I’m completely at a loss here, I have been using Norton as long as I can remember & I have always trusted them with the security of my computers so when I ran into this issue, I expected the same level of customer service as I have gotten in the past. Sadly the state of Norton customer service has utterly crashed & is burning as we speak.
I purchased Norton Utilities 16, Dec 1st. from the Norton site. From that point on this has been nothing but a disaster. I immediately download the software from the link provided in the purchase confirmation email. I then go & try to activate it using the activation code provided in the same email. The activation failed. I should have requested a refund at this point had I known (but hey, hindsight is always 20/20 right) I thought maybe I needed to give it a few days for the information to process.. (No problem I think to myself.. it’s a 30 day trial) so I wait a couple weeks & finally get around to trying it again. I run into the same problem, the activation failed. I try a few more times with no success, so I send an email requesting help with the issue. After about a little over a week with no response… I give the activation another shot, still with no success.
This time, I contact support via the chat option on the Norton site. (Yes I got a case # & a chat Reference#) This had to have been the biggest mistake I could have made. After chatting about my issue with the rep for a couple min, he says it should be easy for him to do it, he just needs to do a remote support session in safe mode. Since I have always had exceptional service in the past I had no reason to distrust him to access my laptop. We successfully set up the remote session & the rep proceeded to muck through my computer & try the same thing over & over with no success for about 2 ½ hours. He did everything from remove & delete software, turn off/disable several applications, editing my registry & even installing a registry edit software that was not Norton. After the 2 ½ hours he tells me he needs to transfer me to level 2 escalation representative. I share my concerns with him about all the settings he changed & he reassured me when it was over, my computer settings would be returned to normal.
Starting to grow concerned here, but trying not worrying because of his reassurance & that I had multiple restore points to fall back on & had backed up my info in Norton security as well, we proceeded. The next rep Mucked around even more trying all the same things the first rep had tried & more. He also made several deletions & registry edits as well as changed several settings back & forth multiple times. This proceeds for a few more hours. My trust level is quickly declining and at this point I’m becoming more & more worried at the amount of changes & areas of my computer that he accessed. All of this resulting in absolutely no solution or change to my situation at all. He then suggests that I try to download & try to activate the software through another computer. I’m exhausted at this point with all of this so I go try & for some reason the install was not downloading properly. I let the rep know this & the rep then asked for permission to remotely access the other computer.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! After 5 hours they still had not resolved my issue or restored any of my setting on my laptop … there is no way I am allowing him access to another one of my computers. I tell him that if he can’t resolve the issue I just want a refund if I’m not going to be able to use the software after the trial expires. Plain & simple…He then proceeds to tell me that this needs to be referred to a level 3 escalation representative that he need to copy a bunch of reports for & that this rep ill call me back with a resolution. Not thrilled at all with this, but left with no other option I agreed & requested him to set everything back to what it was.
Once all was said & done I had dealt with almost 6 hours of Norton reps rooting around & changing stuff in my computer…6 Frickin’ hours & no solution provided at all & what’s worse.. I was left with a computer that was half working. My fingerprint scanner no longer working, all my settings changed, my embroidery software crashing every time I try to open it, components /software that was already registered on my computer now requesting to be re-registered again (including Norton security which deleted everything & every report up to that point), Internet explorer not working at all & much more. Connection to my other devices messed up…It has not been fun. I have spent days trying to fix things. I had multiple restore points for December I tried to restore to a point prior to the rep going into my computer, so I chose a restore point from early Dec. it preforms the restore to a point & then I get an error stating that the
SYSTEM RESTORE FAILED TO EXTRACT THE ORIGINAL COPY OF THE DIRECTORY FROM THE RESTORE POINT…The restore point was damaged or deleted during the restore….you can try system restore again & chose a different restore point..
I decide to try the system restore again & when i was presented with the list of restore points, every restore point from early Dec & earlier where all GONE & the only restore points was the one just prior to the remote session. Sytem restore fails again, This time with the error
SYSTEM RESTORE FAILED IN DELAYED FILE MOVE OPERATION FOR THE FILE … (listed file that was associated to Norton )
Since then I have been tackling the issues one by one, most of them I am having to uninstall & reinstall the software or drivers to get things working again. Its been hours of work and I'm just waiting for the next issue to pop up. I have never had this many problems with a computer after something like this.
I don’t have(and still haven’t) received any call back or any communication from Norton in rearguards to this. So the day before the trial is about to expire, I call Norton support to get a refund for the software since I was still not able to activate it. I explained to him the situation & said I was supposed to get a call back that I had not gotten. Gave him my case & chat reference # for him to review & let him know I wanted a refund. Then got an infuriating response from the represented I spoke with that I just can’t believe. I was told that there is absolutely nothing he could do until I had the level 3 escalation rep called me back. I told him I was no longer looking for a solution to the activation issue & just wanted to get a refund since it was the last day I would be able to use the program. He told me he was not able to provide me with a refund & I was told there was nobody else there that could help me. I pleaded with him to just provide the refund or a way for me to contact someone about the refund. I was again told there was nothing he could do until I got a call from the other rep.
It is now days since my trial expired, and I’m stuck with useless software I cant use at all...NO call from Norton & NO way to get a refund or working software… What now? I'm hoping someone here can provide me with a suggestion or way to get a refund for the software, as it is apparent I will be unable to activate or use it. Possibly a way to contact level 3 escalation to discuss my case...Anything... really ANYTHING would be helpfull. I'm tired of the run around & want to be able to contact someone who can actually help me & not tell me I have to wait for someone else to call me who will NEVER call me back. there has to be someone I can talk to that will actually help me from Norton