Iolo Technologies

Back in 2022, I canceled the online offer for System Mechanic Professional I got in an email and then called a phone saleswoman for Iolo instead to order a cheap version of the basic version of System Mechanic for just $9.95. For me, System Mechanic was just a backup.

Recently, I found out that I was also billed $19.95 per month for Live Tech which was never mentioned by the phone saleswoman. I did not discover this before the year ran out, so this fraud cost me 12 * $19.95 = $239.40. This is pure fraud. There was no fine print to possibly justify this since I had canceled the online offer before calling the phone saleswoman, who never mentioned anything about Live Tech.

I don't care about the policies of this criminal organization. We have laws in the United States. I will be contacting both the Attorney General of California and the Attorney General of the United States about this fraud. This company needs to be shut down.

The Attorney General of California is supposed to be protecting us from fraud coming from that state.

Collectively, we may be able to get a response. Apparently, I need to check my bank statement every day.

First MY failure. I failed to notice sooner that IOLO was charging me 19.95 every month,sooner than I did.

But that's what they did for several months. I didn't ask for their services just the virus protection. But they said what I purchased included a bundle with their software support services. So I went back and looked at the website I ordered from.

Sure enough, in the fine print on the very last sentence of a 4 paragraph fine print. It included the explanation of the bundle in one final sentence. I've been with them since 2001 and I can promise you they've gone downhill over the years. Including some pretty cheeky practices and pop-up ads they never used to have.

I'll no longer use them again. Even if another company does similar activities. At least it'll look different! But no, they've gotten theur last penny from me.

BTW When I chatted with them the first thing I said was they've stolen from me.

They then spent 20 minutes trying to convince me to spend more money on more products. Before they ever got to the crux of the problem.STAY AWAY

Trust lost: Surprised at monthly payments to a subscription I wasn't aware of.

I was surprised when Paypal notified me I was paying a monthly subscription (about $240 per year) to ReaIDefense for "Tech Support" which I neither want nor need. After some emails to Iolo I now understand how I came to be signed up to make monthly payments to RealDefense LLC.

Apparently the commitment was bundled with my renewal of System Mechanic back in November.

RealDefense pointed out that the terms were communicated during that renewal, the implication being that my subsequent experience of paying for something I don't want must surely be down to my own stupidity.

The fact is, I have been using System Mechanic for over 20 years and have got used to annual renewals.

I guess I was anticipating the normal routine, so wasn't paying full attention and didn't notice the extra commitment which has been bundled with the software this year.

Yes, that sure makes me feel stupid.

It was just fortunate that Paypal did alert me when the new paid subscription began on 20th December.

I notice however that RealDefense LLC didn't send any sort of confirmation. This seems to be a sign that the deliberate marketing strategy behind the Tech Support subscription is set up to passively renew, with the added benefit that RealDefense can take advantage of (stupid) customers who may not be aware they signed up to a subscription, or may have forgotten (I suspect this is the real purpose of the "30-day trial" period).

As long as no further confirmations are sent to warn the customeer, then the subscription can roll on indefinitely. And if people aren't even aware they have the subscription, they won't even use the service!

Good for RealDefense!

I'm sure that RealDefense marketing think this is a great strategy, and maybe it is bringing in lots of cash to that organisation.

However I take a really dim view of companies which are not fully up front about how they are taking my money. I also don't like dealing with organisations whose business plan relies on making me feel stupid.

I don't intend to renew RealDefense software again.

After more than 20 years of using Iolo's software, the new pushy marketing strategy has lost the trust of this customer.

Most chat agents won't let you talk a technical until they sell you their products, even though you don't want more items. This company does not have a phone numbering for Australia.

The numbers that they give Telstra information are incorrect or invalid. So for Australian users, the only contact is Via their Chat Site. If you need to speak to their people in the Accounts Department, the Chat Agents inform you "Sorry we can't do that".

Accounts or sales personnel won't even phone you to sort out my problem.

If and when you can connect to a Technician to repair your computer, they are great at what they do. The technicians are brilliant but can't say the same for the Chat Site Agents

To Australian users Beware, look in Australia for Technical support.