Norton 360 - is it worth the money that they've taken early?

Dubl07

My renewal date is early 2015 and yet it's gone from my credit card before Christmas without so much as a by your leave or heads-up.

Seriously peeved. Advice?

Celly Smunt

You're pretty Much paying for a virus imo.

jca

It's a bit late now to be asking...

mass_debater

As someone who makes a living removing it, Norton Internet Security is a decent package and can be got for about €14 a year on eBay, comes with a decent family filter. The full Norton 360 is a bloated POS that will slow down yourc PC worse than any virus.

Ken.

The only thing Norton is good for is if your in to clay pigeon shooting and run out of clay pigeons the Norton discs make a good substitute.

Gadgetman496

The only good thing about Norton is the pleasure you get removing it from systems.

Overheal

aside from the usual punchlines that line up along with "IE is only good for downloading other browsers herp derp" Norton 360 is indeed bloated, and NIS was good for years but there are much leaner alternatives like Webroot Complete.

The fact that they charged you ahead of the renewal date would be enough for me to cancel the subscription and write/get on support to demand a refund - which is the minimum level of effort credit card companies require of you in these circumstances typically before they will initiate a chargeback, which is plan B.

Maidhci

I think the issue here is that most AV packages are sold with the 'auto renewal' option check-box ticked. Unless you unchecked this box, your subscription is automatically renewed using the same credit card details that were used in the initial transaction and the charge is processed 30 days in advance of the actual renewal date. However, when this occurs, you are notified by email and you are also entitled to an automatic refund if you initiate the cancellation process with the AV company, normally within 30 days of the charge being debited to your account.

I would advise you to check your AV account settings and determine whether the auto-renewal check-box is ticked. If this is not the case, the AV company had no entitlement whatsoever to debit your account without your knowledge and consent.

I would imagine that if you check through the FAQ in the customer support section of their website, it will outline the process involved in order to process a refund request. If you're happy with the AV and are just annoyed with the fact that they debited your account well in advance of actual renewal date, you should simply un-check the 'auto-renewal' box in your account settings, to prevent this from arising into the future.

Finally, I would double-check my email inbox, as the AV company are obliged to notify you well in advance of the debit being processed. In any event, if you're not happy with the situation, you should not have any problems in obtaining a refund. Hope this helps.

Not familiar with Norton 360, so cannot advise on value-for-money aspect etc. etc.

jca

Maidhci wrote: »

I think the issue here is that most AV packages are sold with the 'auto renewal' option check-box ticked. Unless you unchecked this box, your subscription is automatically renewed using the same credit card details that were used in the initial transaction and the charge is processed 30 days in advance of the actual renewal date. However, when this occurs, you are notified by email and you are also entitled to an automatic refund if you initiate the cancellation process with the AV company, normally within 30 days of the charge being debited to your account.

I would advise you to check your AV account settings and determine whether the auto-renewal check-box is ticked. If this is not the case, the AV company had no entitlement whatsoever to debit your account without your knowledge and consent.

I would imagine that if you check through the FAQ in the customer support section of their website, it will outline the process involved in order to process a refund request. If you're happy with the AV and are just annoyed with the fact that they debited your account well in advance of actual renewal date, you should simply un-check the 'auto-renewal' box in your account settings, to prevent this from arising into the future.

Finally, I would double-check my email inbox, as the AV company are obliged to notify you well in advance of the debit being processed. In any event, if you're not happy with the situation, you should not have any problems in obtaining a refund. Hope this helps.

Not familiar with Norton 360, so cannot advise on value-for-money aspect etc. etc.

Most useful and on topic post. Always check those tick boxes when installing paid for software.

Dubl07

Maidhci wrote: »

I would advise you to check your AV account settings and determine whether the auto-renewal check-box is ticked. If this is not the case, the AV company had no entitlement whatsoever to debit your account without your knowledge and consent.

Finally, I would double-check my email inbox, as the AV company are obliged to notify you well in advance of the debit being processed. In any event, if you're not happy with the situation, you should not have any problems in obtaining a refund. Hope this helps.

Yep, auto-renewal was on but they definitely didn't email me. I'd be a bit wary of having no AV, but the computer has some Windows 8 security anyway, or I might just go for something like Norton Internet Security. Thanks, folks. I was fuming - it's hard to budget at this time of year!

Maidhci

Dubl07 wrote: »

Yep, auto-renewal was on but they definitely didn't email me. I'd be a bit wary of having no AV, but the computer has some Windows 8 security anyway, or I might just go for something like Norton Internet Security. Thanks, folks. I was fuming - it's hard to budget at this time of year!

Ironically, depending on your AV settings again, it may be that the email notification was classified as 'junk mail'?

jca

Dubl07 wrote: »

Yep, auto-renewal was on but they definitely didn't email me. I'd be a bit wary of having no AV, but the computer has some Windows 8 security anyway, or I might just go for something like Norton Internet Security. Thanks, folks. I was fuming - it's hard to budget at this time of year!

If you're going the paid AV route I'd recommend Nod32 AV only, don't get the full suite the AV only version is brilliant.

ceekay74

My current subscription with Bullguard is ending soon, now they want €72 for 2 years!:eek::eek:

They can go and do one.

Is this a better option....?
http://www.grabonestore.ie/mcafee-internet-security-2015-1?utm_source=Specials+Ireland&utm_campaign=ET_30287_ie-main-specials_ireland_20141220&utm_medium=email&utm_content=specials

I'd appreciate any advice.

mass_debater

ceekay74 wrote: »

My current subscription with Bullguard is ending soon, now they want €72 for 2 years!:eek::eek:

They can go and do one.

Is this a better option....?
http://www.grabonestore.ie/mcafee-internet-security-2015-1?utm_source=Specials+Ireland&utm_campaign=ET_30287_ie-main-specials_ireland_20141220&utm_medium=email&utm_content=specials

I'd appreciate any advice.

McAfee is a virus

ceekay74

mass_debater wrote: »

McAfee is a virus

Thanks, would you recommend any particular one that isn't?

mass_debater

ceekay74 wrote: »

Thanks, would you recommend any particular one that isn't?

Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Eset Nod32, Norton Internet Security or Trend Micro Titanium. Get a serial on Ebay and then download the software. Be sure to remove the AV you have at present

maki

ceekay74 wrote: »

Thanks, would you recommend any particular one that isn't?

You can grab a year of Bitdefender Internet Security for free from here.

ceekay74

Gracias!

Just out of curiosity, do you have an opinion on bullguard?

mass_debater

ceekay74 wrote: »

Gracias!

Just out of curiosity, do you have an opinion on bullguard?

Not the worst, not worth 72 quid for 2 yrs.
Here's a 1yr single PC licence for Norton Internet Security for €13 (not the bloated 360 package)
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Norton-Internet-Security-2014-1-PC-User-1-Year-License-/221643608178?pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item339afd1072