Complaint Review: PCHelpStation

On 6/10/13, I was looking for a driver update program and found the Driver Restore Program from Secure Web Payments.  After downloading it, it directed me to call a number 1-888-885-1802  and I was informed after some machinations that this program would not really fix my problem.  The gentleman with a thick Indian accent looked at my event log under Administrator and showed me there were over 13,000 errors and warnings that my Norton 360 Premiere had missed and my computer was headed for a breakdown.  Then he explained that he could refund my money for the Driver Restore program.  He walked me through the process, and told me it would take several days to receive the refund. 

Then he directed me to the PCHelpStation website and showed me all kinds of programs with unlimited antivirus protection for LIFE including protection against malware, spyware, etc.  I would also receive 3 months of 24/7 help for free should any problems occur.  He downloaded the Wise Registry Cleaner, the Piriform – CCleaner, Hitman Pro Trial Version, and the PCHelpStation while he was online claiming they would work seamlessly with my Norton 360 Premiere, and there should be no more errors or warnings.    After nearly 4.5 hours he declared that my PC should have no more problems.  Then even had me send an email that he addressed to himself telling how much help he was to me.   

Several hours later I went back to look at the log to check his theory and guess what, there were already 20+ errors and warnings in the Administrative Event Log.  Puzzled I called back and talked to someone else who “worked” on my computer remotely for another 45 minutes, and she did not stay on the phone at all.  The most frustrating thing of all was, she did exactly what he did and I still found nothing different other than an erased Administrative Event log.  Heck, I could do that myself by hitting clear the list.  Now I realized I had fallen for the classic Bait and Switch scam.  “Oh, this program for $40 won’t meet your needs, but for $149 this will and it is for lifetime! You won't have to ever buy Norton again.”  Funny, the Paypal receipt stated it was for 3 months only.

The next morning I checked and there were 60+ errors and I had had enough, I wrote to the company telling them of my dissatisfaction, and that I wanted my money back NOW.  What did I get?  Phone calls offering to do more of the same.  I told them I was not interested since I had already put nearly 6 hours into this and no longer trusted them at all.  They promised to have their supervisor call me.  Guess what, no supervisor call.  I sent an email, listing their OWN refund policy, and told them if I did not have a refund by tomorrow morning, that I would call Paypal to begin a dispute, call my Ebay card to file a dispute, and would begin tweeting about their less than sterling products.  I started looking at all of their programs and guess what, all of them are FREE programs on the internet.  All they were doing was erasing a log. 

After sending them an email to directly to their admin@pchelpstation.com quoting their own terms and conditions refund policy, late on 6/13/13 with my Paypal invoice, noting that they had never sent me an invoice, they did refund my money per PayPal. I am still leery and want to see it on my card.  Beware, I am changing everything on my computer, because I am not sure it has not been compromised.  Stick with the big guys like Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, and you will pay less money for 1 yr of 24/7 service than I did with this sorry company.  Please investigate these people.  I feel they are defrauding people.