Having subscribed to Avast Premier for the last 10 months, I found myself in need of help with popups that suddenly starting appearing while browsing the internet. I eventually learned that my wife had downloaded a PDF Writer that installed “Safe Web”. After contacting Avast support, a technician by the name of Sergio, informed me that this was a “hijacking” program and that I would need to have it removed by a technician familiar with Windows. Sergio informed me that Avast could perform the removal procedure for a fee of $119.99. I agreed to the price and proceeded to give him my debit card information. I asked if this was a yearly service price, and he informed me that it was only for a one-time service, but stated for $60 more, I could have a year of “Total Support”. I agreed, and he informed me that he would refund the initial $119.99, and then charge my debit card for $179.99.
Sergio then directed me how to give him remote access to my computer so that they could begin the process of removing the malware. Once connected, he transferred the chat box that was opened on my computer to a technician by the name of Nathan who then began to run diagnostics. After approximately one hour, I returned to my computer and found a message stating that he believed the problem had been corrected. It had not.
I reconnected with the remote service to Avast and informed the technician that answered, Gabriel that the previous attempt to remove the hijacking program had failed. This time I waited patiently by the computer while Gabriel remotely ran his checks. After over an hour of running diagnostics, and rebooting my computer remotely several times, he rebooted it one last time and abruptly left the chat. By this time it was nearly 8pm and my computer was in the same predicament as when I started.
Feeling frustrated that two technicians had spent over 2 hours trying to remove the infected files and with no results, I decided to take the time and search the internet for a solution. Finally, after nearly 4 hours of searching and researching, fearing that I might be downloading yet another malicious program, I took the chance and downloaded Malwarebytes. Within 10 minutes of downloading, I had my computer completely cleansed of the “Safe Web” program.
The next morning (today), I checked my bank account to find that I was never credited my original charge of $119.99. After contacting Avast customer support, I spoke with Vandella who informed me that I would be receiving an email confirmation within the next 2 days to verify that I wanted a refund to my bank account. “REALLY!” I asked. Next I was informed that once Avast received confirmation that I indeed wanted the money that was owed back to me, it would take 5 – 7 business days.
If that wasn’t bad enough, I then proceeded to let Vandella know that the two technicians, Nathan and Gabriel, were unable to resolve my problem and asked that Avast promptly refund my $179.99 since they were unable to perform the task for which I was being charged. After waiting patiently on hold several minutes for Vandella to verify my account, Vandella returned to inform me that there would be no refund of the $179.99 and that it was a non-refundable charge.
After explaining to Vandella that I neither received a resolution to my computer problem or even the courtesy of a call back or email, she continued with her stance that I would not be receiving a refund of the “Total Support” yearly service cost. I then asked her if I might explain my issue with a supervisor, to which she responded that she was in a position to make such decisions and was in fact a supervisor. She then informed me once more that no refund would be given and that we had reached an impasse.
While I have been satisfied with the overall performance of Avast Premier anti-virus software for nearly the past year, I can definitively state that I will not be renewing my subscription. As a consumer I have plenty of options within the marketplace in which to spend my money. And while I usually let my future purchases speak for poor customer service, I feel that it’s necessary for this company’s principals, along with its customers, to be made aware.
