Chatting with Norton

 

When paying my bills for this month, I noticed a post on my credit card bill that I did not recognise. It seemed to be an automatic renewal of a subscription for anti-virus software that I had on my old laptop, which I got rid of (scrapped) last spring. I never moved that over to my new laptop since my IT guru (also known as my brother) assured me that the protection I needed was included in Windows. And I knew I had cancelled that subscription, because I had just recently been receiving emails from Norton, first to remind me that it was about to expire, and then that it had expired. - So what on earth was this about??

Logging into my account, I found to my surprise that besides the expired subscription, I seemed to have another one, which had been auto-renewed without any emails to notify me about that.  I can only assume that this one must somehow have been included in the purchase of my new laptop, even though I never downloaded and used it. In spite of that, it had now been auto-renewed for another year - at a cost of around $45 (£36). 

I probably spent at least another hour that evening just trying to figure out how to cancel that subscription as well. After having (hopefully) managed that part, I gave up for the evening.

Today I resumed my quest, to see if I might even manage to get a refund of the payment already made. I found some info to indicate that this might be possible, as it was less than 60 days time since the payment was made. However, I found their whole website totally confusing. I was looking for a way to get in touch with their support, but all links seemed to just have me going round in circles. They kept referring to their "chat", but there seemed to be no links actually leading there. I still can't retrace how or where, but after about two hours of increasingly desperate searching, I suddenly happened to find it after all...

Below is a summary of what followed - I copied it all to a text document before I closed, partly for documentation, but also because in the midst of my frustration I found the chat itself rather fascinating. (I'm still not convinced that person No 2 was a real human either. Just in case she was, though, I'm omitting that name below, and just calling her "A---". )

 The whole chat lasted about 25 minutes from start to end.

N: You are now connected with Norton Support. Hello! My name is Kate and I am a virtual assistant for Norton. In a few words, please tell me how I can assist you

Me: I just detected that I had an automatic renewal of a subscription that I did not know that I had, and that I have never used. I have ended it but I want a refund

Kate: I was able to locate your account. I need to authenticate you using a verification code. --- I've emailed you the 6 digit PIN. --- You've been successfully authenticated.
As a virtual assistant I am only able to offer limited assistance. One of our agents will be able to assist you with your refund request. Please wait while I connect you with an agent to assist you with your refund request. Your estimated wait time is less than 5 minutes. ---
We are connecting you with a human agent

A--- just joined the conversation
You are now connected with A---

A: Welcome to Customer Support for Norton and LifeLock products . My name is A---. I would like to apologize for the long wait time you had to experience. We are receiving a high number of chats at the moment and we are working on reducing the queue time as soon as possible.

Me: I recently found I had been billed for a renewal of a subscription I did not know that I had, and have never used. I have ended it but I want a refund.

A: Hello, Thank you so much for your patience. How are you doing today?
Please be rest assured I will surely help you with the cancellation and refund. [silence]

Me: Yes?

A: Please take note of case number xxxxxxxx for future reference. You can contact us back with this same number if this chat session is disconnected. [silence]

Me: What info do you need from me?

A: Please allow me a minute to check with the details. As I can check that you have a subscription of Norton Utilities Ultimate under your Norton account which got auto renewed on Mar 16, 2024 due to which you were charged SEK 499.00 to your account. Am I correct?

Me: Yes. I have no idea what that is about. I don't have Norton installed on any device.

A: [Enters into a very long description of 'Norton Utilities Ultimate' and the 'Norton Automatic Renewal Service']  "Norton would have sent a notification to the registered email address between 50 to 65 days before your subscription expired and also before any payment was billed...." ...(They did not!)... "I would like to inform you that we do not had such intension to charge you and this is the reason we offer 60 days refund policy to our customers. as you are a valuable customer to Norton and you have contacted me regarding your concern, if you like I can also offer you a 20% refund of the automatic renewal price, and you can continue to use your Norton Product for the next year. Is this something you might be interested in?"

ME: I don't want this subscription.

A: I totally respect your decision and there is nothing more than your satisfaction. I do not waste any more of your time. I will go ahead and process 100% refund back to your account. As well as I will check that such issue will never repeat again and make sure that the Automatic Renewal service is disable from your subscription. --- Please allow me a minute to process the refund and share the details.--- As requested I have started the refund process --- Please allow 5-7 working (business) days to process and it will show up in your next billing cycle (within 10 working days depending on your bank). Please, take a note of your refund confirmation number xxxxxx. You will also receive an email confirming the refund and another email confirming your Automatic Renewal cancellation.

Thank you for all your time and patience and I do apologize for the time taken, you are awesome and was very supportive throughout the chat. This is very rare to get such a calm and wonderful customer like you. Apart from that Is there anything I can assist you with?

ME: I would like to close my Norton account permanently after this has been resolved and I have got my refund

A: Please do not worry as I have already cancelled your subscription so you not be charged ever again and if you wish I can delete your billing information so that you will never face any issue ever again.

ME: Yes please.

A: Please allow me a moment. --- I have successfully deleted the billing info and I assure you that you will not be charged in the future.

ME: Thank you

A: I am really glad to help such a wonderful customer like you. You were also very supportive and cooperative throughout the chat. You will receive a Customer Satisfaction Survey by email within the next few days. You are welcome to express your overall opinion of Norton Service and Support in the survey. Your feedback is much appreciated and helps us improve our customer service.

ME: OK. Bye! 

A: It was a pleasure to assist you. I will pray to keep you and your family safe. Thank you for contacting Norton LifeLock support and have a great time! Good Bye and Cheers for the day.

PS. I did also receive email confirmation of the refund. Remains to be seen when it also turns up in my bank account. (When it has, I may investigate further how to close the whole account altogether...)

PPS. It's certainly a first for me to have a customer service chat ended by prayer! ;-)

Weekend Reflections

 

Photos from my walk into the city centre (Borås, Sweden) on Thursday this week. After a rainy and windy period, this was a day with blue sky and the river still like a mirror. The building covered in plastic is being renovated. It was one of the first buildings here to be decorated with a large mural, ten years ago. (Link to a Weekend Reflections post from back then.) This summer, it will be getting a new and different one. A few other murals will also be replaced during this year's Art Biennial. 

Linking to Weekend Reflections (Friday, April 26, 2024)

Cherry Blossom 3

 

Still wearing my winter coat... But a little bit warmer today, no wind, and glimpses of the sun. So I grabbed the opportunity for a rather pleasant walk into town (and back), to get some things from the pharmacy - and to just enjoy the progress of spring on the way. (If anyone is wondering about the building in the top photo, in the past it was a spinning mill, but is nowadays home to various offices and businesses - including a fitness gym.)

 

(Saving a few more pictures for another day.)

Maple Tree and Daffodils

Some more photos from my walk on Saturday. After I had been to check on the cherry blossom trees, I took a little detour to check on another park nearby.

The big tree is not an oak but a maple.

 

Some daffodils in bloom - but looking a bit "downcast" from the capricious weather.

A park area with big lawns down by the river used to have flowerbeds of daffodils and tulips in spring, but those parts of the park are obviously under re-construction just now, so I didn't bother going down there this time...

No real change in the cold weather since the weekend. Less windy today, but raining...

P.G. Wodehouse - Blandings Castle

 

Something New by P.G. Wodehouse
(Blandings Castle, Book 1 - first published in 1915)
Audio book narrated by B.J. Harrison - 8 hrs 2mins

P.G. Wodehouse - or Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975) - was an English author, and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. (The link will take you to an extensive Wikipedia article about him.)

I read several books by Wodehouse already in my teens. He's perhaps best known for his stories about Jeeves and Wooster - with the young English gentleman Bertram Wooster as the narrator, but his manservant Jeeves really the main character. (There's also a memorable British TV-series from the early 1990s based on those books, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, and Stephen Fry as Jeeves.)

But there is also quite a long series of books about Blandings Castle, involving among others the elderly Lord Emsworth, and his son Freddy Threepwood. (My parents had two or three of those in Swedish translation, but I can't recall this first one being among those.)  

In his books, Wodehouse makes fun of both English aristrocrats and wealthy Americans; and also the hierarchy among servants on big old estates in England, like Blandings Castle.

This first book in the Blandings series was published in 1915 - in the UK entitled Something Fresh, but in the US Something New. One recurring theme in this and following books set at Blandings is that people often seem to be visiting there under false name - for various reasons pretending to be someone else than they really are. Leading of course to lots of complications until finally sorted out... There is also often some object (or animal) involved that more than one person wants to get their hands on. In this book, it's a lost or stolen ancient Egyptian scarab (a beetle-shaped amulet).

I enjoyed listening to this audio book; but have to admit that I would not be able to satisfactorily sort out neither characters nor the plot from memory afterwards... 

So I'll leave that to the publisher's summary:

Here, we have a glorious ensemble of Woodhousian characters knocking elbows to foreheads in the elegant and grand Blandings Castle. Meet Freddy Threepwood, the vagrant son of doddering old Lord Emsworth of Blandings Castle. Freddy has recently become engaged to Aline Peters, the American heiress of an irascible father. The snag is that Freddy seems to have at one point become enamored of a struggling actress, Joan Valentine, and written some impetuous and imprudent letters to her. Joan has now moved on and is currently employed as a writer for a magazine's society column. Freddy has employed a certain R. Jones, a man of portly and dubious character, to attempt to buy back Freddy's letters, and keep his engagement safe. We also meet Ache Marson, an athlete who writes the Gridley Quayle series of pulp mystery stories, and also lives in the flat just below the actress/writer Joan Valentine. Got that straight? Sounding confusing? Wait till we get going.

(Publisher's summary copied from the Audible website)