Hi all: I am a new forum poster & AVAST subscriber, based in England. I recently decided to take out a 60-day trial of AVAST Internet Security for which I was told I would be charged US$29.99+$4.50 tax = $34.49 by an AVAST agent called Digital River. I was given reminders that the trial sub period was coming to an end and opted to leave the auto-renew option live. On the date of expiry, I suddenly received a warning message that my computer was unprotected with instructions on how to make a payment of UK£29.99 to get cover for a year. Under a bit of pressure, I agreed and arranged the payment. It was only afterwards that I queried the amount (suspiciously similar to the DR US$29.99 net of tax) and realised that I had been billed by another company based in Luxembourg called Nexway. Soon after that, I was billed by DR on the default auto-renew basis I had not changed for the US$34.49 I had always expected to pay. I have told AVAST support/help desk that I don't mind paying one subscription (the DR) for one product but I sure as hell object to paying two. My query ticket no is #MTU-587-51224. So far, despite numerous urgings on my part, I have had no resolution and, as a UK resident, I can't contact customer services by phone ... hence my post today.
One final twist: I have disabled the auto-renew sub facility against the DR order, but cannot find any way of doing the same on my Nexway subscription. Does this mean I will be automatically rebilled for another year? Not if I can help it! The whole thing smells of sharp practice, which is a shame coz the actual AVS product seems good to me: clear, well-designed & efficient. Are they making extra money from those who venture beyond the Free package? Do they think people will give up trying to get money back which they believe has been wrongly taken? Has anyone else - particularly outside the US - had a similar experience? Thanks for listening.
