My old computer, may it rest in pieces, had Norton Antivirus on it. Since it died of acute virus infections, I don't think the antivirus quite did the job it was supposed to do. I don't know how long ago this happened, but it was many months ago, back when my writing slowed down (I don't have a decent word processing program on this "new" $100 computer).

The technician that owns the computer shop where I bought this computer told me NOT to load Norton again, that I was either better off with just free AVG or if I was going to buy anything, to buy Viper, but it would cost more than my computer

So imagine my surprise when I got my credit card bill in the mail today, and discovered that I had been charged $74.19 for an "Annual Renewal" by Norton. It was easy to spot, since I can't afford to USE my credit card any more, and haven't charged anything in ages. It was the only charge on there. I've just spent half the day on the phone, trying to get Norton to reverse the charge.

I never authorized Norton to charge me for this. I thought they were a reputable company, but to me, charging my credit card for something I never asked for doesn't seem like something a reputable company would do. Am I mistaken about this? Is this just a normal aspect of life in the 21st century that I am going to have to adapt to?

I think that a lot of programs that you subscribe to have changed to an automatic renewal if you put a credit card on the account.

WOW does it unless you specify otherwise. This is why if I can help it, I never register a credit card with renewable software programs. If norton will not reverse the charges, go to your bank and dispute it. You'll have to get a notarized statement that you did not authorize the renewal charge, but it'll get reversed. A lot of credit card companies have it in place so that fraudulent charges do not effect your credit score.

I use the premium edition of ZoneAlarm which I love, and they sent me an email telling me that I was set up for this annual renewal. They gave me the date which I would be charged and the reasonable fee (30 bucks). They also explicitly said how to remove the automatic charge and cancel my subscription It seems like this automatic renewal is the habit of all of these companies that provide virus protection.

Norton though seems rather underhanded. What buttheads!

I have dealt with them before and their automatic renewal fee, trying to get them to understand that I didn't want another year of it was like talking to a brick wall.

If you don't want to deal with Norton, which I highly recomend you don't, there are a few really good free programs that you can download. AVG is a good program and I'm glad that your programmer suggested it. I would also suggest, Avast. I've used that program on all of my computers for years now and have yet to have a problem with it. It's pretty user friendly and lets you decide how thouroughly you want to scan your computer. I would recomend it to anyone looking for a good free program. You can go to freedownloads.com and just search for Avast. There is a paid version I believe but I always use the free one and have never had a problem.

As far as the automatic renewal, unfortunatly that's the way of the world. Companies will do anything to make sure you stay with them. My car insurance is that way. The only way they would let me pay them is if I set up automatic payments from my account. I hate that but I didn't have a choice. I much prefer to pay it myself. Sure, I pay online but I don't like companies being able to go in and take my money when it's convenient for them. I hope that Norton gave you your money back!!

okay, i've actually been hit with something similar, in the form of Xbox live. it was only $50 and some change but it was still something unauthorized.

How i handled it, well I actually went to my, in this case bank and told them that i didn't say this could happen, we went around the block for abotu 3 days, and what it boiled down to was i had to have a 3 way between myself, Bank of America and Xbox live, telling everyone i didn't want this to happen. in the end all the stuff got credited back but it was a pain in the arse.

I would also tell them your planning to call the better business bureau b/c it actually let a virus kill your computer and then auto loaded another year...

As far as free sweepers: Malwarebytes - anti-Malware and Ad-ware are 2 free ones that i use along with Spysweeper, the basic 30$ one. that you can grab from best buy. i never do the credit info stuff over the net anymore bc of the Xbox thing.

Hope this helps in some say.