i had a similar experience with this company as maria and joe did.
i thought i was reaching acer customer support, explaining that my computer was still under warranty, etc. (which it turns out has absolutely nothing to do with this company, since they are not affiliated with acer) and explaining the computer problems i had been having.
they told me that while my hardware was still under warranty, my software was not, and that acer did not provide tech support for software issues. this was when i began to suspect that they were not acer, so i clarified, asking "so you're not acer, but you're affiliated with them, and they contract the technical support issues out to you?"
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and they agreed that yes, this is what they did, but i think this is a lie. i don't think they have anything to do with acer whatsoever, or with any computer manufacturers. but they have misleading links
so when people search for "acer tech support" or "dell tech support" or whatever other company, their page comes up, as though it is affiliated.
anyway, they told me that i had major computer problems that were so serious that i was lucky that i hadn't lost all of my data already, and that if i didn't deal with it right away, then i could lose all of my data.
they offered me the option to pay $299 for one time service, or $139 for a full year of service, telling me that they were offering the lowest possible rate available.
i hesitated, especially because i have access to free tech support at my school. but they said "are you really still thinking about it? even after we have told you how serious the situation is?". they made it seem as though i was in extreme danger of losing all of my data at any possible moment -- that it was remarkable that i still had it at all, and that i had to act immediately if i wanted to save it.
they told me that they had to rebuild this and repair that, etc. in order for my computer to continue to work and for my data to be salvaged. so i agreed to this plan, and they worked on my computer remotely, mainly just running anti-virus scans, which i could have done myself for free or near-free, and definitely didn't seem worth $139.
but i thought that maybe this was just the initial step, before all of the major reconstructive surgery my computer supposedly needed to undergo...
so i was still thankful that my precious data was saved, and just accepted the loss of the money as necessary, and far preferable to losing all of my important data.
so i wasn't that suspicious til they sent me back to their site to do some further work, and i saw that there was an advertised special of $139.95 for pretty much the same service as i had paid nearly double for.
i called them, thinking that i could get them to honor this lower advertised rate, but this was completely pointless, because they refused, telling me that i wasn't eligible for that plan, and that plan was not for serious problems like mine, but only for minor "optimization" instead. of course, the website says nothing like that, only distinguishing between "personal", "personal plus" and different "business" plans. but then they assured me that this service is no longer available, and that i couldn't possibly have signed up for it. but when i clicked the link, it took me to a sign-up page.
so it obviously was available, and i pointed this out, but they kept assuring me that it was not, which i did not believe. they said that had yet to update their website, to reflect the accurate rates, since this lower rate was not available (though supposedly, it still was just 5 minutes before, but i was simply "ineligible" then *eye roll*).
i don't see any excuse for a tech support company to have an outdated webpage. but no matter what i said, the supervisor kept telling me that they do not lie (which i had never outright accused them of, so his insistence made me suspicious), and that i had payed the lowest available rate, and that they were a legitimate company that had done good work on my computer.
but unlike a legitimate company, they absolutely refused to refund the difference to match the lowest advertised rate, and told me that anyone else i spoke to there would tell me the same (by this point, the supervisor was nearly yelling at me).
in any case, it is clear that this company tries to gouge customers for basic services, by using high-pressure, disingenuous, and manipulative sales tactics. that's obviously how they make their money. i'm just thankful that, unlike maria, i didn't pay $500!
they might have done some good for my computer, i don't know. but i definitely believe that this company uses misleading and fear-mongering techniques for gaining sales, and i suggest that you steer far clear of them.
also, unlike the company's rebuttal to maria's report states, PCCare did not use paypal to process my financial information, nor did they have a supervisor handle my information. they simply have the agents ask for it. so i am getting a new bank card issued, and my bank said that while it is too late to reverse the charges, they will file an affidavit against this company (though i have no idea whether this will be successful, since it is based out of india).
so don't make my mistake -- check ripoff report BEFORE getting sucked into this and losing your money. |
