Friday, February 15, 2008

Snortin’ Norton

I woke up this morning to an urgent message from my Norton Internet Security software: my subscription had expired. Huh? I had just renewed it for a year in November, and I had the printout with the product key and everything to prove it. But when I tried to renew it, I couldn’t input the product key. So I went to their on-line chat, eventually got connected with “Arun” (all the while getting ready for work, having a bowl of Rice Chex and some orange juice, etc.) who told me to download the Trialware and that would fix the problem.

Fine. So I downloaded the Trialware, and in the process I am supposed to re-start the computer. I did, and took a shower while it was rebooting. I came back to find that Windows can’t find the anti-virus software anywhere and would I like to subscribe to an anti-virus software service? Argh. I click on Symantec, get back to customer service, which is — not surprisingly — “experiencing unexpected delays in customer service.” I finally get on-line with “Rizwan,” who asks me the same questions all over again in spite of me giving him my previous case number and product code (which is a jumble of 20 or so letters and numbers). He says he’s going to connect me with tech support and all will be well. Yeah, well, it is now 5:45 a.m. and I need to leave for the office, so I tell him I have to leave; I will be back in 12 hours, and by then if they haven’t resolved the problem, I’m going to McAfee.

So…is anyone else having trouble with their Norton Anti-Virus or Internet Security software, and if so, can you recommend a better mouse trap?