Gnomie Joseph Anderson writes:

Hi.

Wanted to share my experiences with a product known as “PC Bug Doctor.”
My PC (1.6 MHz P4, 1 GB RAM, Win XP SP2, IE6 – all current updates)
has been running slow as molasses (3GB bandwidth) for the past week.
I knew something was wrong, but what?

I received an e-mail tonight from Maximumsoftware for its PC Bug Doctor
product. It claimed to detect and fix virtually any problem. It seemed
the ideal product for detecting whatever might be retarding my PC’s
performance.

I visited the PC Bug Doctor Web site and read everything possible about
the product. It seemed okay, and it came with a 60-day return policy.
I decided to purchase it and evaluate its capabilities. Big mistake!
After downloading and installing PC Bug Doctor, I was naturally eager
to run a scan.

As the scan progressed, the “Error(s) found” counter steadily increased.
Suddenly, as the counter reached 79, it reset to 1. The scan continued,
and the counter reached 82 before the scan completed. I lost faith in
the program because of its counter flaw. It’s supposed to resolve issues
on my system, yet it can’t even maintain an accurate counter.

When the scan ended, I was offered the ability to “fix errors.” As soon
as I pressed the button, I was shocked when the program terminated and
told me that my license had expired. Say what? This was my first scan!
How could my license have expired when I had purchased the product only
minutes earlier? This made no sense.

I carefully re-examined the purchase confirmation e-mail I received from
Maximumsoftware immediately after purchasing the product. Did I overlook
the registration number imbedded in the e-mail? No. There was no
registration code in the e-mail. What gave?

Then I received another e-mail from Maximumsoftware providing a link to
obtain my license number. Oh, that’s goofy and inefficient but I figured I’d give it a try.

I linked the registration Web site and was utterly astonished to learn
that I had to buy a separate license before PC Bug Doctor would
resolve the errors it detected in my scan. A one-week license cost
$19.95 (in addition to the $29.95 for the dysfunctional PC Bug Doctor
software). I could buy a year’s license for $59.95; or I could buy
a lifetime license for $129.95. Without the license, the program does
nothing but examine one’s system. This is an unethical marketing
scheme – totally unlike any other software I’ve ever purchased. I
am livid with anger. Maximumsoftware made me feel like an utter
sucker tonight.

Against my better judgment, I decided to buy a one-week license
to resolve as many errors as possible, and then return the product
and get my $29.95 back. The return policy period of sixty days
is fine. But one must mail or fax two pages of documentation to
the company. It’s happy to accept one’s online order, but
it is insistent that one mail/fax the documents.

As I tried to process my license order, I learned that I had to
fill out a complete set of order forms. The company doesn’t keep one’s
purchase data.

Finally, I ordered the license key. I was informed that it
would send me a registration shortly by e-mail. I waited and
waited. Finally, a half-hour later, I received an e-mail
concerning my registration code. I opened the e-mail and
received another shock.

It was from another company named Plimus Sales. I quickly
glanced at the letter for my registration code. Nope. It
wasn’t there. I examined the letter in more detail, and
learned that Plimus Sales would send me the registration
in 12 hours! It claims that it’s examining my order
for “quality control.” What quality control? My order
for the product and its license key were processed, and
my credit information was approved. What’s left? As I
write this, I still don’t have my registration key.

Your readers don’t deserve this treatment. Please don’t
recommend PC Bug Doctor. Thank you.

Thanks for listening.