Greg S.

To ALL Sitejabber community members (Please be warned!),

I received a disturbing email last night (Wed 7/15/15). It was from the company where I purchase my 'Antivirus software'... the email said (Copied):

"Just Sit Back And Relax!

Your license will automatically be renewed!

A while ago, you made a smart decision and started using Bitdefender Total Security 2015, declared Best Antivirus of 2014 by industry publications. You can rest assure that your PC files, online banking details, and even your digital identity are protected!

This is an auto-renewal notification to remind you that your
Bitdefender Total Security 2015 license will expire on August 15,2015 and has the "auto-renew" option enabled. This option saves you time, effort and risks by automatically renewing your license when the time comes.

This means that Avangate will automatically renew your license for the amount of 89.95 USD, using your registered information. Just make sure that your payment details are up to date and that you have enough funds in your account on the transaction date.

A separate email with the transaction details for this recurrent billing will be sent to you on the expiration date."

My reply to them said (Copied):

"Subject: Your "UN-AUTHORIZED" visa card withdrawal!

To whom it may concern!

I just received your email explaining how you ( Avangate customer service), would "Attempt" to make entry into my bank account without my permission or authorization! If someone from your company would have asked me, I would have told them that I already have a one yr contract for 'Anti-virus' protection! How do you ASSUME to decide for me where I spend my money; "this is totally inappropriate!" This is the last thing that I would expect from a company that I have contracted to protect my Identity and personal information! Because of your attempt to make an UN-AUTHORIZED withdrawal, just know that the 'Loss Prevention Authorities' at, My Bank, and PayPal, have ALL been notified of your plan to extort, and of your underhanded, 'Totally Dishonest' business practices, and will be handling this matter from here on. Your letter to me (email) has been passed on to these authorities for their records!

Mr. G."

Because I didn't know just what payment information Avangart had from me, on file, I had to call my bank's customer service dept., and PayPal (at 1:00 A.M.) to prevent Avangart from gaining access to any funds! One thing that I do want to make 'Crystal Clear'... I actually love the product. I've used "Bitdefender 'Total Security' 2015" to protect my privacy and my computer's health for the last three years; it's a great product. This company "Avangart customer service" (NOT a part of the Bitdefender brand) is a company that manages the "Shopping cart" purchases for many online software companies and has nothing to do with the Bitdefender line of products. The reason that this is so disturbing to me is... Not only did Avangart sign me up to be renewed automatically without my consent or knowledge, they also raised my contract to the higher price level... I NEVER pay $89.95 for antivirus protection. I usually pay about $43.95 to $49.95/yr. But Avangart saw an opportunity to exploit my vulnerability and so they took it!

"My warning to you"... When you're buying software products online find out who is managing 'YOUR' "Shopping cart" (if it's Avangart be extra, extra cautious), and make sure that there are no 'tics/check marks' in the box next to an "auto-renew" option. You must do this BEFORE you "Place your order"!

PS: I'm giving Avangart 'ONE STAR' for their un-ethical business practices and unconscionable behavior!... This has nothing to do with the "Bitdefender antivirus" product. "If this were about Bitdefender, I'd give them 5 STARS"! Sincerely,

~g~

Dear sitejabber community,

PLEASE read this and pass it on to your friends... Some time has passed since I've fallen victim to this scammer but this predator is still up to no good so BEWARE; here's what happened...

To begin, This "person" (Who I only know as 'Joshua') was still calling me to this day (Mon, June 7,2014) on my cell phone after I threatened to turn him in to the authorities; his reason for calling: "But Greg... I am trying to log-on to your computer because someone is trying to hack your computer files and I am only trying to protect your security!" He called two weeks ago, and 2-3 months before that. I have no implied contract w/this person, nor do I trust his efforts to contact me, hence, this formal complaint!

This trouble all started after purchasing a new "Toshiba" laptop on Aug 20th, 2012. I got the new laptop from Best buys, along with a HP printer, extra toner, paper... etc. And because there was a "Back to school" sale, the price was $601 out the door.

About a week later, I noticed a problem when trying to access the internet; there was a small, blue circle (buffering...) spinning around constantly to indicate that a request had been made to access the server. The blue icon never went away at any time.

I called Toshiba "support". The person that I spoke to introduced himself and said; "Hello, welcome to toshiba tech support, my name is "Joshua", how may I assist you?" I explained my problem to him. He informed me that it sounded like my computer was infected with a virus and needed to be cleaned, and the price to rid my machine of this would be $120.

I explained that I had just gotten the LT only a week ago, and was under warranty. He told me that the hardware was under warranty but not the software. Aggravated by the man's determination to extract money from me, I asked to speak a Toshiba manager. That's when he told me that he was NOT, with Toshiba, but a company called "Itech-line", and services computers from "Dell, HP, I. B. M",... etc.

I'll fast fwd a bit. After going back & forth, and being enraged that I called toshiba tech support, getting another company instead, and being told that he handles all of toshiba's software repairs, I agreed to have him straighten it out. He told me that he needed to COMPLETELY WIPE-OUT the hard drive to eradicate all the viruses on that drive. He gave me a code to put in the 'omni-box/google' search field, so that he could control my compu. From his remote location.

After several hours, he called me on the phone and asked me to put in my Windows "user password". I put it in and pressed "Enter". An error msg appeared saying: "access denied". I did this again and again, but no access. The man said that to fix this would require also wiping out windows7; my operating system, and it would cost me about $200.

I protested his advice saying that I would not give him one more dime, and then demanded a full refund or I planned to contact the authorities. Some expletives were used (by me), then I was given a full refund. I received another call from the man in Jan '13. I asked him what he wanted. He told me that he could see that someone was trying to gain "unlawful access" to my computer. I asked him how he knew that, reminding him that HE... had no authorization to monitor my home computer. Then I hung up the phone.
I did some searching to find out just who to file a complaint with and what do you think I saw on the list of links? A link to submit a complaint against "Itechline", for many others who have been robbed of confidential files, money, and personal information.

Here are some links to the website and complaints from others! Please look into this scam as he is still trying to hack into my devices... and many other people's as well! Thank you. Sincerely, Greg S.

http://itechline.pissedconsumer.com

https://www.scamguard.com/itechline.com: http://www.scamexposure.com

I did take the time to file a report w/ the ICCC (FBI), but this company is STILL operating to this very day; don't know why...

PS: Should you have any trouble with these links not opening, just 'copy/paste' them directly into the google search feature and press "Enter"; Thank you for your time

Hi community members,

I was hoping to find a way to warn potential "Slimware Utilities" customers about a dirty little practice commonly used by this company. I was having a problem with my computer keyboard a few nights ago. I was offering a bit of tech support on a website that I spend a considerable amount of my spare time on when suddenly, my keyboard started misbehaving. The "shift" key, along with the "A" and the "1" were not working and so it became impossible to complete a sentence w/o "copy/pasting" those characters into the space where needed.

I restarted the computer and tried again but got more of the same. Then I had a notion that the problem was a result of a bad/corrupted/outdated software driver. I remembered seeing a product called, "Driver-Update" which claimed to be able to identify defective drivers, download and replace them with the latest version of the necessary driver. So I went online, googled "DriverUpdate.com" and found the link to download the product to bring my computer back up properly.

The price was $29.97 which seemed fine for a product that could save me time, identifying the driver, and then installing it for me. I hit the download button and watched the process carefully, being cautious not to allow/invite any "third party" component bundles on-board along with my new product software. That part went fine but after I paid for the "Registered license key", I noticed that the price had changed! What was supposed to be $29.97, was now $49.87! They had changed our agreement immediately after I submitted my credit card number to them. "HERE WE GO"... I exclaimed! I found a "REFUND REQUEST" chat box for 'Slimware Utilities' on their website and filled out a form. Being furious, I needed to regain my composure so I wouldn't attack the c/s rep on the other end of this support chat line; realizing that they wouldn't own the company... or delegate company policy. "This is what I wrote":

Notes: "Dear csr

I've just purchased your "Driver Update" software from your website for $29.97; or so I thought... When I received the licenses key/order numb, the price changed to $49.87... That's called "The Bait & switch" technique! Honest people/companies don't ever do that because that's exploitative to it's victims; God be
Merciful!"

"And here's their reply"...

"Hello,

Thank you for your email. We have processed your refund as per your email request.

Please allow up to 15 days for your credit card issuing bank to post this refund to your credit card statement. Or if you paid with PayPal please allow 24 to 48 hours for the funds to show in your PayPal account. If you are unable to locate your funds, please contact your credit card issuing bank directly for assistance.

If your credit card issuing bank is unable to locate the funds, please initiate a conference call with yourself, your bank, and SafeCart. We can be reached toll-free at 1-855-XXX-XXXX, Monday through Friday from 6AM - 5PM PST.

Thank you for using SafeCart. Sincerely, Lindsay"

My problem with this transaction wasn't the EXTRA $20 that they helped themselves to. My problem was that the reason for the extra money withdrawal was that they were going to automatically extend my agreement w/them into 2016... and all future extensions were to be debited automatically from my checking acct; no accountability there WHAT-SO-EVER! And they weren't even going to tell me that they had INDEPENDENTLY and UNILATERALLY decided to debit my bank account 'in whatever amount, denomination or frequency that they so chose.

So, you have ALL been warned about the company "SLIMWARE UTILITIES" and it's (at very least) shady/illegal business practices! "... So be careful"

GLS (new member)