| Omnitech |
| Omnitech Attempted to sell me unnecessary services at inflated price Los Angeles, California, Internet |
| 15th of Jul, 2011 by User425737 |
| I Googled 'microsoft help' and found Omnitech. Under the belief Omnitech was an authorized Microsoft help agent, I initiated a chat with them in an attempt to determine whether I could uninstall Microsoft Word 2010 Starter without losing documents I had created with the program. (I had since purchased Microsoft Word 2010 - the full-price program - and I knew I could open Starter documents in it. But I didn't know if I would lose those documents after uninstalling Starter.) Omnitech asked me if they could establish a remote connection, and I consented. After 10 minutes, the Omnitech representative told me "I have found there are a lot of system registry errors and virus/malware threats which might crash the computer." I mentioned I was surprised because I had the current edition of Norton Antivirus installed in my computer. Omnitech replied that Norton "cannot detect all the infections such as registry corruptions,operating system errors, Polymorphic infections, etc. Such infections have to be scanned and removed manually by performing optimizations in your computer." Omnitech then told me they would optimize my registry for the "nominal charge" of $79.99, and attempted to sell me an "Assurance Plan," a subscription plan that would continue to optimize my registry for an additional charge. I smelled a scam, and I told Omnitech I would not pay a Microsoft help agent to fix problems for which Microsoft is responsible, i.e., weak security. Omnitech said they would have to terminate the chat. I asked Omnitech to email me a transcript of the chat, but they did not, which, in itself, is a questionable practice. I copied and pasted the transcript myself, and I have used direct quotations from the transcript - minus a few punctuation errors - in this report. I cleaned my registry with CCleaner, which is free, and it did not, as I suspected, indicate much contamination. I also uninstalled Word 2010 Starter without losing files or damaging my registry, as Omnitech purported. Despite Omnitech's A+ rating from the BBB, they are a scam, pure and simple. The BBB should be ashamed of themselves, and I will never trust them again. |
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SUBMITTED RESPONSE BY OMNITECH SUPPORT: Sunday, July 24, 2011
Below was the response from Omnitech support:
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First of all, we do not have a record of any customer with the first name of “Christopher” being a customer of ours or even coming in with the specific “problem” of “whether he could uninstall Microsoft Word 2010 Starter without losing documents he had created with the program”.
Second, that isn’t even a problem and we would have told him so. Anybody should know that documents that have been created by the user are saved in the files in “My Documents” or in any other “save-as” folder the user creates. These files are NEVER saved in the program files! Of course, these files would not be lost when “Word Starter” was uninstalled and the full version of Word was installed. Word Starter is only a simplified, stripped-down version of Word, with respect to its functionality, with no time limit like the trial versions that is preloaded on some newer PCs.
Third, Norton Anti-virus has absolutely nothing to do with repairing registries or operating system issues. So, if anyone had uncovered registry errors or operating system bugs, they would have been wise to remove them or repair them. His running Norton Anti-Virus would not do anything with respect to fixing a corrupt registry issues or fixing operating system issues.
Fourth, we are not part of Microsoft, so we have no sweeping obligation to support the Microsoft products he has purchased. We do not claim to be Microsoft. We’re certified to work on Microsoft products. We’ve passed the tests. That’s like some person thinking that just because an auto repair center is trained and certified in repairing Mercedes Benz automobiles, that the repair center is part of the Mercedes Benz Company. That is very misguided.
So, in summary, this supposed customer came into us with a non-problem and was correctly told that Norton Anti-Virus would not fix his registry errors. Our question is if this person was so naïve as to how documents are saved on a computer and did not understand the basics of registry repair, how would he know how to use a program to clean his registry? We have encountered several incidences of suspicious complaints to the Rip-Off Report, which seem to be plants from competitors or their agents who cannot match OmniTech Support’s quality, pricing, terms and service.
We always want our valuable customers to be fully delighted with the service and value they get from us. That’s why we have earned and maintained an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. That’s something most competitors can’t come close to claiming. |
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Look I've used Omnitech Support for two years and they easily have fixed my Windows problems at times. $299 seems very steep and I would not pay that for a year of service. I think I paid $139/year (for three computers...I have girls in school) and before Windows Office 2010 came out, they gave me a trial copy to use for 6 months and it was great. Yes, they are seemingly obligated to try to sell me an extended service package (like extend another year) each time they help me but I nicely tell them no. I also do not allow them remote access to my PC for system maintenance when I am not there. I only logon to them when I have a problem (like Outlook or Word issues) which they fix quite effortlessly.
I think they are great and helpful...not a scam. I only posted here because often, people post soemthing when they complain. I think they are fine as long as their price is reasonable. $299/year is too much...$139/year is more like it. |
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