Dishonest auto-renewal policy
I thought your product was supposed to keep customers safe from online threats.
So do you think it is acceptable to take money from a Paypal account with no notification beforehand or afterwards?
Even if the answer is yes to the previous question, is it alright to take an automatic payment 209 days before the subscription expires?
Do you think it is acceptable to charge £49.99 for renewal when I can buy a one year contract on Amazon for £20? That's a great reward for customer loyalty!
Your auto-renewal policy is a disgrace and you should be ashamed of yourselves. Your company is little better than the scammers your product is designed to protect customers from. I expect an immediate refund of my (7 month) premature subscription.
Answers
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I am questioning the value of Loyalty also.
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Cancelled subscription within 30 mins of installation after reading T&C, couldn't turn off auto renewal until i got into 2nd something or another. Got a reply within hrs that my subscription request would be implemented after i answered a dumb ****** question by agent! Didn't see that anywhere on home site...30 Day money back guaranteed...false. Days later, after repeated requests for confirmation of cancellation of subscription i get a new ticket asking me to be patient when the response should have been 'done'. Warning; tell your bank.
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Same problem here; any way to cancel automatic renewal through Paypal?
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Thank you for pointing it out. I suspect Bitdefender engaged in dishonest auto renewal. I have problem to identify the function to disable the auto renewal feature. The instruction given is not correct.
Any regulator I can report this incident?
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I have had this problem too and in my opinion bitdefender is going downhill. Support has been good two years ago but today it is terrible. Won't renew the service and I get rid of all recommendatiuons I have done in the past years. A shame.
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I think this question is likely to remain open until Bitdefender cancel their automatic renewal process or at least give their users the option to cancel through the Bitdefender interface.
For those who used Paypal, you can prevent them taking the money by removing the automatic payment permissions.
In Paypal, click the settings icon, select Payments then Manage your automatic payments. Any company listed under pre-approved payments can take money from your account without informing you beforehand. Here you can just remove those permissions for individual companies.
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Does this Support article help ? I don't see "My Payments" in "My Subscriptions" does anyone else ?
According to the article it's possible to turn off automatic payments.
https://central.bitdefender.com/support/1561754615/article/29081
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I also can't see that option either, Teksonik. Bitdefender's approach is to give no option to turn automatic renewals off, then take the money and run come the anniversary of the purchase. Hence the title of this thread.
It's a shame nobody from Bitdefender can be bothered to reply - although their policy is pretty indefensible.
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I don't know I can't find any info. Even going to the "2Checkout" site gives me no information. It says my subscription expired in April but it's clearly still active.
It hardly gives us confidence that the company we're paying to protect us from online scammers acts like an online scammer.
My sub is good until April, guess I have until then to find out. If they charge me without my consent or try to charge me full price for the "loyalty offer" even though I can get it for half of that I'll simply file a charge back with my credit card company.
Bitdefender Total Security scores very high in independnet tests for protection but their customer service is pathetic.
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This will definitely make me rethink if I keep Bitdefender when my subscription is close to ending. Not a good policy.
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When you purchase, there is fine print that says it will auto renew.
TO STOP AUTO RENEW: On the dashboard, click My Subscriptions on the left. Then click My Payments tab at the top. You'll find "Manage your subscription renewal options" on that page. You're then given the option to keep or turn off auto renewal. When you click turn off it will probably give you the option to renew for half off.
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Sorry, linda502, either I'm going blind or that does not appear on my dashboard. Screenshot below:
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I haven't even installed the software yet and I'm ready to cancel. If you used PayPal as your payment method you can do what Ricky_Rover suggested and stop the automatic payment through them but it's a shame to have to resort to methods ordinarily reserved for scammers. Perhaps that's the category this company belongs in. Oh, and Linda502 is boosting her renown on the board by splashing that answer to every autorenewal thread (there are a lot!) but Ricky_Rover is correct, there, too. That tab does not exist.
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The "My Subscriptions" tab is on my BD Central on the left. But when I click "My Payments" tab at the top, I don't find "Manage your subscription renewal options" anywhere on that page. So Linda502 is at least halfway correct as per how my BD Central is set up.
I have had BD for many years and so far the difficulty in finding where to opt out of auto renew is the major problem with them. Wish they would correct this. It is really damaging to their credibility. The one other prob with BD is having to search for an affordable price or hope they send a decent price offer before the sub runs out.
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I too cannot cancel my renewal anmd I have taken legal advice.
They are certainly in breach of EU consumer law.
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I don't have a My Payments Tab. Not only will they not correct the auto renew issue they won't even address the issue. How can we trust them to protect our systems when they won't even protect our bank accounts from unathorized payments from Bitdefender ?
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It is totally unacceptable that Bitdefender can take £49.99 out of my bank account under auto renewal when I originally paid £25.00, I was not even informed that this was happening I just happened to look at my bank statement!!!
I have logged a complaint and waiting a response from accounts, there is no way of managing your auto subscription which is a con, I contacted Bitdefender myself and requested they removed the auto subscription which they have done, I also double checked this with 2checkout.com and looks like it is cancelled !!! I have spent 3 hours this morning just trying to sort this problem out which is very annoying, even if they had taken the £25.00 agreed this wouldn't have been so bad its not like I want something for nothing.
after all bitdefender has very good reviews and I thought was the best out there, this is my 3rd year of having this antivirus and will be my last, no loyalty bonus or anything, they just rip off as much as possible without telling you....👿
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1. Go to your PayPal's Summary page
2. Top Right, Click the gear by "Log Out"
3. Near the top click "Payments"
4. Click the "Manage Automatic Payments" button
5. On the left Click "Avangate Inc."
(Notice near the bottom it says "Bitdefender")
6. To the Right is should say "Active". Click CANCEL.
Problem Solved.
This will give Avangate the status of Inactive, PayPal won't pay those with inactive status. You might also be able to disable autopayments by calling Avangate at 650-963-5701, but this method is more fun that waiting in a phone Queue. If you haven't seen this place in PayPal before, I highly recommend you study those that are Active.
Webroot did the same thing to me. Also, they billed me two months early. They expect us to fatigue.
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Thanks, O0oo0O,
I already mentioned how to do that about 6 posts up. The fact is it is appalling for Bitdefender to remove all ability to cancel a subscription from THEIR website or software. Frankly they are leaving themselves open to a major lawsuit, I can't believe a company that purports to protect people from online fraud would perpetrate such a fraud themselves.
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I have had BD since 2012.
In the past, AVANGATE was the payment platform...What I would see on my bank statement. It is now: 2checkout...Same people, different name is all.
To stop "auto-renewal", you need to go to ""2checkout"", check your "subscriptions/payments/invoices". Make sure you are looking at the "LAST" authorized purchase.
That is where I found my "Disable Auto-Renewal".
Checked it this very minute. That's where it is.
I also found this in Support FAQs
You can cancel the auto-renewal option at any time from your Central account.
- Sign into Bitdefender Central.
- Select the My Subscriptions section in the sidebar.
- Access My Payments.
- Click the name of your Bitdefender product.
- Click Manage your subscription renewal options.
- Press STOP AUTO-RENEWAL.
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You can cancel auto-renewal from the 2Checkout account, I just did it. Here are instructions sent to me by Bitdefender support which I used:
You can manage your Bitdefender purchases by creating a 2Checkout account.
2Checkout is our billing and payment processor and an account with them gives you access to:
- review order information
- download the invoice for your orders
- activate/ deactivate the automatic renewal option - by clicking on MyProducts
- review/ modify the payment method
- manually renew your subscription
Please access https://secure.2co.com/myaccount/ and:
- enter the e-mail address used for your Bitdefender purchase or the order ID of the purchase and click on Submit.
- you will receive an e-mail with further details on how to set-up your 2Checkout account password. Please click on the link in this e-mail and choose a password (at least 8 characters long).
- once you set the password please click again on the link above and log in using your credentials
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2checkout shows my subscription as expired although it's active until April. I didn't use PayPal so that information is useless.
There is no "My Payments" on my subscription tab so that's no help. That FAQ is outdated it now says "My Services".
At any rate it's hard to trust Bitdefender to keep us safe from scammers when they act like scammers themselves. You don't need to do this BD. You've got top rated AV protection you don't need to turn off customers with shady practices.
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I deleted the card they have on file.
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Did you delete it from within 2Checkout ? I couldn't see a way to do that although it may be that I have no card on file there. Like I said it shows my subscription expired although it's still active until April so they obviously they don't have correct information.
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Yes
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Just do what I did. I use a bank card so I always go online and turn the card off. Auto-renewal does not matter as the card is off and cannot be charged. I did one year with Bitdefender and went back to Norton. Much better security and they don't hide anything. You can always go to your account and turn off or turn on ANYTHING with Norton. Bitdefender stinks!
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PS: I took a screenshot of my account when I turned the auto renewal off, one day before expiration, and gave it to my lawyer. If they even try to renew, it will be flagged at my bank and then it becomes bank fraud!
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The users can make the most of the account services and check account balances online with the online portal of Target. Moreover, one can easily pick up how to use the portal. Targetpayandbenefits
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I just signed up for BitDefender, tried to cancel the automatic renewal, failed as there appears to be no way to do this on the website, they essentially lie. Therefore I have lost all faith in this company, and plan to wipe the program. My credit card company promises to cancel the transaction. BitDefender, you should be ashamed!!!!!!2
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Walgr0
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Bitdefender has definitely removed the "My Payment" tab from the Bitdefender Central, I contacted the Support Agent, and he is able to disable my Auto Renew with his system.
I told the Support Agent the "My Payments" tab is missing, he first asked me to clear my browser cache (which I did, didn't work), then he asked me to use another browser (I did again, didn't work), he then further asked me to use another device (I followed didn't work). : "Thank you for checking. I will have to escalate this matter to the upper level and they will check what is happening and why you cannot see the "My Payments" Tab."
Very bad move for Bitdefender, they definitely did this on purpose.
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I find bitdefenders hiding of their automatic renewal so cheap and scummy. It's a scummy practice that's typical of scummy money hungry unethical businesses.
Why would the best anti virus software (independently proven) need to be so repulsive and scummy?
It is so repulsive and screams so loudly that bitdefender wants to out themselves as greedy scumbags!
I only renew because there is no better anti virus. I feel disgusting and violated every time I renew.
Disable scummy automatic renewal in PayPal, immediately after making payment.
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Hi,
Please check my comment on your latest thread:
Kindly refrain from posting multiple threads/comments on the same topic. This is a gentle reminder that you are a bit out of line here.
Thank you.
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Today bitdefender charged me for a subscription I cancelled a year ago and they confirmed that it was cancelled but somehow these absolute thieving pieces of **** created a entirely seperate subscription that was based within my paypal account.
Somehow they created a reccuring payment within paypal.
I have never ever seen this before I dont know how it was done.
So be aware these absolute bastards will use all kinds of tricks and even pretend to cancel your subscription.
SCUM OF THE EARTH DO NOT GIVE THEM ANYTHING
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2022 at 10:22
Subject: Important notice related to your Bitdefender subscription
To: <Gattsby> Hello,
We would like to inform you that the automatic-renewal option for your Bitdefender Total Security has been successfully canceled.
For any questions or information related to your Bitdefender product, please do not hesitate to contact our support team.
Keep doing what you love, we'll take care of the rest.
Bitdefender Team
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Hello @Gattsby,
I think we started off the wrong foot here.
First there's the language which I would kindly ask you to reconsider. This is a public forum after all and we show respect to our fellow members. I understand the automatic renewal has caused an inconvenience, but let's keep a decent conduct on these pages.
Secondly, I believe there has been a misunderstanding. You have purchased a Bitdefender subscription on March 26 2021 and for this you have successfully cancelled the automatic renewal feature on March 23, 2022, according to the records. This subscription would have been automatically renewed in April 2022, but since the recurring billing was disabled, it didn't renew and you have manually renewed your protection with a new purchase on April 5th, 2022.
Since the Bitdefender security solutions come with an automatic renewal feature that allows you to conveniently retain your protection when your Bitdefender subscription expires, this order was automatically renewed this month, extending your protection until 2024.
Kindly be advised that, in the event you have cancelled the automatic renewal feature for an older purchase, this doesn't mean that the preference will be kept for new orders, as each new purchase will have its own renewal flow and should you wish to manually renew your solution each time, you'll have to disable the automatic renewal after purchasing or at any given time before the actual renewal takes place.
I've noticed that you have already requested a refund for this subscription and the commercial Support teams have taken note of your request and will start the proceedings accordingly.
I hope I was able to bring more clarity in regards to what actually happened.
Nobody is playing any tricks and the automatic renewal feature is a widespread practice in the antivirus industry. It ensures continuous protection and saves you time since it keeps your defenses active without having to go through all the motions of manually renewing your cyber-security solution. Essentially, all Bitdefender products are subscription based, similar to streaming services. But as you've noticed, this feature can be disabled anytime.
Regards,
Alex
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I don't mind autorenewal. What I mind is that they doubled the price over last years and auto renewed at a price of over 100.00/yr and took the money out of Paypal. AND THEN, they ignore every phone call and email. I've asked for money back or cancelation. No worked after a week and a half. If I don't get satisfaction, I'll keep it for one year but will make it my mission to tell everyone via every social media site I know and every evaluator of anti virus software about this experience and their policies.
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To cancel your subscription or get a refund have a look at below stated link provided by bitdefender support
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/7217/
You can contact the bitdefender support by visiting https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/ and scroll down to the bottom of the webpage where you can get in touch with support representative either by email, chat or over a call.
Alternatively, you can also share your query with bitdefender support team by dropping them an email at [email protected]
The support team will reply back to your query within next 24-48 hours excluding weekends.
@Alexandru_BD, @Mike_BD can also have a look into this for you.
Regards
OMEN Laptop 15-en1037AX (Bitdefender Total Security) & Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Bitdefender Mobile Security)
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Hello @DennyStump,
I'm sorry to hear that. Surely, there has to be an explanation for this. If you tried to reach the Support teams via phone, there's a chance the waiting time is longer than usual, according to the banner displayed in the Support section:
If you have already contacted the Support teams using one of the alternative channels, could you please send me a private message with your ticket number so I can check the status of the refund request for you?
Thank you.
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Sorry, but this company is - beyond the shadow of doubt - scammy. Here's the REAL kicker; their online protection is second-to-none, but they use bait and switch tactics. Case in point, READ ... THESE ... REVIEWS ... and you'll see that scores of customers have been lured into a payment trap. They can't find how to turn off their auto-renewal, and neither can I. And let's be clear; ALL online internet protection websites also make it difficult to turn off auto-renewal but, with a little searching, you can turn them off. On the other hand, Bitdefender corners the market on obfuscation. Caveat emptor, Baby. Caveat emptor!
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Hello :)
Since you're posting in about a 3-year-old thread, did you know of this ability to disable auto-renewal? We post how to do that frequently on the forum.
Kind regards,
Scott
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides:https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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