Feedburner Receive our consumer tips & recalls newsletter by e-mail
[X]
Feedburner count
2
Helpful
Votes

Symantec Corporation Complaint - Be Careful What You Order from Symantec - Norton Antivirus

Norton Antivirus - Complaint
Review by Madwoman58 on 2010-05-07
I recently ordered Norton Antivirus 2010 as a download from Symantec for 39.95 (or so I thought). A month later, my electronic bank statement revealed that Symantec had debited my account $140 in three separate transactions. Two debits were just double-bills for the 2010 Norton Antivirus and one was for an internet security package at $70, which I never ordered.

I went to a Symantec chatroom to complain, and the stsffer immediately agreed to a full refund, no questions asked. The catch is I won't get my money back for 5-10 business days. And the company removed all its software from my computer. Also, they immediately wanted a statement from me that I was satisfied with their customer support (forget about it!).

I did some research and learned this company has been sued for deceptive business practices in the past and recently paid a fine to the NY State Attorney General for renewing subscriptions without permission and charging debit/credit cards.

It's ironic that people are getting ripped off by a "security" company that purports to protect consumers from viruses and other internet malfeasance. If you decide to do business with them, make sure to have your magnifying glass handy to read the fine print in their offerings! (I assume I missed the fine print)
Comments:
Posted by Dryad on 2010-05-07:
This is what I use for antivirus protection, and it's free:

http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

You must be careful downloading it, because around every turn, they try to get you to dl the paid version. But, it's a great program, I've been using it for years.
Posted by MDSasquatch on 2010-05-07:
Even better, go to Microsoft's homepage and download Security Essentials; it is free and you don't have to worry about a missed click or accidental selected box costing you anything. I have it and it is great.
Posted by jabooty on 2010-05-07:
I don't understand. You were billed too much and the company is refunding your money to correct the error. Your complaint is that it's going to be a few days before you get your money back?
Posted by Madwoman58 on 2010-05-08:
to ja booty - yeah, I am complaining because they never should have withdrawn the funds in the first place! Would it be ok if I withdrew $ from your bank account by mistake and without your permission as long as I promised I would return it in a week or so? My point was, the fact that this company so readily agreed to a refund for its "mistake" leads me to believe they get many, many complaints like this, and they're happy if just one customer in 20 gets bamboozled. They did not just double bill me, they triple billed me. This seems to be a pattern - once they're called out on their deception, they make good, but that's no excuse for this fraudulent business practice.
Posted by ProConsumer on 2010-05-08:
Madwoman, you are absolutely in the right. They removed their program right away but its going to take almost two weeks to get money back that they should have never taken out in first place? I'd be mad too. Check out Dryad's link too. I hear a lot of people here use it.

Your Name:
(displayed with your comment)

Your Experience/Advice:


Note: All comments are reviewed by a moderator before being published. Please be sure to read our guidelines before commenting.
Symantec Corporation:
Overall Rating:StarHalf starEmpty starEmpty star