Continuous Payment Authority

oldbilbo

I've used this product for several years, and been pleased with it. Some weeks ago, an auto-renewal invitation was emailed to me, and I began to complete it - until I noticed that, this year, the company was asking me for a Continuous Payment Authority instead of the expected, simple one-off cost of the coming year's product/service.

This idea may be convenient for the company, but personal experience - and lots of distressed complaints on financial-help forums shows ( e.g. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/recurring-payments ) - this process is fraught with problems and risk for the private consumer. It is irrelevant that the company suggests a method of cancelling the Authority after setting it up. It should not be a necessary prelude to purchase at all - but an option....

I contacted Bitdefender's Customer Care people ( Open ticket: 2015121219490001 ) and it's taken them a week to reply. Their response 'fails to understand' my clear request for another, normal, payment path and simply reiterates I can ( maybe ) cancel the CPA arrangement after it has been set up. All the financial advice forums warn against this.

I've asked the Customer Care team again to provide me with a normal purchase pathway. It's not rocket science.... it's what they and I have used for years, quite happily.

I'm content to pay for the service. I am NOT content to give this or any company the freedom to take what they like, when they like, from my bank account in perpetuity.

oldbilbo

This, from PC Magazine Forum, is relevant:

Quick warning: Bitdefender scores highly in security tests, but the actual company has a Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating of F. Their EULA has a clause buried in it that states you will be automatically charged full retail price for renewal before your subscription is up.

They intentionally leave out the ability to unsubscribe through their web portal, then take a minimum of 24 hours to cancel your subscription after you call so that they have time to email you counteroffers.

I literally had to threaten legal action to get a refund of the surreptitious automatic payment and have my subscription cancelled.

Hope that saves some of you a headache!

hektor

This, from PC Magazine Forum, is relevant:

So...has anything changed? I have no intention of renewing next year. Their support is abysmal and that is my polite way of stating my opinion.

Georgia

Hello oldbilbo,

Kindly be informed that the automatic renewal option has been established to increase the comfort of the customer in order to extend his subscription with less effort and for the same price we display in our website. Every time you purchase a Bitdefender product, in the billing section where you fill in all your personal information - in the terms and agreement section - there is enabled this automatic renewal option that can be unchecked. When the expiration date comes, Avangate notifies you through e-mail that your product will automatically renew and you can disable this option. Since you do not contact us or check your account to turn off the option, the system considers that you agree with this and automatically renews the product. Please note that the e-mail address used to send the notifications is the same used in the moment of purchase. We advise customers who do not receive the notifications to also search the Bulk and Spam folder.

For more information also consult my post: http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?sho...st&p=177727

Details on the auto-renewal process are available as well in this knowledge-base article: http://www.bitdefender.com/support/i-do-no...enewal-542.html

It includes a link which allows you get in touch with the Commercial Support Team, who handles such cases.

Please let us know if you have any other questions regarding Bitdefender products and services.