McAfee Consumer Reviews - Page 2

I'm a new customer to Dell computers and McAfee security. I bought a Dell in mid-Jan. '09 with pre-loaded McAfee, 30-day trail. Upon set-up I received an automatic one-year sub. Offer for what seemed to be a good discount. I thought it was worth taking advantage of so I followed the prompt to their site and subscribed for one-year. I didn't know if this one-year service would start concurrently with the 30-day or begin at the end of the free trial but after 30 days I started getting messages and pop-ups that my McAfee coverage was expired. I thought this was a mistake and was busy for a few days so kind of ignored it.

After searching online I'm finding others with similar situations which includes having to use McAfee online fixes that don't help, a customer service dept. That at least acknowledges I did pay for the service (I have the proof anyway on my credit card statement) and so far no pro-active attempt to help me - the paying customer. I asked them to stop being silly and just fix things since they already acknowledged my transaction with them. Why make me jump through hoops and do this the hard way. I feel like they are steering me towards their fee based phone service which will cost more than I paid for the online subscription.

I would probably continue with them if they fixed this soon but don't get a good feeling. I wonder if I can even get a refund as I paid for the sub. On Jan 17th which means it may have expired Feb. 17th and I'm also doubting it actually started at the end of the free trial period that came on my Dell - highly unlikely. I have not exhausted all avenues but they have opened two case numbers for me through their online tech. Service centers but really provided no solutions. I haven't been able to stay on line long enough to conduct an extended chat with them so it's been less than real-time assistance. Just a warning to others and looking for advice. Thanks.

My father has had McAfee on his computer for the past several years now without any problems, so when I was able to get an internet connection on my laptop, I downloaded and installed the program. It was all right for the first few months, then I started having issues of verifying my subscription, and keeping my system protected (which to me made no sense). Then one day while on a game forum, a program installs itself onto my computer that demands that I buy its deluxe package to protect my system. I did a little research on my dad's computer (since it was randomly blocking websites on mine) and found it was a virus.

McAfee gave me few options; all of which cost a large amount of money, so I opted to run a System Restore, which was absolutely free and got rid of the virus. Next few months pass without a hitch when BAM, hit with not one, not two, but 12 trojans. McAfee was able to get rid of some of them, but for the ones left over, said "Restart and scan". I did... and got the same message. I did another System Restore and continued on without any more problems for about two weeks.

The next virus that I was infected with was not very nice. It installed itself without any notice, demanded that I download another program, blocked my internet access and almost all of my programs and applications; including system restore. I called McAfee (who hide their number oh so well), was scripted by a foreigner who could barely speak the language, and was told that they couldn't do anything, but had experts that could for $90. I semi-politely said No.

A close friend of mine works for a local computer repair shop, and was able to look at and try to clean my system, but wasn't able to get rid of the virus. I had to wipe my hard drive, and since I had no back-up, all my files were gone. I've been able to convince my dad with this experience to ditch McAfee and try another software, which he refuses to do until our subscription is up.

Despite the fact they state they only give full-refunds, a customer service representative tried to tell me my only option was a partial refund (which their website states explicitly they do NOT do.)

I noticed I was being charged for a service I have not used in approximately 2 years since I switched. That was no problem since it's my fault for not checking my statements more closely. I didn't expect to get my money back, but I wanted to at least cancel the account. I immediately went to their website to see what could be done about cancelling auto-renewal. I couldn't find any sort of My Account login, so I went to the support section and saw they had a refund policy read which is located here: **.

Their stated policy is a 100% refund on purchases within 30 days, and 60 days for auto-renewals. I was WELL within those limits. I chose their chat option to talk with a customer service representative. After confirming my identity, I was shocked twice: 1) The email on file was several years old, so old it should be bouncing back email to the company (shouldn't that send up a red flag?) and 2) The representative told me my only refund option was a 50% refund which their policy states they will NOT do.

I am not accusing McAfee of purposely trying to scam people, but at the very least they need to properly train customer support. It isn't excusable to say, "those who don't read FAQs deserve it." It's not like I was demanding my money back on something that stated "no refunds!" I don't think it's too much to ask to stick to their own policies. After linking and quoting the company policy and demanding all my money back, I got my 100% refund. That's why I always read the fine print.

INDIANAPOLIS -- When I go to the website and get updates the site hangs and the pages turn white right before it updates and sometimes stops responding. Also sometimes when the antivirus is active it will just shut down and disable. When you set the antivirus on auto update and leave the pc for a while you can come back and the antivirus is disabled and the McAfee is wanting you to reboot the pc because of the update was applied. I don't like the idea of antivirus updating and disabling protection before I get back to the pc.

I own 2 computers and they are totally different, one has an Amd Athlon xp 2400 with windows xp and the other one has the intel p4 2.8 ghz with 2 gigs of ram with windows xp pro. I no longer will use McAfee products on any of my computers because of these issues. I did buy the brand new version from Wal-Mart and saw that I was going to do the same thing so I removed it and took it back to the store. I am now sold on Zone Labs antivirus and the firewall they offer and will stay with them.

No website to log in to and the updates are 5 times faster and what I see the antivirus is faster than McAfee on finding a virus, I downloaded a zip file with a virus in it and it was detected the second it downloaded and deleted it, I tried the same file with McAfee and it found the infection only when I right clicked on it and scanned it, so what I saw is that the zone labs antivirus picked it up without even doing a manual scan.

McAfee would never respond to this issue and offered no help except had me remove the program multiple times and reinstall it. I think that is every software company's behind the desk monkeys that they call a service techs will tell us to run us in circles for hrs till we just say forget it and delete it for good. McAfee and Norton after 2003 versions are crappy versions that lag your computer and just don't match up to the new Zone Alarm Antivirus. I dare McAfee to respond to this post.

HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA -- This is a total scam, this has ripped off two of my computers. I have read through complaint list and it sounds like people are having the same problem that I am. I just got a new computer and never put this on it and it has been telling me that the subscription is expired and whether or not I would like to continue it at this time, I have had the same problem before so I clicked no and it won't go away, leaving me unable to use my computer. MCAFEE IS A TOTAL SCAM, in my opinion, reading all of those complaints someone should SUE MCAFEE!!! I WANT THIS OFF MY COMPUTER!!! NOW!!! It claims to be an antivirus company but this is a virus.

Mcafee will automatically renew their service, and STEAL the money from your bank account. When you go to their site, it is impossible to find any way to cancel your service. They notify you that they will be stealing from your bank account on the exact day that they take your money, so that you have to request a refund from them. After searching extensively, I finally found an email address, and phone number. I've requested a cancellation (April 23/12), even though I've paid for service into June, in hopes that they return the money they have stolen from me, and remove my credit card information from their data base.

Well, I've been using them for almost 15 years, so I recommended them to family members. It works OK, until it doesn't. I'm on vacation, and have spent almost 20 hours with their so-called "support" tools, trying to fix my mother's PC. Security Center doesn't run. Chat client won't install. Called the support line? They want money. I'm currently running the computer without McAfee installed. And BTW, they had to email me a special tool to de-install the old copy. Needless to say, if you have an existing license, and no problems, use it. But, don't let them take the renewal. Run away and buy from someone who actually WANTS customers.

Computers in companies, hospitals, and schools around the world got stuck repeatedly rebooting themselves yesterday after an antivirus program identified a normal Windows file as a virus. McAfee Inc. confirmed that a software update it posted at 9 A.M. caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download. “We are not aware of significant impact on consumers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence,'' the company said.

Online posters begged to differ, saying thousands of computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 were rendered useless. About a third of the hospitals in Rhode Island were forced to stop treating patients with less serious medical problems in emergency rooms. The hospitals also postponed some elective surgeries, said **, a spokeswoman for the Lifespan system of hospitals. The system includes Rhode Island Hospital, the state's largest, and Newport Hospital.

** said patients who required emergency care for gunshot wounds, car accidents, blunt trauma, and other potentially fatal injuries were still being admitted to the emergency rooms. In Kentucky, state police were told to shut down the computers in their patrol cars as technicians tried to fix the problem. The National Science Foundation headquarters in Arlington, Va., also lost computer access.

**, systems administrator at Illinois State University in Normal, said that when the first computer started rebooting it quickly became evident that it was a major problem, affecting dozens of computers at the College of Business alone. Personal attention to each PC from a technician appeared to be the only way to fix the problem because the computers weren't receptive to remote software updates when stuck in the reboot cycle. That slowed the recovery."

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- I purchased a McAfee Total Protection software for $70.00 at a local store. I installed it into my computer and from the beginning I got error messages. Since then I have lost my protection so many times that someone was able to access my credit card information and make charges to it. After I finished cleaning the credit card mess I tried to fix the software through McAfee's "online" technical support" to no avail. That thing does not work! I finally contacted customer support and got the surprise of my life. I was told literally by ** (1-866-622-3911), a supervisor there, that if the software I purchased does not work, he was really, reeeeeeally sorry, but there was nothing he could do.

If I wanted to get my software fixed,(I have done every single download, fix, update, etc... from their web page several times in the last three months) I would need to get my credit card ready because Technical Support charge us customers to fix the software they sell!!! If we do not want to pay extra to have it fixed, then we customers are stuck with it and should go and buy some other product from some other company.

Just like that. I got all the conversation on tape!! I was also told that they would not refund the cost of the defective program because it was past its refund date. When I asked what about the program not working and not delivering the protection advertised and sold to us, he said that they were really very very very sorry!! The software is literally garbage!!! Don't buy it. You will have your credit card data stolen like me!! I am going back to Norton! Thanks.

I'll make this short and brief as if I say what I would like to say the hall monitors here will just delete it again. McAfee is fine when it is working right I guess, but heaven help you if it causes a problem on your machine and you need help. You can't email them. You can't call them on the phone.

You have to contact them in a virtual chat room and the so called tech support person I dealt with unsuccessfully for two hours could not communicate in English and could not grasp the problem I was trying to explain. Sounded like he was reading from a script... if my problem did not fit the script then tough luck... but oh I could pay $45.00 for a 'real live tech support person' to troubleshoot my problem that was caused by their software and 'maybe' be able to tell me how to fix it.

Finally I found my own way of fixing it... I just uninstalled their goofy software and said goodbye to their useless tech support person. I could not even contact their customer service to request that they cancel my subscription and refund my purchase price. Obviously all they want is your money then they don't want to hear from you again. If you are unfortunate enough to buy any of their software, just don't expect any kind of help from their so called tech support when something goes wrong with it.