Author Topic: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!  (Read 14698 times)

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AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« on: September 07, 2014, 07:22:24 PM »
First off, i would like to apologise for this post being my reason to contribute initially to this forum.

I have been using Avast for the last three years and am overall very happy with the service provided. My first 2 renewals were done manually but for some reason when i paid the second subscription an auto renewal was set up. Now i'm not saying i was scammed as it could genuinely have been an oversight on my part, though i am very thorough when it comes to selecting products i wish to purchase. I do not remember choosing or even having the choice of wanting to automatically renew my subscription as it is something i never do. Loyal customers never get the best deals, as Sky and many mobile phone companies are testament to.

My subscription ( Avast Premier - 3 PC's for 1 year ) is due to expire on the 13th September 2014. On the Saturday 9th August 2014 @ 09:02 a.m. i received an e-mail from avast@digitalriver.com to inform me that my subscription would expire in 30 days time but as i'd selected auto renewal it would renew on the 8th September. I looked at the charge and it was for £39.99. This comprised of an Original Price of £54.77 with a discount of £20.00 plus tax of which was £5.22p.

I was very happy with this and even though i was irked at the auto renewal situation, the price for another years protection made up for that.

Then on the Sunday 24th August 2014 at 07:21 a.m. later i received a second e-mail from avast@digitalriver.com notifying me of my impending subscription expiry in 15 days time. The e-mail was worded exactly the same as the previous e-mail, except for one glaring difference, the PRICE!!!!

There was no discount this time around and the cost was £59.99. This comprised of the original price of £52.17p and £7.82p in tax.

So within the space of fifteen days the cost of the product had increased by 50%!!!!!

Now i'm not saying it's a deliberate scam but let's be honest here, how many people would have just skipped that second e-mail after having received the first one with the discount? I'd guess a lot of people would have and would have been ripped off without noticing until they got their bill or bank statement through.

All my account details and order numbers are identical in both e-mails so this is no clerical error. The e-mails are carbon copies of each other, bar the expiration days and the actual pricing of the product. On another day i'd have skipped that second e-mail, assuming the price to have been the same. Nobody would expect the price to increase after the initial discount was applied.

And if that discount had been removed for a reason then the very least i would have expected was an explanation as to why this was the case.

Needless to say, a quick 'Google' search brought up a great number of articles on the difficulty of cancelling the auto renewal service. Luckily i pay for Avast with Paypal so it wasn't as hard as i expected but i also found the link to directly cancel with Avast as well which was a relief.

I must say that i am sorry i have to to do this as it is a great product, but once the trust is gone between the business and the consumer there is no other option.

I just thought i'd make people aware of this situation as i'd hate for somebody else to get caught out, luckily for me i didn't. If i hadn't thoroughly read that second e-mail though it could have been oh so different.

Have to say this is disgusting service, the product sells itself, yet greed for some is the ultimate motivator.

Offline schmidthouse

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2014, 07:35:55 PM »
Hello Chris100 and welcome.
It is unfortunate your experience and I also in the past been victim to the "auto renewal" by default and have spent much time trying to locate the "cancel auto renewal" process link within the information emailed/provided.
Also, the whole auto renewal approach is being questioned and protested against on numerous software support forums I Frequent.
So it's not just you or Avast, it's many people upset and many Software companies doing it. :-\

Offline bob3160

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2014, 07:40:46 PM »
I only use the free version so it's not something that affects me.
It sounds as though you received a request to renew early at a discounted price and then a second notice for the full price
since you didn't act on the discount offer.
I would still contact Avast to clarify and rectify any disagreement you might have.
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Offline Eddy

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2014, 07:44:44 PM »
Perhaps first contact Digital river since they are handling things.

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2014, 09:42:51 PM »
Thank you all for your replies.

In answer to schmidthouse, the phantom 'auto renewal' wouldn't really be such a problem if it was just as easy to disable. As you have testified already, it seems to be a common problem with several software companies. It took me quite a while to read through several topics to find the right channels to go through to remove the 'auto renewal' feature. Even though i cancelled my recurring Paypal payment i still wanted to be double sure that it was cancelled with Avast also.

I only use the free version so it's not something that affects me.
It sounds as though you received a request to renew early at a discounted price and then a second notice for the full price
since you didn't act on the discount offer.
I would still contact Avast to clarify and rectify any disagreement you might have.

bob3160, your answer would be feasible if i had a manual subscription but the 'auto renewal' feature of Avast is a commitment to maintaining ongoing protection. Avast knew that the protection was set to automatically renew so unfortunately that argument would not hold water i'm afraid. Which begs the question, why would they send 2 different prices in the first place? In essence they have acted maliciously as the first e-mail clearly states that the price on renewal is £39.99. Fifteen days later they have sent an e-mail with a 50% price hike incorporated.

At no point during this time period was there any correspondence between myself and the company.

Perhaps first contact Digital river since they are handling things.

Are DigitalRiver an independent vendor for Avast or do they work in conjunction with Avast? This is all new to me i'm afraid. Thank you.

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2014, 09:55:00 PM »
Digital River handles payments for a great many companies.
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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2014, 12:30:52 PM »
Digital River handles payments for a great many companies.

So then, do Digital River just handle the payments or do they set the prices as well? I am trying to determine who sets out the costings. Do Avast set the costings to Digital River?

What i am also trying to determine is this, who is actually responsible for the product?

Just an update, after setting my renewal to manual i have now been offered to renew at the original price of £39.99. Unbelievable.

Offline bob3160

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2014, 12:17:50 PM »
Digital River handles payments for a great many companies.

So then, do Digital River just handle the payments or do they set the prices as well? I am trying to determine who sets out the costings. Do Avast set the costings to Digital River?

What i am also trying to determine is this, who is actually responsible for the product?

Just an update, after setting my renewal to manual i have now been offered to renew at the original price of £39.99. Unbelievable.
Here's their website:
http://www.digitalriver.com/
You can see for yourself what they do.
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Gratuitous Payment
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2015, 08:21:59 PM »
This is my official notice that I want to do a gratuitous payment of $19.99 (CAD) on PayPal - equal to a one year Standard renewal - BUT - I want to stay on the FREE version. 

Your payment procedure only has a "Recurring Payments" procedure.  I do not want to do a recurring payment - this is a One-Time payment.  If I'm still with you next year, I'll consider it again.

Some moderator needs to tell me how to do a one-time payment via PayPal to AVAST.

Offline Pondus

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2015, 08:25:47 PM »
Quote
     BUT - I want to stay on the FREE version.     
Why pay if you want to use the free version    ???


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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2015, 09:57:48 PM »
I want to contribute to AVAST - but don't want them owning me.  I'm happy with the free version, but I use it for business and I want to give them some money.  Normally i just sign-up and pay for the "pro" version, then don't download and don't enable it.  But this year, if you "buy" - you get recurring payments on PayPal.  Who knows, maybe next year I may be on AVG.  Who knows if I get stuck with the Pro version and can't revert back to the FREE one.
I just want a "Donate" button - for a one-time PayPal donation.  Is there an AVAST administrator out there who can show me where to find a Donate button for them.

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2015, 10:44:39 PM »
I want to contribute to AVAST - but don't want them owning me.  I'm happy with the free version, but I use it for business and I want to give them some money.  Normally i just sign-up and pay for the "pro" version, then don't download and don't enable it.  But this year, if you "buy" - you get recurring payments on PayPal.  Who knows, maybe next year I may be on AVG.  Who knows if I get stuck with the Pro version and can't revert back to the FREE one.
I just want a "Donate" button - for a one-time PayPal donation.  Is there an AVAST administrator out there who can show me where to find a Donate button for them.
Maybe this is what you're looking for:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=93544.msg1174789#msg1174789
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=93544.msg1174868#msg1174868
That way you get the best of both worlds. You'll also be totally legal if your business meets the requirements.
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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2015, 10:57:35 PM »
Mike,

You are not allowed to use the free version in a business environment.
http://files.avast.com/files/legal/eula-avast-free.pdf

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2015, 04:26:49 PM »
Thanks Eddy for your clear statement that I'm not supposed to use the FREE version in a Business environment.  Now ....  How do I send money from my PayPal account to AVAST without buying any of their products !!!!!!!  (Don't ask me why I want to send them money - just tell me how to do it).  Maybe I'm a philanthropist.
 

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Re: AUTO RENEWAL SCAM! BEWARE!
« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2015, 04:49:54 PM »
Do yourself and avast a favor.
Buy a license for a product that you are allowed to use.