I knew it would happen and now it has. My ID Safe server has crashed HARD. Support Chat told me that I'll have to wait 24-48 hours for them to fix it or maybe call back. They new nothing about the server, said it's not their bailiwick and would have to EMAIL Engineering and they should get back within 2 days. Isn't that just great. [stop laughing] 250 logins that I can't access just because Norton doesn't trust me with my own passwords. I can't even get into my financial accounts. [I said stop laughing] What is wrong with these guys? What was wrong with me for getting sucked into their Cloud. I knew better, but guess what ... I TRUSTED Norton. They don't even have redundancies in these servers. Show how much they value their Customers. What a bone-head idea it was to remove the Local Vault! I am using every once of self-control that I can muster right now. My blood-pressure is 'through the roof', my chest is pounding and to top that off, I had a min-stroke over the weekend. [no BS] So I apologize for anything that I may have said. I don't remember any thing about last weekend. I felt bad when I woke up and didn't go to the emergency room until my eyesight started to fail ... couldn't focus and my mind was the same. Since the hospital is only 1 mile away, I drove myself ... I live alone and I'm not paying $700 USD for a 1 mile ambulance ride. [BIG surprise there, right?] I'm on a LONG hold right now waiting for Phone Support. [please stop laughing] Still on Hold at 40 minutes while some robot is suggesting that I should use NRnR. That's their answer to everything. I have to go, this is killing me.
I just got off the phone, 1 hour and 12 minutes on hold then I got Tier 1 Support got the same-old BS story and this so-called Tech tried to put me through the same-old paces and I Escalated to Supervisor. The "Supervisor" then started the same BS over wanted Remote Control [no way I made that mistake twice before], wanted me to do a NRnR [what for?], kept telling me that I was wrong and I entered in the wrong PW [it was cut-pasted]. Never ONCE would they admit to a possibility of a Norton server problem [which doesn't surprise me]. Said "I can give you a new Identity Safe." I asked if I would loose all my PWs (I knew that already) and they said yes. At least they were honest about that and said "yes" [like no big deal] and we're sorry this and sorry that and apologize for the INCONVENIENCE and BLAH BLAH BLAH. You would be proud of Art, I didn't curse once! Well, here's the log from Chat "Support" I wish I could post the phone conversation. I have to go, it's happening again. - Art
System: Connecting...
System: 768067
XXXX: Initial Question/Comment: Using Norton Password Generator, I was changing my ID Safe password and on the 1st attempt your server said that I needed to use a character. I changed the password to include characters using NPG. I entered the new pw according to procedure and the ser
System: Welcome to Norton Support! A Norton Representative will be with you shortly.
System: Welcome to Norton Support! A Norton Representative will be with you shortly.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 12 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 12 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 12 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 12 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 11 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 10 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 10 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 7 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 5 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 4 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 3 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: Thank you for your patience. Your chat is very important to us but we are currently experiencing higher than expected wait times. Please stay online.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 2 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: Thank you for your patience. Your chat is very important to us but we are currently experiencing higher than expected wait times. Please stay online.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 1 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 0 hours and 0 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.
System: Connected with Emmanelle.
System: Welcome to Norton Support, my name is Emmanelle. Please give me a minute to go through the information you have provided.
Emmanelle: Hi Vonzant! I appreciate your patience and apologize for the long wait as we have high volume of chats today. Don't worry, I'm now here to help you with the password. Are you chatting with me from the PC that has the issue?
XXXX: Hi - The new password seemed to go through OK but now I'm locked out.
XXXX: yes, same pc
Emmanelle: Thank you for the information. If you've been locked out, you'll need to wait for an hour to 24 hours before it gets unlocked.
XXXX: not officially locked out - it failed just 2 times
Emmanelle: I can connect to your computer to further diagnose your concern, while you sit back and watch. This is a secure connection, and I won't access any personal information on your computer. To protect your privacy, please close confidential and personal information. If at any point you are concerned, you can disconnect me by clicking on the [End] button. I'd encourage you to view the troubleshooting from your end. If for any reason you need to leave your computer, let me know via the chat window and we'll disconnect the remote session and resume once you're back. Shall we go ahead with the remote connection?
XXXX: no remote
Emmanelle: Sure. Let's make sure that your password is working. Please go to http://identitysafe.norton.com
XXXX: keep chat open?
Emmanelle: Yes, please.
XXXX: ok
Emmanelle: By the way, may I have your active email address?
XXXX: there
XXXX: [Removed]
Emmanelle: Thank you. Are you able to login to the site?
XXXX: 1 sec
XXXX: "An unexpected error has occurred. Please try again, if the error persists please contact customer support. "
XXXX: its the server
Emmanelle: Yes. Please wait for a few hours before trying to login again.
XXXX: I have already
Emmanelle: Since the error is still showing up, I suggest you wait for 24-48 hours.
XXXX: no way. that's not a solution. I know better
Emmanelle: If the error showed up in the Norton website, we won't be able to do any troubleshooting because it can be an issue with the server.
XXXX: I know it is. that's why I contacted tech support
Emmanelle: I understand your concern. We just need to wait for the server issue to be fixed before we can try to login again.
XXXX: I don't buy that. who should I call?
Emmanelle: The other support will still give you the same information because the error comes from the website and not the software. If the error is only showing up in the software that the issue can be fixed by some troubleshooting like reinstalling it.
XXXX: no NrnR, I don't accept that tactic. nice try lol
Emmanelle: Sorry for the typo. I mean, that's the time that the issue.
Emmanelle: I'm sorry, I'm not asking you to reinstall the product because it's not an issue with the software but the server.
XXXX: no work-around?
Emmanelle: Yes, Vonzant.
XXXX: I have 250 logins on you cloud. what am I going to do for TWO DAYS?
Emmanelle: I can certainly understand your concern. However, we won't be able to access it.
XXXX: thers no mention of the server prob in the forum
Emmanelle: It may not say it. However, I've had this issue for multiple times and what we suggest is to wait for 24-48 hours to try again.
XXXX: freekin CLOUD! I told you guys NOT to do it.
XXXX: that's not an good answer and you know that
XXXX: unacceptabl
XXXX: have you gone to lunch?
Emmanelle: I would really want to help you with this, however, we can only wait for the server to be fixed so we'll know what to do next.
XXXX: why no notices about the server. if you know its down, why try to remote? something is going on here with you ...
Emmanelle: We offer remote session so we can easily see the issue. What I was about to do with the remote session was check the software then the website.
XXXX: escelate
Emmanelle: Please give me 3 minutes to check if my support is available.
XXXX: ok ty
Emmanelle: Sorry for the delay. My support is not yet available. Please give me another 3 minutes.
XXXX: k
XXXX: whats a support phone number for this?
XXXX: why did you ask for my email?
Emmanelle: Sorry for the delay. Since we're already connected through chat, let me help you with this. I'm just waiting for my support to be available.
Emmanelle: It's for email verification to see if it's the correct one in our records.
XXXX: my suspicions were right about the server?
Emmanelle: We don't have high volume of contact regarding this so it's possible that it's just an issue with your account's server.
XXXX: I was able to login at the forum. different server?
Emmanelle: Yes, it is.
Emmanelle: My supervisor is still not available. I'll just schedule a callback within 24 hours so she can contact you once she's available. May I have your active phone number?
XXXX: I need verification that the server that I need for ID Safe is down
XXXX: no u may not
XXXX: I need verification that the server that I need for ID Safe is down
Emmanelle: I'm sorry, we don't have verification for it.
XXXX: who does?
XXXX: this service is your responsibility from where I sit
XXXX: you can't just pass it off or make someone wait for 2 days
XXXX: I know better
Emmanelle: Thanks for waiting. My supervisor is now available. I'll now transfer you to her.
XXXX: ty
System: Connected with Rose.
XXXX: hi Rose
System: Emmanelle has left this session!
Rose: Hi Vonzant, this is Emmanelle's supervisor. How can I help you?
XXXX: oh come on read the log please
Rose: On it, please give me 2-3 minutes.
XXXX: k
XXXX: I'm a technologist, so no BS please
XXXX: awk brb
XXXX: back
Rose: Thanks for patiently waiting, Vonzant. I believe you were locked out from the server. Emmanelle was right that you have to wait for 24-hours to get it going if waiting for an hour or so did not work.
Rose: For the meantime, I'll be sending the case to our management to check if there's a confirmed spike. For now, to prevent from messing up with your 250 logins, I suggest we wait overnight.
XXXX: no I wasn't. I tried 2 times then waited for several hours
XXXX: was NOT locked out
Rose: May I know when did you initially had this issue? Or what time specifically?
XXXX: more than 3 hours ago
Rose: Have you tried to log in again?
XXXX: yes, per your tech
XXXX: I stopped trying so that I wouldn't get locked out
XXXX: I know better
Rose: And was that when you had the error: "An unexpected error has occurred. Please try again, if the error persists please contact customer support. "
XXXX: no that was during this session
Rose: I see, what device are we having an issue with?
XXXX: I have only 1
XXXX: pc
Rose: Please try to log back in using the old password and please tell me what happens next.
XXXX: k
XXXX: it wont even load my Hint so Im not going to try
XXXX: I don't want to get locked out. do you understand?
Rose: I got that. However, there's no other way for us to proceed with this apart from trying to input it. You may try to restart the computer to refresh the whole thing or wait for another hour as a work around.
XXXX: nice try. did that been there. ESCELATE
XXXX: how many failures before lock-out
Rose: I'm the last sort of escalation you'll get. If I can't fix this, I would communicate with our Engineering team internally and relay the fix to you. For now, can you tell how do you access the Identity Safe?
XXXX: through IE toolbar
Rose: That's 3 consecutive attempts before it locks out.
XXXX: in what period of time?
Rose: I see. Try to log in by going to http://identitysafe.norton.com
XXXX: that's what I just did for the 2nd time
Rose: That's right after you typed the last password. Approximately 5 seconds after the last attempt.
XXXX: are you waiting for a reply?
Rose: This happened after you tried to change the Identity Safe password, correct?
XXXX: ys
XXXX: yes
XXXX: no reprts of server probs, or Ive been hacked. have I been hacked?
Rose: I see. In which case, you have to either remember the password you have used before or try the new one you created. If it does not work, we can try to remove the product completely and try it again.
XXXX: u mean a NRnR?
XXXX: that old trick doesn't work w/ me
Rose: That's one way. However, I would suggest we do sledge which means we remove Norton from the registry. Have you tried that as well?
XXXX: no I don't mess with registry ... too risky
XXXX: my machine is fine
Rose: We can back it up so we can revert the changes if we have to.
Rose: But that's another step we can try, however your access to the Identity Safe is reliant on the password you've created.
XXXX: instead of ripping my machine apart, don't you know about server?
Rose: Even if we remove Norton if the issue is with password you've changed, then this is a dead end.
Rose: If you mean our server, I would have to send an inquiry to our Engineering team to check if there's an issue with it. However, since the communication will be through email, we would have to schedule a callback in 24-48 hours for you.
XXXX: unreal, you guys are too much
XXXX: FORCED ME ONTO THIS DAMNED CLOUD
Rose: I'm sorry if this had caused you so much inconvenience, Vonzant. However, there's nothing much I can do from my end apart from what I had already mentioned.
Rose: How would you like us to proceed with this?
XXXX: so you have no answers. who should I talk to. this is no JOKE
XXXX: I pay for this service. Its not MY fault
XXXX: your company is going down the tubes
XXXX: job security I guess
Rose: We're not saying that it's your fault. However, since you don't want to proceed with the solution I'm giving you then there's nothing we can do here. You can contact our community forum for further advise. www.community.norton.com
XXXX: Im all over the forums. You don't get it do you?
XXXX: Article_86 check it out
XXXX: I don't want to talk to floplot
Rose: Since most of the steps mentioned above is done by you already, apart from the complete removal. Here's what I can do, I'll be sending an email inquiry to our Engineering team for any other work around.
XXXX: I want an employee
Rose: I am working for Norton and those are the options you have, Vonzant.
XXXX: physician heal thyself. Is that right/
XXXX: you want floplot in the forum to help. Is that right?
XXXX: You know damned well what I'll get there
XXXX: You don't even know. do you?
Rose: I've already given you how to fix this issue. However, it seems that you're deflecting most of it because you've performed it already. So, I'm out of options here.
XXXX: I am a part of the forum. There every day. I know better. That tactic doesn't work w/ me
Rose: What I can do, I'll be sending an email inquiry to our Engineering team for any other work around.
XXXX: OK, take me by the hand then
XXXX: do that if you want. Show me what you can't do
Rose: I'll be scheduling a callback in 24-48 hours as I'll be waiting for their response on my query. For now, what we can do is wait for their response.
XXXX: WE can?
XXXX: let me shut down YOUR personal system for 2 DAYS. Is that OK with you?
Rose: I get it that this is very important to you. However, I can only do so much on this case.
XXXX: No, no you don't. Who can?
XXXX: be carefull Rose
Rose: The options above are the best thing that I can do for your case, Volant.
Rose: Sorry, I mean, Vonzant.
XXXX: That's what I thought
Rose: If you are not satisfied with the option I had provided above, you can end the chat.
XXXX: I expected this from Norton
Rose: I'm sorry if I was not able to resolve this issue but I'll be checking what we can do here. Thank for contacting Norton. Goodbye!
System: Rose has left this session!
System: Your chat session has ended. Thank you for contacting Norton. Note that you can copy and paste the above transcript into a document, if you would like to keep a copy of this chat session.