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  • Report:  #671539

Complaint Review: PC Care 247

PC Care 247 norton.pccare247.com Misleading, dishonest, coercive , Internet

  • Reported By:
    Maria — Portland Oregon United States of America
  • Submitted:
    Wed, December 15, 2010
  • Updated:
    Sun, June 24, 2012

I THOUGHT I was working with Norton the whole time. I did a google search for virus support and one of the first things that came up was showing it was for Norton support so I called the number, the website even showed norton logos and the web address in google showed norton.pccare.com (I only noticed later, after all of this, that once you click on that web address from the google search page, it changes to pccare247.com AFTER you click on the initial link). Copied and pasted from Google Search: Norton Help Desk Norton.PCCare247.com Fix Your Norton Problems, Contact Norton Experts at 1-888-741-7196 He started by telling me that their repair plans start at $299. I asked if they offered something less expensive for a one-time fix, not one with a 3 year plan. He proceeded to say We used to but we dont offer it anymore because everyone prefers the $299 plan we offer. He then suggested I do the 5 year plan for $499. I said I was emailing my husband (from my lap top) to see what he thought we should do and that I was sure he would not like me to do the 5 year plan for sure and probably not even the 3 year ($299) plan. So he said what he would do is start working on my computer and then we could decide at the end of the phone call which service I would pay for. So he passed me on to the computer repair tech who immediately told me my computer was in such bad shape I HAD to do the $499 plan. Here I am, thinking I'm talking to Norton, and I kept telling the guy that I didn't even want to pay the $299 for the lower grade plan and he said, "you have to" and he said can we proceed and we need to hurry because your computer is being compromised even now and he stressed "oh, it's so bad, you need to do the 5 year plan, $499, is that okay? So I said, "I don't want to, but I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" and he said, "That will be no problem." and then I had a charge for $299 and one for $200 in my inbox after the "service". I never got to speak to them at the end about which plan I would be paying for, I found I was charged for the most expensive plan (Small Business Plus plan) before service was even complete (not as he had told me we would do!). The receipt emails I got (side note: Not at all professional, just some notes in an email, not a professional email address and I tried responding to it to get it returned as a bad email address) were at 9:45 am and 9:56 am. He told me he would not charge me until we were done and decided which service Id pay for. I never authorized those payments, I just said, doesnt sound like I have a choice? They did not complete with me until almost noon. So now I don't trust at ALL what they did. I am suspicious that they may have planted stuff in my computer for their own personal hacking. So I called Norton and had them service my computer, for $100, just to make sure that this company has not put anything on my computer that allows them to hack in. I asked the other company (PCCare247) if they had a one time fix and he said NO that they dropped that one because people preferred the $299 plan. But their website said they offer plans ranging from $49. The plan he forced me to sign up for was a business plan! I told him I was a home pc and he assured me there wasn't a plan for less than $299 but I HAD to do the $200 upgrade. I asked to have a call back and to downgrade, I did NOT want to pay that and nobody called me back. So I called him back and he claims he called and I didnt answer and he left a message. My phone never rang and there was NO message from him and no missed call. He was shouting at me when I said he/they had falsely advertised, lied about the plan/paying options and that I did not authorize the charges (we had agreed to discuss that at the end and he charged my card hours before the end). I told him I thought they were Norton until about the last 5 minutes of our previous conversation. I told him that their google search came up showing that they were Norton (even has Norton.pccare.com as their email in the google search) and he admitted that it is a tactic they use to attract business. Because of that I thought I was speaking with Norton. I told him I would dispute the charges with my credit card company and he started shouting at me again that he has a recording of me (which he never disclosed at any point during the conversations we had that he would be recording our conversation for any use) and that the bank would get to hear it. They are SO hard to understand with their accents, that half the time I couldn't understand what he was saying and I was stressed out because he kept telling me that my computer was in very bad shape and I HAD to do the most expensive plan to get it fixed. That is dishonest business and I plan to refute their charges all the way. But I'm sick to my stomach over it. A few more things to note to the commentary above: 1. When I called PcCare247 to complain about the charges and coercive practices and that it made me question the service that was performed and that I didn't trust what they had done he asked if I was able to see what he was doing the whole time. And I couldn't. the screen was blacked out the whole time but when the Norton tech was working on the computer, I could see what he was doing the whole time, the screen never went into screen saver mode or blacked out. Interesting. Makes me wonder why their work was "hidden". 2. After Norton was done, I asked if he found anything in his clean up/scan he said there were corrupted registry entries. There are so many things that don't match up. I researched a bit more and they are based out of India, which makes me even more certain they are not good news. American Express has always been a great advocate for fraudulent charges and I feel fairly confident that they will support us in this, but still, I feel vulnerable to Pccare, they have our address, phone number and email address. Worried they will harass me. If he would have just let me pay the $49 or even $79 or $139 instead of lying to me about it, it could be a different story, but what a RIP OFF! I SERIOUSLY was under the impression that they were Norton, not just SUPPORTING Norton products. Norton had never heard of them.

5 Updates & Rebuttals


Adam

California,
United States of America

Not the first time, Mr. CEO

#6Consumer Comment

Sun, June 24, 2012

I'm a computer engineer and live with my sister. I was shocked that she was using a remote support session while I'm home. She told me she was just searching for Facebook account support.

Yes, they fooled her to think she's dealing with Facebook. They did nothing but go to the link I previously gave here to restore/delete her Facebook account. Even their email is titled Facbook support,and charged her for 100 bucks.

This company is DISHONEST and they asked her for so many passwords! By law, they should say that they're not Facebook and should NEVER ask for passwords. I'm filing a privacy lawsuit and they left their remote tool open even after the session ended.


AJ

Langley,
British Columbia,
Canada

pc care rebuttal by ceo...phone #

#6Consumer Comment

Thu, February 09, 2012

I just had a similar experience but not quite as extreme.... the personal interaction was quite good, though they claimed to be microsoft techs this time .....same sort of urgency. I also just called the phone # provided by the supposed CEO.  It was answered  "hello, 911 Flood"  I was a little worried before, now I'm very worried!!


pissed

United States of America

I call b.s.

#6Consumer Comment

Wed, July 27, 2011

anyone call to see that the number given by this supposed official of pccare247 was for a carpet cleaning business? Since I did not use my debit card or credit card I cannot report fradulant charges. Would love to find out how to get my dang money back after they put a worm on my comp tho! company sucks, service sucks, and nothing but a fraudulant company. Do not do business with. Fixed my comp problem for about 14 hours, then the worm they added took over and shut down everything, anfter they got all the info off my comp.


Jen

Ames,
Iowa,
United States of America

I had the SAME experience!

#6Consumer Comment

Wed, June 08, 2011

PC Care CEO, you may say you would give a full refund if the work was not performed, but contrary to what you say, that is not the truth.  I thought I was speaking with Dell when i called your company on accident and was told the same sorts of things in this complaint.  AFter multiple calls to your company and actually being hung up on 3 times I decided your company is completely dishonest, and NOT consumer oriented.  I was told 3 times I would get a call back...do you think I did?  NO!  My bank is handling the charges now, and unfortunate for you, I have the evidence to prove that you did not disclose the conversation was being recorded which is a violation of the privacy act.  AND I have evidence that your technicians did not perform the duties they were supposed to in the first place.  


PCcare247

United States of America

Unverifiable Claim

#6REBUTTAL Individual responds

Wed, December 15, 2010

Customer trust and satisfaction is what PCCare247 thrives on. Throughout our history of operations, we have been completely transparent in our business, as thousands of our customers would testify. The complaint we have found here is the first one in our notice and that is why this letter is especially being written by the CEO of PCCare247.

Ms. Maria, we understand that your association with us was not quite memorable. I have checked our database and set up a team to review the case. We, however, have not quite been able to pinpoint any such case. Let me bring to your attention that we have an independent team of quality analysts who report directly to me in case any of our employees deviates from the following parameters:

1. Call Branding The agent must let the customer know firsthand that we are not HP, Dell or canon support. We are PCCare247, one of the leading online technical support providers.

2. Addressing the Correct Problem Our agents are continuously monitored so that they do not misinform the customers about the problems they are facing.

3. Financial Information through PayPal/ Supervisor The customers financial information is processed through PayPal and can never be handled by the agent. In case payment through PayPal is not possible, the supervisor takes over the call.

4. Refunding in Case of Unsolved Problem The entire amount is refunded in the rare case of us being unable to correct the trouble the customer is facing. You can help us fast forward your cause by contacting me directly at this number - 516-508-9198. I look eagerly towards helping you out and clearing any misunderstanding with us.

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