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Report: #625672

Complaint Review: CyberDefender Corporation - Internet Internet

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: CM — Fontana California United States of America
  • Author Not Confirmed What's this?
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  • CyberDefender Corporation 617 West 7th Street Internet United States of America

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Two years ago we downloaded Cyberdefender's free software to protect against computer viruses.  My husband upgraded our package and subscribed to a two year service contract for $254.  The contract was set to expire on 7/22/10 and we expected to receive a renewal notice in our email in box.  IT NEVER CAME.  On 7/21/10, Cyberdefender debited our checking account $424.98 and sent us a notice thanking us for renewing our contract with them.  The P.S. remarks stated that we would notice a debit to our account in the amount of $424.98.  We never approved this debit.  We never even had a chance to renew the contract.  They took it upon themselves to renew us without our permission and they raised their rates without prior notification. 

I called Cyberdefender and explained the situation to the first representative, who sounded confused.  He kept asking me if I had two computers.  I do not.  He put me on hold, then came back and asked me if he could transfer me to a supervisor.  "Shane" the supervisor refuted every complaint I had and tried to tell me that "every company has a right to raise its rates." I said, "Of course they do, but they have an obligation to notify their customers first!" He offered my two options to appease me: 1) $25 gift card, $40 gas card, and 6-months extended service on top of the two year contract price of $424.98; 2) 1 year subscription for $249.  I told him I didn't want his options.  I wanted my money back!  Immediately!  He persisted to the point of driving me mad and I started to yell at him to refund our money that they had stolen.  I told him his company was crooked and that I wanted to cancel the account altogether.  I said that they billed us without permission and raised our rates without notice and demanded an immediate credit to my account.  He said he would initiate the refund in the next 24 hours and that it would take 1-2 billing cycles (ie: months!) to refund me the full amount.  Needless to say, I called my bank to have the charges reversed and they are going to file a claim against Cyberdefender for fraud.  Score!

DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CROOKED COMPANY.  THEY STEAL FROM YOU.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 07/21/2010 02:01 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/cyberdefender-corporation/internet/cyberdefender-corporation-42498-renewal-without-permission-internet-625672. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
2Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#3 UPDATE EX-employee responds

former employee with the information

AUTHOR: T.H - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, June 19, 2011

well i can tell you that i feel your pain.  cyber defender definitly does this all time.  what they do is in the very end of there terms and conditions they put they will auto renew you unless you opt out. and even if you opt out that will only work if the employee does it right.  let me tell you though i used to work for there company and they train you in the most vile ways.
1- any customer calling in to activate there software upsell them to tech support by any means.
2- no refunds ever.  they track them like crazy
3- they make there activation codes extra long to confuse people and make them call in
and so on and so on.  there not in the business of software they are in the business of selling tech support.  they actually got rid of most of there us techs and went to india for tech support.    i hope your bank really does go after them. and if they need help well im all for bringing down this fraudulent company.  oh and thankfully i was outsourced by them so i am under no confidentiality agreements.  ouch.

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#2 Author of original report

Thanks, but no thanks.

AUTHOR: CM - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, August 19, 2010

I have already filed this with my bank and received a credit from them.  I told them that this debit to my account was unauthorized, as it was, and they consider it a fraudulent deduction. 

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#1 UPDATE Employee

CyberDefender Corporation would be happy to assist you with a refund

AUTHOR: CyberDefender - (USA)

POSTED: Thursday, August 19, 2010

Dear CM,

CyberDefender would be happy to assist you with a refund for the unwanted autorenewal.

For future reference, it would be far easier for you to obtain a refund from our company by directly contacting our company's customer service, rather than by posting a complaint on a website unaffiliated with our company.

When CyberDefender customers first subscribe to CyberDefender's computer security software, they authorize and agree to our Terms of Service and EULA (End User License Agreement). You can reference our Terms of Service by visiting http://www.CyberDefender.com/terms.html.

CyberDefender notifies all customers by e-mail regarding the subscription renewal process a full week in advance prior to renewing them, and then again three days before renewing them. The e-mail reminder contains a link that allows the customer to cancel or opt-out from our database simply by entering their accounts email address and pressing [ENTER.] Customers that do not respond are then billed accordingly. We never renew any customers account without first sending two autorenewal emails.

If you did not receive our autorenewal emails, whose subject header reads AUTORENEWAL INFORMATION * IMPORTANT* PLEASE READ then in all likelihood you deleted them as spam, or your email filter sent them to your Spam or Trash inbox, as happens occasionally.

Auto-renewal of customer subscriptions is standard industry practice in the antivirus software business, largely because a gap in the customer's service will leave the customer's computer unprotected, and also because of the software engineering problem of somehow re-activating a customer's account once it has expired and been deactivated.

Regarding the rate at which your refund will be credited back, what you may not realize is that in any credit card transaction, there are not only two parties involved, i.e. the buyer and the seller, but three that is, the buyer, the buyers credit card company, and the seller. You do not buy products or services from a seller with your credit card; what actually happens is that you place an order with your seller, and then instruct your credit card company to pay the bill.

Likewise, when a seller issues you a refund, the funds go directly back to your credit card company. The seller, that is, CyberDefender in this case, after releasing the funds back to your card company, no longer has any influence whatsoever over those funds, because are no longer our property. That means, we cannot control or even affect the rate at which your credit card company chooses to credit back your refund. You will need to be in touch with your credit card provider as to when your refund will be credited to you.

We would be glad to assist you in sorting out any further confusion with your account, but we cannot locate your accounts based on your online nickname. At any time, any dissatisfied customer can contact our corporate headquarters at 877-229-5957, or email us at supportATcyberdefender.com, and please be sure to give us your full name, date of purchase, and the email address you used when you made your purchase. We will be happy to assist you.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance.

Thank you,

CyberDefender Customer Service

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