Trialling Norton 2009 - bad practice?

Hi people.

One of my work colleagues wanted to trial NIS 2009 so I pointed them to Symantec's site and was shocked to see this 'opt out' option they seem to have incorporated into their trialware. See link below:-

https://shop.symantecstore.com/serv...e=en_US&SiteID=symnahho&id=QCShoppingCartPage

So before you can trial you need to enter your card details and at the end of the 30 day trial (provided you haven't gone through the process of opting out) you'll automatically get charged and receive a full license.

I know this tactic is used when you actually buy a license as they automatically renew your license and charge you if you forget/don't know about opting out but I've never seen anything like this when it simply comes to trialling a product.

I see they've extended the normal 15 day trial period to 30 but I still think it's poor and forceful behaviour from them.

Anyone agree/disagree?

 

I completely agree.
very bad idea
its bad enough auto renewing but asking for credit card details for a trial product is crazy and stupid.

btw you can get norton 2009 trialware without that bad practice using the link at download.com
it redirects you to symantec website and asks for a few details such as first name,last name,email address and country.

 

Thanks for that link - I'll pass it on to my colleague.

However, I think the average consumer who'll go to Symantec's site then downloads then trialware will not be aware of other ways of getting the trial and so will go through this 'opt out' trial. But having said that, I would suspect that a lot of people will actually be put off by it and go and trial a competitor's product instead.

I agree with you - entering card details just to trial something it out of order. And what happens if you decide you don't like it, uninstall it but forget to 'opt out' - will your card still be charged then?

 

The answer would be yes I'm sure,followed by a degree of effort to obtain a refund no doubt.

 

Unfortunately the link is prehistoric so expect a large virus update, 39MB, on top of the 100MB download.

But, it is better than handing over your CC. I bet that puts so many people off trying NIS.

Ian

 

@Ade 1

Hello!

You don't need shopping card in order to trial a Symantec Norton software - at least not in the US site . I don't know exactly how you came to the site you posted .

Anyway - you can either visit the Trialware section and download a trial version or visit the full product updates section and get the latest version . In case you don't enter your product key , the product will remain active for 15 days for the trialware .

Symantec (USA) doesn't offer 30 day trial .

If you want USA one - for 15 days , get the very latest version from :
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeof...upgrade2007/vista/select_product.jsp?site=nuc

Symantec (Russia) offers 90 free trial for Norton 360 3.0 , NIS 2009 and NAV 2009 . Available from :
http://www.symantec.com/content/ru/ru/home_homeoffice/try2009/try90.html

N.B. Even though it is from their Russian site , the version is in English .



ASpace

 

@Aspace

Thanks for your reply.

Where the above link came from was just visiting the symantec.com website, choosing downloads followed by trialware and selecting a product. It then proceeds to the shopping cart/opt out trial version.

For the uninitiated, this would seem the only option available to trial a symantec product.

I've just gone to the UK site and trialling on there simply asks for your location and email address before you download so seems to be ok.

 

wow the russian page gives u a nice time trial

 

Very nice but I wonder why the rest of the World doesn't deserve such a trial

 

If they've not taken it away, a 90-day trial should still be obtainable through Microsoft and their "AntiVirus Partners" - search on Google.

 

i bought it and didn't like it. 12 months later i paid for it again automatically! my fault always read the small print. however, try and get out of the auto renewal is possibly one of the most challenging encounters i have had in cyberspace. security programs are becoming worse than malware. http://www.theage.com.au/news/techn...orised-renewals/2009/06/12/1244664838787.html

 

Yes , but you can simply imput crap - unreal information - just to bypass the system .

It asks for name , family name , email , location . You can enter
Name :vjnssd
Family name : sdnksj
email : dnsk@nsdkm.jp
Location : <whatever>

Then , simply download the file.

 

.
This is a good argument for not buying from the Symantec Online Store. I bought NIS2009 retail and just entered the key into an existing install with a 15 day trial license (which I downloaded without giving any CC information). If you never give them a CC number you will not be subjected to "auto-renewal". You only need to offer a valid email address to have an account on their website (mynortonaccount.com) which is useful for checking the status of licenses.

 

I appreciate that but I was just pointing out that attempting to trial a Symantec product from the .com site gives you the 'opt out' trial whereas from the UK site it seems what used to happen on the .com site (ie. enter some basic info and you're able to download no probs).