Outraged Reader Sounds Off Against Symantec
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There were a couple of posts from a reader by the name of George who is just a bit upset about the way he has been treated by Symantec. Maybe others can comment and share their experiences, whether good or bad. George stated in his comments:
To PC users and IT professionals everywhere.
Here are 25 reasons to avoid using or dealing with Symantec.
1. visa billed 3x and no product provided.
2. ONLINE FRAUD!!!
3. Symantec online renewal automatically added items to purchase I did not order nor want.
4. Symantec tries to invade your privacy by sneaking in spy ware to its products.
5. SYMANTEC denies there is spy ware in its products, yet when pressed the knowledgeable people admit that this is routinely done!
6. even when you do not want the spy ware, Symantec states it is imperative that they access your computer via active x-control, and their hidden spyware
7. active x-control - Symantec tries to sneak this in via their downloads. They should know better, but they make huge efforts to hide this
8. there are no viable contact phone numbers on their products nor web site to speak to a person who will provide any sort of help
9. after Symantec takes your money, the best that they offer is to charge more money to your credit card to PAY for customer service which is easily one of the worst in the corporate world – anywhere. The whole concept is that the customer service would not be necessary of Symantec were honest and above board.
10. Symantec makes huge efforts to take your money and NOT deliver a product or service.
11. the only way I found a valid phone number was in the yellow pages.
12. customer service at Symantec head quarters, was a private security guard answering phones. He very clearly expressed is frustration at having to field similar calls all day long from other clients who have also been ripped off, then treated poorly, dishonestly and shoved aside.
13. Symantec knowingly and deceptively takes your money and then blocks all attempts at getting a refund or service for their sloppy or is it fraudulent products service offerings
14. in trying to sort this out I have been transferred and put on hold 19 times.
15. if you are lucky enough to get a customer service rep. they act real stupid and pretend that they have never heard of this problem before , and they state that they are the supervisor, or even dept. manager.
16. Symantec customer service reps refuse to identify themselves, their bosses, and most important any form of reference for follow up.
17. Typically after holding 30 minutes or more ‘due to unexpected call volume” - which seems to be the case as far back in time anyone I spoke to, about the severe service shortcomings at Symantec, you get transferred to a deadline or they simply just hang up.
18. typical answer from call center. ‘not my job’,,, never heard of that’, someone will get back to you . and always they want your credit card number to charge at their leisure, not guarantees, just blatantly phoney promises and more sales pressure.
19. promises from Symantec staff claiming to be supervisors and dept managers have been found to be 100% false. Symantec had ever followed through on a customer service promise to solve a problem and call back within the 15 minutes to 48 hours range they state.
20. Symantec cannot be trusted.
21. after being transferred to 7 different numbers, and 17 different people, and put on hold for up to 2 hours and 52 minutes, I finally got a person on the phone who refused to identify himself.
22. Most of the staff were in a far off country. they had extremely poor communication skills. Sloppy English, thick accents, and to the person – very poor listeners. They sounded like a sweat ship full of used car salespersons knowninlgy flogging products and services that are not as advertised, substandard, or simply non-existent (customer service, refunds, tech help etc)
23. typical answer summed as follows; after several hours of denials, transfers, and out right lies, you get a person who can barely communicate. They will only talk to you if you give them more money first.
24. They always refuse to escalate any issue. To the person they have provided only broken promises and in many cases outright lies about the products and services.
25. the over paid executives at Symantec or ‘never available’ do not have names, are always in hiding, You cannot find a person at Symantec willing to commit their job to keeping a promise. They take your money anonymously and hide behind huge bureaucratic barriers to avoid having to take any responsibility for the false advertising, broken promises and outrageous lies made by their staff.
George later added this:
Is there someone who wants to start a class action. i’ll be first to sign up. Symantec is crooked to the core. those responsible should be jailed.
Comments welcome.
Original posting of comments are here.
[tags]symantec, reader, upset, treatment, [/tags]
9 Comments
marc klink
September 22nd, 2007
at 9:29am
This is precisely why Symantec is one of the favorite targets of pirates and crackers. One of the first things that happens when a new release of any of their products comes out is a cracked copy is released. The ‘calling home’ that the latest software uses was not much of a problem for the talented guys who have designated themselves the official liberators from the tyranny of Symantec.
The reasons given? Software that costs more, to do less, each year. Remember when Norton Utilities did useful things that the operating system did not? So do they. Symantec has trashed the good name of Peter Norton - he should get in on a lawsuit.. He could probably do nothing about the quality of what Symantec releases, but he might be able to force the discontinuance of his name associated with these products.
The really silly thing is that these products are so useless, compared to what they used to offer - I think the cracking is simply a ‘blow against the empire’ as I doubt that many use these cracked products.
Personally, I use a legitimate copy of the 2003 edition on my machines, and when I do the annual refresh, I re-install, which gives another year of NAV updates - I don’t use this as my first line of defense anymore. I use AVG and remove the resident portion of Norton, letting the file scanner run once a week as a backup to AVG.
2003 was the last of the copies that did not call home on a regular basis, and even then it had severely reduced functionality compared to the days of when Norton Utilities was a name to trust - and back then everyone who was the least bit serious about the information on their computer owned a copy. A real copy - no one I knew considered pirating, because 1) you wanted the manuals that came with the apps - they were at least half the goodness there and 2) the software provided real value, and so people saw no need to reduce the value of the product by pirating, and possibly losing the quality of R & D, and tech support.
Ron Schenone
September 22nd, 2007
at 11:16am
Hi Marc,
Thanks for your comments.
Ron
Don Naphen
September 23rd, 2007
at 4:19am
Ron, George’s experience with Symantec is very bizarre indeed! I think we can all relate to some of them, but to see such a list just boggles the mind! I gave up on the Norton suite over a year ago, as it was just too unreliable, and of course, the “phone home” feature was unacceptable. I’ve been using AVG ever since (thanks to your recommendation), and haven’t been disappointed.
I also had an unpleasant experience when, after purchasing a renewal on my then 2004 version, had it fail to take. Their site wouldn’t accept the renewal code after repeated attempts. Their tech support ( LOL) was useless, and I finally got a credit. I then purchased their 2005 version, and that’s when the fun began. It literally made attempts to take over my pc, and made me go thru a gauntlet whenever I changed a default setting. Yeah, they do have their ways, don’t they!
Norton was once the most respected name in AV. Once Symantec bought ‘em out, it was all down hill. The’re right up there in the same league as Zone Alarm now. Once a great name in the industry, and then they went down the crapper.
Ron Schenone
September 23rd, 2007
at 6:06am
Hi Don,
Unfortunately some of what George has experienced has also been posted on other forums. As you stated, the bottom line is when Symantec took over Norton. Up until than, Norton was the best on the market.
Thanks for the comments and have a good weekend.
Ron
Peter
September 24th, 2007
at 7:21am
Since a few days i have SYMANTEC creeping like JEHOVA WITNESS
trough my CHIMNEY andf whatever other place it can sneak in.
I think it is a TOTAL DISGRACE how these scumbags are PENETRATING
my PRIVACY , it is TASTELESS , ABUSIVE, and LACK OF RESPECT.
N E V ER E V E R i will PURCHASE a thing from these Business BaBoons
Mike Siciliano
September 24th, 2007
at 4:25pm
I completely agree! Jesus, I hate Symantec. My previous computer kept dying on me and I would constantly have to reinstall Norton, only for it to bog down my computer. Well, my Emachine finally died, and when I tried to install my active Norton subscription on the new computer, it told me that I had exceeded the allowable number of installations!
I couldn’t find the customer service phone number, and it said there was a 30 minute wait anyway, so I decided to do the instant chat service with a Norton employee. Well, “Jason,” as he called himself, told me that the End User License Agreement prohibited installing the program on more than one computer, even though my previous computer had died and my subscription had not expired. So, I asked Jason to provide me with the URL of the EULA. He responded by saying it didn’t exist. Well, 2 seconds later I found it via a simple Google search, and I linked it to whom. He confirmed that the link was correct, but when I asked him why he lied to me, he ignored me! What a douchebag!
As it turns out, the EULA only states that you may “B. use one copy of the Software on a single computer.” Funny, but that’s exactly what I was trying to do. It doesn’t say anything about only installing it on one computer.
Well, to add insult to injury, not only did Symantec ignore my email questioning Jason’s customer service skills, but I received an email saying “Please note, our records indicate your issue was resolved as of 20 Sep 2007.” The hell it was!
I’m done with Symantec. Fuck this company!
Katherine
January 26th, 2008
at 9:59am
I have been using Norton for the past few years without any problem. Then, I was warned that my subscription had expired and I was going to be exposed to all sorts of problems. So, I re-subscribed, on line. Before I restarted my computer to finalize the installation, I found that I already had McAfee Security, and did not need Norton/Symantec. So I called to cancel the same day (before finalizing) and left a message to cancel. I was never called back. My son turned the computer off, then on while I was out shopping. He inadvertantly installed Symantec. I uninstalled Symantec, which also uninstalled McAfee. I then had to re-install McAfee (included free with my phone service).
I have sent e-mails to Symantec to cancel, and a response saying that they “will be back with a respondse shortly.” I have not heard back.
They are very difficult to reach…They do not return phone calls or e-mails with an answer to my questions.
I plan to send a certified return receipt letter requesting verification of cancellation.
Needless to say, I’m very displeased with how difficult it has been dealing with this.
Jim Beck
April 20th, 2008
at 7:19am
Ron -
Found your site(?) while looking for a phone number to contact Norton-Symantec. N-S has caused me problems for several years and I agree with what Mr. George had to say on your site 100 %. Unfortunately, my local provider Yahoo pushed a new program at me that incorporated Symantec and I took the bait thinking that if Yahoo was down with it, N-S had cleaned up it’s act — NOT SO ! I’m about about use N-S’s removal program to remove as much as I can of N-S’s existence on my desk top and lap top and I’ hoping that since you are an “MVP” you could recommend some good replacements. Something that wouldn’t slow my browser speed down. It’s understood that I would not hold you liable for any subsequent failures.
Ron Schenone
April 20th, 2008
at 12:08pm
Hello Jim,
Below is a link for the 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities, many of which I personally use and have recommended to family, friends, and clients:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
On ALL of my personal systems I use AVG freebie and have for the past 4 years. No critters have made it to my systems, though your mileage may vary.
For spyware I use Windows Defender. But there are others you may wish to try like Spyware Doctor Starter Edition from Google.
But what I am going to do is post your comments and see what others may recommend.
Regards, Ron
Here’s the new article with your request:
http://www.lockergnome.com/blade/2008/04/20/reader-wants-to-know-best-anti-virus-protection/