I despise Symantec, and through it, Norton AntiVirus. I consider it to be bloatware of the first order, and one of the best things that I ever did was to delete it, replacing that function with Avast, which does the same thing, but doesn't send me snarky error messages that occasionally require me to reinstall the whole product. And even then, I think I might have stayed if they made it easy to do, but apparently their mantra is This is Security -- Its Not Supposed To Be Easy. So I ditched it, and I've been happy ever since.
This morning I received a chatty little email from them to the effect that the product was due for renewal, so they were just going to do it, since it was set to be automatically renewed. Well, I don't recall anything like that, but perhaps I did, back when I thought that the product was worthwhile, so I hied me over to their website and turned off the switch (taking the opportunity to change the expiration date of my credit card to last year). In response, I received this charming missive:
This email is to confirm that you have chosen to opt out of the automatic renewal feature of Norton AntiVirus. Symantec will not automatically renew your subscription.
Your current protection will expire on April 7, 2008, leaving you vulnerable to dangerous online threats.
If you feel you have received this notification in error or you incorrectly canceled the automatic renewal feature, please contact Customer Support for assistance at http://www.symantec.com/techsupp.
Sincerely,
Symantec Customer Support
For more information on Norton On-going Protection, please visit the Norton On-Going Protection FAQ [http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/custserv.nsf/0/6190e38f3a525d7a88257098007b457b?OpenDocument.]
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. If you require Customer Service or Technical Support, please go to the Symantec Web site for contact information at www.symantec.com.
which to me encapsulates why the product is so rotten -- they don't even make it easy to say Oh, Just Keep It. Don't Just Reply To This, Because That Would Be Too Easy . Instead, I'd have to Go Elsewhere, and navigate their maze of messages and screens. Read the Frequently Aggrieved Questions, dummah!
Hell with them.
2 comments:
Bill,
I received the same message from Symantec and I, too, went online to turn off the feature. But my credit card has been charged for renewal anyway. I emailed customer service and, a month later, the problem is still not resolved. (This is how I came upon your blog -- I googled my problem.) I appreciate your recommendation of another product, which I will try. A few years ago I switched to Symantec because I was fed up with McAfee and its constant pop-ups reminding me to renew and other things. Now I'm even more fed up with Symantec.
I think its a good example of a previously decent product getting oversold and undersupported. I've been pretty pleased with Avast. I also hear decent things about AVG, though I haven't seen it personally.
Good luck.
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