Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/26/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 11/25/22 I was charged $164.99 for a yearly Mcafee live safe subscription auto renewal. I called customer service and tried to request a refund but was hung up on.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/13/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/09) */ I have reached out to the customer and left 2 voice messages and have not received a reply. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/12/12) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/24/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  136.49$ was charged on ********************** Oct 21/22. The charge to this card is unauthorized. On my account info with McAfee, they have my previous credit card info which is now expired.************ allowed them to access my new card to charge this fee. Nov 23 called McAfee to refund, got a song and dance. Nov 23 called************ to refund and report, they say that McAfee has permission to charge on credit cards they do not actually have access to. How does this keep them from randomly charging me more without my knowledge again? *********** says I now have to wait 15 days to call them back to talk about a refund. Since I have no guarantee from them that I will actually get a refund, I am reporting this situation as it stands now. That is 15 days of interest on the credit card. That is 15 days of wondering how to keep them from randomly grabbing money from my credit card Just now, 40 min later, called capital one to cancel card in order to try to protect it, the lady says im transferring to someone who will initiate complaint. Last lady did not do this, just said wait 15 days, tough luck. i realize i have digressed to capital one being the problem. it is mcafee i want held accountable, and to warn others about

  Business Response

  Date: 01/19/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/12) */ Dear******, Per our email correspondence, the charge for your recent subscription renewal is in dispute. Presently, you have been provided a credit for the amount charged to your payment instrument for the renewal of your subscription. As stated, if the dispute is settled in McAfee's favor, we are more than happy to provide a bank transfer refund for this charge, as we will be unable to issue a refund back to the card. Please feel free to contact me directly, if you have any additional questions, concerns, or details related to your complaint. Sincerely, ************* Executive Customer Assistance Team McAfee Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/12/12) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) If they don't have access to my bank account already, they aren't getting details from me. Since this is all gone down I realize why the auto renewal is important because it is security for a client's computer. Fine print etc... it still feels wrong to have your personal accounts accessible. I'm no executive but surely there's a more transparent system. Not everyone is 100% information age savvy.im aware this is the new survival of the fittest ******************************************* My cohort works hard. Works a lot. Fine details aren't our thing, ************************************************************************************************************It's working where you can to pay off useless education loans. Either way the decision goes, if I'm given the benefit of the doubt it would be far more human than to a huge company And I thank mcafee for their candor. Cheers Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/12/22) */ Dear******, We do not have access to your bank account details. The necessity of that information is pending on the result of your chargeback dispute for the renewal charge. I will reach out to our accounting team for an alternative method if the dispute is settled in McAfee's favor. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have endured as a result of the auto-renewal of your subscription. We try to maintain transparency by informing customers of the full price and auto-renewal policy, at the time of purchase, as well as in the license agreement and pre-notification emails. If you have any additional questions or concerns regarding McAfee, or if you are informed that the chargeback dispute was not settled in your favor, please feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely, ************* Executive Customer Assistance Team McAfee Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/12/26) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I'd still like a refund. Tx Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2023/01/13) */ Dear******, In order to provide a refund at this time, we would need proof, provided by your bank, that shows that the chargeback dispute for the renewal charge was settled in McAfee's favor. Once this has been provided, we will be able to work with you to provide a refund. Please feel free to contact me directly for any questions or concerns. Sincerely, ************* Executive Customer Assistance Team McAfee

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/23/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I recieved an email that said that I am going to be charged ****** for a computer security system I never applied for. I called and they were rude and very suspicious. They asked for a number and I told them I needed to speak to people and they refused. They told me that I would recieve an email within an hour. And I never got an email.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  Hello *******,
  
  My name is ***************************, and I am with the Executive Customer Assistance Team here at **********************. Thank you for speaking with me regarding your concerns. To confirm, the email you received did not originate from McAfee, and we suspect it may have been crafted in a phishing attempt. The price mentioned is much higher than even our McAfee ******************* and we also don't have any home user products at that price point. Emails originating from McAfee will come from a sender with a "mcafee.com" domain, and our official support contact information can be found and verified at *******************************************. Additionally, I am unable to locate an account associated with contact details provided.
  
  If you have any further questions or concerns, I can be reached using the contact details noted in my email.
  
  Thank you,
  ***************************
  Executive Customer Assistance Team
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/23/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  So I talked with McAfee customer service about cancelling my mothers auto renewed anti-virus subscription. The subscription was for ******************** They managed to cancel the subscription but will not refund the pro-rated unused portion. Evidently, they have a 60 day policy on renewal cancellations to get a refund, even though 10 months remain on the product subscription. As background, my mother is 95 and her computer is no longer operable. I've been remotely trying to clean up some outstanding issues like this on her behalf. The auto renewal was paid on August 20, 2022 and I called them to cancel and get a refund on her behalf on October 22, 2 days past their "window" for refunds. Obviously, my moms situation is complicated but I am furious that a major company would refuse to provide a 95 year old woman a pro-rated refund for almost 10 months of service she is not going to use, because it's "policy". So, you're 95, living on a fixed income, not using the product, have 83% of the subscription remaining... no refund for you, we have earnings goals to achieve, no exceptions. This is stop 1 on my quest to stand up for what is fair. It's not like a return window on physical goods that could be damaged or have a shelf life. This is just an excuse to keep peoples money because they can, regardless of whether they continue to provide the service.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/22/2023

  Called customer and apologized for any inconvenience we may have caused and confirmed that I will honor his request for a refund due to his mother no longer needing the sub as she is 95 years old and only used about 85 percent of the subscription.  Customer was satisfied.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/28/2023

   
  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

  Date:11/22/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  See attached document

  Business Response

  Date: 11/29/2022

  Hello Mr. and *************************,
  
  My name is ***************************, and I am with the Executive Customer Assistance Team here at **********************. We have received your complaint and would like to get in touch with you regarding your issue. We are unable to locate a McAfee account associated with the details provided, and we have no contact information to reach out to you.
  
  If you could please provide the email address associated with the subscription, or a phone number to contact you, we will be able to check our records for an account and assist further.
  
  Thank you,
  ***************************
  Executive Customer Assistance Team
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/22/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am speaking on ********************************************************************* Around February 27 ******* renewed his subscription to McAfee for $86.63. The following months he received several emails from McAfee reminding him to renew his subscription before it runs out. Not remembering if he had already paid for the renewal he responded by paying several times. He wound up paying 8 years into the future. When I contacted McAfee to request refunds in early August, they apologized for the emails and stated that they would refund the 6 most current payments totaling $557.41. On August 15, 3 of the 6 were refunded. Since that time, I have contacted McAfee customer support 8 times and spent over 7 hours on the phone re-explaining the situation to a different representative. Each time the rep apologized for the mix up and stated that they would work to get it corrected. They also stated that from their end it looked like all of the refunds were processed so ******* should have received all refunds. The last 6 times (of the 8) I contacted McAfee, the rep stated that since this has not been resolved yet and there is an issue with the refund going through, they would elevate my request to someone higher up. Each time the rep promised that someone would contact me within a few hours to a few days to make sure the issue was finally resolved... but I never received a phone call from anyone... so I continued to contact them. The last time I contacted them, the rep promised her supervisor would contact me within 1 hour, and that she would call within 3 hours to make sure I was contacted. But I was not contacted by either. During that time, I was able to have *******'s bank dispute one of the three remaining charges, leaving two refunds that still need to be made. The refunds that I am seeking from McAfee for ******* Serrano are for $86.63 and $102.87... totaling $189.50. The service request # McAfee assigned to this case is ***********

  Business Response

  Date: 12/22/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/09) */ Dear Mr. ******, My name is *************. I am on the Executive Customer Assistance Team at McAfee. I want to thank you for working with me regarding your concerns. If you have any additional concerns in the future regarding your McAfee account, please feel free to contact me directly at ************. I am available Monday-Friday, from 8am to 5pm Central Time (US). If you would prefer to communicate by email, you may reach me at************************* Thank you for contacting McAfee. Sincerely, ************* Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/12/22) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/19/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 11/18/2022 my wife ****************** saw an email, supposedly from McAfee, that said thanks for your Purchase, the final cost is $499.99 that will be deducted via direct debit--the problem is, we never ordered anything from them, and we haven't used them in at least 10 - 15 years (we have used pc-matic for last couple years). On the morning of 11/19, ******* explained this, and apparently they weren't satisfied, so they called back at 11:00 am, that same morning, and bothered her about it again. ******* explained that she doesn't even have or use a desktop or laptop, she only has her android phone, and then explained that no such amount (thank God!) had been deducted from our bank, at least as of yet. She again explained that we didn't order anything from them. I called the bank and told them if they see any such thing, it's fraud, don't honor it. Then today (nov. 19). The man hung up on her. Then they called again this morning, and when I picked up the phone, he hung up on me. I suspected it was someone posing as McAfee, so I looked up their website and called the number listed, which is ************, and called at 2:13 on Nov. 19. A man who identified himself as *************************** entered so he could enter and look at stuff on my computer and he then said it was a hacker/phishing scam, not McAfee. He then looked up and said my PC-Matic did NOT cover my network, and tried to do a hard-sell on me, saying I had NO network / firewall protection, and I HAD to purchase it now from them, for $199.99. I am really suspicious that this guy put some kind of unethical tracking or malware on my computer, and I'm not 100% convinced that even this site / phone number was legit. from McAffee. Anyway, I don't appreciate their invasive / snoopy, suspicious procedures on my computer, nor their hard-sell tactics.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/01/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/28) */ Dear ******, After review of your complaint, we wanted to inform you that the email your wife received was not a legit McAfee communication. McAfee does not offer any products or services for the amount of $499.99. Additionally, the phone number dialed,************* is not affiliated with McAfee in any capacity; our support phone number is ************* It is unfortunately common for scam actors to pose as trusted, widely used brands such as McAfee to perpetrate any number of fraudulent activities. McAfee takes reports of these activities seriously as a threat to both our customers and brand, and works to stop such activities when we are made aware of them. If you or your wife receive any further messages claiming to be from McAfee, please forward them to our internal security team for investigation at ***************. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely, ************* Executive Customer Assistance Team McAfee

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/14/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I got the shock of my life this morning when I saw that McAfee had charged my bank account for $158.99 WITHOUT MY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE NOR MY APPROVAL!!! I have no idea how they obtained information about my debit card because I never did any business with McAfee using the card that they used. I have used that card for a very short time, and I certainly didn't give them the information, so they must have obtained it through less-than-legal means. There is no way to justify what they did. I am a disabled senior living on Social Security only and this charge left me with almost no money for the rest of the month. I will be filing complaints for the rest of the day and maybe even longer. I have been robbed and McAfee is the thief!!!

  Business Response

  Date: 12/02/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/30) */ Dear ********, My name is *************. I am on the Executive Customer Assistance Team at McAfee. I was not able to reach you by phone or email to discuss your account in detail. I have reviewed your McAfee account, and I see that you have multiple active subscriptions as well as multiple saved payment methods. If you would like to contact me regarding your usage, I can help manage the account and stop any duplicate subscriptions from renewing. You can view your current and expired subscriptions in your McAfee account at https://mcafee.com by logging in at the top right of the screen. If you have any additional concerns in the future regarding your McAfee account, please feel free to contact me directly at ***************. I am available Monday-Friday, from 7am to 4pm Central Time (US). If you would prefer to communicate by email, you may reach me at ************************* Sincerely, ************* Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I complained because McAfee automatically signed me up for Auto-Renewal without my knowledge or permission. I suddenly had a very large sum taken from my bank account and I was left with not enough money to stay alive. I wasted no time in appealing to them. They did refund my money, but signing someone up for something at least should be done with the customer's knowledge and permission. Because they charged me so much and left me impoverished, I am not sure that I will continue with their product. I am a disabled senior living on Social Security Retirement income for an amount of less than $1000 per month. I have to decide what to do about the future, and I have a hard time living down such an experience.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/10/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Unbeknownst to me Mcafee virus protection came with a new computer. According to Mcafee the store provided them with our credit card. This happened in 2018. CC charge was noticed today. I called my bank and reported fraud. Called company. They refunded new charge of $159 today but would not refund last 4 years of charges. My husband has been blind since 2019 and no one has used his computer. Also Mcafee was never used as we use the free antivirus software from Microsoft. We had no idea they were charging us. We never purchased anything from them. My husbands email is rarely checked and the yearly charge was not noticed. How can they just keep charging like that. The phone number for them was*************. I see lots of complaints that are similar. We were charged $159 a year Name ************** Email was**************

  Business Response

  Date: 12/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/18) */ Dear ***********, My name is **************. I am on the Executive Customer Assistance Team at McAfee. I want to thank you for working with me regarding your concerns. If you have any additional concerns in the future regarding your McAfee account, please feel free to contact me directly at ************. I am in the office Monday-Friday, from 10am to 7pm Central Time (US). Thank you for contacting McAfee. Sincerely, ************** Executive Customer Assistance Team

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/02/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have automatic renewal charges on my PayPal account from the last 3 years. I'm certain I've called before and cancelled this as it was not something I purchased but assumed it was my error so i didnt take it any further. This year it happened again on october 30 2022. When I called again to resolve the issue, the representative gave my correct home address, attached to my correct paypal but it was attached to an email address and person's name that was not mine (and not familiar to me). She also confirmed it was downloaded on a Dell laptop, and I do not (and have not) had a Dell laptop during the time my account was charged. I have not downloaded any copies of this software and would like all 3 charges refunded. Customer service associate refunded to most recent one but there are two from previous years i would like refunded.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/16/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/10) */ Dear *********, My name is **************. I am on the Executive Customer Assistance Team at McAfee. We have received your complaint and would like to get in touch with you regarding your issue. I have tried to contact you by phone and email, but I was not able to reach you. Please see my email correspondence for more information. If you have any further questions, I can be reached using the contact details noted in that email. Thank you, ************** Executive Customer Assistance Team Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/11/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)