Norton Anti-Virus Surprise Automatic Withdrawal

That's how they make money on people who don't know what they have signed up for with pop ups of your computer is at risk. It's always worth renewing and I don't like Norton as it slows down my laptop and most hackers know how to get around Norton. There are other providers that do free 30 day trials and then offer you a discount for the following year. For $99 you should have a key code for multiple devices not one!

 

Thanks for the heads-up, although I am quite content with AVG's free anti-virus, so it's highly unlikely that I will purchase any anti-virus, because since I started using a pc, I never purchased one. I guess you gave them permission to charge your bank account automatically. I think you should never do that, for security purposes.

 

I think it happens a lot with Norton so they have to refund within so many days. Some friends who worked in Currys (like Best Buy) told me Norton do deals with them to have it uploaded on to the computers (deals with computer companies too) and also as bundles so people will forget and subscribe automatically. Norton pay the companies for this so they have a monopoly. You could try Kaspersky too as many tech people and institutions use them. I have friends who do something called 'penetration testing' which means a company pays them to test their systems and to try to hack into them to find their weak points and there are certain companies they say are better than others.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. These sort of companies are RAMPANT in all industries and it's unfortunately on us to keep track of our subscriptions to make sure they run out. I had something similar happen to me when I signed up for 6 months of the Sac Bee online paper. I figured it would... what a concept.... a 6 month subscription, so I just assumed it was over once the 6 months was up. I come to find out that the Sac Bee subscription automatically renews and I got hit with a $35 bill I didn't want. I called customer service and apparently, just like your situation, it was in the fine print somewhere that you physically had to cancel the sub, or it would automatically renew.

I like Norton, so I'll be sure to keep on tabs with my sub so it doesn't auto renew.

 

Congratulations on your baby. Thanks for the warning about Norton Anti-Virus. I used to use that software all of the time but I bought it with cash. I stopped using it because it wouldn't work once I got a new computer. I thought that was strange. I started using another virus protection that works pretty good, but it is a little expensive without the savings card I have for it. With that said, I will gladly stay away from Norton Antivirus.

 

Norton is a pretty bad software that people only use because it usually comes pre-installed on the computer you buy. I personally delete it and get myself one of the great free antivirus out there. I have been using AVG antivirus for about three years now, and I've never had a virus or antivirus problem.

 

Some time earlier this year, Norton essentially admitted that the whole Anti-Virus market is basically dead. Their product, as well as most of the competing products only catch about 60% of the malware/adware/viruses and rootkits out there. Root kits in particular are really difficult to detect, because I believe they install themselves outside of your Windows installation and most commercial anti viruses can merely just look for suspicious activity on portions of your hard drive, but they can't really determine with much certainty if it's something bad or not.

Even Microsoft Security Essentials has fallen behind to the point where they don't recommend their own product anymore. It's nowhere near as effective as it use to be.

That sucks what Norton did to you, and I wish the banks would be more proactive with this kind of stuff to stop it. The banks should come up with some list of known offenders, and act as an intermediary, notifying their customers about the charges and getting their permission first.

 

You would think that you would be able to decline payment so you wouldn't keep getting charged. I avoid certain sites too because I don't know what viruses they might have. I need to stop going to Facebook on my computer too because you never know what viruses are there. I think I will start using FB on my phone too just in case.

 

Well, this is technically your fault, and tons of companies utilize auto-renewal. This includes Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Norton Antivirus, Office 365, and countless others. If you're not paying attention during the sign-up process and you somehow provide your bank account information without realizing why, then you should be charged exactly what you've agreed to. The payment and bank debit didn't go through when you clicked ignore. It occurred whenever Norton initiated the charge for the subscription renewal, which could have occurred in +/- three days or so from the date you noticed it.

 

This is what has become known as "dark patterns" whereby companies trick consumers into additional fees or auto renewals without their explicit consent. Who actually reads the terms and conditions all the way through whenever they purchase something? Fine print is fine for very minute and specific details about the transaction, such as incremental weather damage or "acts of god" type circumstances, but something as important as auto renewing should not be allowed to be buried in fine print and/or misleading language. It should be required to be clearly stated up front and legibly. Especially if you are buying something from television, have you ever tried to read the fine print on a TV offer? Or follow along with the speed talking announcer who is flying through the terms and conditions? It's nearly impossible.

Another sneaky tactic they use is they may list the option to auto renew up front, but they bury in the fine print the actual time they will attempt to auto renew. Network Solutions does this crap, trying to auto renew you up to three months in advance of your domain expiring. Most people would assume they still have a few more months to decide if they want to keep them or not, only to get surprised to find the charge on their account far in advance.

One way you may be able to protect yourself against stuff like this is to use temporary credit card numbers. I have not tried this myself, but I've heard that some banks and credit card companies can issue you temporary numbers that are only valid for a limited amount of time, to protect you against thieves stealing your main card number. I would assume they would also protect you from unexpected auto renews as well. But you would need to clarify that with your financial institutions.

 

Auto renewals is a gray area as it is sold as a convenience to prevent uninterrupted service, so it's not actually a binding agreement, it's an authorization which can be cancelled. Some companies tick the box for you, which is illegal so you have to untick it, or some insist on it as part of the original deal.

If companies did email you before hand to tell you they will be debiting your card, then that's fine. I have Just Host that tried to do this, but my card company refused as I had only signed up for a year, but they had my details and tried to debit my card. So even when you haven't given permission they will try.

 

wow great!!