My situation is identical, except that I did not have the free trial prior to purchasing Secureline. Everything else (message indicating successful insertion of license yet does not work) follows what has already been detailed.
Both experiences with tech support indicate that their primary directive is not to solve the problem, but to sell the $170 “Microsoft Certified Technician” to fix my computer. This 3 month old machine has some errors in the logs. Between that and “antivirus conflict,” the phone support adopts a holier-than-thou attitude and attempts to make you feel scared (of Avast AV not working properly unless you pay the big bucks) and stupid (“An error is an error sir,” she said, after I mentioned that she did not look at any of the error messages specifically, just noted that there were some, “Anyone, even non technical knows what an error is.” Nice).
Her BIGGEST issue though was this antivirus conflict. I bought the HP machine at Xmas and promptly removed McAfee. Apparently it left behind a folder, which was yesterday’s phone support’s big to-do: “YOU HAVE MULTIPLE ANTIVIRUSES, SIR! SECURELINE WILL NOT WORK!” After removing the folder, today’s shut-the-customer-down tactic is…
Windows Defender.
Which is turned off. Maria (naming names here) claims it MUST be removed in order for Secureline VPN to work. Not shut off, REMOVED. Someone please correct me, but it is my understanding that Defender is a component of Windows 8.1. and CANNOT be removed, only shut off.
Do the magic Microsoft/Avast $170 technicians have a way to REMOVE Windows Defender? If not, then the basis of the phone tech’s argument is moot. And hence, a scam.
Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, I also had Malewarebites on the machine, which I knew enough to uninstall before calling tech support again today.
Here is the bottom line, Avast: The forums clearly indicate that there is a problem and that an appropriate solution has not been found. Moreover, Avast seems to not be issuing refunds, by and large, and is instead
- blaming the user’s machine
- shilling for MORE money
I am fairly disgusted–not because a product isn’t working, that is something that does happen from time to time, but at the callous and dismissive attitudes of the phone staff, and the transparent attempt to bilk your customers of a large sum of money simply to get YOUR product to work.
Avast, PLEASE RESPOND
Thank You,
