Bitdefender / Avangate Auto-Renew Billing Scam
My subscription expired about a week ago and BitDefender / AvanGate without my consent charged me USD $139.95 through Paypal to renew the subscription. After contacting support they say "you gave your consent to auto-renew the subscription", even though there is no option on the website to disable it.
They have disabled my subscription and for over a week all I get from support is either "we are currently working on resolving your Customer Care request, ticket no: 2016080716080001", and then today "We kindly advise you to contact your bank for more details about you chargeback request.". Why should I contact my bank, if this goes through Paypal?
This is infuriating and disappointing that antivirus company would scam customers this way, and claim after that they are one of the best security products.
If anybody has paid BitDefender / AvanGate through paypal make sure you disable authorization to pay to Avangate.
Now support claims that they are unable process a refund until Paypal chargeback case is closed. Again same story as in other posts, cannot understand why can't I get my refund and then close the chargeback request.?
Transcript from chat with support:
----------------------------------------------
Hello. How may I help you?
<me> Hello <support>
I am contacting to find out status of my case 2016080716080001
<support> Allow me a few moments to look over the case.
From what i can see you have a chargeback opened on the order.All you have to do is contact paypal for the refund.
<me> What do you mean by contacting paypal for refund? You charged me USD $139, why should paypal refund me?
<support> And you opened a chargeback with PayPal.We can no longer assist you in this matter only if you cancel the chargeback.
<me> Yes, I opened chargeback request after waiting for 3 days for refund, which is a 2 click operation. How long should I have waited before doing that?
<support> I am not sure about the processes of PayPal.You will have to give them a call and see what is happening.You should have contacted us as soon as you were charged and avoid the chargeback time.
<me> I am not asking about Paypal process, I am asking about your Bitdefender + Avangate refund process. How long should I have waited to get refund from you (Bitdefender) ?
<support> The usual response time is within 24-48 but as soon as you opened the chargeback we were no longer able to provide you with the refund.
<me> Yes, and I waited 72 hours before opening chargeback. So when should I expect to get my funds back?
<support> As i mentioned, you will have to ask PayPal for that answer as i cannot know.
<me> You are saying your usual response time is 24-48 hours. Why did not I receive my refund in that timeframe?
<support> Because when you first contacted us, you had the chargeback open.
<me> No! Chargeback was open only 72 hours after I contacted you
I contacted you Aug 7, chargeback was open Aug 10
<support> Yes, that is correct.It seems like my collegues had alot of cases as we have many customers and they tried to process your request after you've opened the chargeback.
<me> So you are refusing to process my refund now, is that correct?
<support> No, we are not refusing to process your refund.We cannot do it as long as you have opened a chargeback.Close the chargeback and then contact us back so we can go on with the refund.
<me> I will not close a chargeback until you refund my money, because I do not trust anymore that you will do that. I do not understand how open chargeback prevents you from refunding my funds. Read
<support> Again <me>, we cannot process a refund while you have a dispute opened with your bank.If you want a refund from Bitdefender, close the chargeback.If not, wait for Paypal to refund you the money.
-
Comments
-
Hello,
Please keep in mind that this is a forum and spam and triple posting/bumping topics is not allowed.
When you purchase the product you receive credentials for your automatically generated Avangate account, where you can see and control your purchases, including the automatic renewal function.
While you have dispute opened with PayPall, Bitdefender is unable to access your purchase to process the refund request. If you drop the dispute our CS team will be able to assist in your request. If you proceed with the dispute you will have to contact PayPall for a resolution.
0
