Hi everybody,
can anybody help me getting around this:
I'm near the renewal date for my Norton 360 V5, but the strange thing is that if I follow the renewal procedure, it costs €97.49, while if I go to norton.com and buy the same product as a new customer, it costs only $68.98, less than half.
If I buy as a new customer, will they detect my computer as an existing client and charge me for €97.49?
Thanks
Oliver
Gidday Oliver,
I faced the same thing down here in Australia, where I HAD Norton Internet Security 2010 and the online renewal wanted $119.99 to "upgrade" to the 2011 even though LiveUpdate had already changed it to 2011, presumably it meant I'd just get another year license, yet I can buy full boxed retail versions of the same product for less than half that price and get a CD to boot. I ended up buying the full retail version of 360 v5 Premium for $88 then claimed the $30 rebate that was on promotion down here meaning I went from Internet Security to 360 Premium for $58 and got a 4GB USB key for free compared to stay on Internet Security 2011for $119.99 !!!
I was so puzzled how there is so much price variation I stupidly rang Symantec support down here and got a non-Australian ringtone making it obvious the call had gone offshore and someone with an accent I could barely understand answered so after negotiating the language barrier I got someone who sort of spoke English and asked them why I can buy a better product retail for less than half the online renewal price and the answer was "we cannot sell in the quantities retailer can so cannot get bulk discount!" I kept asking him how on earth can the manufacturer have to pay a higher price for something they produce than a reseller and got the same parrot fashioned answer.
I ended up phoning a friend of a friend who is a reseller and he said just install the new product (in my case 360) and it will detect the older product and remove it and replace it with the new product and because the days left is kept back at Symantec it should detect I still had a few days to go and add them to the new 365 days and turns out it did exactly that.
My advice go buy the cheapest retail or OEM you can find and install it and let the software sort it out as it seems to get that part right. By buying a retail version and installing on top of my Internet Security 2010 I am now running 360 v5 Premium and have a 4GB Norton's USB key and have the CD plus saved $61.99 than if I had just renewed it online.
You be the judge. (-:
BE WARNED THOUGH! It used to be if you Norton's Internet Security year ran up it just stopped doing virus updates but still offered firewall and e-mail protection just on aging virus signatures, newer versions just grind to a halt when the date runs up and leaves your PC wide open and vulnerable. I did not know this and got caught out so be warned, I think that is a ratbag thing to do imagine if CorelDRAW or 1-2-3 just working after a year?
Thanks Nawtun,
I'll wait until until it expires, and buy the product as a new customer the next day. Let's see what happens.
It's just amazing how many strange (not to say stupid) things we here sometimes from big businesses.
Have a good time.
Oliver
Please do not wait until it expires as an expired product may need to be removed. It makes no difference to Symantec which way you do it. Use the cheapest method. If you buy new, do check your www.mynortonaccount.com to make sure that you have removed your automatic billing information, or you may accidentally be charged twice. You will need to insert the new key to activate.
There is some gap in the information between Symantec corporate, that sells Norton products and the Symantec eStore. It has been discussed, and is being looked at.
You can also buy older versions in local stores that are on sale for even less, and use those keys to activate the new products.
My subscription had expired which is when I was shocked to find the product refused to load and left my computer wide open and vulnerable whereas all previous editions still provided services just no virus signature updates so I was very disappointed a Norton security product would pull the rug out so viciously - I sure as hell do not remember any warning on the installation process warning me in plain English that it would totally cease to operate after 365 days, especially given that my DOS edition of Norton Utilities still works fine and it is almost 20 years old (and does things none of the current suites do). My plan was to wait until NIS or 360 was on sale somewhere as it turned out I was lucky a dealer did just that 2 days after my NIS expired so I got 360 then.
When I installed 360 it popped a message that an older version of a similar program has been found and is being removed so the new version can be loaded in it's place. One assumes it got my existing key info from the mess that is Windoze registry.
Nawtun wrote:My advice go buy the cheapest retail or OEM you can find and install it
You should stick with the least expensive retail version you can find. OEM versions are not licensed to be sold as standalone products, and must be bundled with the intended hardware in order for the license to be valid. Installing an OEM version purchased separately may result in the program becoming disabled at some point with no recourse other than to try to recover your purchase price from the seller.
Nawtun,
It's sveral years now since Norton went onto the subscription model and that the application stopped working completely, and no longer "idled" on old definitions.
You will find this on the box you purchased if you read the licence terms --- use on X PC's for 1 year (although you can buy from Norton for several years at a time I've not seen boxed sets like that).
Here''s what it says on the Norton website if you look at a product:
<< ‡1 YEAR PROTECTION: With this service you receive the right to use this product on one PC or on the specified number of PCs during the service period, which begins upon initial installation and activation. This renewable service includes protection updates and new product features as available throughout the service period, subject to acceptance of the Symantec License Agreement included with this product and available for review at www.symantec.com. >>
You buy the disk and a licence to use the software on it under the defined terms and do not buy the software application itself.
This is not unique to Norton, even in the security application field and it's no different to when your apartment lease ends you have to stop using the apartment ....
Their rationale for the the dead stop is that using out of date definitions can give a false sense of security with the rapidity with which malware changes as well as that much of the protection is not built into what is installed on your computer but depends on the famous "Cloud" ....... so accessing that is part of the licence you are using.
As you know you can buy a licit copy retail very often so snap one up when you see it since current keys do not begin to expire until you start to actually use on one of the licenced PCs -- a user in Australia not long ago checked here whether an ad for NIS 2011 for 3 PCs for AUS $5 was legit and when someone was able to confirm this he bought 2 copies! If teh low price depends on rebates just remember that not all may be obtainable from the same address so don't buy too many!
There's probably a copy of the KEY in the registry but Norton has a central database for licencing purposed and also it stores a file called <product name?>KEY.txt in a folder that you can access if you need to and it's in your MyNortonAccount if you ever need it ....
RE: "Their rationale for the the dead stop is that using out of date definitions can give a false sense of security with the rapidity with which malware changes as well as that much of the protection is not built into what is installed on your computer but depends on the famous "Cloud" ....... so accessing that is part of the license you are using."
That just backs my disgust that the product ground to a halt. In all the "You have x days left on your subscription", I do not recall it warning that the product will TOTALLY STOP protecting my computer. Sure I was aware I would not get any more virus updates but that is my choice if I continue to run it. At least it would have provided protection for everything up to that point until I had time to get a new update or give me time to wait for a retailer to put the product on special. As previously discussed I ended up buying the top of the range 360 for less than half of the online renewal of NIS so if I choose not to get ripped off and wait until I can get a good deal how dare the software company take the view of stuff you and just grind my protection to a complete halt. Clearly an American lawyer wrote the blurb in 1 point font on the top of the box. Other software companies make it very obvious if you buy an upgrade version that you must have installed or available the CD's form certain previous versions. I don't see why Symantec cannot put in big bold letters on the top on the box in real English not legalese something like "This products includes a 1 year license which if not renewed after one year will totally stop the software from working until a renewal is purchased for another year or longer" or something similar. Having lived in the USA and shook my head at the bizarre warnings on product wrappers such as the "Caution contents may be hot" on a takeaway coffee cup or "May contain traces of nuts" on a chocolate peanut bar... really?... I find it deceptive marketing to make it more obvious that the product will grind to a halt after that year. It especially bit hard given that I have been a loyal Symantec customer for around 20 years.
Did I mention the Backup tool in 360 is yet to complete a backup onto my USB drive without hanging? That is for another discussion window.
Thanks everybody, I sorted it out.
The trick is to select UK as your country in the main page (you can change it in the successive page when you make the payment). I bought it for £ 59.99 ($96).
So what you should do is:
1. Cancel the automatic renewal at least 10 days before the expiry date. (if you don't, they will automatically renew it / charge you a week before it expired !!
2. Go to http://uk.norton.com/, and click "Buy now" for the product you want
3. In the next page, remove / or not the "Norton Virus Removal Assurance", I don't now what it is. Continue
4. "Billing & Payment Information" and you Card details. You are buying the product as a new customer. Enter the same e-mail and password that are associated with your present account. Continue
5. The next page will give you the Product Key. No need to download, as you already have the product in your computer.
6. Right-click the Norton icon in the system tray of your computer, Open Norton
7. In the bottom of the window, it says: XXX days remaining Renew. Click on Renew.
8. Enter your product key you just bought (do not click on "Express Renewal, it will take you the expensive version of the renewal). DONE
If you now log in into your http://wwwmynortonaccount.com, you will now have two products, the one that has expired (or is about to expire), and the one you just bought. (The new one may say "Not activated" if the old subscription has not expired yet)
HTH
oliver029 wrote:Hi everybody,
can anybody help me getting around this:
I'm near the renewal date for my Norton 360 V5, but the strange thing is that if I follow the renewal procedure, it costs €97.49, while if I go to norton.com and buy the same product as a new customer, it costs only $68.98, less than half.
If I buy as a new customer, will they detect my computer as an existing client and charge me for €97.49?
Thanks
Oliver
Hi Oliver,
Many of us recommend that you shop all of the reliable sources for the best price. Even buying a steeply discounted copy of an earlier version just to get the new key. In your case if you buy at the store and use that key, when the time comes, you will not be charged more. The new key will not add days to your current subscription... This means that you need to wait until just a few days before the current subscription expires to do the renewal.
Hope this helps
Isn't there anyone in marketing at Symantec who can see who absurd this situation is and do something to rectify it?
I just tried my luck now and can buy online from this very site 360 v5 for US$59.00 which equates to AU$57 but as soon as I select that I am in Australia it jumps to a crazy $119!!! for the exact same product. How can a software license key change value so much based on where you live? It's madness!
<< How can a software license key change value so much based on where you live? It's madness! >>
Unfortunately it's a fact of commercial life workl-wide and not restricted to Norton or to software. It can relate to taxes, to competition.
And it works both ways -- a while ago an Australian posted here to check if $5 for a 3 PC copy of NIS 2010 or 2011 (I forget which now) could possibly be correct and when it was confirmed that this was not one of those internet too good to be true deals he went and bought 4 copies so he could use the keys in succession for 4 years.
Many here would have liked that deal too .....
Your best bet is to monitor the local retail stores and their deals and when they are ligitimate authorized distributors buy that instead of renewing with Norton online -- just don't use the key until just before your subscription expires or it wipes out the unexpired days ... although OnLIne Customer Support has a good reputation for adding those back in when asked.