Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Dear ******************** Team,I would like to ask for your assistance to get the full refund ($181.88) and cancellation of Bit Defender Total Subscription. One year ago, I purchased the Bitdefender Total Security for $64.18.Now, I see on their website that they list the Bit Defender Total Subscription for $49.99.On Sat, 31st Aug 2024, I received a notification that my Bit Defender Total Security was renewed and that I was charged $181.88. I immediately took action. I called (spoke with one of their representatives) and emailed Bitdefender to tell them that I don't agree to pay this amount, as the price is too high. I asked for a full refund and subscription cancellation.As of 9/2/24, Bit defender refuses to fulfill my aforementioned request. They claim they had sent a notification email one month ago, but I did NOT recieve that email.Please help me get the full refund ($181.88) and cancellation of Bit Defender Total Subscription.Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you,*********************************

  Customer response

  09/04/2024

  Dear BBB Team,
  Thank you so much for following up with me. Avangate **** gave me the refund yesterday, so there's no need for us to move any further with the complaint. I followed up with BBB to give this update yesterday, but perhaps the email was sent to a different branch, not yours.

  Thank you so much for your help,
  **************;

• Initial Complaint

  09/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had canceled my account with them at least 6 months ago. Today, they charged my bank card for their virus service, which I stopped using when I canceled the account. I contacted the company via email and they gave me a ticket number and said that they would get back to me as soon as possible. Three hours later, and I'm still waiting for someone to get a hold of me. So, I called customer service. After talking to someone, they asked for my email address. After doing this twice ( they kept reading it back to me incorrectly) I finally gave them my ticket number. If they were professional, they would have asked for it from the beginning. Anyway, after doing that, he told me that a ticket number would be generated because he couldn't authorize a refund from there, and someone would get back to me as soon as possible. He also told me that if they decided to give me a refund, it would take 5 to seven days. My card was accessed over a holiday and they took the money out immediately. I find out the day after, because of a holiday. Bitdefender says that I have to wait 5 to 7 days for a refund? Not good enough.

  Business response

  09/05/2024

  This customer contacted us requesting a refund, but we couldn't locate any account/purchase associated with his email address, so we asked for additional details to locate the transaction.
  
  The customer came back on the 4th of Sept with the next answer: "It has already been handled. Thank you".
  
  He didn't send us any information to locate a possible transaction, so based on his answer, we closed the case.

  Customer response

  09/11/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I did receive my refund, but only after repeatedly calling them. They were very responsive after the 3rd time I called, putting on someone who actually knew what they were doing.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************

• Initial Complaint

  08/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  MORE THAN ONCE I have caught these fools ILLEGALLY charging me for TWO products. I usually do NOT catch it on time, and they REFUSE to make good on their FELONIOUS "bait and switch" tactics. You can almost hear their smugness in their responses. This has happened TWICE that I caught, and the last time it happened they ASSURED ME that it would NOT happen again...but yet, somehow it did.

  Business response

  08/06/2024

  In regards to complaint #********, please be informed that this customer received a notification from our Vendor 2Checkout regarding the expiration of his subscription.
  
  The customer received the notification 30 days earlier because unfortunately the expiration date from his account was not synchronized with the one from his Bitdefender Central account, but no charge took place. He received a great offer to extend the validity of his subscription.
  
  We explained the situation, and we also offered him to add 3 extra free months of validity if he decided to renew his subscription, as an apology for the confusion created.
  
  He was very vocal and started to threaten us that he will sue us if we don't offer him one year of subscription for 5 dollars or a refund for the past years.We tried to explain that is not possible to offer one year for 5 dollar, and also that a refund for past years is not possible, because we have a 30-day refund policy guarantee.
  
  He didn't agree with the extra validity of 3 months we tried to offer and continued to threaten us.
  
  We apologized for the unpleasant experience he had with our services and informed him that we respect his decisions, and finally we closed the case.

  Customer response

  08/20/2024

   
  Complaint: 22098499
  
  I am rejecting this response because: It has very little truth to it.  The fact is, I initially contacted them and asked them to provide me with a copy of when my subscriptions expired.  They refused to do so, and CONTINUE to refuse to do so.  I then told them that I would accept a 50% off, then I said 75% and I continued to drop my offer the closer that we got because I knew they were not even going to give me 1 cent off.  They continuously lied in their emails saying that the price had dropped, but I have screenshots that PROVE otherwise.  The price has not dropped in over a year.  I initially took the autopay off about a year ago because the PENATLY for autopay was to pay nearly 100% more than the online web based pay request.  I asked them to explain this, they lied...saying, initially, that it wasn't.   It was only AFTER I provided them with screenshots (they were a year old) that they said, the prices had JUST dropped.  They were not even smart enough to look at the dates on the screenshots.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

  Business response

  09/04/2024

  In regards to complaint #********, please be informed that this customer received a notification from our Vendor 2Checkout regarding the expiration of his subscription.
  
  The customer received the notification 30 days earlier because unfortunately the expiration date from his account was not synchronized with the one from his Bitdefender Central account, but no charge took place. He received a great offer to extend the validity of his subscription.
  
  We explained the situation, and we also offered him to add 3 extra free months of validity if he decided to renew his subscription, as an apology for the confusion created.
  
  He was very vocal and started to threaten us that he will sue us if we don't offer him one year of subscription for 5 dollars or a refund for the past years. We tried to explain that is not possible to offer one year for 5 dollars, and also that a refund for past years is not possible, because we have a 30-day refund policy guarantee.
  
  He didn't agree with the extra validity of 3 months we tried to offer and continued to threaten us.
  
  We apologized for the unpleasant experience he had with our services and informed him that we respect his decisions, and finally we closed the case.
  We closed the case from our side, and he didn't come back. The auto-renewal was disabled, but if he decides to purchase again a new subscription, he will have to make sure that he will disable the auto-renewal.

  Customer response

  09/16/2024

  This is not my first rodeo with them.  I had problems with them back in 2020 or so.  The problem is that they will make a "great offer" to you about 90 days before your subscription expires (sometimes withing 1 month of buying it they're trying to get you to renew).  What happens is, if you buy it... then you pay that great deal of  $87, then 3 months later, you get charged the FULL $159 or $179 when your subscription runs out.  They will DENY that at first, then they will tell you that it is YOUR fault because their systems are not synced.  (Their problems are LEGALLY SPEAKING, NOT MY problems... it is THERIS and they need to stop double charging people.)
  The first attachment is the REAL cost of their product right from their website.  This price NEVER changes--despite what lies they will tell you.
  First Email (attached) PROVES that what they said is a bald faced Lie... They said that I started off threatening them and demanding a price of $5.00 for the service.  Notice how my first email is totally opposite of that lie.
  I included a second screenshot of that first email as I had to scroll down... I wanted to point out their FLAT OUT LIE of them saying they offered me that at $79 when it CLEARLY states $87... and even if it DID say $79...that's STILL an increase from their REAL price (as shown in the first attachment) 
  Now... I will say that I did get pissy with them after they started lying and telling me that their cost was never that low (I provided them a copy of their OWN website and  said that if you want to keep my service NOW... you need to offer me that at $10.  THEN again, about 2 weeks later, after they lied some more... I THEN said $5.00 and threated to sue them.  A FAR CRY DIFFERENT STORY from the lie they told you, isn't it?  They pushed my buttons over and over again... like they WANTED me to take them to court.  THAT's how we wound up in your realm... I'm giving them EVERY change to rectify this without me taking them to court...because it would be a big pain for me to do so---so if I DO... I will be recommending to the court that their license be suspended until such time as they can PROVE that their system will not be DOUBLE CHARGING people.  BTW... I was double charged, their clearing house did admit to that.  To ensure that I was correct on that suspicion, I demanded them to produce records of every purchase I made to them.  They ignored it. I still want those copies.
  

  Customer response

  09/16/2024

   
  Complaint: 22098499
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  This is not my first rodeo with them.  I had problems with them back in 2020 or so.  The problem is that they will make a "great offer" to you about 90 days before your subscription expires (sometimes withing 1 month of buying it they're trying to get you to renew).  What happens is, if you buy it... then you pay that great deal of  $87, then 3 months later, you get charged the FULL $159 or $179 when your subscription runs out.  They will DENY that at first, then they will tell you that it is YOUR fault because their systems are not synced.  (Their problems are LEGALLY SPEAKING, NOT MY problems... it is THERIS and they need to stop double charging people.)
  The first attachment is the REAL cost of their product right from their website.  This price NEVER changes--despite what lies they will tell you.
  First Email (attached) PROVES that what they said is a bald faced Lie... They said that I started off threatening them and demanding a price of $5.00 for the service.  Notice how my first email is totally opposite of that lie.
  I included a second screenshot of that first email as I had to scroll down... I wanted to point out their FLAT OUT LIE of them saying they offered me that at $79 when it CLEARLY states $87... and even if it DID say $79...that's STILL an increase from their REAL price (as shown in the first attachment) 
  Now... I will say that I did get pissy with them after they started lying and telling me that their cost was never that low (I provided them a copy of their OWN website and  said that if you want to keep my service NOW... you need to offer me that at $10.  THEN again, about 2 weeks later, after they lied some more... I THEN said $5.00 and threated to sue them.  A FAR CRY DIFFERENT STORY from the lie they told you, isn't it?  They pushed my buttons over and over again... like they WANTED me to take them to court.  THAT's how we wound up in your realm... I'm giving them EVERY change to rectify this without me taking them to court...because it would be a big pain for me to do so---so if I DO... I will be recommending to the court that their license be suspended until such time as they can PROVE that their system will not be DOUBLE CHARGING people.  BTW... I was double charged, their clearing house did admit to that.  To ensure that I was correct on that suspicion, I demanded them to produce records of every purchase I made to them.  They ignored it. I still want those copies.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

  Business response

  09/24/2024

  Over the past years, the customer placed several orders, and from the moment of his initial purchase, he was informed that these subscriptions are set to renew automatically. Additionally, we provided notifications both prior to the renewal date and at the time of the original purchase.

  Its important to note that when he manually renewed certain subscriptions, the auto-renewal for previous subscriptions remained active since it wasnt disabled. As a result, both the manual and automatic renewals occurred.
  Each time a renewal was processed, he was informed about both the renewal and the corresponding price. This is also clearly outlined in our subscription agreement, which he accepted every time he placed a new order.

• Initial Complaint

  07/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They charged $40, have already written them that I am not interested in product within 24 hrs of the charge, still havent gotten a single response and/or waiting on the refund.

  Business response

  08/06/2024

  In this case, the customer contacted us from a different email address than the one used for purchase/Bitdefender account, so we had to ask him for additional info to find the transaction.
  
  We found out that was an automatic renewal, and we already processed the refund as requested.

• Initial Complaint

  07/28/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  The service was for protection for my Netgear router. I have discarded the router and no longer require the protection services for this device. I called the ********************** customer support number on 23 July 2024 to cancel the annual subscription after $99.87 was charged to my debit card. The representative then opened a case to have this subscription canceled. I was emailed from the case manager to change my subscription from a 24 month coverage to a month 12 month instead of canceling the subscription. I responded to the case manager and explained that I no longer have the device and that I have sinced moved overseas for a military assignment and asked to again cancel the subscription. I then received a response from the case manager that stated because I took too longer to respond that no changes would be made to my account. On 28 July 2024, I called the Bitdefender customer support number about canceling my annual subscription. The representative stated the case had been elevated to the case manager for cancelation and that there was nothing that could be done further to cancel my subscription. I asked to speak with another representative and was refused. The representative continued to stated that my case was being handled by the assigned case manager. When I was getting nowhere with the representative, I ended the call and called back to speak with another representative, only to again be speaking with the same representative. This representative keeps stating that the case has been elevated, even though the assigned case manager has emailed me that no further changes will occur with my account.

  Customer response

  07/28/2024

  Last response email received from the Bitdefender case manager on 27 July 2024.

  Customer response

  07/28/2024

  Last response email received from the Bitdefender case manager on 27 July 2024.

  Business response

  08/06/2024

  This customer had a Netgear Armor subscription which auto renewed. He was informed about auto-renewal 30 days before it took place. He contacted us and his case was initially handled by the retention team who made him an offer to keep the product, but he didn't agree, so the refund was processed as requested. 

  Customer response

  08/06/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. After the Better Business Bureau compliant was initiated, Bitdefender only agreed to process the refund after I took their company's survey of my experience with their organization. I included those emails with the time and date stamps as proof of that.

  I did accept the issued refund and I thank you Better Business Bureau for taking the time to help me with this case.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have canceled my service with Bitdefender antivirus and vpn software yet they have continued to attempt to charge my credit card for a service I have declined to continue. My credit card company is actively blocking their charges and changing my credit card number with each transaction attempt. I have emailed them multiple times trying to get them to resolve this problem with no success.

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  This customer contacted us initially using one of his email addresses and he didn't mention that he had two other email addresses used for purchase. 
  
  He had different subscriptions purchased with different email addresses and there were some attempts to charge him for renewals. We succeeded in disabling all his subscriptions with the discovered email addresses. 

  Customer response

  07/19/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  07/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I no longer have access to the original email address. I thought I had transferred it all as I can assign and download the software. I get notifications of renewal. But I cannot change billing. This is how I found out the billing is under my old email address which I have no access to as it no longer exists. They want an in voice from 2023 since I havent had access to the email since 2022 this is impossible. Then they want me to send an email from teh old account. I can't cause I do not have access to the old email. This is my main issue. Then they want 2023s invoice which they sent to the old email.... or they require an old bankstatement to be sent which I am uncomfortable with nor do I have access to that bank statement from 2023. I sent them the invoice from 2021. No response. I have been trying for over a week.

  Business response

  07/11/2024

  The colleagues from the business department informed us that they contacted the customer and offered the answer below:
  
  "Kindly note that the email address associated with your billing profile has been updated from *********************** to ************************,as you requested.
   You can now access your billing profile by logging in here using the registered email address, ************************.
   Please let us know if there is anything else we may be able to assist you with at this time or if this ticket can be closed."

  Customer response

  07/24/2024

   
  Complaint: 21931225
  
  I am rejecting this response because: tho my email address was finally changed. it took me complaining to the bbb and leaving bad reviews to finally get my email changed. The customer service lied and is horrible. The product works that about it. It should not take weeks to get something as simple as an email changed. And get no response for days. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  08/06/2024

  The colleagues from the business department informed us that they contacted the customer and offered the answer below:
  
  "Kindly note that the email address associated with your billing profile has been updated from *********************** to ************************,as you requested.
   You can now access your billing profile by logging in using the registered email address, ************************.
  
  

  Customer response

  08/07/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  Not happy at all with the business. It took complaints on multiple website and it took weeks and me complaining to the bbb and other sites. They lied when I called. Not satisfied and do not want this to show as a satisfied solution. This should have been a simple customer service email or call. NOT that they wanted me to email things I never received nor that I would have to send an email froma non existing email address nor that they referred me tot heir billing partner who then sent me back.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Customer response

  08/07/2024

  I do not want this to show as a resolved issue nor that I am satisfied. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Subject: Dispute Regarding Unauthorized Charges from Bitdefender **** I'm writing to formally dispute unauthorized charges on my account by ********************** **** Initially I activated the account is *** of 2021 as a non-recurring account but later learned my phone and computer were already being protected from viruses and threats by internet provider and phone carrier. I thought since it was a non-recurring no other charges would be charged at the end of the 1-year team. However, not sure when it became an automatic renewal subscription but when I discovered such the following year, I initiated a cancellation. Despite my cancellation of their automatic renewal service, apparently, I have continued to be billed. I canceled the automatic renewal service on a date that I do not precisely recall. but I am confident that the cancellation was completed. My problem is that I didn't do my due diligence ensuring the subscription was cancelled. Therefore, due to my oversight in regularly checking my credit card statements, I did not notice that Bitdefender **** continued to charge my account. I reviewed my credit card account statement Monday, *** 27, 2024, and was able to login my assigned Bitdefender account, which I didn't know still existed. There I discovered these ongoing charges were unauthorized, I'm requesting that Bitdefender refund the full amount of these charges and ensure that my account is permanently removed from their billing cycle. Viewing from other customers' complaints auto-renewal is a big issue for this company in which I feel these are deceptive practices. I would like to highlight that in January 2023, the **** issued a warning that automatic subscriptions renewals, also known as "negative options," programs, may violate the law if they are unfair, deceptive, or abusive and clearly without customer's consent which is unethical. They state billing shows up as Bitdefender but it discloses as 2com.com. (I'm requesting 2022, 2023 and 2024 refund.

  Business response

  06/11/2024

  'The order has been automatically renewed since you had the automatic renewal option enabled at your first purchase via our website.
  
  The auto-renewal option is enabled by default when purchasing to not compromise device security and allows you to conveniently retain protection when the Bitdefender subscription expires. At the same time, it is a widespread option in the antivirus industry and has been implemented as a result of customer requests.
  
  However, we understand that some users do not want this option to be active,and that's why we provide our customers with many ways to disable it:
  
  -following automated notification
  -by contacting the support team at anytime
  -following the steps available on our official website: *******************************************************************
  
  Also, we try to ensure maximum transparency on the auto-renewal process, both through the information available at the time of purchase and through multiple email notifications before the renewal is performed. It is always the client's decision if he wants to keep the auto-renewal on or off. However, if within one year of the initial purchase the customer does not manually deactivate or does not contact us to disable it, it is reasonable to consider that the customer agrees to the auto-renewal.
  Each year you have received a renewal notification to the e-mail address used for the initial purchase, an order confirmation and an invoice. 
  
  As per Bitdefender's refund policy, I can issue a refund within the first 30 days from the date of purchase. Your orders from 2022 and 2023 have exceeded that period, and I am unable to process a refund.
  
  Your purchase under order number #********* (from May 11, 2024) is now fully refunded. Depending on the issuing party, you will see the amount of ***** USD back in your account in up to 7 working days. Also,the automatic renewal for your subscription has been canceled.'
  
  Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  04/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have asked Bitdefender to cancel my subscription for their services and they keep adding me and billing me. I want them to stop billing me, to stop emailing me and I want and additional $50 added to my refund for the time I have had to spend asking them again to cancel my service that should have already been cancelled.

  Business response

  04/24/2024

  Upon checking the order *********, I can confirm that it has already been refunded on April 23rd 2024, following the dispute that you opened with PayPal. The duration of the transfer of the funds back to your account depends on PayPal's processing procedures and it may take up to 5-7 business days, therefore we appreciate your patience in the matter.
  I have also tried to locate the previous cancellation requests that you mentioned, and I could not find any such request associated with any of your email addresses used in relation with Bitdefender.
  
  If you could send us an example of such a request, either as an attachment or a screenshot, with the sender and the recipient visible, I could investigate what happened.

• Initial Complaint

  04/14/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased a subscription for Bitdefender Total Security as well as the Premium ***. I have receipt for my purchase and the activated subscription can be viewed within my online account with ********************** Central.And yet, I continuously have issued related to the *** only providing the free version of their service. There is a constant button within the software to upgrade, despite having already upgraded to Premium from the very beginning.The free version has caused issues with my state certification process for work in ****** (which requires weeks of online training including video) and I am about to be booted from the program due to the issues of connectivity and bandwidth. I will not be able to afford rent or utilities including internet and phone if I lose this job.I continue to attempt to reach customer service or possibly make a ticket. There is no customer service and no ability to make a ticket. Their support and contact us options continue to loop back to the beginning which is likely done on purpose. They list no phone number or support email. I am also contacting my bank on Monday to dispute all charges as well as filling out complaint forms with both the *** and the ****

  Customer response

  04/15/2024

  While a refund would be nice I need to clarify that I did receive 10 months of my subscription in which about 8 months of the time the *** service worked as advertised.  But at least 2 months including this recent month I was only getting their free version which created major issues concerning getting training needed for my job.  (I spent countless hours troubleshooting why my video couldn't work correctly for Zoom meeting as well as internet speed issues.  I am certain I spent over 100 hours in the course of two months trying to trouble shoot.  The *** kept reverting to a free version despite showing as activated in my account.  This could be due to having to do factory resets on my PC for windows 11 and a network hacking issue almost a year ago...
  

  The primary complaint is that I was unable to make a support ticket or contact any customer service due to the help section on their website looping back to the start each time I made an attempt by following the websites instructions.  Bitdefender is a large company.  This should not happen. 

  I have 2 months left of their service but can no longer use the *** service in which I paid ***** dollars if I recall correctly.  (I have a digital receipt in back emails) If I don't get a refund I understand and am not worried about that aspect so much as I just want to report to an agency concerning their lack of adequate customer service...a trend in the digital age by companies that can certainly afford it.
  

  Thanks for your time and have a nice day.
  

  Customer response

  04/15/2024

  I also forget to mention that I am not disputing any charges with my bank since I did get 7 to 8 months of VPN Premium as advertised.  A refund would be deserved...but it's not something to contact my bank over.

   

  Thanks.

  Customer response

  04/16/2024

  I can drop this complaint after the company responded.  While I am not going to take them up on extra subscription time, they did offer to reimburse me with additional months at no cost.  So I will let this go and move on without requesting any further assistance.

   

  I appreciate the time and help in resolving this matter.  Thank-you for the help.

   

  Sincerely,

  *******************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩