SOLVED Kaspersky "NO Customer Service!

[Nibiru2012]

THIS IS A WARNING TO ALL WHO ARE CONSIDERING PURCHASING KASPERSKY PRODUCTS!

About two months ago I purchased a one year subscription 3 PC user Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 retail package with bonafide license and disk from Amazon.

Two days ago the software had a popup telling me that my license was now blocked. No reason was given.

Today I received an email stating that Amazon was not an "authorized reseller" for Kaspersky products. WTH?? The rep told me in the email that they would NOT issue another activation code, BUT they would give me a "Six Month Code" I would be able to use. (I am in awe of such a generous and benevolent extension of the customer service... NOT!) So therefore I would not receive the full 12 month license, losing 4 months worth of service and protection.

Excuse my use of some coarse language, but this is total bovine scatology! :thefinger::bootyshake:

This is absolutely the worst example of no-customer service I have ever experienced regarding computer software and/or hardware!

Kaspersky WILL NEVER get anymore business from me, and now that I have informed the members of this forum, I hope that anyone considering using Kaspersky products to step back and reconsider going to another product such as F-Secure or G-DATA.

 

[Shintaro]

I gave up on those vendors a long time ago. I was so very tired of the bloatware. It uses RAM and CPU cycles like a virus. I complained a few times and basically told "Oh well, bad luck".
Honestly from the guys I speak with about crashes, it is best to just use MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials). Just a lot less problems.

I have settled on MSE, Malwarebytes and Comodo Firewall (Just the Firewall, nothing else from Comodo). Which costs me $0.00.

 

[amaltom61]

G data is better than kasperesky.It uses the scan engines of Bitdefender and Avast,two of the best antiviruses.G data has the highest detectin rates,but it comes with a price for perfomace.

I'm not so sure about F-secure

 

[Nibiru2012]

G data is better than kasperesky.It uses the scan engines of Bitdefender and Avast,two of the best antiviruses.G data has the highest detectin rates,but it comes with a price for perfomace.

I'm not so sure about F-secure

If you had done your homework and checked out the website: www.av-comparatives.org you will find that F-Secure and Kaspersky and G-Data are all top-rated. It's a matter of choice. No Kaspersky for me though.

 

[davehc]

Going back to your OP, Nibs. Long story, but I had the same experience. I was offered a free one year licence through other sources, of any one of Kaspersky's products. I chose the anti - virus 2012. I had some small and minor problems with it. I emailed Kaspersky several times, with an enquiry - no answer. In the end I gave up. I dumped the free Kaspersky offer, uninstalled and went back to MSE/Windows Defender.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Nice to hear from you davehc!

Now the cheapskates won't even honor the "6 month license" they offered yesterday!

All I am out is $19.84 that I spent at Amazon. Same price as a large deluxe pizza delivered.

What ticks me off is their absolute cavalier attitude and "no-customer service"!!

I went and read some customer reviews at Amazon and apparently this is a very common situation with Kaspersky. Over 50 one star reviews stating basically the same thing. Well, I should have done my research better because I usually check those closely.

I am now back with F-Secure and I was able to get a 1 year license for 3 PCs for $49.95. Roughly the same deal I got a little over a year ago.

 

[Shintaro]

Mate,
If you don't mind me asking, what features in F-Secure were you specifically after over the base AV?

 

[Arnold1972]

ive installed KIS 2012 and had no problems what so ever.it hasnt effected the computer at all,slowdowns etc.
overall ive been impressed although ive not had to use technical support yet and hopefully never will.

 

[Core]

ive installed KIS 2012 and had no problems what so ever.it hasnt effected the computer at all,slowdowns etc.
overall ive been impressed although ive not had to use technical support yet and hopefully never will.

I hope so too, because it looks like it's not going to be there.

 

[Arnold1972]

These are isolated cases. Not sure how many kaspersky users there are globally but until they all complain of "no customer service".then there might be creedence in the original posters rant. If you look at every AV vendors site there are small minorities complaining of "no customer service" Sorry but in my mind the original posters complaint is not valid for the entire company of kaspersky and the products involved. Regards.

 

[TrainableMan]

I've never used Kaspersky A/V so I'm not agreeing or denying with Nibs but I do have to disagree with ...

but until they all complain of "no customer service".then there might be creedence in the original posters rant.

This is not practical at all. Most users never ever call support so those users would not complain at all. Of those that have actually called customer support if even 10% complain about the service then there is cause for concern.

I believe the actual issue here is more a recent trend in software: the ability to disable it several months after it's activation; often times well beyond the purchasers options have expired for things like credit card reimbursement claims. I have had this issue myself with W7 on eBay. There needs to be a better system in place for the customer to know on the day he installs the software that that license is real and assigned to him and that even if 100 other people ever try to use that key that his copy will never be shut off.

 

[sleepyH22]

THIS IS A WARNING TO ALL WHO ARE CONSIDERING PURCHASING KASPERSKY PRODUCTS!

About two months ago I purchased a one year subscription 3 PC user Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 retail package with bonafide license and disk from Amazon.

Two days ago the software had a popup telling me that my license was now blocked. No reason was given.

Today I received an email stating that Amazon was not an "authorized reseller" for Kaspersky products. WTH?? The rep told me in the email that they would NOT issue another activation code, BUT they would give me a "Six Month Code" I would be able to use. (I am in awe of such a generous and benevolent extension of the customer service... NOT!) So therefore I would not receive the full 12 month license, losing 4 months worth of service and protection.

Excuse my use of some coarse language, but this is total bovine scatology! :thefinger::bootyshake:

This is absolutely the worst example of no-customer service I have ever experienced regarding computer software and/or hardware!

Kaspersky WILL NEVER get anymore business from me, and now that I have informed the members of this forum, I hope that anyone considering using Kaspersky products to step back and reconsider going to another product such as F-Secure or G-DATA.

I have used KIS and now 2013 very little problems. Sorry to hear of your bad experience- have no problems with Internet Security 2013.

 

[grayghost2]

My experience

Commercial/Business user

Up til Nov-2012 I just pointed and clicked, was using Trend AV
I bought a new Toshiba laptop exclusively for email + web surfing.
Trend was due to expire. Investigated AV performance.
All very confusing based on so called expert opinions.

Trialled KIS on two PCs for max 30 days
KIS alerts were just over the top for every little action
Browsing was very irritating
Updating KIS was painfully slow at 15-20 KB/s (I am on ADSL2)
My jurassic "Acer" was unusable while updating KIS
Three emails to KIS were never answered
Computer generated emails were thick and fast but meant nothing
Their web site is a nightmare, I think it has evolved, never designed.

Trialled "Bitdefender" on same 2 PCs for 29 days
... based on http://www.av-comparatives.org/
Updating speed was/is 300+ KB/s (5am is 900KB/s)
email help from USA was appalling. -- (has improved, see later comments)
BD forum was a maize. Sent a rant to first email address that I could find.
Forum home page has dead links

Settled on "Bitdefender Internet Security"
What sold me was

• The local phone support even before I purchased.
• Download speeds.
• Performance based on http://www.av-comparatives.org/
• Performance based on my real time use
• Security is paramount for me, followed by support.

I only manually update each day (default is every 2 hours)
Has trapped 3 attacks in last 4 weeks. (Not false positives either)

About 10 days ago the world forum got their act together. Almost.
Emails are reasonable but if you are bleeding to death, call for an ambulance.
+1
They have created a new site "Contact Customer Care"
http://www.bitdefender.com.au/support/contact-us.html (Australia)
A monumental improvement.
Best starting point for beginners -- a simple interface
It is my first bookmark

- 5
Down side of Bitdefender
Send an email to BD with a problem.
Their computer generated emails telling me I have 48 hours to respond or they automatically close the case.
But their confirmation email is the ONLY response I have had!!
The confirmation email has no cross reference -- so I email them... "what does this ticket pertain to?" . Then I get a real live person email, and we start rolling with progress.

Haven't used their forum -- I have not had any problems.
Coming to grips with BD's settings took about 4 weeks for me to get my head around the fine tuning.

Bitdefender Internet Security was the best choice for me!
I will be watching "http://www.av-comparatives.org/ next year for performance comparisons.

 

[sleepyH22]

Have had KIS for years - NO PROBLEMS- no support- Happy to continue

 

[TRoss68]

I tried Kaspersky and I didn't like them either. I had a great deal of trouble installing the software, and it's not very nice with other software you have installed on your computer. I've been using bitdefender and I haven't had one ounce of trouble with them. If for some reason I start too I will use Microsoft Internet Security.

 

[sleepyH22]

ive installed KIS 2012 and had no problems what so ever.it hasnt effected the computer at all,slowdowns etc.
overall ive been impressed although ive not had to use technical support yet and hopefully never will.

I agree as I had minimal problems with W7, Vista and XP. With my new computer using Windows 8 64-bit, part of the package was Trend Micro Security 2013 with free upgrade to 2014. So far so good, looks after itself bsically.SleepyH22

 

[realray]

I gave up on those vendors a long time ago. that's what i did 3 or 4 years ago. and now i have settled my heart on MSE, Malwarebytes and Advanced SystemCare, and of course, free versions!

I gave up on those vendors a long time ago. I was so very tired of the bloatware. It uses RAM and CPU cycles like a virus. I complained a few times and basically told "Oh well, bad luck".
Honestly from the guys I speak with about crashes, it is best to just use MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials). Just a lot less problems.

I have settled on MSE, Malwarebytes and Comodo Firewall (Just the Firewall, nothing else from Comodo). Which costs me $0.00.