Webroot Software Took money out of my account for renewal which I did not authorize Boulder Colorado

While most people seem to have no time for the "fine print" as they call it, reading this is critical for your education and protection as a consumer.

I looked over everything I got when I ordered Webroot.  There was a very clear statement in minimal total text on the purchase information email that indicated that they would automatically renew for me.  It was also very clear on how to opt out of this if I wanted to.

When my software was coming close to expiring, I got three emails before it automatically renewed, as described.  I actually didn't need any of them, because I -expect- my AntiVirus subscription to just be handled automatically for me for the next year without having to jump through hoops to make a new payment and extend my subscription. 

When my credit card had troubles and I wanted to cancel the auto-renew on it and pay with a different card, the process was very simple and straightforward.  There was more work involved in buying it manually; this work is avoided by the auto-renewal feature that I am very happy for.

Any antivirus program worth its salt will auto-renew and alert you to this, then make sure you have ample opportunity to change this function if needed.  If it doesn't do this, instead of getting a dozen people complaining about auto-renewal because of their own error (mistyped email, didn't read information given three times during and after the sale, didn't read the emails sent three times at the end of the year), they would have thousands of people with problems of getting infected because of expired software subscriptions.

Simply put, failure to read and comprehend on the customer's part when the information is put very plainly before them and presented multiple times, does not warrant removing a feature that an exponentially larger number of people depend on to keep their computer safe.  Given the difference between "Charged up to $60 for software and then refunded because the customer did not pay attention or made errors at least three times" versus "got a virus and had to pay $350 to get it removed", I'd rather have a few people not read and try to blame somebody else for their own error.

Read the fine print.  It's a legal contract that you are agreeing to.  It is your own fault if you don't read it, since it's all there for you. 

If the information was hidden in a large book of tiny print that would take five hours to read and the company was intentionally trying to hide it and prevent you from turning it off and then prevent you from getting a refund after it happened, that would be a rip off.  In this case, the company makes it very obvious up to six times total, and then if the customer is still incapable of seeing any of these six times, will happily give a refund.  Bending over backwards for customers who don't pay attention is not required of any company, yet Webroot is kind even to these customers, when the rest of the world would laugh at them.

Also remember that the good of the many will always outweigh the complaints of the few.  Especially when the few bring it upon themselves directly.

oh...and by the way- do you have to be so sneaky with consumers and automatically charge their credit cards if your product was so good??

No= I didn't think so!!!

This is to the guy that works at webroot.

You are just as unethical as Webroot is. You will eventually be scammed in your life and I hope you remember all the people you did this to! You deserve everything you have coming to you.

As a human being living on Earth- You know that Fine print has its purpose ....to SCAM people. It is purposefully made small and long so that people don't read it and that it takes an attorney to understand it. So don't try to justify your and Webroots unethical behavior!

I work for Webroot and I can shed some light on these reports.

First of all, when you buy our product online, before you click on "submit," you are asked whether you agree to our User Agreement. Part of our User Agreement indicates that you will be signed up for automatic renewal. This is why it is very important to always read all of the fine print before you buy anything.... you should always make sure to know what you are agreeing to.

If you do not wish to do this, you are provided with instructions on how to opt out of this program, and it is very easy to do. Additionally, our customer support people can help you with this if you call our main phone number at 1-866-612-4268.

Additionally, 4 weeks prior to your renewal, 2 weeks prior, and 1 week prior, we send e-mails to whatever address you originally registered your software with, warning you that this automatic renewal is coming and providing you the chance to cancel it before it occurs. Sometimes customers change e-mail addresses, and do not notify us, and therefore they miss the e-mails that we send out to warn them; this is not something that we can control, however. If you change e-mail addresses it is important to let us know. (Also, on a side note, I can't tell you the number of times I run into cases where customers have mistyped their e-mail address. A very common mistake among AOL users is to leave the .com extension off. For example, your e-mail address is joe@aol.com, not just joe@aol)

So, as you can see, it puzzles me as an employee when people say they "did not know about" and "did not authorize" these charges. You authorized the charge when you bought the software and agreed to the terms of purchase, and you should have known as we give plenty of warnings. We are not out to rip anyone off, and we provide several methods for opting out of our Uninterrupted Protection program.

Additionally, in EVERY SINGLE CASE, when customers call us because, despite all of this, they were STILL surprised by a credit card charge that they think they didn't authorize, we are happy to issue a full refund. We fully stand behind our product and give a money-back guarantee if you are not satisifed, and that includes our auto-renewal charges. We have never, not once, "ripped someone off."