Complain about a product or service

McAfee - Disputed Renewals

John of Salisbury OTHER (01/27/08)
My subscription was renewed in Dec 07 before it was due and without my authority. I had much difficulty in contacting the company to complain, but did so in the end. My bank has informed me that the charge has been debited to my account. On 14 Jan 08, I was informed by the company that my 59.99 charge would be returned to me. However, so far this has not happened and I am having great difficulty in contacting McAfee to chase them up. I will shortly place the matter in the hands of my solicitor.

This is an unacceptable breach of my rights to choose which computer security service I wish to purchase.

William of Sarasota, FL December 9, 2007

William of Sarasota FL (12/09/07)
I noticed a 39.99 charge from McAfee on my Delta Skymiles American Express. I rarely use that credit card for anything anymore, which suggests that McAfee uses some old account information it had on file for me to charge me, without me taking any affirmative action at all to sign up. After calling McAfee customer service and being disconnected without being able to speak to anyone, I contacted online customer chat service (I have a copy of the online conversation), and informed the representative that I did not sign up for a paid subscription with McAfee because I had been receiving it free for a long time through AOL. After asking several times with no response, I was finally told when I supposedly signed up for McAfee, which was around the same date I had purchased a new laptop a few months ago. I informed the representative that I never signed up for a McAfee subscription at that time, that maybe their software did it automatically when I received my new computer, that it would be improper if that was the case, and that I want it cancelled with a refund. I was told that I would have to call AOL for a refund, even though I repeatedly insisted that AOL did not charge me - - McAfee did.

In general, the representative was slow, unhelpful, and unresponsive. I cannot help but feel that the representative wanted me to waste more time to jump through more hoops with AOL when this was clearly a McAfee issue and when AOL would clearly not be able to help me, hoping that I would give up and let the charge stand. After the conversation with the McAfee representative, I called American Express and told them to remove the charge from McAfee, and I explained why. Later that same day, I received what appeared to be a computer-generated email from McAfee entitled McAfee Subscription Renewal Confirmation, stating that my subscription had been successfully renewed using the payment information on file, and giving me the option to cancel with a full refund within 60 days of the email. Yet, I had just chatted with the McAfee representative hours earlier and was told that McAfee could not issue me a refund. I cannot help but suspect that I would never have received such an email had I not taken affirmative action on my own to dispute the charge. The charge occurred on a weekday but I did not receive the email until Saturday evening - - on a weekend, and after I complained.

I wasted time, had a lot of aggravation, and a 39.99 charge that was remove by American Express at my request.

David of New Berlin, WI November 9, 2007

David of New Berlin WI (11/09/07)
I purchased Virusscan Plus for an existing PC to update virus protection. Paid 40. It failed to download properly because the previous McAfee needed to be deleted first. I attempted to delete version automatically via the prompt,as well as manually to no avail. I then used the on-line services to resolve and tried all options available. Nothing worked. The only other option was a pay phone call. To protect the PC, I called and was walked throught the exact same steps as the on-line service at a fee of 60!

Finally, the tech told me that the issue needed to be raised to the next technical level. They would call within 48 hours. 5 days later, nobody calls. I start sending e-mails to McAfee and 3 different times they communciate back that someone will be back to me in 7-10 days!!!! This has been going on for over a month!!!! They provide no phone number and don't respond. I finally spent another 60 on Norton, downloaded and it it works great.

Glen of Biloxi, MS November 8, 2007

Glen of Biloxi MS (11/08/07)
i tried to update my mcfee virus software online, i opted to pay via paypal. mcfee billed me but never updated my software, when i tried to contact someone about the problem, their web site just bounces you around and never lets you address that particular issue. so unless your problem is in there data base, you are just SOL.

Edward of Long Beach, CA April 3, 2007

Edward of Long Beach CA (04/03/07)

I bought my computer over a year ago and it came with McAfee already loaded. I would never opt to an automatic renewal (when things just get cheaper one year later), however they somehow managed to get my signed on and recently debited my checking account to my surprise. I called today to dispute the charge that was made on my debit card for a subscription that I didn't re-order. The sales person said she was going to credit my account and send me an email about the refund. I haven't seen anything yet.

An unwanted charge to my debit card for 39.

Jyl of Addis, LA March 21, 2007

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