Why is it IMPOSSIBLE to get help from Norton when it's needed most?

I thought I was very happy with the Norton product. But, I have learned that once a problem arises, Norton is of no help whatsoever.

A month ago, I received an email from someone claiming to have hacked my system and demanded a payment of $500.00 in bitcoin. It appeared that, at a minimum, my email was hacked. The demand message was sent from my account and the hacker made changes to my Uber account by accessing the codes Uber sent to my email address. I tried to forward the demand email to Spam@NortonLifelock.com, but my system would not allow the message to be forwarded.

I contacted Norton for two initial reasons, I wanted to confirm that only email was hacked and wanted to learn why the message could not be forwarded. That evening I spent two hours on the Chat function of Norton. I was transferred three times to different Chat agents – each claiming I was being transferred to an “expert” who could handle my issue. After this two hours, absolutely nothing was accomplished and I was no closer to an answer or solution to my issue than when I started. The last agent promised that my issue was being escalated and someone from Norton would call me within 24-72 hours.

After two weeks of no contact from Norton, I tried getting on Chat again. This time I really only wanted an email address so I could contact Norton to express my dissatisfaction with how my issue had been handled. I was never provided with any such address. Instead, the agent assured me he could help solve my issue. He did not. Once again, I was transferred three times; each time to an “expert” who could handle my issue. None did. I was on Chat for over an hour and half and still am no closer to a solution than when I started. The last agent again promised that someone from Norton would call me within 24 hours. No one has.

This past weekend I tried a last time and was assured that my case had been escalated and that I would receive a call within 24 hours. I have not.

I actually work for a software company myself. I can assure that it would not be tolerated for a customer to be treated as I have been treated and that when our agents say a case has been escalated, it actually has been escalated. There is no way a trouble ticket would be allowed to stay open for a month with no attempts from the company to solve and no contact from the comany. It has become clear that to Norton, “escalated” means that the customer is just going to be dumped an ignored.

I have also tried to ask all of the agents I have dealt with on Chat whether Norton would be able to get useful metadata from the demand message I received and use that to attempt to track who hacked my account. Similarly, I have also asked whether Norton could use the bitcoin wallet address the hacker gave me to track him down. Those questions too went unanswered. At this time, I have no idea whether Norton even attempts to help track hackers.

The Norton product is not cheap. I am beyond disappointed that apparently the cost does not go to customer service to solve problems and that once a problem arises, Norton refuses to assist a paying customer. I wasted 3-4 hours with no fewer than nine Norton agents and never got an answer to my questions, but was lied to three times about someone calling me to resolve the issue.

If someone has a suggestion where I can actually have assistance from Norton, I'd like to hear it. So far I've received none and been lied to repeatedly.