Symantec was founded by Gary Hendrix with a grant from the National Science Foundation in 1982. The company originally focused on artificial intelligence.
Two years later in 1984 it became clear that the product the company was developing would not work. This left Symantec with expertise but no viable product. At this juncture the company was bought by C&E Software. The new company retained the name Symantec.
Symantec developed Q&A, a database and word processing software program for IBM-compatible computers that is cited as a significant step toward making computers less intimidating and more user friendly.
Revenues from Q&A allowed the company to grow and expand. In 1993 Symantec acquired ACT!, in 2004 Veritas, and in 2010 Verisign’s authentication business unit, among others.
Today Symantec provides security, storage, and systems management software for businesses and consumers. The company’s applications include such functions as virus control, data backup, PC maintenance, intrusion detection, content filtering, and remote server management.
Symantec’s products include the Norton family of security software, including Norton Antivirus, McAfee, Panda Security, BitDefender, Sophos, and Trend Micro, among others.
Symantec has 21,500 employees and had $6.73 billion in revenue in 2012.
Symantec CorporationSymantec was founded by Gary Hendrix with a grant from the National Science Foundation in 1982. The company originally focused on artificial intelligence.
Two years later in 1984 it became clear that the product the company was developing would not work. This left Symantec with expertise but no viable product. At this juncture the company was bought by C&E Software. The new company retained the name Symantec.
Symantec developed Q&A, a database and word processing software program for IBM-compatible computers that is cited as a significant step toward making computers less intimidating and more user friendly.
History
Revenues from Q&A allowed the company to grow and expand. In 1993 Symantec acquired ACT!, in 2004 Veritas, and in 2010 Verisign’s authentication business unit, among others.
Today Symantec provides security, storage, and systems management software for businesses and consumers. The company’s applications include such functions as virus control, data backup, PC maintenance, intrusion detection, content filtering, and remote server management.
Symantec’s products include the Norton family of security software, including Norton Antivirus, McAfee, Panda Security, BitDefender, Sophos, and Trend Micro, among others.
Symantec has 21,500 employees and had $6.73 billion in revenue in 2012.
Symantec’s emotional decision to boycott the NRA is an act of political cowardice. Your virtual signaling by Symantec has caused me to begin the process of cancelling all of my Norton subscriptions, as it is apparent that you no longer desire my business. I have been a Symantec customer since inception but no longer. The atrocity in Florida was committed by single deranged individual, not by NRA. Blaming the NRA for the action of this deranged person is tantamount to blaming a fork for the fatness of an individual. Respectfully, the cowardly intellectual geniuses at Symantec should reconsider their inane business decision.
I am writing to tell you about a possible internet scam using your management team’s names to fraudulently obtain bank account or credit card information. I am currently looking for a position and apparently the people got my information from LinkedIn. I spent a lot of time interviewing via email last night only to get to the end and they want my credit card or bank information to send me “materials” they say is necessary to do the job. I refused to do that and they are very persistent. They are using your employee Amy Cappelanti-Wolf’s name (supposedly she is the one I have been emailing with) and your CEO Greg Clark who sent the Employment Offer Letter. Please pass this on to the proper fraud personnel at Symantec. I would love a response if you would email me.
Attn: Elder Abuse By Your Employee
Earlier this year, your Norton unit debited my 87 year old mother’s American Express card for a subscription
that she did not order.
Like many of her generation, my mother is unsophisticated with respect to computers and the internet.
So, I have acquired every computer that she has used over the years, and set it up. At some point in the distant
past, I must have placed a Norton virus product on her computer, or you wouldn’t have her credit card number.
However, if I did, it was many years ago, so by any reasonable logic, charging her for a “renewal” is hardly legitimate.
When she found the Norton charge on her American Express statement, she contacted your people, and was
given the run around. She made several attempts to have the charge reversed, then finally brought it to my
attention. I telephoned your people and they started the same nonsense with me, informing me that I needed
to perform some ridiculous gymnastics to have the charge canceled. And, they refused to cancel the debit.
She and I both contacted American Express to dispute the charge, but apparently the revenues
that this type of illicit activity generates, outweighs the negative impact on a customer relationship
of 59 years. So, American Express did not intercede on her behalf.
So, in the hope that vulgar predatory manhandling of 87 year old women is not condoned at the executive
level at Norton, I thought I would appeal to your sense of decency. Please reverse the debit on the
American Express card of Mary K Kilgore.
Best regards,
Gary H. Kilgore
My dear Mr. Hyatt, not only you almost wrote most my grievance letter for me but we belong to the same generation and we have similar client background and customer service standard requirement. I have been using Norton products for 16 years. This year I decided I had enough of being treated like an untouchable so I opted to buy another Internet Security software but I was horrified to see the same complications and lack of service, so I canceled it and went back to Norton: “Better deal with the devil you know than the devil you don’t” I was beginning to believe that all I.S. companies had gone toxic but your letter gave me the answer: I did not know that BitDefender had become part of the unspeakable Symantec Corp.
Every point you make in your letter applies to me: Quasi impossibility to accede a senior manager in a written manner, difficulty in communication by phone made worse by foreign accents and high speed of delivery, these features getting even worse if I dare to comment upon them. A few support techs became actually abusive and I had to hang up. [I am a woman, hence a lesser client!]
You have only one inaccuracy in your letter, you write: “You are American, and so are they…” Not quite. The Symantec physical address is still in CA for the moment but it might as well be in New Delhi for what it is worth. Microsoft, Symantec and now BitDefender… Most of the Internet is being governed by Indian technocrats.
I am a molecular biologist and while actively working, I had many foreign scientists working with and for me, including Indians. I loved working with them because they were calm, polite and competent. I guess we are now dealing with the “Generation X”: Rude aggressive and nasty. One cannot stop “progress”.
I will close by mentioning my present grief with Norton.
This software has been formatted so as to become dictatorial and abusive with clients.
I had used the “Power Eraser” because I was not convinced that the standard scan had removed a serious malware. The word used in the result was “blocking” and that particular malware is a morphing item which mimics a Microsoft registry entry.
Sure enough, The Eraser result for the registry was “Bad” and I activated the cleaning process. As a follow up, Norton sent me to the internet and as I clicked to open Firefox a text box opened telling me that this company did not help people who do not keep their browser up to date…! Really!! I was floored for a couple of seconds, and then I became very angry. WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE @ Symantec: The new Gestapo!
This will be sent to HQ by Fax & to the BBB
I had just updated Firefox two to three weeks ago so I knew that statement could not be true. I reopened Firefox and sure enough, I was using #43.2, when I checked for the latest version, it was now 43.3. BIG DEAL! A tenth of a point behind!
That does it. I am through with anything “Symantec” and I want BOTH my refunds as I am still waiting for BitDefender to reimburse me!
They can go and abuse someone else, not this woman.
I shall be writing to you by snail mail, but for your advance notice, I am not a fan of yours. My wife and I have 3 computers, which are this desktop, and a couple of netbooks, and we have Norton 360 Premier installed on each.
Until about 2 months ago, I had become a great fan of Norton 360. It was one of my two best software suites. The other was Systweak’s Advanced System Optimizer (ASO), which comprised my only other maintenance suite. Then I started finding that Norton was seizing executable files from ASO, and quarantining them. So, to counter this initially, I asked individually that they be excluded from the Norton Scan. This it did for a short while, but then it began to quarantine more and more of the ASO files, so I had to exclude more.
It eventually got so bad that I had to ‘TRY’ to contact Norton (who really don’t want to be contacted) in order to find a solution. In the past I could email them (I’ve had Norton on and off for perhaps 20 years)? Now they will not accept emails, and insist that we either telephone them for assistance or go online to (so-called) CHAT, and they will not accept any other means of contact!
Note that I am 75 soon to be 76, have a considerable hearing deficit since doing army service many years ago, so that telephone conversations now are very difficult with the simplest reasons. My typing speed is no better, yet you make no allowance. I always learned that the customer is always right. I do not agree, but in your case you act on the basis the customer is never right, and refuse to help us.
My beef, and you’ll be hearing from me by snail mail, is that you have totally destroyed my one and only maintenance program on my netbook so that I can no longer maintain it. In fact, it crashed when I tried yesterday, having done a fantastic job in Safe Mode to restore my wife’s Netbook from becoming a large paper weight: i.e. it would not boot normally.
Your companies are becoming laws unto themselves, and it seems you are deliberately targeting Systweak’s ASO (their flagship) to put them out of business.
This, by the way, and it doesn’t seem all that coincidental, came after an American company with maintenance software libelled ASO online for all to see. You are American, and so are they, so perhaps you can’t stand the competition?
To further put you in the picture concerning Norton 360 Premier, which is what my software relatively recently morphed to becoming, a number of the items I found in its quarantine had been removed from ASO’s quarantine! So much for its ability to instantly catch malware of all kinds!
Last night after trying to run ASO, I had to give up, and revert to running the Microsoft Defrag from their Administrative Tools, which I’d not had to do for many, many years. It took ages, and it finally finished this morning. It was the final straw. Until your rotten software (which I had believed was on a par with ASO as one of my sole security and maintenance softwares), totally destroyed ASO – which is in a class of its own in terms of maintenance, and NEVER did any harm to my computer, as your rotten Norton 360 has now done – the two worked very well together, and I had a great machine.
I don’t know what the courts would believe was a reasonable way for Norton to operate, but I do know that if it’s possible for Norton to target individual executable files in another company’s software, and act as though the files were heuristic viruses, when I’m darned sure they know they’re not, it wouldn’t look good for Norton or, therefore, their masters, Symantec.
By the way, it was an eye opener a little earlier when I saw that Symantec also own a number of other security companies, including BitDefender, who are open to email correspondence and very helpful! Unfortunately, since it is one of your companies, I shall be looking for a good security suite that you do not own. Might be difficult, but then perhaps the authorities should be looking at the fact that you appear to be a Monopoly, and break it up, especially because Norton’s attitude is take it or leave it!
This is not the first time I’ve had a problem with Norton, but because I liked the software I never pressed the matter before. But there was a case about three years ago when we did phone for Norton assistance – my wife dealt with it because of my hearing problem – and we were charged up front (about $70?) before they would give assistance. My wife was then given a lot of OBVIOUS platitudes about virus detection, etc., that did nothing to answer our question. Because of this obvious ‘cheat sheet’ ramble, she told the woman that what she had to tell us was simply introduction to AV Number 1, and useless as it didn’t answer our problem. Her supervisor then promised to refund the money, but it was never refunded, as I’ve told your people on occasions since, but never pressed.
Perhaps you’ll understand that I shall be pressing the matter more forcefully from now on (not the money, but the principle that you owe us your side of the bargain, to protect, not destroy our computers). You know, if this happened to us, then I would be very surprised if others haven’t had the same terrible experience, perhaps who are even less literate than me …?
We have been customers for over 10 yrs. Now that we have moved from Californa to Virginia and no longer have high speed internet and I need a DISC to install the new multi-user Norton. We now live rurally and the nearest Staples is 30 miles each way. Office Depot is 50 plus miles each way. We can not download the program otherwise I would be using our months data allowance which is ridiculous. There are a lot of people that live rurally that need to be covered. Meriel in the Phillipines is very rude and needs to be retrained. I also called the CA Corporate Office Number and again I got the Phillipines. I told him I need to speak to someone at corporate and I got put into a technical support queue. What kind of crap is that. I hope to get an answer asap.
Norton 360 with back up security is what is wanted. A DISC ONLY!!!!
I ordered a Norton product through a Norton store for my Windows XP.Pro. When I tried to log in to my account, I was repeatedly told that my password was incorrect, therefore I wasn’t able to download the product. I reset the password but I still have no way to download the product I bought. It was not bought for this computer. It was bought for my Dell computer. I previously had bought Norton 360 but I did not renew it because I found a cheaper version for $39.99. I have the confirmation form with order number NP1140492193. I want my Norton antivirus downloaded on my Dell computer or else I want a refund on my VISA.
DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT ONTO THIS COMPUTER. The product was not ordered for this computer. It is to replace the Norton 360 which I do not plan to renew. Many of the Symantic sites I was referred to are obviously ads and are trying to sell their services. I want a free download with no strings attached…no sales pitches or added costs.
Peggy did anyone contact you from America?
In July 2013, I contact Symantec because I paid for a Norton 360 Subscription, I dealt with a couple of people including a incompetent person whose name is Roger Bosque. Needless to say, I found out this year, Roger messed up my order as well as invaded my privacy to get simple contact information that he could’ve emailed me to get the simple information. At this point, I want someone from Symantec’s Executive Offices to contact me and I will provide more detailed to them on the problem at hand.
I really like the software, However , When opening Norton you get the 4 yellow
boxes which are very hard to read. I cannot imagine some one letting this get
by for approval. Change the contrast levels
, maybe changing the background text for easier reading. Right now it looks
like a real cheap piece of software.
Today I am terminating my association with Norton Easy Support (Symantec Corp.). Back in Feb. 2014, my account was set to renew but the application would not let me update my card information so I called & gave the new information which was promptly lost or ignored by the agent. My account was suspended. In March 2014, I called & spoke to an agent who said I have to re-enroll in the service which would cost the monthly fee of $19.99 plus an activation fee of $89.99, of which $69.99 would be refunded after 24 hours. I agreed. Yesterday, I noticed that my account was suppended once again. I called various “24/7” support numbers only to hear music on the other end, never an agent. This morning I called the customer support number for non-technical issues. It was a recording telling me to go to a web page & look for answers. I called the tech support number & got a billing agent. She informed me that, indeed, my account was suspended but there was no reason why. She said she would happily assist me in re-enrolling once again…for the same price I paid in March 2014. I told her that I didn’t think I should have to pay the extra fees since it was their mistake not mine. Her only response was that it was my option to not pay the fee & not receive the service. Therefore, given that Norton apparently no longer gives a crap about their customers, & wants to make an extra $20 a month from me, I, who was a good customer, will no longer utilize any Norton or Symantec product.
Contacted Norton call centre last year and are still waiting for the refund cheque to arrive. Speak to a different person each time and told twice that the the refund cheque will take six weeks to arrive and still nothing. Dont tick the automatic renewal button when signing up for Norton because if you change your email address you wont get notification that they will be charging your credit card and getting your refund back off them is like pulling teeth with a toothpick. Great product but no satisfaction talking to their call centre.
Jerald: I truly understand how upsetting it is on your end. You may call us on this number: + 0800 442 795. That is New Zealand based number.
11/2/2014
Orly: Hi, Gillian. Welcome to Norton Support. My name is Orly. May I please have 2-3 minutes to go through your previous case?
Orly: I’m still checking your previous case, Gillian. Please give me more time.
Orly: Hi, Gillian. Welcome to Norton Support. My name is Orly. May I please have 2-3 minutes to go through your previous case?
Orly: I’m still checking your previous case, Gillian. Please give me more time.
Orly: Thank you for patiently waiting, I just checked the notes made by one of our managers and I found that your refund request, has been processed already and will be sent to you through check in 4-6 weeks.
Gillian Hull: I was told that in December that a cheque was coming and that did not come through. I was told that someone would ring me this morning and that has not happened. So you are telling me that I have to wait another 4-6 weeks before I get a cheque. Not really satisafactory when I have been waiting this long
Gillian Hull: Would you like to make sure the person who was going to ring me this morning rings me