I received this email from a client of mine whom I had recommended Avast to.
From: AVAST Software <noreply@avast.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 12:11 PM
Subject: avast! Account Notification - Google Drive login invalid
To: *private*@gmail.com
NOTE: Information email only - PLEASE DO NOT REPLY
Please reauthorize avast! by disabling and enabling Google Drive on your avast! profile page.
Owner:
Show device in avast! Account portal
AVAST Software
http://www.avast.com
Even though I am an IT professional, I can't make any sense out of it, so I don't know what you expect from average users.
After confirming this email wasn't a phishing scam (despite appearances), I logged in to their "avast! Account portal" as requested. However, the email's instructions don't make sense. There is no "Google Drive on your avast! profile page". In fact, under devices, their PC with the paid subscription doesn't even appear, only a mobile phone that you successfully nagged her into installing Avast on.
You guys used to offer a good product. It was simple and effective. Unfortunately, it is rapidly going down the same dead-end path as some competing products like Norton and AVG.
It is becoming a bloated, confusing and counter-productive behemoth that demands constant attention and maintenance.I really hope you can turn this around, and quickly, otherwise I'll be recommending an alternative. She had previously been confused by unexpected and unnecessary messages about the Grime addin, and understandably so. Most users are not technical, and they don't know or care about these things. Add the functionality if you have to, but make it opt-in, not opt-out. This client also complained about how difficult it was to pay for her subscription, and she is not the first. You'd think if any part of the process would be made easy, it would be that!
Please, stop the confusion and nagging, and
run your emails, software and website through some kind of usability testing before releasing them.
btw - I tried to raise this as a ticket, but your submit a ticket system is clearly designed to prevent the submission of tickets.
