I hope this Panda becomes extinct... (Panda Antivirus Platinum 6.0)

Member Name: becktheone

Product:	Panda Antivirus Platinum 6.0
Date:	17/03/09 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: What advantages?!

Disadvantages: Customer service extremely poor

About three years ago, my family's home computer needed an antivirus update, but due to the high cost of McAfee, which we had been previously using, we decided to try Panda, which was cheaper and seemed better. So we bought the product online and followed the steps to downloading. What followed was a complete nightmare.

For some reason, Panda was completely incompatible with my computer system. We were running Windows XP at the time, and the computer was only a few years old, so it should have worked. When we switched the computer on, it would startup normally, then Panda would autostart and the computer would switch off. I'm quite good with computers and I know a fair bit more than the average user, but nothing I did would solve the problem, save starting the computer up in Safe Mode and changing the settings so that Panda would not autostart when the computer did. This was only a temporary solution, because I obviously needed some sort of antivirus software running. When I tried to open it normally, again the same problem occurred.

I'm not criticising the product just because of this - of course, there may have been other issues, such as something wrong with my computer. It's what happened next that really annoyed me. I tried to contact their customer support via email, due to no phone number being displayed on their website at the time, which I think was out of order. I had no response via email. So, I waited a while, and then tried again, with a more urgent tone to my email. No response. I tried once more, eliciting no response, and then wrote a fourth, very angry, email. Then, I got a response, from a technician who was not very polite and did not seem to know what he was talking about. I then told him I would like to cancel the product and that I was dissatisfied with the service, and asked for my money back. I was redirected by him to another email account, which I then emailed to ask for my money back. Again, I got no response from these people.

In terms of the features available, what Panda offered was good but the whole problem was that nothing worked anyway! The product was completely useless! Don't get me wrong, I know other people who like Panda software and have reported no problems, but I can assure you their technical support is rubbish!

Overall, my experience with Panda Antivirus was absolutely disgraceful. I had to send several threatening emails to the second email account mentioned above, just get the money back! I've been using freeware antivirus and antispyware programs for nearly two years now, and I find them so much better than the paid for ones. From my own experience of paid-for antivirus software, I now believe they use scaremongering in order to frighten people into buying products they don't really need.

I realise this is a one-sided review, but it's more an account of my experience with Panda. Potential buyers can make their own judgements, based on what I've written and what others say.

Thank you for taking the time to read.
Beck

Summary: I would recommend a free antivirus software product. They're honestly just as good.

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