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Norton Auto Annual Renewal! Dirty Sneaky ...................
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firemanSimon
Original Poster
656 posts
139 months
[report]
[news]
Saturday 20th April 2013
so just doing my online Saturday bank check. Payment to Norton! Hmmmm not by me. Wife not by her. Que a call to Norton asking why they have whipped £44 out my account. Norton Auto Annual Renewal was the answer. Apparently when i bought it last year As a “convenience” to me, Symantec automatically renewed my Norton subscription when it is expired using the credit card on file. When i renewed my Norton software online there was a small text notification at the bottom of the shopping cart page with a checkbox that you were required to check to complete my purchase, this was auto renew apparently. Not very well explained i think. Those auto-renewal checkboxes are sneaky. They know that there will be plenty of people who completely forget about the auto-renewal. They are bound to get many people paying for renewals even when they don’t use the software anymore. It really grates my carrot that legitimate (or as close as an anti-virus business can get……I really have my doubts about the origins of viruses sometimes….) businesses have to resort to this kind of tactic to effectively steal your money.Unfortunately, canceling is a lot more difficult than the automated renewal process,
•The first 6 digits of your credit card number used for the renewal (if you have multiple cards on your bank account, you MUST have the one you used to buy initially)
•The last 4 digits from the same card
•The name on the card
•The expiration date
•The email address associated with your Norton Account (your log-in name)
•Your order number (in the event you are trying to cancel an accidental purchase)
Argh!
mmm-five
11,277 posts
285 months
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[news]
Saturday 20th April 2013
So you've learnt (after how many years) to double-check everything you sign/commit to?
Condi
17,321 posts
172 months
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[news]
Saturday 20th April 2013
Norton is work of the devil. Use Windows Defender, AVG and Comodo and never had a problem. All free, all easy.
750turbo
6,164 posts
225 months
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[news]
Saturday 20th April 2013
Or you could just disable it...
daveydave7
1,622 posts
144 months
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[news]
Saturday 20th April 2013
That's right beat the poor t
t when he is down eh ?
Cupramax
10,487 posts
253 months
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[news]
Saturday 20th April 2013
750turbo said:
Or you could just disable it...
Or even better never install it in the first place 
Drifter699
23 posts
136 months
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[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
I got an email to say they had taken the cash (about £60) and were sure I'd be happy as I had another year cover..... Ok I did check the auto renew box, or didn't un-tick it.
I rang them and said I wanted to part company with them, and I'd have my money back.
I told them I was either going with AVG or I might buy Norton at Costco for under £30. They agreed a refund of the difference AND gave me an extra two months free as a goodwill gesture. A result!
LeeThr
3,122 posts
172 months
[report]
[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
Drifter699 said:
I got an email to say they had taken the cash (about £60) and were sure I'd be happy as I had another year cover..... Ok I did check the auto renew box, or didn't un-tick it.
I rang them and said I wanted to part company with them, and I'd have my money back.
I told them I was either going with AVG or I might buy Norton at Costco for under £30. They agreed a refund of the difference AND gave me an extra two months free as a goodwill gesture. A result!
So you're happy to run what has to be one of the worst AV programs ever made for another 2 months... result for them maybe, you i'm not so sure.
abbotsmike
1,033 posts
146 months
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[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
Top tip. There are many better, free alternatives. Use one of them.
Hilts
4,402 posts
283 months
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[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
LeeThr said:
So you're happy to run what has to be one of the worst AV programs ever made for another 2 months... result for them maybe, you i'm not so sure.
What exactly is wrong with it?
daveydave7
1,622 posts
144 months
[report]
[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
Hilts said:
What exactly is wrong with it?
Some people consider it to slow your pc down that WAS my experience of it several years ago then again others think it's very good and it's improved in recent years
Anti virus products have both their fans and detractors some get a little obsessed as well the reality is usually somewhere in between I think
mph999
2,718 posts
221 months
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[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
Norton AV is now very good, run it on my laptop, no issues, it just works, and doesn't slow it down.
Few years back I agree things were very different, but it was completely rewritten 3 years ago, if I recall correctly.
There are other good products available, but it's now certainly up with the top few.
It certainly doesn't deserve the slating it always seems to get.
poing
8,743 posts
201 months
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[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
firemanSimon said:
•The first 6 digits of your credit card number used for the renewal (if you have multiple cards on your bank account, you MUST have the one you used to buy initially)
I had this when getting a refund for a Nexus 7 from Currys.
Conversation went like this:
Currys: "We can give you a refund if you give me the card you used when you paid"
Me: "I've got the receipt here and it doesn't show any card info so how do I know which card it was?"
Currys: "We have to have that card, it's how the system works"
Me: "So presumably if that's a requirement of your system you will be able to provide me with some info about the card to help the customer?"
Currys: "We don't have that information and we can't refund without the correct card"
Me: "So what happens if I give you the wrong card?"
Currys: "Em, well it won't work"
Me: "How will we know it hasn't worked, presumably it will say rejected or something and then we can try another card?"
Currys: "No, we can only do it once"
Me: "Since I'm now incredibly bored of this conversation and doubt that the world will actually explode if you try the wrong card lets try this one"
Currys: "Are you sure this is the right card"
Me: "Actually I'm pretty sure it's the wrong card but I just want to see what happens"
Currys: "I'll try it but you have been warned"
Card in machine, presses a couple of buttons, asks a couple of questions. Transaction complete. Checked account a few days later and the money was there.
If they can't help with the info that THEY require then I now refuse to be drawn into a conversation about the system and just hand them a card. They can hardly refuse a refund ultimately.
As for Norton, this is just another reason not to use them.
Cupramax
10,487 posts
253 months
[report]
[news]
Monday 6th May 2013
mph999 said:
Norton AV is now very good, run it on my laptop, no issues, it just works, and doesn't slow it down.
The only point of failure with your argument is that you have to pay for Norton, there are products that do the same for free, would you pay to breathe if you had the option? 
Fletch79
1,642 posts
198 months
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Tuesday 7th May 2013
http://dennistechnologylabs.com/reports/s/a-m/2012...
I use Norton .... Its certainly not what some peopl on here seem to think
It's never hogged any resource or slowed my machine down ... i've been using it over 10 years now!
DennisCooper
1,340 posts
172 months
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[news]
Tuesday 7th May 2013
Hi
I'm with Fletch79 - I've had Norton and paid for it since my first Windows 98 laptop - in 1998 ! I've never had any issues with it, it's not slowed my machine down etc, just quietly got on with it in the background. I do on average, re-format and re-install Windows every year and sometimes it's been a little more often depending on the amount of usage it's had etc - so I like to keep as 'clean' a Windows install as I can. The re-write a few years ago and the subsequent group tests in the various independent computer magazines indicate it's a good choice. The Free ones are also good, but not all are as good in all departments as compared to paid for versions. Sure, they're better in some of the requirements but lack in other areas.
Ultimately, it comes down to the persons choice and Anti Virus is another one of those 'topics' where you'll get all sorts of user experiences.
I just renewed my 360 again yesterday, it took all of about 45 seconds, then early this morning, the latest build was downloaded and it installed in under 1 minute - absolutely zero issues, hiccups or swearing involved, I just sipped my cuppa 
Cheers, Dennis!
Kernowlokal
87 posts
138 months
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[news]
Tuesday 7th May 2013
In about 15 years of having PCs, I have never had a good experience with Norton. In fairness, I haven't used it in 5 years (that was on my work PC) and probably 8 years on my own pc. After several problems like it slowing down page loading times and deciding that printers were unsafe risks, it just became too much hassle and far too expensive for what it is. Also, the only times I have had viruses on my pc were when Norton was installed, even though it seemed to slow down loading times by checking everything too much (I'm not massively techie, but that was how it was explained to me). The auto-renewal thing is just a dirty trick as most people don't know to uncheck it (why should they? they bought it for a year and that's what they expect). I now use Avast free at home and on my phone and the full version of Avast on my work pc with no issues at all. We get a couple of emails through for the paid version when the subscription is in the last month, giving us the option to renew or not, no automatic money taking.
Glosphil
4,386 posts
235 months
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[news]
Wednesday 8th May 2013
Rather than purchasing a renewal of the license from Norton it is much cheaper to buy a new package from Amazon, etc. You don't need to install the new package just use its product key to extend your existing license.
anonymous-user
55 months
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[news]
Wednesday 15th May 2013
Agree with Glosphil, I just buy a new licence for Norton from Amazon. I would never give my card details to Norton because of all the tricks, catches and general hassle. What I really hate is the way the software stops working when the subscription expires, in a fair world the updates would stop and the software would carry on using the last update info.
The software doesn't cause any problems on the machine it gets used on but then I only use it for a bit of surfing. I use microsoft security essentials on the other machines because it is free.
Who me ?
7,455 posts
213 months
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[news]
Wednesday 15th May 2013
I used to use a version of Norton long time ago, till after one update ,everything slowed right down . I tried to take Norton off - no joy. So I found a free AVG/Firewall etc ,took great pleasure in formatting HDD ,as it needed a cleanout and installed the free stuff. Few years ago HSBC were giving customersa trial of NAV,so took it up.Thought I'd try it and TBH it seemed to work without slowing PC down . Then after a year, Norton came calling for cash. I went back to my free stuff and dumped Norton . I now only use Norton.Symantec for one of fixes for nasties . Free downloads on line .
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