AOL Security Suite

[Gatacre]

I pay to AOL Security Suite which is powered by McAfee.  For some weeks McAfee have been  asking me to ckick an important update, the dead line for which is June.  On clicking the update I receive an Error Message stating that I pay for AOL Security Suite.

The request to update by McAfee is relentless and a few weeks ago I asked AOL Live Help to stop this  McAffee update which they promised would diappear after three days.  It did not.

Another Live Help complaint was answered by stating that it was my responsibilty to contact McAffee and resolve the problem.  I did not agree with this as I have no contract with McAfee for any of their services.

On sending an Email of complaint to AOL I have received three pages  of  what I should do to stop the McAfee update from appearing.  I should add that  McAfee have now told me I am unprotected from Virus.

AOL have assured me that the updates from McAfee take place in the background continuously but that  I should go thru all that they have told me...which I do not like the look of at all....because some of the McAfee files are corrupted!

I feel that as the customer the onus of stopping McAfee bothering me lies with AOL. 

To add insult to injury my broadband has suddenly started to act like a dial-up connection not only that but I have contiuously been disconnected from the iinternet for no reason at all

I would be grateful for any views on the above

I have looked at my internet connection  and all seems to be well with the Broadband

Gatacre

[downside]

As far as I know you have to pay McAfee an annual subscription if you wish to continue receiving anti-virus definition updates.

AOL do not provide anti-virus with their security suite as such, they provide a sort of anti-spyware/net nanny service instead.

People sometimes get Norton anti-virus free for 3 months when they buy a new computer but they have to pay for an annual subscription if they want to continue after the free period.

Check the original agreement and see if it said McAfee was free for a time-limited period.

[Pels.]

All it means is McAfee are updating/changing their virus/firewall protection and you need to contact McAfee to enable them to do this, otherwise you won't be protected, presumably because it will have changed to the new version.

Hence them contacting you all the time .. I updated a few months ago and since then haven't heard anything more.

AOL only recommend you use the McAfee products when you join .. after that any dealings regarding security will be with the provider which is McAfee, not AOL ..

I'm not very good at explaining these things .. I hope I've made sense .. ? 

[Pels.]

To add insult to injury my broadband has suddenly started to act like a dial-up connection not only that but I have contiuously been disconnected from the iinternet for no reason at all

I would be grateful for any views on the above

I have looked at my internet connection  and all seems to be well with the Broadband

Now this is something I can sympathise with .. a few months ago I had the most awful problems regarding my speed - AOL insisted it was nothing they were doing .. ! Although work was being carried out in certain parts of the country .. this area wasn't one of them, according to AOL .. ! 

Miraculously it suddenly improved .. all on it's own .. ! 

For the past few days my connection has been disappearing without any warning .. several times a night, sometimes taking up to fifteen minutes to return. The wireless router switches back on and returns to normal .. but the small internet light stays on red .. ? 

[downside]

Further to my last message I've had a look around and McAfee VirusScan is available free-of-charge to AOL members.

http://daol.aol.com/security

Your entitlement to those products seems to be based on whether you qualify.

[Gatacre]

I am so pleased to have your messages.  We have been paying to the Security Suite since May 2005 and have had no trouble what so ever until this latest McAfee ubdate.  I was very surprised that the McAfee anti-virus was to be with drawn.
  I am not sure which McAfee service I am supposed to contact and whether I will have to pay for thier service which I thought we had thru AOL

However, I will ask AOL if they are not supplying me with the McAfee anti-virus.

My husband has looked at the account book and I had forgotten that we bought a computer in November 2004 when we joined AOL and Paid £33+.  Afrer that we paid monthly for broadband and 2005 for the Security Suite.

Norah

[Pels.]

It sounds like we joined about the same time Norah .. because
all this sounds vaguely familiar to me .. ?

May I ask if you live in the UK .. ? 

[Gatacre]

Thank you, Downside, for the http address.

After reading the contents of the web page I was very surprised .  I read the AOL services again and again and have never encountered this info before.

It looks as if, after all the pages they have sent to me, when we are paying customers that we have a fight on our hands.

Their service has deteriorated a great deal altho I know they were changing many things but that was supposed to have been completed last February.

Perhaps I am naive to expect that one gets good service or is it that we just expected it

[Gatacre]

Sorry, I forgot to say that we do live in the UK. ...see my profile.... but used AOL because a lot of my early research is in the US and the place where it took me ages to find anything about my paternal grandmother's family and family contacts.

Norah