Norton
Reviews and Complaints

I can not give a photo of the damage that has been done since my computer technicians down loaded the Norton 360. I had micro soft essentials on my computer & never had any major problems. After being told by my technician that there were viruses that the micro soft essentials couldn't battle they suggested the Norton 360 at a $89.95 cost. I allowed them to download it a little over 5 months ago & have had major problems with my computer ever since. It not only disrupted some of my software that had been working perfectly for years but just last week I started not being able to access my Google Chrome. I contacted my technician & it took him 40 minutes to remove over 3000, count them, 3000 different viruses that the Norton 360 never blocked from my computer. I never go to sites that I have not been too before & I once again informed them that the Norton 360 is crap. All he could say was " you have purchased our services for another year so you can call everyday if you have to & we will clean it for you. What? Sit for 40 minutes clearing viruses that this terrible anti virus protection just lets on? When the rest of my year is up I'm definitely not purchasing Norton ever again. Oh, and by the way, I have the best technicians I've ever worked with. Pro Tech. They have apologized for selling me the product but unfortunately there's nothing they can do except keep my computer going until my almost $100.00 is used up. Don't purchase the Norton 360 unless you're ready to pay for a good technician to take care of what Norton doesn't.

Firstly, having registered with you, I'd like to comment on your name "Complaints Board" and ask who you represent. However, my reason for doing so, was that 'somehow' I found that you have Systweak listed as having been complained about, and I happen to have their main software suite (ASO) on my machines; as have a friend and a relative. And, whereas you show them as a dangerous site, my own experience has been nothing but good over the past 5 years +. I got their ASO V.2 about 10 years ago, and it was so amazingly quick to find problems (which did exist, not phantoms) that I though it must be smoke & Mirrors. I tried them again 5 years ago, and have used ASO as my only maintenance suite since, along with Norton for AV and Firewall, security, etc. Until about 6 to 8 months ago, Norton had no problem with ASO, but since have waged a vendetta against Systweak (who incidentally are a Microsoft Gold partner) along with Zookerware (another American Company) who just happen to have competitive software to that of Systweak. About 6 weeks or more ago, I found I could no longer fight back against Norton 360 by excluding ASO's ".exe" files from scans, and switched to another good Security Suite (so far on 2 computers) so that ASO can fix problems that arise from time to time: Note that my wife's computer was all but dead in the water about 6 months ago, until in Safe Mode I ran ASO. It was then back to its old self. Thus I found that ASO kept it going, and Norton all but destroyed my systems! This is the Gospel Truth (assuming you believe in God), and if one software had to go, it had to be Norton, since Norton cannot search for and install new drivers, cannot fix the registry, cannot recover deleted files, cannot or doesn't find some security issues, cannot defrag my systems, and overall cannot match ASO's many capabilities. I am not religious, but I am absolutely honest, and as far as I'm concerned Norton, and Zookerware, who in my opinion openly defamed Systweak with an advert on the web about 6-8 months ago, are the flies in the ointment! I suspect they have some relationship, but cannot prove that possibility. What I will tell you is that among the many 'creatures' who have laid complaints against Systweak's software, most are all but illiterate and appear pretty much inept in the use of software. Install, press run ... and wait for the magic types. Finally, try contacting Norton in any way other than Phone (I'm semi-deaf) or so-called CHAT, (I'm old and a slow typist) and you'll be out of luck! Contact Systweak Support, by email, and you'll get all the help you could possibly ever need, and they will not become irritated at all by dozens of emails if their customer has the need to keep contacting them. They're the nicest people you could ever deal with, and Norton/Symantec (the latter also own Bitdefender) are the very worst! Fact, many months ago I refuted dozens of the 'creatures' illiterate slanders of Systweak software, via Norton's safety system, and for a very short time, Norton changed their icons from red to green! I thought they'd seen the light, but a few weeks later, they were all back to red! So much for Norton's honesty! I have no documentation because it doesn't apply. Norton don't put anything in writing to help.

I purchased norotn 360 on 25/10/15, I received the software link and installed then entered the product key provided which didnt work. I emailed buycheapsoftware and received a reply 2 days later telling me to download from a different link then enter the same product key which still didnt work. Thinking I had been scammed I contacted Norton and was told the product key buycheapsoftware had gave to me had been issued to someone else and to get my money back from buy cheap software. I sent buycheapsoftware another email on the 27/10/15 asking for a product key that works or my money back and to date on the 5/11/15 Ive had no reply at all from buycheapsoftware! Avoid this company like the plaig!

Case reference number: [protected] Miss pamela ann jones The complaint is: Norton took just under £50 from my bank on12th July, unauthorised by me. I had some serious disruptive issues with my Norton antivirus after an update on your system earlier this year when I was still living in the uk. Norton has everything on record regrading this, as some of its been read back to me 2 days ago. I advised norton more than once (technical support called me a few times afterwards too and I re confirmed this) earlier this year that I was no longer using Norton and had changed to kaspersky. I said I would let the Norton subscription run to its end this year, but I was not using it and 'I did not want it renewed'. Norton did not auction this, nor offer me any advice regarding logging in to the website to change anything. People were trying to do their best to retain me as a customer only. Despite norton technicians taking over my pc and me spending hours with Norton and on the phone too they just couldn't fix the problem on my PC. I remember too, I was upset as well as one Norton technician make me out to be at fault and was almost blaming me for the issues! I left the uk on 27th may this year and have been living in India since I left my pc disabled and packed away in the loft. I am traveling using an 8 inch iPad only, With no need or ability to use the Norton programme anyway. The minute I left the uk the email address :[protected]@ntlwork.com finished as it was connected to my home broadband supplier. I did not advise Norton of this as I wasn't using norton at the time, so to me it would have been irrelevant anyway, I wouldn't have thought of it. Norton says they sent me an email saying they were going to take payment, yet, they would have sent this to a dead email account and the email would have bounced, Its hard to imagine that a high tech switched on Internet company such as Norton would not have picked this up? So the payment norton took was unauthorised. But worse that that Norton took Payment for something I was not using and had advised them of this. A Norton representative advised me there is a standard 60 day refund policy. I'm sure that does apply to a product someone knowingly buys and finds unsatisfactory or unsuitable or faulty? And not for unauthorised money taken from a bank account for a product that was not being used? The reason I did not notice this transaction sooner is because when I left the uk I stopped using my Barclays Bank account (I can prove this also) otherwise I would have picked it up immediately. Everything about this case is distressing for me, it's taken so much of my time and energy Pam jones Sent from my iPad

My order nr. NP228658847 dated 13 July '14 in £49.99 Name : Mrs. Christine Smith, address 33 Oak Close, Thetford IP24 3EZ. I am complaining about automatic renewal of Norton virus because very small print that I didn't realise that it will be automatically renew every year. It's seem like scam. A lot of my friend have same bad experience from your company. I asked my bank Nationwide to dispute your company, then they return my money back the next day. But I got letter from Nationwide that they took my money again in £49.99 on 30 September after investigated. It's not fair, because I didn't use Norton virus since July '15. My husband got Norton Virus free of charge from EE since Aug '15. How come your big company robbed poor people as me in £49.99 while I didn't use it? That is my money for meals my family a week. Pls. return my money back as I need it. Thank you, Christine Smith

I loaded this product onto my computer when I bought it and immediately got a virus. The company charged me $100 to remove the virus they were supposed to prevent. They could not explain how that was legal but I needed my computer back so I paid it. A year later right when they started sending renewal notices, I got another virus they were supposed to prevent. I paid another $100.But before I renewed, I got the FREE anti virus from Avast and got the Norton off my computer. I havent had a virus in 5 years and havent paid one thin dime for protection. They cannot explain why I only got viruses when I had their product on my computer. Norton screws us every way they can. I think the viruses must have come from them because I havent had a single one since I got rid of their software.

Several years ago i left Norton after being essentially double billed.
(Receive repeated warnings to reapply or lose protection, signed up--next day my Visa card showed you had charged me over three weeks earlier re an annual top up. Attempts to get a refund for bogus software failed)
As a result I replaced Norton with other internet software and went to some trouble to remove any trace of Norton from this computer. I also had to arrange to disassociate myself from automatic top ups and have since remained free of same.
I am therefore surprised to see you that you have just charged (stole) another payment via Visa from me. Please correct this at once.Sincerely, Andrew Mulcahy
[protected]
[protected]@shaw.ca

On July 21, I order Norton np1156203642 for 43.99. I was contacted by xfinity.comcast explaining that symantec 360 was provided with my internet service. Therefore, on 8/8, I contacted norton requesting a refund. Confirmation 39dff was sent to me. I haven't received my refund. I believe there was a refund #c762486. Please take care of this. Thank you. I really like Norton!

I renewed my internet security Norton product on 5/25/2015 order no NP235060103 and the product installed duly and a fee of USD 59.99 was charged from me..Recently I bought a new HP printer as it was not printing, i took my lap top to the vendor and the computer was reformatted to configure the printing facilities. The installed Norton got erased and I had to reinstall same using the product key which was given with the above order.I find you charged me anew again for USD 39.99 on 7/21/2015 Order No AP [protected]. You are kindly requested to refund me same. also note that the original product I bought in May was for three computers and up to date I have installed same on one computer only my HP laptop.

I have been receiving numerous emails from a company sending SPAM email. In the past I have used the Norton Antispam system that comes with Norton 360 to place it in the SPAM folder. On Monday February 16, 2015, I received another email from this same SPAM sender that ended up in the inbox, so I figured I would contact Norton for help at stopping this SPAM because their Antispam software doesn’t seem to be working. At approximately 5:00 pm I got on the Norton website service and began a chat with one of the technicians. I was given case number 206XXXXX.

On Tuesday February 17, 2015 I received a call that came up “Unknown” on my cell phone. A guy asked for me by my first name. He said he was calling because he wanted to help fix the SPAM issue I was having. Right then I suspected something was not right because Norton Techs worked on it the day before and they are the only ones that knew about the email SPAM problem. This person even referred to the email address the SPAM was sent from. In addition I gave Norton my cell phone number for the first time, so it is interesting this person called my cell.
I decided to play along. I said it would be great if they could help me. I asked what number he was calling me from. He said [protected]. I asked what the name of his company was. He said “FIX BY TECH”. He even spelled out the name. I asked him what his name was and he said “Andrew Parker” which he also spelled out. He had a foreign accent so I figured that was not his real name. I then asked him how much this would cost. He said between $50 and $150 to fix. I said that would be good, what do I need to do? He asked if I could I go to my computer and turn it on so he could fix the problem? I said I could not do it right now, but I will do it and call him. He said if you call that number ask for Samantha who was the person in charge and she would get my computer fixed.
I have a neighbor that had the same issue with Norton Service Agents about two weeks earlier. Con Artists called her 24 hours later offering to fix the problem. The Caller ID number was [protected]. They said that Norton could not fix their problem but they could for $100 and wanted to know if they should proceed. When my neighbor got suspicious of the call and started asking questions, the person hung up.

I have lost all trust in Norton support. I believe there is criminal activity going on with some of the employees in this company. I contacted Norton and they are investigating but I wanted everyone to be aware of this issue. If you look on line you will see other people around the country are being contacted by these scam artists after talking to Norton Support.

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-631-353-4127
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-844-999-9666
https://www.everycaller.com/phone-number/1-631-353-4127/
https://www.callercenter.com/844-999-9666.html

I did speak to a Roger A, Norton Executive Escalation Case Manager the day I had this issue. He took down my information but did not offer any other help until I contacted the PA Attorney General’s office. Now they are starting to do something but nothing to help me. You would think he would have offered me free Identity Theft Monitoring but they don’t seem to care. Why are they not informing the public of this breach?

I actually put out a YouTube video on this. It is not good but tells the story and shows info from the PA Attorney General’s office and the Symantec Response. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6UTcW3svcI

We had an annual Automatic Renewal on 16 January 2015 for three computers which was successful and cost £69.99.
My Norton Billing info:- Name M J TANGYE, Product Serial Number WX4KFWH38XFP
This week on one of the computers Norton instructed us to delete all of the Norton program entirely and to re-load it. We have tried this but were unable to re-load and have no protection on that computer now. The password we use was not accepted nor the Key.
We were instructed to change the password but this did not succeed in re-loading..
We now need detailed instructions from your office on how to rectify this procedure.
Please will you mail a solution to my e-mail address at:- [protected]@btinternet.com

My computer was serviced yesterday and I found that I have not been protected with Norton for over twelve months. On 28 March Norton took payment of AUD $99.99 from my credit card. I would like a refund for this amount. That credit card will be cancelled.

The situation was typical. I applied for the loan through the company Norton Home Loans. I was really happy that they have confirmed my application. The rep contacted me and sounded as a professional. I transferred money for the first payment and waited for the loan, but after several days I received nothing. Ok, I again tried to contact them, but no one picked the phone. I wonder if there are other people, who had the same experience. Let’s share views about this company.

On February 21, 2015 I received by e-mail notification that I was automatically enrolled for another year for NORTON computer security protection on my home computer. Meanwhile my new arrangements for yearly renewal are effected by my service-agent Mr. Wolf-Dieter Zweigler/ [protected]@womi.com in Kelkheim/Germany who is regularly servicing my home computers. Therefore kindly cancel my automatic subscription in order to avoid double booking Norton's protection systems. - Thanks for your kind efforts. - Johannes Kohl

In October 2013 i purchased the Norton360 Multi-Device from Walmart to protect my.
New laptop. I installed it at that time I w. given a set of phone numbers [protected] as my Norton service number. At that time I called and was sold a years worth of 24/7 protection for my computer for $200.00 which was paid by gift card and from my checking acct. They did finish setting up my service at that time. Approximately the middle of june they ( Nathan) Contacted me again with an offer of a second year of coverage for $199.99 which I did authorize. This past week I was called and informed that Norton was going out of business and they were going to refund My money. I agreed then they informed me that i would have to send them $600.00 dollars because they couldn't refund $400.00 only $1000.00. I told them I was not giving them more money and they would have to send the check for the amount they owed me. They said they couldn't do that because of company policy . I told them to figure it out because I wasn't going to give them any more money or bank numbers. They could call me with their answer. They called me back on saturday September 16, 2014 and just repeated the same story. I told them I didn't like being scammed. I hung up on them and havent heard anymore from them. I intend to attempt to remove Norton from my system.

I, Tracey Ann Mettcalf & AC Metcalf have been charged for a Norton Anti-Virus Program. I have not subscribed to this for some years. As I operated a MAC, there is no need for anti-virus software as Apple operates there own.

Please credit our account to the visa number you charged in the amount of $89.99. I expect this to be done this week. I have no idea how many years this has been going on as I have had a MAC for awhile now. Disappointed and not happy. Please don't use the excuse that it slipped through the cracks.

I was running McAfee SW on Windows 7 that came with my Lenovo computer and it was starting to become sluggish after two years. I have been working on writing a book and was storing my files there. A few weeks ago I was getting to the point where I was engaging in tedious research and someone had suggested that I make a backup copy of all my work, particularly the interviews and sessions I had been recording for more than a year. During my online search for a new PC, I was also investigating anti-virus and Malware SW. I had great experiences with Symantec years ago, so after carefully avoiding bogus websites, I downloaded the trial version of Norton360 and for the first few hours, i felt confident. I was in the middle of typing a paragraph into Office Word when popup advertisements began to appear on my screen. A message came on from Norton360 saying that my comter was under attack. I sat back and watched as it abruptly brought up Internet Explorer and took me through a series of websites I had never seen before. As I tried to regain control of my mouse cursor, it brought me to "Bing". As soon as I was able to regain control of my notebook, I immediately checked my files to make sure everything was intact and then I dialed the number for Norton360 support but I couldn't get through. As I began to search through Internet Explorer, the performance was so bad that I first went to Google Chrome and then to Opera. After a series of virus threats, I contacted a friend of mine who came over an hour later with a spare notebook, ready to copy any important files, but this was impossible, By then, I could only get through in Safe Mode and although I had full control over my notebook, I could not copy anything from my computer as Norton360 would not allow that. My friend tweaked the settings on Norton360, but it made no difference. It began listing programs that were incompatible with Windows 7 and suggesting that they were causing the problem and that I needed to delete a page of temporary files. I hesitated at first but agreed. I was prompted to restart my computer and when I did, Norton360 was gone and so were several programs. I was directed to get a removal tool and strip away all Symantec SW, my friend told me not to do that, so after again making unsuccessful attemtpts to reach someone at Symantec, I sent an email. I turned my PC off and left for work. When I came home, my PC was running, Norton360 was still running in the background and my files were flashing on the screen. I was getting warning messages about a major malfunction on my notebook from Microsoft and Lenonvo. Norton360 was communicating with a phantom wireless router in my area that I could not locate with my IPhone. I checked Event Viewer, finding a series of folders had been created with 15 Microsoft files containing 50, 000+ entries during a 6-hour period. Information was polled through Norton360 apparently by the phantom wireless router. I was finally able to contact Symantec and explained only some of the problems I was having and was told that i needed to remove all "Symantec SW from my notebook. This process took about a half hour. It was finally all off my computer. And when my computer restarted all I got was the Black Screen of Death. I was so upset when Symantec could not tell me what was happening, that I excused myself politely and dropped the call. Nothing happened until I restarted my computer three times. Then a warning came on from Microsoft saying that Windows 7 had recovered from a a major attack. It took about an hour before my notebook came back in safe mode. All my files and data appear to be gone. I am sitting here trembling in disbelief. I spent 20 years designing complex multimedia networks including tmanaging the design of Communications and Tracking System for the space station program and international networks for MCI WorldCom clients. I had been the first and only regional technical specialist for SynOptics, handling complex troubleshooting assignments for clients like GE, Liberty Mutual, Pfizer and other global corporations. If there is anyone who has wintessed many of these types of events, it was me, and there was a time when I stood up to software vendors and said I wasn't going to take these types of problems anymore. Soon after, there was security in enough layers of the ISO OSI stack and other changes to program apps that made the deletion of files virtually impossible. About 10 years ago, I left the industry and began working in other fields of endeavor. After this incident, I find it disgusting that a program like Norton360 and the removal tool can irrevocably wipe out all user data from a hard drive. I haven't seen anything like that happen since 1993.

The license key for my Norton Utilities 14.5 will no longer activate my copy of the program when I once again install the program on my computer rebuilt with a new hard-disk.

Sivachandran K: Norton Utilities 14.5 is a sunset product and the Activation server with it is shutdown so the product activation will not work.
Clinton: You confirm that Norton is canceling perpetual license that it sold to customers?
Sivachandran K: We didnt cancel it since the server is shutdown the activation will not work.
Clinton: I very strongly interpret that you are saying my "perpetual license" can not be used to activate the product installed on my computer. Thus my licensed software will function will be limited to less that my perpetual license entitles me.
Sivachandran K: Since its an unsupported product we will not be able to help you with this Activation issue, Please check with Norton Community Forums for further assistance.

Bharath: You have purchased Norton utilities 14.5 which does not has support & its an older product.
Bharath: We support version 15 & 16 which provides excellent features.
Clint: Norton Utilities has a perpetual license!
Bharath: If you install version 14.5, only limited features will work.
Bharath: Yes.
Bharath: But no support for this version.
Clint: I should be able to use the product until... Symantec is out-of-business and turns off the "activation server".
Bharath: Yes. That true.
Clint: I don't want support. I have a licensed product and simply want to use it. Is the definition of support - "using the product"?
Bharath: But No product support for version 14.5.
Bharath: If you install version 14.5, only limited features will work.

I am told that Norton Utilities 14.5 is old enough that technical support is no longer offered. All versions of Norton Utilities will eventually not be supported. So eventually a perpetual license holder will not be able to excercise use of the license and thus the license is in reality not perpetual. Symantec has not spelled this out and so is not honoring the perpetual licenses that it sells.

Clinton: Is my Norton Utilities 14.5 having a perpetual license?
Clinton: ?
Sivachandran K: Norton Utilities comes with perpetual license
Clinton: Does that mean that I am licensed to use the product for how long?
Sivachandran K: If the product is already activated, it will be working without any issues
Clinton: ? I thought that would be an easy question to answer.
Sivachandran K: Since you are trying to activate it now, you are having this issue
Clinton: You will tell me how long I am licensed to used the product please.
Sivachandran K: There is no expiry for the product if its activated already.
Clinton: Is there a difference in installing/activating the product 3 years ago and then again installing on the same computer with a new hard-disk today?
Sivachandran K: I am sorry sir since its unsupported, I will not be able to assist you with this issue.

So Symantec will not terminate the use an installed copy of Norton Utilities after Symantec terminates product support. But, Symantec will not allow the software to be reinstalled if activation is required, like re-installing after rebuilding a computer with a new hard-disk.

I used the special offer on the website www.safeweb.norton.com. I downloaded and paid for the package of the software, which would help me to keep my computer safe. Unfortunately, this package harmed my computer and I needed to repair it. When I contacted the moderators and asked to return money and explained situation, they refused to refund and stopped to communicate with me. Please leave comments about this website, because people should be aware when they deal with such irresponsible people.