413 Customer Reviews
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Review from Christopher H
1 star07/26/2024
I have used System Mechanic Pro for several years and, frankly, have no issue with the software per se. While it doesn't really do anything you couldn't do manually, it does gather a number of diagnostic and maintenance tools in one place and that is a convenience.My problem is with their billing and customer no-service. Several months ago, I paid to extend my System Mechanic Pro subscription to the end of 2024. So far, so good. This morning, I found an ADDITIONAL charge of $49.95 had magically appeared on my debit card statement. When I started an online chat with an Iolo rep, she told me that the new charge was to renew System Mechanic (not Pro) that was supposedly ordered a year ago under a different email address. When they apparently couldn't charge that amount to the card on file, they simply added it on to my Pro subscription. I tried to point out that I really don't need two copies of the same software and was met with an elaborate song-and-dance routine about all the "differences" between System Mechanic and System Mechanic Pro, which, in my opinion, are somewhere between imaginary and non-existent. When I asked the representative to refund the $49.95, she told me that "company policy" prohibited any refunds.I really don't care about Iolo's "company policy." MY company policy is to warn other consumers about companies that engage in underhanded billing practices. I would recommend NOT doing business with Iolo Software. It is a shame that a company that makes a fairly decent product feels the need to boost its profits with questionable billing practices.Review from James B
1 star07/17/2024
I did not sign up for auto payment. trying to stop them. I signed up for the cleaning software, not their security software, they charged my credit card and my PayPal. I called and told them to stop, and they said they would redeposit the money to my credit card but now I see that this real defense has charged my Paya. I hate using the website to get software because these people use the entry price to get you in and then start adding more software and charging you without you knowing. Now I must stop what I need to do and find a way to get them to stop. Not happy Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!Review from Jim C
1 star05/18/2024
HORRIBLE customer service. You only get to speak to a call center in the *********** called "USTechSupport" as if you are talking to someone in the **. The only try and upsell and will NOT resolve any issues.
RealDefense LLC Response
05/21/2024
BBB Customer Review for ********************** by ********************* **************************** from zip/postal code: *****) on 5/18/2024
HORRIBLE customer service.You only get to speak to a call center in the Phillipines called "USTechSupport" as if you are talking to someone in the **. The only try and upsell and will NOT resolve any issues.
Dear ******************,
Thank you for your review. We regret to learn of your dissatisfaction with our service, and truly appreciate your input about both the quality of service provided as well as your customer experience when calling us.
Our records indicate that you contact customer service on 5/17/27 with a request to restore your previous version of our System ***************** Software instead of the 1-year license for a System Mechanic Ultimate Defense Software that you purchased on 4/20/24. Since your previous subscription/license for the System ***************** Software had been cancelled, per your request, 11 months ago (6/8/23) regrettably it could not be restored. According to your request the new System Mechanic Ultimate Defense Software license was cancelled and since it was within the 30-day Money Back Guarantee for new software purchases the charge was refunded. Just to note, the System ***************** and System Mechanic Pro software programs are still available for purchase on the iolo website.
Your software subscriptions/licenses remain inactive. You will see no additional charges unless you choose to place a new order in the future.
We appreciate your feedback, as we strive to provide the highest quality products and service.
If you need further assistance, please contact **************** toll free at*************.
Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center OperationsDirectorReview from CRAIG R
1 star04/30/2024
So... now I'm out the **** download/program from RealDefense LLC and out $79.95 because PayPal has assisted and abated in stealing my money. Consequently, as soon as you folks finish stealing my money, I'll be closing my PayPal account. This is the second time its happened. All under the guise of canceling RealDefense on the same day as the auto payment. YOU END UP WITH NO PROGRAM AND NO MONEY REFUNDED. IS THERE'S A LAW FOR THIS?RealDefense LLC Response
05/15/2024
Dear ******************
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
Our records reflect that you purchased an iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense license on 3/27/23 which included a one-month free trial of our iolo LiveTech 24/7 *************************. Per the terms of the purchase both would auto renewal (annually or monthly based on the license) unless you contact customer service to cancel before the scheduled renewal date. The terms of your purchase are always provided in the shopping cart online before any personal information is entered or the order submitted. This information is also included in your confirmation email. Per your request the monthly iolo LiveTech 24/7 ************************* was cancelled on 8/26/23.
On the morning of 4/9/24, your iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense license was renewed. We received your request to cancel that afternoon, and per your request the service was canceled. As the terms of your purchase state that Monthly and annual subscription fees are not refundableno refund was offered. We received notification from PayPal on 4/17/23 that the renewal fee charged on 4/9 had been reversed. The chargeback created a credit in your favor with PayPal. Rather than disputing the chargeback per policy it was accepted and let stand as a refund of the 4/9 charge. We advise that you check with PayPal to confirm.
Your iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense remains inactive; nothing further will be billed to you. If you need further assistance, please contact **************** toll free at**************.
Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center OperationsDirectorReview from Alice K
1 star03/29/2024
They are scammers. I signed up for System Mechanic for one year and the next thing I knew I was getting charged for a monthly fee that I did not sign up for. I called them and they said it was automatic. That when I signed up for the years subscription I got the monthly service also. I told them I did not want the monthly service. they said they would cancel it. the next month I got the same charge again. I called again and got the same run around. DO NOT DO BUSINESS with these people. They are scammers and can not be trusted.A.K.K.RealDefense LLC Response
04/18/2024
*************************
Email: ***********************
Dear ******************,
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
We make every effort to be forthcoming regarding our promotions and offers for products and services. Our records reflect that you purchased a special offer for iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense 1 Year License on 12/28/2023 which included a promotional one-month free trial of our iolo LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support Service. Per the terms of the purchase both would automatically renew (annually or monthly based on the license) unless you contact customer service prior to the renewal date to cancel. The terms of your purchase are always provided in the shopping cart online before any personal information is entered or the order submitted. The information is also included in your confirmation email. We regret if you found the offer unclear in any way.
On 1/28/24 and 2/28/24, your iolo LiveTech 24/7 ************************* was renewed as scheduled. We received your call to cancel the **************** on 3/7/24. As a courtesy a refund was issued for one month renewal fee as an exception to the terms of your purchase (which state that Monthly and annual subscription fees are not refundable). We regret to learn that this cancellation request was incorrectly processed and would like to apologize that the account was not cancelled at this time.
On 3/28/24, your iolo LiveTech 24/7 ************************* was renewed again. On 3/29 per your request the LiveTech 24/7 was cancelled. The 3/28 renewal fee has now been refunded.
The iolo LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support remains inactive, you will see no additional renewal fees for this service. However, your iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense remains active with an automatic renewal date of 3/28/25 unless you contact customer service prior to the renewal date to cancel.
We appreciate your feedback about your experience, as we strive to provide only the highest quality products and service. If you need further assistance, please contact **************** toll free at **************.
Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center Operations DirectorReview from Hung H
1 star03/15/2024
I am a victim of this company (i.e. IOLO.com) sneaky automatic monthly charge of $19.95, for so called "technical support". I called them this morning, requested a refund, but they refunded only the last charge within 30 days.I will now stop using this software IOLO, because, I really don't know what it is doing inside my PC.I believe this is a SCAM operation from *****.RealDefense LLC Response
04/01/2024
Dear **************,
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
Our records reflect that you purchased an iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense license on 1/15/24 which included a one-month free trial of our iolo LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support Service. Per the terms of the purchase both would auto renewal (annually or monthly based on the license) unless you contact customer service to cancel prior to the scheduled renewal date. The terms of your purchase are always provided in the shopping cart online before any personal information is entered or the order submitted. This information is also included in your confirmation email. More specifically the offer you purchased stated: Includes 1 FREE month of LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support. If you do not cancel LiveTech Technical Support before the end of the first free month, it will automatically renew at the monthly price of $19.95. On the renewal date, your credit card will be charged for the subscription. If you wish to avoid any of these initial or recurring charges, you may cancel your subscriptions at any time prior to the applicable renewal date by calling us at ***************** (Powered by *************) or via online chat, email or contact form. We regret if you found the offer unclear in any way.
Per the terms of your purchase, the LiveTech 24/7 ************************* was renewed as scheduled 2/15/24, and 3/15/24 since we had not heard from you regarding cancelling the service. On 3/15/24 your LiveTech 24/7 was canceled per your request. As an exception to the terms of your purchase which states that Monthly and annual subscription fees are not refundable a refund was issued at that time for the March renewal fee. Please allow 3 5 days for the funds to post. You will see no additional charges for the LiveTech 24/7 service.
Your iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense is still active and will automatically renew 4/4/24 unless you contact us before that date to cancel.
If you need further assistance, please contact **************** toll free at**************.
Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center OperationsDirectorReview from Ben C
1 star03/14/2024
Adding on to the 20$ monthly charge that they sneak in and do not tell you about. When I asked on the phone about it, i was told that the call was ended and i may hang up. Never use this company they are the scammers they warn you about.RealDefense LLC Response
04/01/2024
Dear ****************,
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
We make every effort to be forthcoming regarding our promotions and offers for products and services. Our records reflect that you purchased an iolo System ***************** 1-year license on 12/12/23 for a promotionally discounted price which included a one-month free trial of our iolo LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support Service. Per the terms of the purchase both would auto renewal (annual or monthly based on the license) unless you contact customer service to cancel. The terms of your purchase are always provided in the shopping cart online before any personal information is entered or the order submitted. This information is also included in your confirmation email. More specifically the offer you purchased stated: Includes 1 FREE month of LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support. If you do not cancel LiveTech Technical Support before the end of the first free month, it will automatically renew at the monthly price of $19.95. On the renewal date, your credit card will be charged for the subscription. If you wish to avoid any of these initial or recurring charges, you may cancel your subscriptions at any time prior to the applicable renewal date by calling us at ***************** (Powered by *************) or via online chat, email or contact form. We regret if you found the offer unclear in any way.
Since we did not receive a request to cancel your LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support, the service was renewed in January, February, and March as scheduled. On 3/14/24 your LiveTech 24/7 was canceled per your request. We regret to learn that the call ended before all your questions could be answered.
As a gesture of goodwill and in exception to the terms of your purchase which states that Monthly and annual subscription fees are not refundable a refund has been issued for the March renewal fee. Please allow 3 5 days for the funds to post. You will see no additional charges for the LiveTech 24/7 service. Your iolo System ***************** license is still active and will automatically renew 12/12/24 unless you contact us before that date to cancel.
If you need further assistance, please contact **************** toll free at**************.
Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center OperationsDirectorReview from Bill Y
1 star03/08/2024
cleaning product works well for $20. then the following month they charge a sneaky fee of an extra $20. a month for service. to the account. BEWARE of DISHONEST companies. This is the one where loud bells should go off. SCAMMERSRealDefense LLC Response
03/18/2024
Dear ******************,
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
We make every effort to be forthcoming regarding our promotions and offers for products and services. Our records reflect that you purchased a special offer for ********* Software 1 Year License on 2/7/24 which included a promotional one-month free trial of our ********* LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support Service. Per the terms of the purchase both would automatically renew (annually or monthly based on the license) unless you contact customer service prior to the renewal date to cancel. The terms of your purchase are always provided in the shopping cart online before any personal information is entered or the order submitted. The information is also included in your confirmation email. We regret if you found the offer unclear in any way.
On 3/7/24, your ********* **************** was renewed as scheduled. Per your request both ********* Software and LiveTech tech support were cancelled on 3/13, so there will be no future automatic renewal of either service.
While we strive to stay within advertised guidelines for consistency, we also try to resolve each incident based on its own merit. As a courtesy and in exception to the terms of your purchase (which state that Monthly and annual subscription fees are not refundable) a refund for the ********* LiveTech renewal fee was issued when the service was cancelled.
If you need further assistance, please contact **************** toll free at*************.
Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center OperationsDirectorReview from Ray P
1 star02/29/2024
I agree with most of these negative reviews. Hope fully I have finally cancel any more transitions with this company. I have been billed 4 times this month. May be I am confused about their billing that is sad for a company to intentionally confuse their customers. System mechanic use to be a great product and still is, maybe. But in my option, it is not worth me being taken advantage of. You can appreciate my time to review all you want and explain my account information, like you have in these other reviews. It does not explain why your approach to selling a good system is so confusing and underhanded.RealDefense LLC Response
03/11/2024
Dear **************,
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
We make every effort to be forthcoming regarding our promotions and offers for products and services. We regret if you found the offers and billing unclear or confusing in any way.
While you may notice a trend with the reviews or complaints regarding our renewal program,happy customers generally do not leave any kind of reviews regarding their experience. Please keep in mind that the reviews and complaints that the Better Business Bureau receives are a very small portion of our customers. We do make every effort to make the offers as clear as possible.
Your account reflects the following three separate purchases in December. Each a 1- year licenses with automatic annual renewal for: iolo System ***************** (12/11/23), a 2nd iolo System ***************** (12/18/23) and an upgrade to iolo System Mechanic Ultimate defense (12/29/23). The System ***************** licenses were combined with the System Mechanic Ultimate Defense when purchase which extended the renewal date until 2026. But each of these initial purchases included a one-month promotional free trial of our iolo LiveTech 24/7 ************************** which renews monthly if not cancelled prior to the renewal date. The multiple charges you saw were the renewal fees for the LiveTech 24/7 services. On 2/19/24, per your request, the System Mechanic Ultimate Defense and LiveTech 24/7 Technical Support were cancelled.
As a gesture of goodwill refunds have been issued for the 3 extra LiveTech 24/7 support services February renewal fees. Please allow 3 5 business days for the credit to post.
Reviews like yours go a long way in helping us identify areas to improve our services -thank you for sharing your feedback with us.
If you need further assistance,please contact **************** toll free at*************.
Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center OperationsDirectorReview from RAYMOND H
1 star01/16/2024
I purchased the upgrades and antivirus updates on an ANNUAL basis for a long time and liked the program. The last time it auto-renewed via PayPal neither PayPal nor IOLO informed me that it was FRAUDULENTLY CHANGED WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT PERMISSION to a MONTHLY "subscription" model, making product use nearly SIX times more expensive on an annual basis than before, This is PREDATORY behavior when sneaked by a visually and medically challenged septuagenarian like me.RealDefense LLC Response
02/07/2024
***************************
*************************************
***********, ** 76034
Dear ****************,
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
Our records reflect that you purchased an iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense 1-year license (including automatic annual renewal) on 6/14/22. The purchase also included a promotional one-month free trial of our iolo ******** 24/7 ************************* which would renew monthly at the regular price of $19.95 plus any applicable sales tax. The terms of your purchase (which stated both would auto renewal- annually or monthly based on the license- unless you contact customer service to cancel)are always provided in the shopping cart online before any personal information is entered or the order submitted. The information is also included in your confirmation email. We regret if you found the offer unclear in any way.
Since we did not receive a cancellation request prior to the renewal dates, your ******** 24/7 Technical Support subscription was renewed as scheduled on 7/14/22 and 8/14/22.
On 9/8/22, your ******** 24/7 Technical Support subscription was cancelled per your request. As an exception to the terms of your purchase which state that Monthly and annual subscription fees are not refundable, a refund was issued for the August renewal fee.
On 6/14/23, your iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense 1-year license was renewed as scheduled.
Our records reflect a purchase of a special discounted offer of a second iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense 1-year license including the ********************** ******** 24/7 Technical Support promotional one-month free trial with automatic renewals on 10/16/23.
Again, since no cancellation request was received the ******** 24/7 Technical Support subscription was renewed as scheduled on 11/16/23 and 12/16/23.
On 1/16/24, your ******** 24/7 Technical Support subscription was cancelled per your request. A refund was issued for the December renewal fee as an exception to the terms of your purchase.
At this time, you have two active iolo System Mechanic Ultimate Defense 1-year licenses still active; one to renew 6/14/24 and the other 10/16/24.
Please contact **************** toll free at************** regarding the possibility of combining these two into one subscription.Sincerely,
****************
Contact Center OperationsDirector
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