Please Read: Bidefender Spams Its Own Users
All,
I'm quite put out by the fact that Bitdefender is subjecting its own users to unsolicited popups, a practice more commonly known as spamming. The company's response to forum threads on this topic is to claim a patch is coming out, to state that "lots of customers like this", and to also state that because these popup are not from a third party, they are not spam.
The company's own adverstising claims: "No pop-ups. No configuring. No interruptions. That’s the kind of silent security you’ll find in Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012".
The company claims to have been working on patch since January. As a former software engineer, I know that this could be fixed relatively quickly.
Since the company hasn't provided any way to opt out of this, I feel I have no choice but to post the following message to AVTest, Top Ten Lists, and other antivirus evaluation sites so that other consumers are more fully informed.
I welcome anybody's feedback, particularly the company's reps. I'm not interested in damaging the company, but in making them understand that unsolicited popups is spam.
The message to be posted to antivirus evaluation sites:
Potential purchasers of Bitdefender products should be aware that Bitdefender will actually spam it's own users. After numerous complaints, the company remains unable to provide a way to opt out. If you want more details, read on...
A couple of days ago, a popup like the following appeared on my screen..
When I went to the forums to find an answer to this, I found several users who complained about it. The company's responses were:
* Jan 19, 2012 - The company has a temporary patch in internal testing.
* March 2, 2012 - The company has compiled some patches,and will get back to the forum when the tests are over.
* March 4, 2012 - Comapny wrote: "We have a lot of customers that like this type of promotions or special offers. Clicking an X button is not that bad".
* March 22, 2012 - Company wrote: "It is not a spam message since we do not promote 3rd party tools".
I explained to the Bitdefender rep that unsolicited advertising is spam regardless of who it comes from.
I have given the company my email address and phone number in the hopes that this issue can be resolved. However, they've been uncommunicative.
Given that the marketing for Bitdefender products includes the following...
"No pop-ups. No configuring. No interruptions. That’s the kind of silent
security you’ll find in Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012."
...it seems preposterous to me that they have unsolicited popups for their own users.
Rick Gates
rick@rickgates.com
(541) 556-2630
Comments
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Hi Rick
You already opened a topic about this subject, we will continue the discussion over there:
http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=32988
Thank you. Have a great weekend!0
