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Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: REDACTED on June 17, 2014, 02:57:33 PM

Title: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 17, 2014, 02:57:33 PM

I've been a loyal AVAST user for 10 years. . .2 years as free, 8 years as a paying customer. I decided to upgrade to the pro version because for two years Avast protected my valuable property and did it for FREE. I said to myself, I WANT to do business with a company that approaches its customers that way. . . service FIRST. . .customer interests FIRST.  That WAS Avast then. ...but this is Avast NOW. I began to notice a change in philosophy, it seemed. I noticed it first when I had an issue that required technical assistance from an Avast techie. She was very nice and asked if she could have access to my computer, to which I readily agreed. As she did a internal scan, suddenly her focus shifted from the problem at hand, to my URGENT need to sign up for Avast's new technical support upgraded at X amount of dollars per year. Her tone about all the problems she was finding in my computer was as ominous as a cancer specialist. Having been in sales myself. . .I immediately recognized the sales technique she was employing. It's called "bringing the pain." You "bring the pain" to the customer and get them so filled with anxiety that they virtually beg you to save them at any cost. She was "bringing the pain". . not really focused on what my needs were nor about my originally stated issue. I was surprised and miffed. I felt a very important trust was violated and I complained to Avast about it. At least techies should be techies first, THEN salepeople, maybe, later. . . but I assumed it was an aberration and forgot about it.

Then I began to notice the pop-ups.. . .the false "alerts and warnings" that appeared to be a manifestation of the protection I was paying for, but upon closer inspection was nothing more than what I had experienced with this techie from before; except now it was the Avast system itself that was bugging me. Avast has chosen to "bring the pain" and to use their own system to attempt to constantly market to me. "WE HAVE FOUND A DANGEROUS PLUG-IN". . so the solution? I can only use Bing or Yahoo. . .a nice backdoor CHA-CHING for Avast from Yahoo and Bing for every switch, apparently. . .or the "WE FOUND 17 INSTANCES OF GRIME. . . REMOVE IT NOW. . .click. . .up pops the advert for GRIMEFIGHTER. . .

My conclusion is that I cannot trust a company or a protection system that would intentionally attempt to leverage the sacred trust they have built with the client. I cannot trust a company that attempts to exacerbate the natural anxiety one feels over potential threats to their system with false fear-driven warnings whose sole intent is to "bring the pain" and up-sell the pigeon.

I have expressed this concern and my conclusions through various channels. . . I have NEVER received any response. It says to me that whoever their marketing genius is. . . he is here to stay. . and that's the NEW Avast. . .love it or leave it. . . .and for that reason. . .I have chosen the latter.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Pondus on June 17, 2014, 03:01:36 PM

the phone support is not done by avast   :-\

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 17, 2014, 03:12:27 PM

Listen to Mcbuff. 

You developed a good following based upon your service-first philosophy.  Now you are abusing the trust that you have built over the years

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 17, 2014, 03:40:30 PM

Quote from: Pondus on June 17, 2014, 03:01:36 PM

the phone support is not done by avast   :-\

True, but Avast is one who hired this group and they are staking their name/rep on their actions.
Also, Avast is one putting all these "extras" in their software to protect (?) the user.

Frankly, I do custom install and only choose the A/V......Avast has proven to me their "other" efforts (code) have potentially even more destructive effects than just annoying pop-ups. 

Obviously Avast is trying to maximize their $$$ by pushing other avenues of income but the question becomes are they approaching or have the crossed the line of trust ?......each users opinion for sure.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Pondus on June 17, 2014, 03:54:21 PM

Quote

True, but Avast is one who hired this group and they are staking their name/rep on their actions.

yes and there are multiple posts in the forum about it

Quote

Also, Avast is one putting all these "extras" in their software to protect (?) the user.

extras you dont want can be removed from ad/remove programs > avast > uninstall/change > un tic the stuff you dont want

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: TrueIndian on June 17, 2014, 05:52:12 PM

There is version in beta/testing mode that will be out by the end of this month and that will surely fix this,see:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=150784.0

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 17, 2014, 06:35:07 PM

Quote from: Pondus on June 17, 2014, 03:01:36 PM

the phone support is not done by avast   :-\

What difference does that make?  Avast is obviously working with them in some way, shape or form... it's not just some random company picking up the phone.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Pondus on June 17, 2014, 06:52:06 PM

Quote

What difference does that make? 

A lot .... most of think the service would be much better if they did it themselves .... i guess it is a money issue

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: leftisthominid on June 17, 2014, 07:07:27 PM

The avast! phone support people are downright incompetent.

A while back I called them about my.avast.com not updating quick enough, and they wanted access to my computer to see what was the problem with their server not updating. (It was a relatively benign problem, it did eventually fix itself)

Then a few days ago, I noticed when you click on the my devices button in the avast! GUI you get a server error (see http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2180346/question-avast-users.html). I had recently uninstalled and reinstalled avast! since Software Updater was in a glitch and it kept trying to update my up-to-date Java. When the server error first appeared, I then re-uninstalled and re-reinstalled avast before checking my other computers. I then noticed the error appeared on all three of my computers. At some point along the way, I kept typing in my avast password wrong, so I didn't know whether this was an account security issue or a genuine server issue. I tried to call avast support to get the answer... The condescending, incompetent, /* self-censored phrase*/ on the phone was telling me to redownload my license and reinstall avast!, I told him I had already did that, and the idiot told me he was telling me to do something different...

All the idiot had to do was put me on hold, contact IT, and confirm that there was a server issue, but in all his incompetence he could not think to do that and instead decided to condescend upon the consumer... Per the Tomshardware thread (I posted there because this place was down), it became clear it was a server issue.

Never calling avast! support ever again. They all need to be fired.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Para-Noid on June 17, 2014, 11:31:29 PM

Contacts concerning third party support are...

nekvapil(at)avast(dot)com   or    riley(at)avast(dot)com

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: bri on June 18, 2014, 01:27:45 AM

Avast are well aware of the problems(scam)with the 3rd party support and yet nothing is done about it,unbelievable.It will keep driving more and more users and potential paying customers away.It must be a money thing because it is beyond me how they can sit back and keep letting it happen.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 18, 2014, 02:01:24 AM

Quote from: Pondus on June 17, 2014, 03:01:36 PM

the phone support is not done by avast   :-\

This may be so but in the End Avast is responsible for EVERYTHING that carries it's name.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 18, 2014, 02:54:45 AM

So what are we to do?  What is a good alternative to AVAST?  What is better?

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 18, 2014, 10:46:15 AM

just to add my 2 cents to this : because of other issues which I felt were bugs and not dealt with - I won't go into details here, I have posted in other places ; I finally lost patience. Similar to the OP I had the free version when it was EXCELLENT and felt I should pay because fair's fair...why is it in the land of software that the best things really are free

anyway I have tried several alternatives in the meantime, BitDefender , AVG etc but I have settled on Ad-Aware (prev. they did malware only, but now do an antivirus as well)

It is low on resource usage, simple to use - just tried to be an antivirus, not really into too many fancy bells and whistles. When I installed I avoided adding toolbars etc to my browser, I don't think they're necessary

It is the free version, but if I'm still happy after a month or so I will donate or upgrade

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 19, 2014, 05:18:37 PM

and those ads are really irritating... asking u to buy avast... Any sane person wanting to buy would buy it, and this popping ad is not going to convince some one to buy it.. It just irritates... like the youtube ads... sometimes frustrates me and feels like real viruses are a lot better than this :P Just kidding.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Para-Noid on June 19, 2014, 05:59:23 PM

Quote from: Ho-chi-minh on June 19, 2014, 05:18:37 PM

and those ads are really irritating... asking u to buy avast... Any sane person wanting to buy would buy it, and this popping ad is not going to convince some one to buy it.. It just irritates... like the youtube ads... sometimes frustrates me and feels like real viruses are a lot better than this :P Just kidding.

The problem is that the employees at avast like to get paid for their efforts.
Advertizing for an upgrade is a tiny price to pay for free protection. Another way
to look at is, "have you ever noticed the advertizing along highways and in a
newspaper?"

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 19, 2014, 06:08:43 PM

Yes, those ads on highways and newspapers dont pop out or jumping move :) have u noticed the ad on Avast 4 ? it was sane

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 19, 2014, 07:42:57 PM

So glad to see McBuff's post!

It's driving me crazy too!  I have a "suspicious plug-in", and Avast won't remove it unless I change my home page and search engine!?  WTF!! 

DO NOT FORCE ME TO DO UNRELATED THINGS TO MY COMPUTER IN ORDER TO DO YOUR JOB!!!!

I also will have to look for another anti-virus provider if this doesn't stop... it's too annoying.  I ignored one, maybe I'll just hit ignore on the other.  But who wants to ignore the message of something that wants to protect your computer? Doesn't that put my computer in danger?  If they want to protect my computer why are they blackmailing me to do so?? 

This sucks.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Para-Noid on June 19, 2014, 08:21:44 PM

You complain with an irritating moving script.
Yet you fail to see the easy solution...uninstall the browser cleanup.

Control Panel>Uninstall a Program>double click "avast">click "change">untick the "browser cleanup">reboot.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 20, 2014, 07:28:14 AM

ok ill try that

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 20, 2014, 06:08:24 PM

I've been using Avast! for years. Recently I noticed that taking the default install would subject me to "please buy me" stuff for the options I had installed that cost money. Which when I thought about it makes sense. If I install something that costs money, and don't buy it, sure it's going to ask me. No big deal, modify the install, uncheck the stuff that costs (like GrimeFighter), and voila! No more reminders to buy stuff that you installed and didn't pay for.

Personally, I am grateful to Avast for providing a free tool to protect my Windows computers. I consider having to perform a custom install and only install the free portions a small thing to have to do in order to get this capability.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: schmidthouse on June 20, 2014, 06:36:49 PM

Quote from: jkajder on June 20, 2014, 06:08:24 PM

I've been using Avast! for years. Recently I noticed that taking the default install would subject me to "please buy me" stuff for the options I had installed that cost money. Which when I thought about it makes sense. If I install something that costs money, and don't buy it, sure it's going to ask me. No big deal, modify the install, uncheck the stuff that costs (like GrimeFighter), and voila! No more reminders to buy stuff that you installed and didn't pay for.

Personally, I am grateful to Avast for providing a free tool to protect my Windows computers. I consider having to perform a custom install and only install the free portions a small thing to have to do in order to get this capability.

IMO, If the "Custom Install" was the only option, much of the frustration we are seeing would be eliminated and users would not be exposed to having stuff installed they are not familiar with or aware of.
Shields by Default and Tools Optional

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Para-Noid on June 20, 2014, 09:13:15 PM

Or...Control Panel>Uninstall a Program>double click "avast">click "change">untick what you don't want>reboot.

But it is best to almost always do a custom install on any software.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 21, 2014, 01:31:06 AM

Quote from: schmidthouse on June 20, 2014, 06:36:49 PM

Personally, I am grateful to Avast for providing a free tool to protect my Windows computers. I consider having to perform a custom install and only install the free portions a small thing to have to do in order to get this capability.

So VERY true.......I think the thing that has caught so many people by surprise is it seems from V8 to V9 the "buy me and not ready for prime time" stuff went thru the roof in content.  Avast has made a reputation on being clean no-fuss light A/V and V9 has changed IMHO to being filled with bloat-ware.  Others like BitDefender are now going after the "light"...no-fuss angle.  It comes down to "buyer beware".....or in this case "freebee guy beware".  I personally am a techy and when new MAJOR releases come out I troll the Forum to see what people think.....which I'm SO glad I did with Avast 9.....lets just say I'm still on Avast 8 on my PCs.  It seems Avast 9 (2014) was not solid until six months after release.  My point, is Avast probably has profited well with the "sell up" from freebee model.....but Avast 9 has SO MANY problematic bloat-ware, BSOD ridden, non productive, items that is leaves a bad taste in the non-techy persons mouth.  Obviously if a typical user has to figure out all this then he/she probably is gone before Avast knows it...forget the "sell up".

Anyway, I agree that the custom install is small price (effort) to pay.
The $$$$ question is what is Avast losing for this "requirement" to hook the FREE user......guess time will tell.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 21, 2014, 06:22:09 PM

After many years of use, I'm totally over Avast. I'm sick of the popups. I'm sick of having Chrome rammed down my throat every time I update. And the culmination was the awful AOS Firefox addon.

I switched to BitDefender yesterday. It just works - nothing else. No bells. No whistles. No intrusions. No sneaky "bonus" installations.

And to all those who say "Oh but you can prevent xxx by doing yyy, the point is that you shouldn't have to.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 21, 2014, 06:28:35 PM

Some people:

A) Install the shields and avoid most or all of the extras.
B) Reconfigure Avast! to not emit anything unless a problem is detected.

It's not terribly difficult to get value from the product without annoyance.

-Noel

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 22, 2014, 02:54:00 AM

Quote from: NoelC on June 21, 2014, 06:28:35 PM

Some people:

A) Install the shields and avoid most or all of the extras.
B) Reconfigure Avast! to not emit anything unless a problem is detected.

It's not terribly difficult to get value from the product without annoyance.

-Noel

I repeat - you shouldn't have to.

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: REDACTED on June 22, 2014, 03:04:43 AM

Shouldn't have to what?  Configure the software I use to choose just the functionality I need and get the best performance from it?

-Noel

Title: Re: CHANGE YOUR MARKETING PHILOSOPHY OR I'M GONE!
Post by: Tia on June 22, 2014, 07:03:30 AM

Quote from: NoelC on June 22, 2014, 03:04:43 AM

Shouldn't have to what?  Configure the software I use to choose just the functionality I need and get the best performance from it?

-Noel

Configure is certainly something else. You configure software that is installed. What this is about is adding or not (often not working) gimmicks.