I am a newly registered user, but I've been a long-time Norton user (~8 years) and have been following posts in the NAV/NIS/N360 forums for sometime (past 1 year). Sorry for this long rant, but just had to get this off.
I was honestly appalled after reading some threads with replies from the user Quads, and I read a few more of his posts. Admittedly, his posts have saved many a dying PC, but I just can't fathom how people are okay with such attitude. Its also quite clear that no other user is given such freedom. What makes it worse is that, this is supposed to be a professional support forum owned by a company whose products the users have bought. Many of the posts are plain holier-than-thou (we, the experts can do X,Y you ordinary ones can't), rude ("stupid", "you just don't get it", "go back to your friend") and incivil. Definitely not "service", or even "help" - just an attempt to stamp superiority. It is strikingly typical of the hacker mindset - treating other users as "noobs" (to use the term) who must be shepherded and patronised endlessly. This isn't some games forum where kids and teenagers post immaturely - many people well-respected in real life come here to get some advice. Are they somehow inferior just because they have a PC problem? What gives anyone at all, the right to abuse other users? We all have our own strengths, skills and weaknesses, and having a particular skill doesn't warrant sub-servience.
Not everyone is or needs to be computer-savvy, and it is quite common to panic in case of severe PC problems. Even in real life, if one is in severe pain, he would take painkillers before seeing a doctor for temporary relief. Imagine then, the doctor, screaming "you're on your own *bleep*, now get lost!" the moment he sees you. What the panicking user needs isn't rudeness and put-downs, but some comforting and a remedy. Or if that is not possible, some guidance, or at the very least a polite refusal. Just how difficult is that? Actually, forget all that - just how difficult would it be to NOT post to the thread at all? Instead, perhaps just send a PM to a Guru that the case cannot be remedied, and let them point the user to other forums? Now, I know that handling becomes difficult in case of users who intentionally go against instructions midway, but I believe even that can be dealt in a much more civil manner than is done here.
In my opinion, it is more professional if Norton just puts up a sticky post saying "we do not remove malware in this forum", and points people to other forums (which they're doing in most cases anyway) or to the paid removal service straightaway. I believe it would hurt people less than taking the trouble to register and post their problem, only to get rebuked harshly by someone they don't even know, in a forum with thousands of users. Or being guided into making changes to their systems, before getting dropped and shouted at unexpectedly (sometimes not even for their mistake). This would just lead the user to panic more.
I would stress again that this should not be explained away as "understandable frustration". The posts clearly and repeatedly betray a superiority complex and a very thin tolerance for the "noobs" or "lesser minds" or whatever the perception is. The standard of the language also leaves much to be desired.