Watching the small print

When installing new software, it always amuses me to see a page of ‘terms and conditions’ which you must accept before proceeding.

As the software won’t install unless you do accept, there seems little point in reading this verbiage so most people just tick the box.

Of course, these conditions are rarely mentioned on the software packaging and I wonder how easy it would be to obtain a refund if the purchaser regarded the terms as unacceptable.

Rather less amusing is the tendency of some quite reputable software suppliers to retain credit card details, provided in the course of on-line transactions, to be used for subsequent purchases whose authorisation is slipped into the ‘small print’.

Almost exactly three years back, for example, I purchased a Dell computer which came with a 3-month trial of McAfee Internet Security.

At the end of the trial period, I purchased a 12-month (Virus Definitions) subscription via the McAfee web site.

Being very happy with the McAfee product, I subsequently  standardised internet security on all of my PCs using a later version of the software which I purchased independently.

As all non-trial versions of this software come with a 12-month anti-virus subscription, I was most surprised to receive notice of a direct debit to my credit card for renewal of the original subscription which had been rendered redundant by the installation of the later software version.

Upon investigation, I found that all on-line purchases of McAfee Internet Security included ‘small print’ which entitles them to use your credit card details for auto-renewals unless you countermand the instruction—there doesn’t appear to be any means of doing this at the point of purchase.

Nor can such a cancellation simply be done on-line—after much meandering through their web site and providing all of the details via an on-line form, I was eventually given a relevant ‘cancellation’ phone number.

McAfee seem to take the line that auto-renewal is done for the user’s protection though, If this were the case, they would recognise that protection had already been extended through the purchase of more-recent software—once you set up a McAfee account to obtain updates, it stays with that PC even if you upgrade the software to a later version.

Personally, I regard this auto-renewal stuff as a rather dodgy sales technique.

I have seen other instances of credit card details being retained in this way though it is rather surprising behaviour for a company of this standing.

It certainly pays to look at the small print when purchasing on-line.

Following-on from this, I recently received an email celebrating the 3rd anniversary of that particular PC and inviting me to renew my subscription yet again.

This issue arises regularly with our clients and such emails sometimes lead to unnecessary purchases—the fact is, you can always see the current state of the subscription on your PC by looking at the main page of the McAfee Security Centre.

Much as I like McAfee Internet Security Software, my recommendation is to buy it independently (from eBay, Amazon, PC-World, etc) and to get is on a CD because downloading can give rise to a whole new set of problems unless you clearly understand what is going on.   

Comments

[Father Brian]

It's disturbing that even apparently reputable companies stoop to practices like these.

It seems the marketing departments demand ever lower ticket pricing, leading companies to seek other ways to boost revenue.

Automatic credit card and direct debit renewals appear to be the favourite methods of getting more money from the customer.

Given that disagreeing with the terms halts the process, it's no wonder that people just tick the "agree" box.

Companies make much about the Direct Debit Guarantee and so-called credit card safeguards but, just as the British government has admitted to losing the financial details of several million social security recipients, it looks like the poor old punter has no chance!