Internet Security 2011". Does this mean they fixed it?
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2 comments
Guest

This is one of the stupidest complaints i've ever seen - just because you get a new kitchen sink and your TV suddently doesn't work, doesn't mean it was the kitchen sink. Also monitors do not blow up because of PC's - this is a fundamental misunderstanding of physics, electronics etc and you shouldn't be allowed to complain with such ignorance.

Guest

Having been an electronics Tech since the days of vacuum tubes I can tell you that a computer crash can have no harmful effect on a monitor. I hate the term crash as it just fans the fires of paranoia.

The term crash dated back to when hard drive did not auto park the read write heads and they would often crash into the magnetic disks if the user did not park them correctly. This crash into the magnetic disks guaranteed the need for a new hard drive. Your monitor most likely failed due to a malfunction in the switch mode power supply and would have failed anyway.

Norton causing damage to your monitor is akin to you triggering an avalanche by screaming over the phone. Just aint gonna happen!

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remoman M
map-marker Los Angeles, California

False Advertising

My son and I each bought a Norton bundle pack: (Internet Security 2011, Utilities, Ghost.) It is marked on the side flap, "1 year protection for up to 3 PC's" then lists each of the 3 products. I took out the discs and the Security and Utilities is marked, "for 3 PC's" The disc for Ghost is marked "For 1 PC." I called their tech support and got some guy out of the country who had no idea how to help me - just kept saying, "Ghost is only for 1 PC." I called Symantec corp. in Mountain View CA and their Customer Support there gave me a case # BIG DEAL and transferred me back to India or where ever. NO HELP. I called back and the receptionist said she will email someone. Not sure I will ever get this resolved. Doesn't a company realize things like this drive customers away? I have used Norton 360 for years but this will make me consider Kaspersky next time.
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2 comments
Guest

My computer is infected with spyware (and God knows what else) - 2 months after I changed over to Norton. Co-incidence? I think not.

I thought that protection I paid for would be even more secure. I did the long waits on hold, never received the promised calls, and was refused any help unless I forked over $99.99. Which I will not, because, after 3 incompetent Norton “techs” fiddled with my computer remotely, I wouldn’t trust them with a tinker toy.

Oh what a babe in the woods I was 2 days-in-*** ago when this Norton business first started.

I have spent 12 hours online just reading complaints about Norton and their appalling corrupt practices. (What else to do when you’re on hold?)

My Norton scans say there’s nothing present. But I did another scan that revealed all sorts of problematic attachments. Each of the 3 Norton techs did exactly the same scan and each time a slew of new attachments had bypassed their supposed protection (once in just ½ hour).

1. I was blamed by the first tech (with minimal English) for having gone to a site that loaded the spyware – I said isn’t that what I’m paying Norton for protection from?

2. I was told there was no spyware – I said, “Look, it’s even taken over my home page with its name plastered across the page. “Oh.” She simply changed it back to my home page. That doesn’t get rid of the spyware!!

3. I was told it must be an new spyware and accused of not having updated my Norton, that I have to update at least twice a day (huh? It’s automatic) – I said it is spyware that’s been in existence at least since 2005; it’s all over the internet. She said that Norton can’t stop ALL the viruses. Then what am I paying for?

4. I was told I must pay $99.99 and I balked, saying they’d fixed my sister’s for free when she’d refused to pay the $99.99 (that must have been a miracle) and she asked when my sister’s had been fixed – I said 2 months ago and she said, “Oh, our policies have changed since then.

THAT’S WHEN I REALIZED SHE WAS GOING TO LIE NO MATTER WHAT.

5. They promised a supervisor would call me back - No one did.

6. I had an appointment for a tech to call the next day at 6 p.m. – no one eve called.

7. I went onto their chat line and a new tech remotely scanned my computer. It was loaded with attachments again. She removed them and told me everything was fine - I said it wasn’t. My computer screen is beeping and jumping all over the place. She gave me a Norton Bootable Recovery site to go to. It wouldn’t open, but the tech had quickly closed the chat line. (Oh, and she said that Norton can’t stop ALL viruses.)

8. I went back to the chat line immediately and a new tech did a scan. In less than1/2 hour, my computer was again infected – she opened the Bootable Recovery page (so what’s it for?), told me a supervisor would be calling in an hour and vamoosed from the chat line.

9. The “supervisor” (again Indian, again barely decipherable and I’m good with accents) called in ½ hour, before the page had time to download and I asked him to call back in ½ hour.

10. I sit here with an infected computer. The Tool program refused to download. Never heard from anyone again.

As I said, I was naïve 48 hours ago. After my own experience, and especially after reading one horrific posting after another (removal of all of someone’s photos and then charging $250 to return them to the computer [can you spell extortion, boys and girls?]; removing annual renewals from credit cards from customers year after year without their permission, including ones who no longer used Norton, no longer even had the same computers, and ones who had changed their credit card nos.; one person who paid $99.99 for removal of viruses 3 months in a row, refusing to honour rebates – this is a big one; wrecking computers; refusing refunds; etc.), I am astonished that Norton has not been hit with class action suits. I am so stunned by what I have read that not only is it clear that Norton’s programs don’t provide adequate protection; or provide technical service (hahahaha, good one), or free service, or 24-hour service, I now strongly suspect Norton of being complicit in virus placements.

I wish there was a way for all of us complainants to get together because that’s how this sort of egregious corruption is stopped. Hit them where it hurts – in the pocket book.

Guest

I recommend you forget Norton anyway, and get avast antivirus and pay for Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. The two together protect you from pretty much everything.

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Anonymous
map-marker Elmhurst, Illinois

Symantec Phone Customer Support Stinks

I just tried calling Symantec Customer Support, after waiting 65 minutes on holding, listening to music and their automated system telling me, do not hang up, if I hang up and call back I will end up at the back of the line. When I called Corporate Headquarters in Mountain View, CA and asked to speak to somebody about my complaint of why I was waiting 65 minutes and still holding on my other phone, they stated nobody at corporate headquarters accepts complaints, this is the corporate headquarters of the company, yet they do not fiend complaints ??? Something is wrong big time with this company when they sell me Norton 360 for around $90 and they can't in anyway properly support their product because their phone systems are jammed with callers like me. The President of Symantec needs to be FIRED, this is the only way to send a signal to the customers, that they are being heard. I guarantee you that no executive at corporate headquarters is waiting 65 minutes to speak to someone. This wait time shows a total disrespect for people trying to communicate with Symantec. Symantec has obviously deemed waiting well over 1 hour on hold, acceptable. What kind of business treats their customers like that ???? One that will be out of business if they don't change their ways.
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7 comments
Guest

I have raised an case with the techsupport about 22 days now. After 4 days some one calls from USA Support and keeps me on call for 45 minutes and confirms that The support cannot handle the error in my scripts.

And then I had to explain him that it the error that PGP is throwing then he says Im sorry I cannot handle this level of tech work, So I will assign this ticket to L3.

And I have not heard from Symantec since then. This is the most pathetic service one can get.

Guest

I'm a PGP Universal Server as well. PGP Corp support was very responsive when a problem was submitted.

Now, with Symantec, I have been waiting for 4 business days on a major issue for a call back. After leaving voice messages for the "technician assigned", I finally gave up and called Support.

I was told that the technician will call me back as soon as he gets back from lunch. HA!

Guest

Just as bad on the business side.

No tech's available when India is asleep.

No supervisor to talk to.

Customer care must belong to the same Indian company.

Bad products and bad support. they are too big for themselves. If you want to renew your license, you can get someone in under 2 minutes.

Guest

:(

Currently been on hold for 2 1/2 hours on a high severity call. This is not the first time either. Symantec really needs to do something about how monumentally wrong this is.

Guest

My firm recently purchased PGP Universal server and i had no issues contacting support in a timely manner. Then a few weeks ago Symantec bought PGP and the customer service is now the worst i have EVER experienced. Beyond pathetic.

Guest

I use Backup Exec to support multiple servers for Metro Gov't. Symantec has the longest call *** wait times and spotty call returns of any support company I’ve ever worked with.

Whenever I call their tech support line and enter my 9 digit case # the system automatically tries to connect me to the support engineer for my case. I been a Norton/Symantec customer since 1999 and I cannot recall even once when my tech or any tech has ever answered the phone.

Guest

I have been waiting for the technician dealing with my case with symantec for 48 hours now despite raising the case as critical. When I sent a shirty email they said a technician will call me first thing in the morning.

No call so I send another email. No call so I send another email and 10 mintues later someone from symantec calles me just to say that a manager will call me in 2 hours when he gets into the office and could not pass me onto a technician for reasons unkown.

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clint l Lwe
map-marker Ontario, California

Office Depot Norton Utilities Rebate 10-3**** is broken

* Office Depot had a Symantec rebate 10-3**** for Norton Utilities 14.5 running from 10/24/2010 thru 10/30/2010. * The rebate didn't say and the Office Depot staff didn't know that Symantec rescticted the rebate to UPC 0376******** * My and many Office Depot stores have only ever stocked Norton Utilities 14.5 with UPC bar code 0376********. It is not possible to buy the product with UPC ending 277 from those stores. * My rebate was refused by Symantec (the rebate processor). * I asked Office Depot phone sales if I could be sold a copy of the Norton Utilites 14.5 with the UPC ending 277 and was told they were sorry but that sale would not be possible. * I made a phone call to Symantec rebate center staff identifying myself as a person interested in utilizing the rebate and wanting to make sure I purchased the correct product. I asked the staff to please supply me with the UPC bar code numbers applicable to the rebate 10-3**** and was told by the staff that the applicable UPC bar code numbers could not be disclosed to me. * A Symantec rebate center staff supervisor "double talked" me. He told me that Symantec was not hiding the rebate's UPC restriction from Office Depot. He said Office Depot knew about the rebate and the product UPC bar code. i already knew that Office Depot store staff and telephone staff had accessed the same rebate forms I possessed to tell me about the rebate and the store staff only knew the product UPC that was stocked. The Office Depot store and telephone staff did know all about the rebate communicated by Symantec, just not some important details the Symantec withheld.
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Loss:
$30
kenjonesNSan F
map-marker San Francisco, California

Norton Antivirus joins *** for Customer Service and Rip Offs

Been a Norton Antivirus user for years with no problems. TOday there was a "Protective Shield" bug informing me I was infected with a virus that their company could repair for $ 49, 59 or 69.00. While I had the virus message, I ran a full scan on Norton Antivirus and it detected no viruses and told me my system was clean. The bug had restricted by internet use to purchase their rememedy or do nothing else. At 7:05pm I called -800-441-**** where I was on hold until well after 10:30 (this is is really horrible customer Service). The fastest thing the corporation did for me was charge my credit for $ 99.00 at about 10: 45 and it is 12:07am and I am stilln on hold waiting for a 6-digit PIN to clear the account. Clearly there is no benefit to purchasing Norton antivirus; is that correct? You need to be clear with people that you are unable to respond to their issues and problems in a timely fashion; and it is easier to go to best buy and buy a new computer and tell everybody to STOP SUPPORTING NORTON - U get nothing back! STOP SUPPORTING NORTON - You get nothing back; and even that is slow
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Loss:
$99
5 comments
Guest

Stay away from Norton's AV. Stores make a huge profit selling this *** which is designed to slow down your computer and cause problems with the operating system.

This is how stores reap big profits on a computer sale, First the sales *** will harass you to buy an overpriced extended warranty and then Norton AV or 360 which will screw up your new computer so bad that you'll have to bring it in for service for which you'll be further charged a hefty fee. Its all a scam.

Try Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free and it doesn't slow down or screw up your computer like that Nortons sh1t does.

Guest

Just spent over 2.5 hours with Norton "help" and after speaking to over 3 different superiors (supposedly), nothing could be done to solve my problem. I was also an avid Norton supporter who constantly updated virus definitions and ran scans periodically.

One website (apparently Norton approved) had some sort of virus attached to it, opened up and downloaded itself onto my computer. Norton said I could pay $99 to have them remove it. My point is- WHY DIDN'T THEIR ANTI VIRUS PROTECTION/ Internet security catch this??? I think the company is a cash cow that relies on customers to pay them extra fees for internet protection.

I'd rather switch to a MAC.

Anyway- more importantly I went and downloaded "malware bytes" and super free antispyware to troubleshoot my own computer, thanks to a computer savvy friend I had. Luckily, for me, it was a malware program that was easily removed rather than a virus. So don't waste your time and money with Norton.

They do not seem to care about their customers, nor do they want to take ownership for their own flaws. Shame on you Norton.

There are plenty of better programs out there that focus on customer service. Symantec just wants your money.

Guest

Had same problem. Have been using Norton for years with no problem.

Now have a problem when everytime I run a full system scan, computer closes. Called them, got charged £69.99 and 24 hours latere, after 4 calls because they didnt return any of mine and being told it was fixed, its not!

Told them I wanted a refund!! Never again will I be using them!!

Guest

I had a very similar experience in that a home computer became totally ustable due to virus's. I called Norton and they said that for $99 ( or was it more?

) they said they could remove it. They took my credit card info. I was told that someone would be right with me.I was put on hold for about 2.5 hours. My phone died and it was late and I had to work the next day.

I called the next night, was put on hold and the same thing happened! I was absolutely flabbergasted!

I had assumed that Norton was a reputable company. The run arounds and lies ( yes lies ) that were fed to me as I tried to get my money back were unbelievable.

I really don't have enough computer knowldege to comment on the effectiveness of Norton 360 as a virus protection; but the lies, fraudelent treatment that I received from the Customer Service ( in India ) was unbelievable.

Guest

Agree completely with the above. System crashed because of virus infection and all Norton could ultimately do is refer to their paid for service.

I wouldn't be surprised if Norton itself didn't initiate the virus attack itself.

I shouldn't have to pay additional money for their failed service. The product sucks and I can't eve find out how to make a complaint and stop the service for a refund.

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Anonymous
map-marker Washington, District Of Columbia

Symantec Support BLOWS. 4+ hour wait?

I'm on the phone right now in fact! Their support for Backup Exec sucks! I've called 5 times the passed 2 weeks. Tried emailing them. NOTHING FROM THEM. Yet their operator assures me they are working hard on the case and have it set as "major". BULL, not when no one has called me back and I've waited on the phone long enough for my cell phone to die. wtf? Seriously. Fix your support center, hire more. I opened the case on the 4th of October. Today is the 13th. I am still working on the same case to be addressed, but it has not even been looked at by any support personnel. WTF?
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2 comments
Guest

New post to old subject and an update thier support still blows as of 09/14/2011

Guest

They do blow. We have experienced the same problem.

We submitted a request over two weeks ago and no reply. No we are tag teamimg on the phone.

We have been on hold since 12:00 and it's now 4:29. Not sure why our company does business with them!!!

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Anonymous
map-marker Aurora, Colorado

Stay Away From Norton 360!

I got a virus and some worms while running Norton 360 and yes it was up to date on all downloads. I spent 3 hours on a chat with someone that I had to pay $99.99 to clean out the problems that Norton 360 let in. The agent told me my computer was clean. I ran another program to check this and found the very problems that I had paid to get cleaned out. I've spent 4 days trying to find someone in the US that will refund my money. All I get is the office in India. These people are farmed out labor and couldn't care less how many customers they chase off with the extremely bad customer service! I am convinced now that Symantec makes more money off the viruses they let slip in than they do selling Norton 360! Refund..I can forget that but my satisfaction will come from posting to as many places as I can find to warn others to stay clear of any Symantec product. That company cares nothing about their customers. They just want to take the money and RUN!
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2 comments
Guest

I have been using Norton since the late 80's and have had nothing but good service from them. The trick is to talk to a state side support tech. Call during the day say noon Pacific time. When you get connected to India make sure that you cannot understand what it is they are saying. Keep asking them to repeat themselves. eventually you will get transferred back to the U. S.

At this point you will be talking to someone you can understand and who understands you. Before you call though have all your information at hand even info you may not think you will need. Do not be afraid to ask questions.

Beware of "other" companies scans as they will put up fictitious problems that will be cleared up as soon as you buy their software. Norton has always played well above the rules and go out of their way to provide a superior product. There was a time they were a memory hog but that is in the past. There are other just as good as software out there but in total counting Norton there are only 4 or 5 of them that I would trust in my machine.I started repairing computers in the days before Windows 3.2 I have always trusted Norton and have never had any regrets.

Guest

Why did you sugar-coat it. It's worse than you stated.

I have thousands of dollars of time tied up with habib whoever and his gang of tech suppirates uninstalling and reinstalling 360 and it still will not run. As a sysadmin for five college campuses I have used Symantec enterprise applications for years but all that is changing now. No more!

Mad as he** and not going to take it any more. What's worse is CNET, who I have always trusted is in bed with the Norton suppirates.

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Anonymous
map-marker Camden, New Jersey

Symantec outrageous phone hold times

It is now going on three hours on hold for a symantec tech expert to pick up the phone....after 1.5 hours my first phones battery went dead...I really do not believe I have ever experienced as horrible customer service as this, especially since it took them about three minutes to get my credit card number and charge me $150.00.....To all prospective Symantec customers: unless you really love to be treated like a piece of garbage, avoid these folks at all costs! My next call is to the Better Business Bureau, which will hopefully get this company to treat its customers with a little respect.
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Anonymous
map-marker Delhi, Delhi

Horrible experience so far !!

Using online store of your complany I subscribed for Norton Antivirus 2010 for 2 years. My order no. is 165320****. Since I am not able to comlete the download of subscribed antivirus softward on my PC I have tried to reach you through the customer help line number( for India) stated in your website. I am frustrated to the core as the number never gets responded as I have tried to reach at least 6 to 7 times on different dates and timings but noone picks up the phone. Despite manking the payment I still remain harrassed ! Would someone from the company take care of my problem. I could be reached on +91 0987****319 apart from the registered email address with you. In case your customer help line number has changed, for Gods sake please update it on your website.
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Loss:
$64
Anonymous
map-marker New York, New York

Winferno-Symantic refund scam

Winferno sells Norton anti-virus protection through their website with promise of a refund (Mine was 35 dollars off a $69.99 bill). You send your refund papers in and Symantic (Norton) denies it because Winferno never gives you a receipt or any kind of confirmation that you purchased the product. I have searched and searched old emails and looked on the Winferno site to find a proof of purchase, but no dice. I won't get that money back but I can at least make others aware of it to prevent future consumers from getting screwed. The irony is Winferno is not a safe site according to Norton.
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9 comments
Guest

Burn Winferno..you stole my money

Guest

Where is Jim Sokolove the attorney when

you need him..Winferno needs to become INFERNO and its owners prosecuted...

Norton McAfee are you going to sit by idle and let them ruin your reputation..

Guest

Winferno needs a class action suit..any Boston Lawyers out there looking for work!

Guest

Winferno is run by several incompotent individuals who basically screw customers.

Guest

cOMNPANIES LIKE WINFERNO RUIN THE ONLINE

EXPERIENCE...NO MORE ITS CASH AND CARRY OR i DONT NEED IT..DIE WINFERNO

Guest

Show up at their boston office..before you walk in call Boston Police 911 and tell them your credit card was used fraudulently and your at the business right now and want them to send detectives and see how fast they give you

your money back..

Guest

what a joke..took my money and did not deliver the product ..the rebate checks are bouncing from other on line sources

Guest

should be tornado..cancel you credit card immediately or you could be hit again without authorization..these people

have a lot of scams going on..shame on you Norton and McAfee..for letting these criminals handle your product..

Guest

Winferno is located at 179 South St Ste 2 Boston Ma..call the Boston Police 911

number and file a fraud compaint against them and also call the Better Business Business Bureau to file a complaint. It's a lot of work but you need to do it so

these people go away.

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carolcarson
map-marker Santa Cruz, California

Symantec Norton Complaints: Call Here

I have tried for months to get back my money from a faulty download of Norton 2008. I have had three representatives, not in the United States, tell me the check was in the mail. Besides the hours of my wasted time, the stress of it has take its toll. Like most unsatisfied customers, it certainly hasn't been equal to the money lost. I suppose that's why people just give up. But I didn't. For those of you that can not get your money back from faulty downloads from Norton, call Kimberly Rodriquez at 408-517-**** and go to the following website for a complete list of executives:http://consumerist.com/503****/complete-norton-symantec-executive-contact-listGood Luck! Carol
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Lorance Kid
map-marker Athens, Georgia

Symantec Corporation faulty downloads and zero customer service

This is the letter I'm sending to them. June 1, 2008 To Whom It May Concern: (since I can’t find an address, a contact name, department or person to send this to) I received a BIG FAT RED X on my computer on Sunday June 1, 2008 indicating that my Norton anti-virus subscription had expired. I thought that I had renewed anti-virus and internet security in December 2007, apparently not. After about 5 tries to get to your website and download anti-virus only, I was able to get through all the screens and make the purchase for 39.99. When I went to print my order page, the system froze. When I drilled down through your site to find a contact us, it asked to download support files in order to chat, I pressed the dialogue box to do so and got nothing. So not only did I not get help, I did not get my download. I went back to your site to try to return it what I DID NOT get which was the 2008 Anti-virus download, and it wouldn’t let me send an email because I didn’t have an order number. I DID NOT RECEIVE AN ORDER NUMBER BECAUSE EVERYTHING I TRIED ON YOUR SITE, FAILED AND CRASHED. I don’t understand what kind of customer service you have. You can’t talk to anyone on the phone without paying money, you can’t chat with anyone online without downloading support files that do not download and you took my money. Let me tell you something. These are hard economic times. The $40 I spent on ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FROM YOUR COMPANY, could have gone into my gas tank or put some food on my table. I am woefully disappointed with the number of hoops required in order to get your product and the additional thousand hoops required to get some help with your products. I have currently unistalled (I hope) every Symantec application from my computer. I WANT MY MONEY BACK AND I want you to address for me and for any other person who has spent their hard earned money on your products, why it’s so difficult to get them and why it so difficult to get some help on them. Times are much too difficult to PAY MONEY FOR FOOLISHNESS.
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Loss:
$40
2 comments
Guest

I paid $39.99 to download Norton AntiVirus. The program would not download and I contacted customer service for Symantec. I was routed overseas and a man named Mohammed stated he could download the program from his end (he had access into my computer to do so). 2 hours later, this man still could not download the software and each time I asked him what the problem was, he could not answer me and was totally confused. He then told me he could not do the download propery and I needed to contact my computer\'s host server. My computer, after this so-called rep finished with it, suddenly went completely down. Nothing I did worked and because I do much of my business on computer, I was completely in a bind. I then contacted a computer tech who came over to my office and after 20 minutes, stated that this rep had ruined my software by doing several things during that 2 hours he had access. The tech then had to take my computer and it took 3 days to fix what that rep did to my software. My cost for the repairs, etc. was over $375.00. I also contacted my bank, Wells Fargo, and after investigating, they credited back my debit card the $39.99 because Symantec never responded to the bank. I then attempted to call Symantec in California at various phone numbers - all the phone numbers were no longer in service. I am outraged that a company of this magnitude can employ the most incompetent people to handle their transactions with customers. This man ruined my software, disrupted my business for several days, never called me back to check on the status or to even apologize for all the problems. I feel that the very least Symantec can do is reimburse me for the money I paid to the computer tech. I even have a receipt of payment that I can submit.

Damage Resulting

My business was down for 3 days and I had to pay a tech over $375.00.

Do you really want these incompetent reps representing your company? It's outrageous that these reps can get away with this at a big cost to the customers.

Guest

Hi Adrian,

I apologize that you've had such a frustrating experience trying to renew your product subscription. I'd like to get to the bottom of what happened and assist you in any way that I can.

Please feel free to call me directly at 323.317.9893.

Best,

Noah Edwardsen

CarryOn Communication for Symantec

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Ken L Qaq
map-marker Torrance, California

Symantec - You WILL renew NOW!!

I have been using Symantec's Norton 360 Internet Protection Software for about eight years now. This year Symantec decided that I should renew when THEY felt apppropriate, like 30 days prior to my renewal date! Approx 37 days prior to renewal I started receiving these pop-ups telling me It was time, remew now or remind me later. The "remind me later turned out to be about 24 hrs, which is fine. But when I did not renew during that initial week, the next week the pop-ups started coming HOURLY! I emailed Symantec Customer service and told them I'm an adult and I'll renew when I'm *** good and ready - please shut the renewal notices off. They repllied that they could not shut them off, "just ignore them"! I really tried to ignore them, but the third week the pop-ups came every 15 minutes! Enraged, I called Symantec Customer Service and demanded they stop invading myu computer with their bullying reminders, and they again said they could not. So I asked to speak to a supervisor who parrotted that there was nothing he could do. I was taking names and preparing to fly to Cupertino (Symantec Hq) to get the thing shut off and told him so. So he came up with uninstalling my Norton 360, then installing their sample which would in effect stop the barrage of reminders. In the meantime I tried to contact someone in Cupertino to complain and was referred to the Customer Service Center - period. The next thing I received from Symantec was a request for my current credit card number as their renewal had been denied by my bank! Guess what, I never authorized renewal! I am not on auto-renewal and never authorized them to renew. If I had authorized renewal I would have given them the new credit card info! So I uninstalled the rest of their *** and went with another company. I'll let you know how this other company does after a couple of months......
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7 comments
Guest

Here is a thought. Go to a store to buy your software.

PAY CASH. They will still have your email address when you register but not your credit card numbers. If they start the barage of emails when it is time to register again. Go to another company.

Had a problem with my software but it was my lack of knowledge. Tried to charge me for fixing my computer on line. Pretty much told me the computer was going to blow up. Told him I did not have a credit card.

That was that and my computer did not blow up yet. Used scare tactics to get my money wanted $200.00. Then asked what could I pay. Red flag!!!

Said I would have to pay more locally. Have always had a virus software on computer. Do not have any personal info on computer no purching on line. So watch their scare tactics with customer service.

They might be also rogue customer service reps in India trying to make money on the side. Can Norton really watch or control all the outsourcing. I think not.

Do not let them get your credit card number. And do not panic they play on this.

Guest

so you will renew now

Guest

:cry

I have orded the Norton antivirus and firewall live update 30.8.2009 and never got these. And as I have seen never will get them. So I`ll never buy anything og Symantec.

I want my money back!

I have not coud speak to anyone, only call the telefone and wait and wait.

Symantec is a robery firm not recomented to anyone!

Guest

I wouldn't have a problem if they changed the button label from "Remind me later" to "Remind me in 10 minutes." At least it would be more honest, and I would realize more quickly that what I really need is a different vendor.

Guest

Norton is a Virus so big all other viruses' pale in comparrison. I have used one of the other Virus protection SW offered and rated in the top five- it was a reshing year without Norton- ah, I only have 28.972456 more days - or 50 Meg reminders from the people who sell us protection except from the protectors?

Guest

*** I was hoping for an answer. They should be paying rent for the use of our space!!!

I really do not like being told what to do by this lot and let alone the influence they have on novice users who believe wholeheartedly that they must have Norton or they will suffer extreme agony and be infected. There should be a law against this invasion of privacy and PC manufactures and suppliers should not allow these preloaded inpositions to be included without agreement.

Guest

How ironic, Norton protects us from pop-ups and viruses in turn replacing the pop-ups we paid them to protect us from with - their own pop-ups...

Last year I went through the exact same 30 days worth of harassing pop-up messages from Norton, I

also contacted their tech support and was subject to the same "gee the only way we can help you is for you to renew your subscription" BS.

I believe that Norton has instituted this 30 day "countdown to Armageddon" for no other reason than to secure a subscription renewal from its poor customers.

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Big A Itm
map-marker Gloversville, New York

Symantec, lousy service/defective product

After suffering several problems including sending and receiving emails, my Norton Anti Virus software kept opening a warning box stating 'A problem has occurred and Symantec needs to close' The Norton symbol would vanish from my taskbar, leaving me without protection until I restarted my computer. After a few more days of this a new warning stated that I needed to uninstall and reinstall my virus protection. To make a long story short, my software would not reinstall so I contacted Symantec via their web site and described my problem. I received a reply from a tech with a long list of downloads from their site to remedy my problem. After 22 hours of downloads (I had to do this twice do to a corrupt first download) my virus protection refused to open saying I had the wrong product codes. Before uninstalling their product I contacted their site to obtain the correct codes from my original purchase which is kept by Symantec when I registered the software. I emailed the tech I had been in contact with and described my new problem and got no response. Several days later I resent my request for help and was ignored again. After my first email to Symantec I received a message from the vice president of Symantec consumer support (Lenny Alugas) asking me to respond to a customer service survey about my experience. I clicked on the URL and received a message that this service is no longer available! I then sent a complete thread of my correspondence with Symantec to the vice president. Eleven days have passed without a response. I have now reported Symantec to the Better Business Bureau.
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Loss:
$39
8 comments
Guest

I paid Symantec $99.99 for what I was told was for a "specialist" to remove a virus that could not be removed my the Nortor virus protection I had already paid and had installed on my laptop. After blaming the hardware, disc drive and disc, 3 days of allowing many different techs remote access to my laptop, I was unable to restart my laptop, it would go completely dark, I took my laptop to Best Buy's Geek Squard where they found a Trojan and 2 Malware virues, AND was able to tell me where they came from in 20 minutes.

I had to fork out $139.99 to Best Buy to take the laptop to factory start, and even though it was promised, Symantec repeated refused to refund the $99.99 and kept asking for access to my laptop AGAIN. They are a total scam, their "specialist" are just low level call center trainee's who operate from a script and try to get as many $99.99 charges as they can.

Once they get your money, forget it, they do not care about the damage, money and time that they waste, its just excuse after excuse that you can hardly understand anyways. DO NOT DO ANY BUSINESS WITH SYMANTEC OR ALLOW ANY OF THEM TO HAVE REMOTE ACCESS TO YOUR COMPUTER!

Guest

UPDATE: My report to The Better Business Bureau paid off. Within minutes of registering the complaint, I received a confirmation Email from BBB stating they would be sending a complaint to Symantec.

Two days later I received a call from Thom Jackson representing Symantec. After blasting him about the lousy product and poor service from his customer service department, he offered me a new 2008 security product with better protection then my 2007 version at no cost. He assured me it would be mailed overnight and that he would call to assist me with installation. He was true to his word and the product was installed with no trouble.

Since installing it in February, my system is now running as it should. My advice to anyone who is disgusted with Symantec is to turn them in to the BBB, they get results!!!!

I am positive that if it wasn't for my complaint to BBB, Symantec would continue to ignore me. When this protection expires I will buy anything BUT Norton/Symantec to replace it.

Guest

I am also very upset wtih Norton/Symantec. I have had Norton Internet Security since 2005 & it worked fine until about 2 months ago.

I started getting the pop-up's, but I dealt with it. Then all of a sudden las week, I couldn't access the internet, or send & receive e-mails, so I contacted my local internet provider. I described the problems I had been having & they assisted me in temporarly removing my firewall & asked me to log in. I was able to log in & started receiving e-mails.

My local provider then said that I would need to contact Norton to have the security on my firewall lowered. After waiting for over 30 minutes for a technician, the call was finally answered by a man who I could hardly understand. Everything he said, I had to have him repeat at least once. Needless to say, he told me that they wanted to make sure that this was the issue & in order to check & had to uninstall my Norton Internet Security 2005 & at that point he could check my computer to confirm this was the issue.

So I proceeded to uninstall the software, this took so long, the tech put me on hold so he could answer other calls. He finally came back as I was shutting down my computer, (the last step of uninstalling) & started trying to sell me the 2008 version, saying that it is much better & much user friendly. I was a little leary, but after he told me that for $39.99 it would cover me through the end of my current contract, & the next 12 months thereafter. He then asked me for my address info & said that I would get the software CD within the next 7-10 days - I then questioned why they were sending this becuase I have always just downloaded the software from their website, I also told him that I didn't want to go 7-10 business days w/out security, so he said that he would try to install it for me.

I granted him access to my computer & he then asked me for my credit card number.... There was no way I was going to give him this info over the phone, he had my name, phone number, address & access to my computer.... So I told him I wasn't comfortable giving him my credit card info. He then got very upset & told me that I had waisted his time, he said that it would be another 8-10 minutes until he could back out of what he has already done.

With the verbal abuse I was receiving, I decided I no longer wanted to upgrade & told him that I wanted the 2005 version back on my computer. He then informed me that it was uninstalled, therefore it was gone... He said unless I had my confirmation e-mail with the KEY info, he couldn't retrieve it. I found the e-mail from last November when I renewed, he said that wouldn't work, he needed the e-mail from 2005 when I oringally signed up!

I then told him that I no longer would deal with Norton & that I wanted a refund. I then hung up. Later that afternoon, I received a generic e-mail from Norton thanking me for contacting them regarding my issues & questioning whether or not my problem was resolved. I replied that it had not been resolved & that I was pursuing a refund.

I think this is a huge scam to get you to upgrade! Yesterday I received another e-mail requesting that I take a survey & that my case had been closed.

I just took the survey & copied & pasted this complaint into their comments section. I would never recomend Norton/Symantec to ANYONE!

Guest

I Paid Symantec tech support $99.99 for premeir service and they messed up computer! I asked for a refund and they denied ever receiving money from my debit card.

I have bank transaction numbers stating Symantec debited my bank account $99.99. They are dishonest and I will NEVER deal with them again!!

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE & TECH SUPPORT!

Guest

I WILL NEVER PRUCHASE ANOTHER PRODUCT FROM SYMANTEC. I purchased Norton 360, paid with a USPS money order (i.e., cash) and after many painful hours with the "service agents" in India, I still can't get a refund.

I have filed a complaint with the BBB. Next step will be to contact the Attorney General office in CA.

Guest

I also got many problems, contacted Norton support and received survey request from "Lenny Alugas, Vice President Consumer Support, Symantec Corporation." Naturally I complained my too many bad experiences with Norton 360, that lacks any support survice while keep RED alert just because I refuse to buy extra back up online strage. Guess what, no improvement.

On top, Symantec cannot find particular virus when other vendors had found them and released solutions many weeks before!! Give me my money back!

Guest

I, also am very unhappy with Norton

Anti-Virus this yea.r. In the past the

product worked fine; but has been a nightmare this year. I plan to purchase

software from another company later

this year.

Guest

It´s true! Here, SP - Brazil

Same trouble.

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Anonymous
map-marker Centurion, Gauteng

Symantec Norton, fraudulent deduction from account

Symantec deducts annual Norton anti-virus fee one month before expiry. If you cancel your contract though before expiry, it is impossible to get a refund. At least in my case. Their call centre is hard to access and although their customer service is polite they obviously have no authority to do anything. They are impossible to contact at their Canadian headquarters and do not respond to either faxes or e-mails. Their service is as slow as their anti-virus programme makes your computer, the reason why I cancelled in the first place. Frankly both their product and the service sucks. Paul Curtis
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2 comments
Guest

Two years ago when I bought the Symantec virus product I learned that auto renewal was turned on by default. They could not disable it during the sale.

I went online and disabled it immediately after product installation. 11 months later I received an email saying my debit card would be used to renew the product. I replied via email and so no, I did not want to renew the subscription. One month later I recieved an email saying the renewal was successful.

I went online and spent almost an hour trying to find a phone number to call from the support site. I spoke to an agent and after asking for a supervisor I was told by the agent that he had authority to refund my money. He told me it would be returned to my account within 2 weeks. IT NEVER HAPPENED!!!

Symantec is a rip off. I will never use ANY Symantec product again.

Guest

Go to the main website and go to contact us and do the entire process and at the end it will give you like a confermation number and a phone number, just call and give that number and they will give you a refund. They did that to me and i didnt use their product. Use Microtrend they are much better and dont steal money from your accounts.

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