Norton chat: Worst customer service

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1

Avoid Norton’s chat option at all costs. 

 

First, despite their claim that “agents are available to answer any questions you may have,” they’re not interested in answering your questions.  They want to ask YOU questions.  They will do their best to ignore your question and instead start peppering you with sales questions: “How many computers do you have?”  Etc.

Second, they immediately pressure you to switch to the phone.  It’s always the first or second thing they say: “Can we switch to the phone because it’ll be faster?”  Well, if I wanted to be on the phone, then I would have chosen the phone option.  But I chose the chat option.

Third, they will cut you off or put you on hold if you persist in staying on chat instead of switching to the phone. 

Before you get a “specialist,” you first get a person who takes your initial question and routes you accordingly.  So here’s the question I had: "Please point me to a URL where it specifies which version of Norton Family comes with Norton Security Premium."

The first time I chatted with Norton, I got “Regis.”  I must have asked my question three times.  But Regis kept asking to switch to the phone.  Finally, annoyed with my refusal to go to the phone, he said “Try norton.com and read about it. Meanwhile, the purpose of chat is so that we can ask you questions to assess your needs” and he ended the chat!  No, Regis, per the initial boilerplate verbiage when I started the chat session, your job is to “ANSWER detailed questions about our products.”

Next I got “Neela P.”  Here’s the entire transcript of the chat:

-----Neela P: Hello, welcome to Norton sales support, please let me review what you have entered

-----Neela P: Depending on your specific situation, there may be a few areas that we should discuss to ensure that your goals are going to be met. Therefore, this may be quicker over the phone. May I call you to answer your questions and ensure this is the best product for your needs?

-----Me: Thanks, but I’m asking for a URL. It will be much easier for you to copy and paste that into the chat window instead of saying a long URL over the phone.

-----Neela P: I can definitely help you. I do apologize. I am currently assisting another customer. However you will maintain your priority sequence and I will be with you in approximately 10-15 minutes. Please leave the chat open. Thank you for the patience.

First, notice how she immediately wanted to switch to the phone.  Second, notice how she apparently had all the time in the world to answer my question OVER THE PHONE, but as soon as it’s obvious that I want to continue chatting, oh dear, suddenly she’s “assisting another customer” and can’t get to me for 10 to 15 minutes!!!!  Wow.

So Norton chat folks have two goals: Get you on the phone and ask YOU questions so they can sell you something.  They are NOT interested in answering YOUR questions.

2

Hello @Thea Gardener 1968,

I'm very sorry to hear about the experience you had and would like to see how we can help. I've left you a Private Mail, which you will see notification for in the Forum header (labeled "Inbox"). 

Thank you,

Matt

3

Respectfully, I'm surprised users allow remote access to unknown behind all that one-sided legal.

4

As I said, more lawyers and legal CYA; less concern for the customer. Your response doesn't surprise me.

5

2.1. Basic Responsibilities. You agree that You are a legal license holder of the software on Your device and Your use of the Support Services and the internet is solely at Your own risk. To receive the Support Services, You must confirm that You (a) have full access to Your hardware and Supported Product(s) that are the basis of the problem, and (b) have completed a back-up of any software or data that may be impacted by the Support Services.

6

Michael Ra is correct about Norton's off-shore Tech Support. I needed to re-install Norton Security Suite, but was unable to use any of their on-line tools to remove the corrupted version. Adjit(?) responded to my Chat Request, Incident Number <removed>, and asked to take control of my laptop. He had the same results as I did using the on-line tools so he asked to delete files manually. He must have deleted 4,000 files. Next he asked to restart the laptop and I agreed. It will not load Windows now. It just blinks rapidly and I'm unable to enter any data whatsoever. He then gave up and bailed out!

The next morning I called and spoke to someone, Ivan(?), at Norton Tech Support. He wanted me to get into MSCONFIG, but I couldn't type the phrase because of the constant blinking. He then wanted me to reboot and try to get into Safe Mode but that failed several times. He then bailed out also, saying I would have to contact HP to attempt to fix the problem (for a steep fee).

Norton's tech wiped out critical start-up files and now has left me out in the cold. My laptop is now a door stop. Norton needs more lawyers and longer, fine print Terms Of Service to enhance their revenue. Never mind customer relations and concern for past loyal users. 

[Edit: Removed the Case ID to conform with the Participation Guidelines and Terms of Service]

7

MIchael Ra,

Curious, did read Remote Session Terms and Conditions.

8

I was asked to put together feedback and send an email to the Executive Escalation Manager at Symantec. Here is my whole experience:

On August 3rd I had called Norton to let you guys know that my Google Chrome and my Norton Antivurus is not working. Upon further checking it seemed that Norton was removed from my account for the second time. This happened several months ago and I got an apology. Both times I contracted a virus. At first I spoke with someone who transferred me over to the virus protection team. I got on the phone with an individual by the name of Sherry

I spent about 1 hour and 30 minutes on the phone at that point and she was very condescending. To my understanding she works in the Phillipines office and reports to Louie. She had made me restart my computer over 15 times. In all fairness she had no idea what she was doing. 

Louie gets on the line and he tries to help me but gives up after a few minutes and says we need to do a reset of my whole system. I told him since I've spent 3 hours with them on the phone (1.5 hours went by between talking to Sherry and Louie) I need the night to back up my computer and if he can call me the following day at 1000am EST it would be great. He said that if it wasn't him someone would reach out from the team. 

I waited for almost two weeks till I called again on August 15th. I asked to get transferred right away but the guy who took the call decided not to read the notes on the file and waste my time. He kept me on the phone for 45 minutes with no help as we proceeded to do the exact same thing as before. Then I got transferred to the Phillipines office (Virus Removal Team); I got no apology for receving no call back and was actually told that Louie never told me that. He was sitting right beside the representative and was telling him that he wasn't there. I am not sure of the name of this person, possibly Rolando but he guided me through a few things on my computer which made it stop working completely. Absolutely everything was crashing after he helped me. He then proceeded to tell me to go to a local technician (great customer service) in a rude tone

At this point I lost my cool completely and decided to give it up for the night. I had spent over 6 hours on the phone with Norton and received no help. I tried again the next day through the chat and as you can see below, the employees at Norton do not read each others notes. I spent another 45 minutes on the chat before the guy decided to read my notes. All in all this was the most awful experience. I decided to complain to Symantec and let them know what was going on. I called and left voicemails everywhere and spoke to someone that said I would be getting a call from head office. Well **** that call was from you so I am grateful. I think you should pull all the calls on my file and hear how incompetent your employees are. I am very ignorant when it comes to computers hence why I use your service, but your employees need to realize that if its not them someone else will be nice to your clients because we are the business. The language barrier, the customer service, the tone of voice and the complete incompetency is unacceptable. If it wasn;t for you I would never use your service again and I would vow to make sure everyone I know never uses it again. I hope this helps. Please call me with any questions. 

9

I am not wasting time with you guys anymore You have stolen too much of my time. I wanted to inform the other consumers of how awful this whole process was. 

TO ALL CUSTOMERS: I literally had to call head office to get help and get an executive escalation manager. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THE PHILLIPINES OFFICE including Louie, Sharry, Reynaldo etc. 

These people are a bunch of liars and they are incompetent. I spent 6 hours on the phone with them (got the number of Norton's website, I went through the waste of time chat) ; in 5 minutes the guy from the executive team was able to help me. HOW does it take 5 minutes with one person and 6 hours with another whole department? Instead of asking me if I'm sure I used the right support go retrain your employees on how to speak with your clients . Also the language barrier is horrendous. 

You can view all my notes on my file since I\ve probably called 35 times. AND LOUIE IN THE PHILLIPINES SHOULD BE FIRED! AWFUL INDIVIDUAL!

10

@MIchael Ra

Did you see my 8:06PM reply in your yesterday's thread  ?:

"Are you sure you were in touch with the official Norton Support? Can you please tell us how you contacted it? Thanks."

11

Sorry to hear of the situation you are in. You did not confirm where you got the phone number for Norton, or where you got the link for chat. There are companies that advertise they do Norton Support, but they are not the actual Norton.

If you can confirm an official Norton contact, I can bump your issue to our contacts.

12

The chat is a waste of time. None of the reps read the notes and I am sick of repeating myself. I have spent 6 hours on the phone with you guys and now my computer is worse off. 

I can name every person I spoke with. One individual in the Phillipine office told me to go to a local technician and pay for it myself. What is the point of your service then? I am getting help from the US head office, I had to call and get in touch with executive customer support committee.

13

Hi Michael Ra,

Thanks for the post and I'm sorry about the experience.  Like peterweb suggested, please check with Norton Support Chat to get help or let us know the details of the issue here in the forum to see if we can help you.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

 

Thanks

Katie

14

Where did you get the phone number for Norton Support? If from an internet search and it was one of the first results, it probably was not Norton. I cannot see a real Norton rep telling you to go to a technician, unless it was determined it was a hardware problem with your computer.

Your best bet is to use the online chat at www.norton.com/chat

Is there something that we can help with here in the forum?

15

This is the worst customer service department in Canada. BY far. Not sure how they stay in business. A gentlemen yesterday told me to go pay for a local technician, another lady made me do the same step and restart my computer 25 times. You are dealing with a whole lot of people who don't know what they are doing. No one calls you back as promised. My computer was half working due to a virus, I called Norton for support, they told me to refresh my settings and now my computer is broken. This customer service team is a scam, you pay for a service you don't get.

 

 

16

Hi RJRiso,

I'm sorry about this.  Are you having questions about Norton Family?  If yes, please let me know the issue and I will help you now.

If it's about Norton security, please let me know too and I'll forward your questions to the appropriate forum for better exposure.

 

Thanks

Katie

17

I, too, tried to get help from chat - and yes, I used the correct link. "The fastest way to get support...." - this was the first message received:

System:  The estimated wait time to be connected to a Norton Representative is 1 hours and 7 minutes. Please stay online. Thank you for your patience.

Brilliant. My system is overloaded (97% CPU) by Norton and I have over an hour wait.

I'm posting this article on AntiVirus programs as a public service: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372364,00.asp

18
mb7:

Why are my responses getting stuck in moderation?  I posted something 12 hours ago.  "Queued for review."  Posted it again an hour ago.  "Queued for review."  

Oddly, when I go to my Account, it's there in "Latest Activity."  But I click the link, go to the thread, and it's not there.

Just a quickie -- there's no discrimination going on. All newcomers' posts are moderated for the first N posts. I don't know what N is but it's not enormous.

There's also a slight possibility since you can see them in activity that there's a glitch in the system -- if so I'm sure it will be caught and rectified. 

I just checked your Activities and only one is marked Queued and I suspect you can see both of yours now since I can.

19

Why are my responses getting stuck in moderation?  I posted something 12 hours ago.  "Queued for review."  Posted it again an hour ago.  "Queued for review."  

Oddly, when I go to my Account, it's there in "Latest Activity."  But I click the link, go to the thread, and it's not there.

20

I’m pretty sure they were legit Norton chats.  I started by clicking “View my renewal options” inside Norton Internet Security.  That led to me jumping to multiple Norton web pages, and at least three of them offered a chat option on the right side of the window.  All the chat options looked the same.  So I don’t know which exact URL it was.  I had multiple chat sessions, so I started at one or more of the following pages:

http://us.norton.com/norton-security-with-backup

http://us.norton.com/norton-family-premier

http://renew.norton.com/content/clp-msm/us/en-us/goldenchild/template  . . . . [this won’t work]

I cut off the last one.  It was super long and had some “id” numbers, so might have had personal info.  Anyway, the first two URLs look public.  The third may have been specific to my subscription.  Regardless, like I said, all the chat options were the same.