Your License has been Tampered With
 
 
 
 
 
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April 18, 2005: Your License has been Tampered With

It’s been 7 calls. It’s been 9 hours.

I talked to Jafr, Raj, Bonnie, Bebur, Amit. Some others. In India.

Just last night I was talking to Symantec from 6:30 pm until just after 1 am.

Mark, my Fetcher, went and got me Norton Internet Security 2005 today. I didn’t like asking for a favor on a Sunday of course. But I’m sure he saw the raving desperation in my eyes. And he didn’t seem to mind terribly. That was $100 + tax. I just renewed my Symnatec subscription 6 weeks ago.

I installed it. Or I tried to. It didn’t work. Another call to India. 70 minutes later the fellow tells me to uninstall it and reinstall it. I did but it was useless. Useless as my weekend.

I can’t call India again. I can’t look at it anymore. It hurts my stomach to look at it.

I guess tomorrow I’m buying McAfee or AVG. But I’ve had it with Symnatec. They suggested that I might be able to get my money back for my subscription. But they couldn’t find my account informtion: not with my name, my email, my account number, my password, my software serial number, or my credit card. Nice.

So $200 later and tomorrow, I guess, I might be able to use my computer. Already, I’m uncomfortable logging on ot the Internet long enough to upload this.

And of course I’m an agoraphobe who gets and sends his work over the Intenet. Can you say crippled?

Now it should be said that the folks — Jafr, Raj, Bonnie, Bebur, Amit — in India serving Symnatec were kind and patient and altogether humorless and useless. It’s not their fault. It’s hard to be motivated on $3 an hour. And it would appear Symantec might only require minimum English standards. There were a number of times, especially my second and third and seventh time around, when I told them what they should tell me to do.

It still needs to be said though: thanks Symnatec for nothing. You go ahead. You keep my $150. Tomorrow it’s McAfee or AVG.

Meanwhile I’m wide open here. I’m defenseless. Come fuck me up the arse.

SS
 
     
 

After 3 weeks of computer woes myself, I feel your pain. You DESERVE a refund. You can’t get all that time you spent on hold back. Good luck!

Posted by: Kathryn at April 18, 2005 10:53 PM

Update: It took about three minutes to download a complete and fully supported trial version of AVG which I encourage you to do here: http://www.grisoft.com.

It took me about two minutes to install it. Compare that to 36 hours of not quite installing Norton Internet Security 2005.

I’m running a full scan now. In 22 minutes I have already found 7 viruses. I updated my virus definitions with Symantec 2 days ago. And did a full system scan. And found 0 viruses. I make room for the possibility that I got 7 viruses in the past 36 hours. But that’s terrifically unlikely. 7 is exactly as many times as I called Symantec’s India Sweat Shop. Coincidence?

I’m going to buy AVG. I’m never going to buy a Norton product again. And if I regain some of my sanity I’m going to try to get a refund from Norton for my renewal for a product that stopped working; and for a new purchase that wouldn’t work. And they might tell me that the product didn’t work because I already had a virus; and I will quickly point out the inherent flaw in that thinking.

Yes, out of principle more than anything, I should like my money back. Also: I’ve been dipping into my much-abused camera fund which was nearly ready.

Still: happier.

Posted by: ss at April 18, 2005 1:46 AM