I have had good protection from Avast for many years and currently have premium. I will no longer use AVAST because of their "support"
When I called for help to reinstall my Avast Premium when it was knocked back to Avast Free, I was scammed into purchasing "Total Support" by a "tech" in Costa Rica making fraudulent claims that my computer was severely compromised (. I was frightened and purchased it, later realizing that I'd been scammed-- a friend who knows computers laughed when I told him the sorts of things that I was told to make me believe my computer was compromised and he said "oh boy were you ever scammed".
Avast did agree to drop the 179.00 charge for "Total Support" but, refused to acknowledge to fraudulent upselling techniques employed and insisted that I pay 119. for a one time service.... I have tried to no avail to have them drop this charge.
Complaints regarding this type of behavior by Avast's support are all over the web. Avast must condone the behavior of Digital River as they have done nothing to change the situation. Does Digital River pay Avast a percentage of the support contracts they sell? I wonder if that is the case, since Avast does nothing to stop the behavior despite countless complaints on the web.
I will not continue to use a company that claims to have free computer support, at least for installation (which is all I called for), and then scams folks into believing their computer is severely compromised...