If you’ve experienced problems with Avast Software as described on this site, feel free to tell us and everyone else about it here.
If you’ve experienced problems with Avast Software as described on this site, feel free to tell us and everyone else about it here.
I have the basic Avast package (£34 a year). This afternoon I was using my laptop when a pop-up appeared telling me that Avast needed to re-start my computer. I allowed it to do so but after the computer had re-booted I found that my paid-for program had been replaced by the FREE version of Avast. I went to the Avast website and checked my account and found that it was still valid, with six more weeks to run before expiry. But I couldn’t find a phone number or email address to enquire about what had happened. I Googled ‘contact Avast’ and found an 0800 number for an outfit calling itself GURUAID. I rang the number and they picked up straight away. I described my problem and the Indian guy at the other end promised to find out what had caused the problem. I allowed him to take remote control of my pc and he told me that a conflict between programs had caused the problem – probably something I had done to my computer. A long conversation followed, but to cut a long story short, he set about trying to sell me clean-up and servicing packages for £399 and £299. When I said I couldn’t possibly afford that, he offered to re-install my Avast program for £100. I told him I couldn’t afford that either so he offered me a discount to £80. At this point I told him I thought he was scamming me and this was all an elaborate trick to get me to spend money on (probably) unnecessary services. This touched a nerve and he grew very cross, accusing me of wanting a repair ‘for nothing’. I said, ‘No, all I’m asking for is the return of a program I’ve paid for.’ Clearly there’s a lot more to all this than meets the eye.
This company will not stop cheating, this is the behavior of vincent steckler, simply do not use avast software products nor AVG, both of them under the management of this crook…
Second year in a row this ***holes have charged me $50 dlls in my credit card! My sibscription was supposed to be cancelled on 2014…i tried to call to all the phone numbers i could find but…no help at all…they hung up, a stupid lady told me wrong number the second before i mentioned avast, by the way every singke person i talked to had a strong accent…im. Sure this company is not even operating here..but taking our money without anybody doing anything to really help us….what a nightmare
I have used Avast Antivirus and Avast Intenet Security for about 4 years starting with the free version. I kept renewing the free version until they said I had to purchase it. I was reasonably satisfied with the software and just kept ignoring their offers for upgrades to more comprehensive protection. Today I started my computer and the Avast tray icon had a red plus sign on it. When I clicked on it to see what’s going on, it said my virus definitions were out of date plus there was an offer for a free gift. Actually it was an offer to upgrade to some super~duper better version at a supposed discount. I could do nothing. I could not update the virus definitions options or reload my license so the program was toast. Biting the bullet, I went for it and decided to pay with PayPal thinking I can’t run the risk of being unprotected. Immediately, an email arrived asking me to verify my purchase. I did not. The email was from Cleverbridge, a reseller, not Avast and it was a no reply email so you can’t complain. I went on the Avast website and logged in only to find I have 2 years remaining on my plan. I downloaded Avast and it automatically fixed itself. My computer was no longer held hostage, so to speak. So, this Cleverbridge outfit now sends me emails evey hour or so telling me to complete my purchase by clicking on a link in the email. I treat them as spam but I don’t know how to stop them. Now that I have learned that Avast is on the shady side I do not know where to turn. I am pissed that a third party can get inside the Avast program on my computer and take control of it from within Avast. I did not click on anything anywhere to provoke this attack. It must have been delivered by Avast with its antivirus definitions update
I see why DRI Avast isn’t getting back to me…there are too many people who have lost something through them. I noticed on my credit card statement a week ago that $109US was debited on my account By something called DRI Avast….never heard of them …never had any dealings with them. I’m a Canadian. I tried to contact them, they said they get back as soon as possible for them…I told them I want an answer now…that was last Wednesday. I was giving them a chance to mention it was a mistake and to tell me how they got my wife’s cc number. They try to control their blog with the response guy called Eddy, with an elderly couple telling me why I was wrong. They don’t let any response…
I called my cc company…they blocked DRI avast as a fraud. said they had heard about them. They are sending my wife a new card.
After waiting for an answer, I went to social media later the next day with a simple warning about DRI avast. But to avast I called them crooks, frauds, etc. You would think a valid company would react quickly to a problem like this, but they haven’t replied. I can see why…they have too many dishonest actions ahead of me.
I’m glad to see my people sharing my problem on social media. I hope a company like this skids to a halt due to their crooked actions.
This company is a total scam. I have not used avast for two years and they deducted $165 from my account a year ago. I protested and got $100 back. I told them I was not going to use this company any more and guess what, this morning they again took $165 out of my checking account. I have to go to the bank in 4 days and file a retraction to have the funds restored to my account and change my credit card/debit card account.
Avast is a total scam. After you pay for Premium you have to also pay to optimize your PC
12/?/15 I ordered the $39.99 PC cleanup for my Windows 8 desktop. Got it on sale for $19.99. It never upgraded/updated from the free version so basically I paid $20 for junk software that didn’t do what it advertised. I just let it sit idle doing whatever it did for free til it expired. Didn’t feel like chasing a refund.
A year later, today 12/20/16 I get a charge on my debit for $43.69 for 39.99 auto-renewal + tax. Apparently there is a little tiny radio button that you have to check “NO” on, otherwise they renew. Tried logging into my account, password not working.
Attempted 3x online to reset password & never received auto-reply. As of 2 hours later, I still haven’t received any sort of password reset option.
First 3 calls to their 1-877-814-7664 number: Called the CS # plastered all over their website, got automatically routed around in a circle until it disconnected 3x.
4th call: Finally called the “paid” line & got a CS representative with very broken english & who stuttered & stammered a lot. “Uhhhh…*gibberish*…I see that uhhhh….*gibberish*”. Got nowhere fast, it’s honestly like she was gaslighting me with her complete lack of understanding. She kept asking for remote access to my computer.
5th call: same rep as before. Waited 20 minutes in the hopes of getting someone new.
6th call: Called back, got someone with slightly better english who attempted to help but again, got nowhere. Asked for remote access, told him nicely but firmly “NO, I do NOT authorize remote access” & he was very understanding, said he respected my decision & a lot of people felt the same way.
All I wanted was the 30 day money back refund that they have listed in their Support area. After a few minutes & a few emails that he sent (that I never received), he attempted to reset my password so I could log in & create my own support ticket. Wasted about 5 minutes getting nowhere so he got a supervisor on the line (again, horribly broken english) who kept asking for remote access to my computer. After telling this woman 3x that “NO, they are NOT getting remote access for anything”, her: “May I ask why? Me: “because I said NO, I refuse to allow anyone remote access for any reason, you don’t need it, I don’t want tech support, I want a refund”, then her trying a 4th time to get into my computer, I told her I just wanted the number for billing & I would talk to them directly.
This was apparently “product tech support only”, they had no number for billing that they could or would give me or refer me to & refunds MUST be submitted online through the website (which I can’t access because they still haven’t reset my password). She told me that there was nothing she could do & there was no other number I could call.
I used to work for Comcast on the sales & tech support side for several years, so I know all about irate customers, shady dealings & “making things right”.
This whole thing reeks of a SCAM!
Do yourself a favor & don’t get all bent out of shape like I did. I called my bank & am disputing the charges & turned them over for fraudulent activities & not honoring policy. My bank was on my side & said to allow 5-7 working days for the charge to straighten itself out, plus they are sending me a new card so I don’t have to worry about them having access to charge my bank account again. NEVER AGAIN!
I’ve just found a charge for $94.99 from Avast Nexway on my credit card from 19 Dec 2016. I purchased their internet security program a year ago, however uninstalled the program due to it slowing my computer down so much that I thought it had a virus. I now have the free version. Anyhow I thought that I had maybe not unchecked the subscription auto renewal service, however the order says manual . How can they still charge me? I today emailed support at Avast as I can’t find a billing department. It appears from reading all these complaints that I am probably wasting my time and should just dispute the transaction with the bank and cancel the credit card. Grrrrrrrrrr!
I’ve been trying to help a young lady I recommended Avast to get her bank account straightened out. Avast sent her an email on CHRISTMAS DAY saying she was being charged $40 (approximate for whatever the charge is, 39.99 or something like that) for renewal of her Avast account. She never signed up for any paid version of Avast, she only wanted Avast Free, which is what she downloaded and installed. She called immediately and told them this was not right. She also is trying to figure out how Avast was able to bill her PayPal account seeing as how she never gave them her billing information. (On a side note I’ve noticed Avast Mobile on my phone scans my home wi-fi network for security, checking the strength of my wi-fi password. I’m wondering how Avast can tell how strong my wi-fi password is without having me input it. Anybody think Avast isn’t hacking us?) Avast assured her the charge would be reversed, yet two days later (today, December 27th, 2016) her bank account was hit with the $40 charge Avast told her would be reversed. She’s now overdrawn on her bank account and is getting hit with overdraft fees from her bank. She’s talked to her bank and they refuse to do anything about it since the charge came from PayPal instead of Avast (a false charge is a false charge no matter where it came from). She’s talked to PayPal and the best they’ll do is write a letter to her bank asking them to waive the overdraft fees. The fact that banks won’t do anything about PayPal and PayPal won’t do anything about Avast falsely charging speaks volumes to me about why Avast is working with PayPal. Avast is now telling her that they’ve issued a refund and it should arrive in her PayPal account (NOT her bank account where the money is missing) within 3-5 business days. They’re completely ignoring the fact that they were notified two days ago this was not an authorized charge, stated the transaction would be reversed, yet STILL took the money two days after the fact! After hearing her completely broken down in tears on the phone this morning (this is a 19 year old girl in college struggling to keep her head above water) I set out to find somebody to talk to with Avast. HA! What a joke that turned out to be.
I first found their customer service number and called that. I got a pre-recorded message saying to either go online and use their form (where you don’t get to talk to a human being) or call a number located in some sort of email they supposedly send, but they don’t actually give you the number to call. How convenient. I searched further and found another phone number. I called that phone number where the automated system picking up identifies the number as simply “customer support”. It does not say WHO the customer support is for, just simply “customer support”. When a person picked up it was the same thing. No company identification, simply “customer support”. I had to ask more than once if this was Avast Anti Virus customer support. A simple yes or no question. I believe it was 3 times I asked before I was finally told yes, this is Avast customer support. I noticed immediately there was an insane amount of background noise. You could hear the other people and machines in the office and the noise was to the level that it was drowning out the person I was speaking with. If the noise was loud enough to drown out the person I was speaking with then how do they expect their agent to be able to hear the people talking to them? It didn’t help that the agent was obviously foreign and spoke with a thick accent that made it hard to understand him without the background noise. Anyway…I explained the situation to the agent, explained that the charge was taken two days after the young lady in question was told it would be reversed (but wasn’t) and we now had the issue of an overdraft fee because Avast is dragging their feet to refund money they should never have taken to begin with. I straight up said “I need a name and phone number for somebody within Avast who she can call and get this issue settled TODAY.” The agent started saying “So you’re saying you want a refund?” a few times over, not listening to what I was saying. When I tried to restate the issue and what I needed the agent started speaking over top of me instead of listening to what I was saying. I finally asked for a supervisor. The agent kept talking. I then said “For the second time, may I please speak to your supervisor”. The agent again ignored me and kept right on talking. I then said “For a THIRD time, may I PLEASE SPEAK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR”. It was finally then that the agent put me on hold to get the supervisor.
Once the supervisor got on the phone things didn’t get much better. Still the same background noise. Still the same penchant for talking over me while I was trying to explain the situation. Then when I said “Look, I just need the name and contact number of somebody who can straighten this mess out today” I was told by the supervisor “This isn’t Avast support”. Really? When I asked “If you’re not Avast support then why was I told by the last person I talked to you ARE Avast support?” I got some unintelligible mutter but no real answer. The other question I’m asking myself is if I wasn’t talking to Avast support then why was the first person I talked to speaking on behalf of Avast and representing them? Further, the “supervisor” had right at his fingertips a phone number for Avast support (which happened to be the first non functioning number I called). I wasn’t even put on hold, he just had it, right there, magically at his fingertips. So I’m supposed to believe a company whose agent clearly stated they were Avast support, acted as Avast support, and then turned me over to a supervisor who had at his fingertips an Avast support phone number (that just so happens to be outdated) is suddenly NOT Avast support? I ended up being driven to the point that I completely lost it on the lying sack of $*!* and hung up on them. I then turned my attention to finding other avenues of contacting Avast.
Looking at Avast’s Facebook page I see a link to message them and it says “Typically replies instantly”. So I messaged them there explaining the whole story to them and asking them to PLEASE give us information where we can contact somebody who can get this issue resolved today. Well, here I am a full 8 hours after sending that message and not only has Avast not replied but (for those of you familiar with Facebook) you know how Messenger shows you a checkmark when the message is delivered and the recipient’s avatar when they’ve actually read the message? They haven’t even looked at it yet. So much for instant reply.
I really hope Avast is reading this because they just lost a 10+ year customer today over this B.S. It’s bad enough that I feel guilty because I’m the one who recommended Avast to this young lady, but now I see they don’t give a rat’s @** about their customers at all. I’m done with Avast. I’m going to research over the next few days to find different anti virus software. That means they’ve lost 2 PCs and a mobile device. I’m also advising the young lady they’ve done this to to completely remove all Avast software from her devices and to notify PayPal and her bank that if ANY charges from Avast (or DRI Avast) come through, they are fraudulent and not to be honored. No longer will I ever recommend another Avast product. As a matter of fact I will make it my duty to inform people to avoid Avast like the plague and let them know exactly why.
Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention. When I got tired of trying to decipher what the supervisor was saying through the accent and the noise I asked “Look, can you please put me on the phone with somebody who speaks English because it’s clear you don’t and I can hardly understand a thing you’re saying.” I was told bluntly “There is no one here who speaks English.” How’s that for customer service?
When it happens like this, when they are taking money when you have never even given them any details, it goes beyond fraud and becomes theft.
I have bought Avast Premium and when I received the email from them I downloaded it. The email said to go to the Avast Interface, which I assumed was the symbol on my screen. When I clicked on that it read “You are Unprotected” and “Resolve All”. When you click on “Resolve All” it comes up with a list of further Avast products for sale, all far more expensive than Avast Premium. I have not been able to enter the Activation Code, as the interface doesn’t have anywhere to enter it. I requested that Avast send me the license agreement again, but when I tried to do what it said – to download the license agreement, it came up with a message “Unable to insert the license file. The lisense file does not contain any valid license.” I requested them to send it again, but it just came up with the same message.
I have had the Avast free software for a few years, but bought Premium to try to clear up some duplicates and other things, which Premium claims to do.
I have now had a satisfactory resolution of the problem I printed earlier. The email from Avast was not clear to me, but it appears that, instead of downloading the program that I had bought, I downloaded a 30 day trial of Avast Premium. It is possible that others who have written their problems on this site might have done something similar, as the Avast email was not very clear. I tried several times to follow the instructions, and later a friend was able to work it out for me.
I just found a debit of $39.99 on my bank account from DRI*Avast. I did order 12mo’s of Avast security for $19.99 on my laptop 2 months ago. I never saw the words “auto renew” or anything that would lead me to believe that they would charge me money in the future. So it came out of no where. I do not know why they charged me $39.99. 1 of the main numbers i got for Avast online, was no help because a mans voice came on & gave a different phone number for people who wanted tech support & then hung up!. Theres no emails from them & i absolutely did not give consent DRI*Avast to debit my acct $39.99. I will be calling the BBB & my state representatives about this theft. I have First Bank & was told that they will refund my $, but i still am going to get a new debit card so that Avast cannot do this again!
Online scam They got my credit card and charged me $89.99 for what? i dont know!
online gangsterism at its best…. Avast
Very disappointed. Spent about $200 last year on multiple subscriptions. Still got a bug, and called Avast for technical support. For another $200 they would get rid of the bug, and told me that I was stupid (although I’m a programmer) for not removing the McAfee software that had been preinstalled (not used or paid for) on a new computer. Their software doesn’t work if McAfee is installed on the computer? Refused to pay anymore money and fixed the bug myself. Thanks for the tips – I’ll watch my charge card statements to make sure they don’t auto charge me in the future. Scam is right!
This is still going on.
My wife recently noticed some unauthorised transactions in her Paypal account.. They were from Digital River Ireland Ltd for DRI*Avast Software. She has never had dealings with them or ordered any software from them. The only person in our household who has is our son who downloaded the FREE Avast Anti-Virus, on a separate computer. No financial details are stored on his computer, nor were any details, so how the heck did Avast get her bank details to carry out the transaction?
She contacted Paypal, to notify them of the fraud. They told her that she initiated the transaction (which she didn’t).
Searches regarding this on Google reveal that a lot of people have been scammed by this company. One example is here https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=172436.0
What I find laughable about reading this is that a user by the name of ‘Eddy’ tells people to deal with it through Avast. This is like asking a thief to come clean and admit that he stole your property.
In our case this is not a scam. That would imply some gullibility on our part. This is nothing short of internet burglary. They got hold of our details, hacked into our Paypal account and stole money from us.
Has anyone else had a similar thing happen? Specifically, unauthorised transactions when you have NEVER had dealings of any kind with this company.
I agree! I have never set up an account With this company my school technician and I both downloaded the free version of avast just to clean my pc every once in awhile. I also exit it out when it asks for upgrades because I’m not paying for it and I would remember if I had to create an account for this but for the free version you don’t have to and they extracted around $53 out of my bank account. I’m so confused because how did they get my account information if I never gave it to them?
I am getting mad, I have asked to refund my money for almost a month, and I am still receiving the same pull **** from an idiot named: Vladimir Hornicek. (Send me a proof of credit from your bank interface where will be visible that money was already credited from your account, We contacted our distributor to locate this order….) and still waiting. What to do with those thieves, any advice?
Avast IS A VIRUS. They charged my Paypal account for an unauthorized subscription. This means they managed to find and use my Paypal password! Very very scary. I am changing ALL passwords – if they can get into a Paypal account, every website I use is at risk.
I have not used avast for 2 years, got a deduction from my account for $49.99 – last time I used Avast was on an old computer – my new computer had a freebee version of avast. – since removed.
Called up Avast support – people from India jerked me around by bouncing me from phone number to phone number, finally after about 7 hours I got someone telling me I would have my refund within 48 hours, 3 days later no refund, called up avast again, – not going into the long dragged out convoluted conversation I had with the rep from India that had his family screaming in the background.
said I would have my refund in 3 business days then said he needed to get on my computer – I told him I did not use the paid version of Avast on my current computer and that the old computer was dead., got in another long convoluted conversation on why it was dead and that it it is in my basement as a new home for mice.
got in yet another long convoluted argument on how my current computer was a refurbish and that I don’t use my card on it.
none the less he insisted to check my computer, that he knew what the problem was.
Like an idiot I go along with it. has me download LogMeIn Rescue, goes on my computer, “your using Avast” – yeah I told him earlier it was the freebee version, if he looked he could see that.
He then shows me on my system – that I have unwanted devices that were used on my computer other than the ones that I was using – no kidding really? – I’m using a refurbished computer, don’t know what the previous owner used.
told him all this information about a dozen times.
He shows me my computer is corrupted, I tell him no $h!7 I’m using Avast.
Then like a bigger idiot I listen to the jackass when he says “if you check your account you will see that you have a 0 balance”, – I know how much I have in my account, but stupid me, I open a different browser and look on my account, – after I log in, the ballsy SOB uses LogMeIn to start looking through my bank account page – to which I immediately close my browser window – he yells at me, Ordering me to put my account back up on the computer, I hang up, unplug my computer, go to my bank, cancel my card – and put in a claim for my money. – I know I wont see it, but I have to try.
Wow the balls of this company.
Checked my checking account and noticed a charge from Dri avast software, I had did not renew the subscription, unsubscribe, received a confirmation email, which said the auto renewal had been turned off and it was expire May 2017. Well these genius decided to take the money out anyway and sent me an email now that said my subscription would now end May 2018. Don’t think so, started a fraudulent investigation into this company, also contacted my State Attorney’s office, and they said this was not the first complaint. I will pursue just for the pure principle. Cannot Stand Fraudulent Companies. Called my bank immediately and sent them the email that it was not suppose to be renewed, they are investigating as well.
They just did the same thing to me. I was surprised at how that is even possible
How can I get my money back? I called several numbers, each rep (in India) said they don’t handle it and gave me another number and they said the same. I sent a message through their website on the contact page and have gotten no response.
I just called 952 646 5037 which is Digital River’s no. that showed up in my Paypal account and they say I should be receiving a refund within 5-7 business days. They gave me confirmation numbers. I hope this will be the end of it.
Same thing happened to me except I gave my info and they said it didn’t match and I needed to take it up with PayPal
I recently was charged for software I never ordered and wonder how Dri Avast received my account number since I never ordered from them. I called my bank and the transaction is being reversed. As a senior citizen this scam is horrible and I wonder if other software companies have join this team in giving out card information.
This just happened to me and it deducted from my bank account not charged to my paypal card. I have no idea who or what they do but somehow they charged me $87.76 for software that I have never order. Completely unauthorized and also put me out of money and now with overdraft fees. Ugh! How is this possible. I have filed a claim with paypal this is ridiculous and hope they solve asap.
This just happened to me today, May 25, 2017. Avastdigitalriver took out $85.59 out of my checking account without approval to renew. Call my credit union I cannot do anything until the payment is paid then I have can dispute. You cannot contact them either.
Same exact story here
I received an email telling me that a subscription was made utilizing pay pal for the amount of $64.98??? I did not order an new Dri ADVAST subscription???
I will also try to contact DigitalRiver and request a refund!! I plan to initiate a compliant with PayPal