Unpleasant Surprise

I’m having the SAME problems! I purchased Avast Internet Security after having had the free version for a few years and the minute I upgraded, I could no longer access the internet. I called the tech line and I got the same crap about needing to purchase the $169 year-long support package and then they wanted remote access to my computer where they proceeded to make things much WORSE! Twice they worked for about an hour and then just disappeared, leaving the job undone and my computer unprotected! I think that while they were telling me that my computer was so “damaged” they were causing most of said “damage” themselves! It sounds like they are trying to scare people into buying their support program and, by causing the damage themselves, they almost make it impossible NOT to! They count on most of the public being ignorant about just what it is they are actually doing while on remote access in somebody’s computer BUT, once they’ve scared the customer into paying their fees and they get the money, they leave it all in a mess, thinking that it will be just as impossible to get a refund. That’s what we’ve got the Better Business Bureau and the State Attny General’s offices for! This is FRAUD people and folks can launch a class-action lawsuit. I know that I’m reporting them AND getting a lawyer on it if my refund isn’t back in my account by tomorrow morning!Avast may not do the 3rd Party Tech support but they have to be associated with them since those are the numbers for support obtained through Avast and they should be responsible for keeping track of their customer service! No company is going to source their tech support to somewhere in India and not keep track of how their treating consumers if they really cared about their customers!

Hello,
once again apologize for late response. I personally contacted our support partner and they will get back to you ASAP.

Regards

V. Nekvapil

@betsym, @SayItAintSoJoe, @twinsmamie, @mcgee2106

Sorry to see there are folks still having to go through the ‘unpleasant surprise’ I did. I’m hoping the person who contacted me, (see below) has contacted you as well and you all are getting some assistance. Since I don’t believe I gave the person’s name that I spoke with, I’ll add it now. All he said was “Joe,” and unfortunately for me, I didn’t think to get a last name.

In addition, in my last comment I mentioned that I was planning to renew my license, but am once again wondering if that’s such a good idea.

When I noticed there was an update, Avast 8, I downloaded and installed it in the morning with no problem. Shutdown my computer that night and still everything was fine and I’d not encountered any trouble. My normal morning routine includes me turning on my computer and then wandering off for a while to get a few things done before sitting down at my desk. So, imagine my surprise when I come back to find that Google Chrome had not only been installed on my system, but also been set as the default browser.

Since I’m usually careful to look for annoying add-ons when installing anything on my system, don’t really know how this happened, because I truly don’t recall seeing any box to check or uncheck about whether I wanted Google Chrome to be installed. However, apparently I missed something, because otherwise that would mean Google Chrome was included with the update without asking for my approval. Right? Because that would be a very snarky thing for any company to do and in my opinion a rather good reason to be highly ticked off.

I’d certainly be interested to hear from anyone that might have had the same thing happen, even though I know that I’m straying away from my original topic. But, since my last comment was dealing with whether or not it would be a good idea to renew my license or look for another AV program, figured I’d go ahead and mention what happened here. For the time being I’m willing to believe it was my own fault for not looking more carefully at what I was installing.

[quote author=VojtaN link=topic=111683.msg906172#msg906172 date=1362481204]
Hello,
once again apologize for late response. I personally contacted our support partner and they will get back to you ASAP.

Regards

V. Nekvapil

The following would have prevented that from happening:

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=93544.msg906287#msg906287

May I suggest that you never use the default option on any program you install.

Thank you for the prompt response, though after watching the youtube video via the link you provided, I didn’t notice anything relating to Google Chrome on the custom install.

Doesn’t mean it wasn’t there on my install. I was updating on WinXP platform with the paid Internet Security version, since my prior version was already licensed for that. Because my memory isn’t all that great and I did this update a few days ago, can’t honestly say I remember clicking on Express, since normally I do use ‘custom’ if that’s offered when I’m installing anything on my system, having learned long ago that’s always the best choice in order to prevent ‘unpleasant surprises.’ :slight_smile:

Since it was easy to uninstall Google Chrome and reinstate Mozilla as my default browser, I’m not terribly upset, just annoyed. My main point in mentioning the incident was wondering if anyone else had experienced the same thing. If I want more of a response to my ‘wondering’, I really should post a separate listing, because this issue doesn’t have any real connection to my original topic.

Thank you for the prompt response, though after watching the youtube video via the link you provided, I didn't notice anything relating to Google Chrome on the custom install.
That's because I uses Chrome as my default browser and also have Google Drive installed. :)

Well it is certainly there on an install custom or normal as it is in the first screen before you select the type of install, see image, click to expand. But you have to have seen that and unchecked the options if you didn’t want it.

laughs Well, that would make a difference, wouldn’t it? :slight_smile:

Thanks for providing me with a nice hearty laugh. :smiley:

I must have been half asleep when I did that install because I really don’t remember doing much more than downloading. The image shown doesn’t look familiar at all. :o

So, while I’m a little worried about how bad my memory actually is, at least I don’t need to wonder about whether Avast was trying to be sneaky. :stuck_out_tongue:

I don’t think is is trying to be sneaky, but I’m no fan of opt-out options.

I believe it should be opt-in (we have had that discussion many times), that way if for whatever reason, omission by the user or a problem in the installation/update and not seeing the screen. The user doesn’t end up with something they don’t want, invariably they blame avast regardless whose or what was at fault.