Author Topic: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!  (Read 17682 times)

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(Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« on: October 27, 2014, 12:04:18 PM »
I have tried to send support tickets to support and I've gotten one email back many days later. This is what I got! Telling me I havn't paid at all and I should await a second email that still hasn't come and it's now been another 48 hours. I attempted to contact them as soon (less than 24 hours after I bought it) as I could to get my money back but I'm not getting much of a response.



Here's paypals:


Bank:


Is there anyway I can get a refund? Do I have to go to paypals support to get it back?

Offline Eddy

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2014, 02:27:34 PM »
Quote
tickets
That is your problem.
Submitting multiple tickets/changing a ticket will put you back to the bottom of the stack.
Not only that is slowing down the process,
but it also means avast has to check more things which will slow the process even more down.

Also it can take 10 business days (2 weeks) before a refund is given.
Just have patience.

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2014, 10:43:05 PM »
10 days to issue a refund?  avast is much faster about collecting the money when getting paid for the product than giving it back when the product doesn't work. 

i have a similar situation.  whoever wants to read can make up his/her own mind whether this is a product they want to purchase.

1.  grimefighter purchased and installed.  with software enabled the machine could not boot past the grimefighter sedation screen which would just hang for hours.  on hard reboot it detected the same 26 items to speed up the system.  if selected to remove, machine would not boot.  so this loop continued indefinitely.  internet search revealed this is a common complaint.  apparently this software is not ready for primetime.

2.  i had no idea the software would possess my machine during the boot sequence.  no hint that this is how the software works before purchase.  had i known that i would not have purchased it.  risky stuff like that can render the machine unbootable (which has also been reported about this product).  who wants to take the risk?

3.  the software would not display which particular items it disabled.  highly disappointing that the user has zero control to (de)select, or even at the very least be informed what is being disabled.  had i known that i would not have purchased it to begin with.  seriously, how many will want a black box software making unknown changes to my system if they know this is how the software works before purchasing it?  plus this is deceptive because the avast free antivirus (which generated the grimefighter ad popup that lead me to purchase the grimefighter upgrade) does not function this way but gives you full control over what malware it has found and what to do with it, so one reasonably expect the upgrade to function the same way.  guess not...

4.  paid by paypal.  the customer service number in the paypal payment was for "digitalrever US inc".  they only cancelled the recurring subscription but would not refund my money.  told me to deal with avast.  why they can cancel subscription but can't refund my money?  whatever...

5.  called avast customer support.  live entity on the phone said they don't issue refunds on the phone.  i have to submit trouble ticket.  more inconvenience.  why not just give customers a refund on the phone?  she told me submitting trouble ticket is the best and fastest way to address my problem.  huh??  'scuse me, but it is actually the *only* way to address my problem bc avast refuses to do it any other way.  had i known this is the level of customer support i would get, i would not have purchased the product.

6.  i submitted trouble ticket.  not very optimistic about getting my money back in a timely manner given the feedback i am seeing on the internet.  never had to jump through hoops like this to get a refund for a software product before, ever.

7.  then i get this same email with the "We regret to inform you, that we have not received your payment during the past 3 days, so that we have now cancelled this order."  that's not only confusing but just plain false, it's not what happened.  i paid by paypal and money was immediately debited from my paypal balance.  can't these people get their system straight?

8.  funny thing is, after i uninstalled the so-called grimefighter, i also uninstalled the avast free antivirus.  and behold -- the system went back to lightning speed.  so it was avast antivirus that was slowing the system down to a crawl, not the alleged 26 mystery items that grimefighter supposedly claimed are responsible for slowing down my system.  this is the only positive thing i can report about this software, it actually inadvertently led me to uninstall avast antivirus which was slowing down my machine.  so thanks for that.

i'll wait for a refund through this support ticket since that is the only venue avast has given me.  if i don't get it in a timely manner this feedback will proliferate.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2014, 10:53:15 PM by vectorbundle »

Offline Eddy

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2014, 11:53:21 PM »
Quote
avast is much faster about collecting the money when getting paid for the product than giving it back when the product doesn't work.
It is not avast that collects the money.

1]
I agree. There are still way too much problems with it.

2]
You could have done a little research. It is mentioned in many places.

3]
It tells you after it is finished and you can undo things.

4]
That is how the business model works.

5]
That is not avast, it is a third party.

6]
If you submitted the ticket with the 30 days, you will get a refund.
Just have patience and do not create another ticket or change the current one or you would get back at the bottom of the stack.

7]
If money is out of your account, it doesn't mean avast/digital river has received it.
It has to go between banks and there can be a delay.

8]
It doesn't have to be avast that slowed down things.
Could also be leftovers from a previous av or other security software.

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2014, 06:19:36 AM »
It is not avast that collects the money.
whether avast collects directly or through another party whom they choose to use is obviously irrelevant to my point.  the point, since it seems to have escaped you, is that refunds should be processed in a fast and convenient for the customer manner.  what i have experienced is neither.

a general criterion is that refund process should be about as quick and simple for the customer as the payment.  and a practical measure of how fast and how convenient it should be vs. how it actually is, is reflected by multiple complaints that are posted by customers on this subject.  the fact that a different entity processes the payment and the refund is not a good thing in this regard.

Quote
1]
I agree. There are still way too much problems with it.
then they should not be offering it for sale to the public.  have you been advising potential customers not to purchase it or existing customers to uninstall it and get a refund?

Quote
2]
You could have done a little research. It is mentioned in many places.

what places?  shouldn't have to.  products of this type generally do not possess your machine at boot time by default (e.g., avast AV boot scan will not happen w/o user intervention, etc).  important info like that should be communicated prominently to the customer when he gets the popup ad that this is how the grimefighter software functions.  given that most customers are surprised by this it is the vendor's fault for not revealing enough about the software to the (potential) customer.

Quote
3]
It tells you after it is finished and you can undo things.
well, it just locked up my machine and never finished so i don't know what it does after it's finished.  anyway, that's backwards.  the items should be listed once identified so i can make decision BEFORE the software disables them.

Quote
4]
That is how the business model works.
thanks for this tautological comment. 

that's how *this* business model works.  it doesn't have to be this way.  i was posting my feedback to explain why this business model is not a good one for the customer and therefore for the vendor because the complaints will tarnish their reputation.

Quote
5]
That is not avast, it is a third party.
no.  it was avast.  as i said, i contacted avast after i was directed to do so by digitalriver.  please pay attention.

Quote
6]
If you submitted the ticket with the 30 days, you will get a refund.
Just have patience and do not create another ticket or change the current one or you would get back at the bottom of the stack.
10 days -- or in other posts you indicate up to 2 weeks, so i don't know which one -- is excessive wait to get a refund.

Quote
7]
If money is out of your account, it doesn't mean avast/digital river has received it.
It has to go between banks and there can be a delay.
that is highly unlikely on general considerations --  since it was funded by paypal cash balance in my paypal account the money is transferred to the destination paypal account instantly.  2nd, in this particular case digital river confirmed on the phone that the payment had in fact been received, they just refused to refund it.  the subsequent email i received after submitting the ticket was contradictory to the fact that the payment was in fact received. 

in case it is not obvious why such an email makes a customer nervous:  an email that erroneously says the payment has not been received implies that it cannot be refunded.  so the customer is confused whether to just wait and hope that a refund is still coming despite the contradictory email, or to delay the refund by replying and thereby pushing back the response to the refund request ticket.  this is poor, disorganized customer service.

Quote
8]
It doesn't have to be avast that slowed down things.
Could also be leftovers from a previous av or other security software.
it can't because no other AV was ever installed on this OS.  btw, avast AV would not uninstall properly either and froze at the end, i had to download and use the avast uninstaller tool in safe mode.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2014, 06:22:08 AM by vectorbundle »

Offline Eddy

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2014, 06:40:28 AM »
1]
Yes I have, but is still the persons own decision to buy it or not.

5]
Quote
called avast customer support.
avast doesn't have a phone number for customer support. It is a third party.

6]
10 business days = 2 weeks

8]
Quote
btw, avast AV would not uninstall properly either and froze at the end
A very strong indication that your system is/was not healthy. Either software, hardware or a combination of it. This can also have caused GrimeFighter not to work properly.
If you installed windows 8 or 8.1 there sure is a av on the system.

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2014, 09:07:00 AM »
Quote
called avast customer support.
avast doesn't have a phone number for customer support.

yes it does.  http://www.avast.com/en-us/support  clearly says "avast customer and technical support" and the # is 866-951-7679.  i called that number.  therefore i called avast customer and technical support.  therefore i called avast customer support.  which is what i said.

Quote
A very strong indication that your system is/was not healthy. Either software, hardware or a combination of it. This can also have caused GrimeFighter not to work properly.
implausible explanation.  i see common reports of the GF boot problems.  i see support posts acknowledging it as known unresolved problem with GF, caused not by unhealthy systems but normal system config specs, like unsupported video cards.  plus system got slow only some time after avast AV installed.  avast AV uninstalled, now system fast again.  entirely sufficient explanation with least number of assumptions is that avast was the problem.

Quote
If you installed windows 8 or 8.1 there sure is a av on the system.
i already said there was never another AV on the system.  so it can't be 8+.  it's windows 7.

bottom line, GF is a disappointment and so is customer support.  i'll post update so readers can see how long it took and what i had to do to get it.

EDIT:  after reading about all the awful problems my advice to avast support personnel reading this is to discontinue this product altogether until it's stable before it ruins avast's reputation or gets avast sued.  your product is screwing up people's machines and rendering them unbootable.   at least i was lucky enough to get my machine to boot.  some people were not as lucky.  personally i'm not using avast products after this, just not worth the risk. 
« Last Edit: November 06, 2014, 09:32:24 AM by vectorbundle »

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2014, 06:24:12 PM »
Fair enough!

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2014, 06:57:11 PM »
 From this
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=153058.45   Post #59

There is An Avast Phone Support number.

Snip> "So jonnywill1661 and cridgejm, if you contacted Avast Total Support to the numbers indicated on the webpage (http://www.avast.com/en-us/total-support or http://www.avast.com/en-gb/total-support or for another country), you have indeed contacted the only Avast official phone support, and they are contracted by us to present themselves that way and to provide that service. For any issues with the call center please attempt first to contact them by phone directly or submit a ticket to us https://support.avast.com/Tickets/Submit"


Edit: additional
« Last Edit: November 06, 2014, 08:38:03 PM by schmidthouse »

Offline Davidek

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2014, 10:35:20 AM »
Hi vectorbundle,

Can you please post your support ticket number here?  I will expedite it on my side.

I also want to apologize for the negative impression the product and our support response has given. 

Regarding the product itself, we are constantly trying to improve the user experience.  Specifically, we will be very soon adding a button to the product screen that allows users to see details of the grime/issues we have found.  At the end of the cleaning itself, the user does have control over what can be changed or not.

There is also now a scheduling function that allows users to set specific days/times for the product to run. 

Again, very sorry for this experience and please do post your support ticket here so I can follow up on it for you.

Regards,

davidek

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #10 on: November 18, 2014, 09:40:13 AM »
I still have not gotten a refund incase anyone is wondering. I feel like I'm being walked around in circles and they're trying to do everything but just give me back my money!!!
This is horrible costumer service, there's some kind of communication problem somewhere and it's only hurting the costumers!!

If you can help the ticket is: #FMU-533-99700

vectorbundle's issue is exactly the issue I'm having.

I had an email sent to me what MIGHT fix it in return for asking for a refund. But at this point I just want a refund!
Avast slowed down my system so much I couldn't even game online properly so that's just another issue.

Please someone, help?
« Last Edit: November 18, 2014, 10:01:28 AM by jariellea »

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2014, 09:57:24 AM »
David posts all the time about helping to improve the experience, but I've seen posts going back to February and the same problems are still happening. This product is a complete SCAM. Class action lawsuit material.

I think I've read more unhappy, unsatisfied cusfomer topics and posts than positive. Does this program even work??

The shills on the forum aren't going to be much help, might as well keep calling them and demand a refund!!

Offline Davidek

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2014, 01:29:27 PM »
Hi Jariellea,

I escalated your refund request in our support group today so I expect it will be handled asap.  It might take the bank another couple days to process the request but be sure it is being handled on our end asap.

I do sincerely apologize for the frustration this has caused.

I would also like to respond to tbkitzan.  You are right that there are many negative posts on the forum and we are not trying to hide from that but the very nature of forums is to support users who are having issues, rarely are users just posting that they love the product.  However, as I said it's a valid criticism from you and not taken lightly by us.

There have been several improvements in compatibility of the app over the last couple of months including significantly better support of graphics cards and also support of Win8 systems not running UEFI.  We still are facing issues with network adapters and this has definitely caused some unhappy customers.  We have a release coming in Jan/Feb next year which should also help us identify user systems that may not be compatible with GrimeFighter and in those cases we won't even offer the product to avoid giving users a unhappy experience.

We are also working on some other changes to the product for Q2 next year that will make the product even better.  I can't go into detail quite yet.

The other thing to mention is that we have a couple hundred thousand customers and many are satisfied with the product, but we still hear and care very much about those users who are not happy and trying very hard to improve.

Thanks for reading this somewhat long post,

Davidek

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #13 on: November 20, 2014, 02:23:49 PM »
Hi Jariellea,

The refund was issued on Nov 18 so should be back to your bank account (if not already) any day now.

Regards,

davidek

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Re: (Want a refund!) Grimefighter!
« Reply #14 on: November 21, 2014, 10:03:11 AM »
I haven't seen it yet in my bank, but I'll keep my eye out for it.

Thank you.