Anti-virus vendor Avast has removed the support service for their software offered through iYogi after receiving complaints from their users about the “unacceptable behaviour” of iYogi support representatives.
In a blog post March 15, Avast CEO Vince Steckler said the plug was pulled on iYogi support after the AV company received numerous complaints that iYogi support reps invented phony malware issues with their customers’ computers in order to upsell iYogi’s premium support services to them.
According to Steckler, the company met with iYogi’s senior executives in an attempt to correct the issue, but to no avail. The last straw came after security blogger Brian Krebs, while investigating the claims, experienced it himself and wrote it up in detail on his blog, noting their “sales tactics are practically indistinguishable from those employed by peddlers of fake antivirus software or “scareware.”
In a written response to Kreb’s blog post, which Krebs deemed “unapologetic”, iYogi President of Global Channel Sales Larry Gordon called the incident a “Tylenol moment for iYogi and the leadership team”.
This was news to Avast and apparently to Mr. Krebs, but it was no big secret to many IT service technicians, particularly those who are members of The Force Field. Ask almost any tech who has done onsite work for iYogi and they will tell you that what Steckler and company just discovered, they have known all along: beware iYogi.
There are numerous discussions about iYogi in The Force Field Forums. None of them put the company in a positive light. Computers trashed by iYogi remote support reps, “garbage” work orders for lowball rates sent to techs for onsite service, and “scammy” sales pitches to customers are just a few of the complaints posted by techs in the forums.
In short, many IT service technicians who know iYogi or have performed work for the support company in the past don’t like iYogi. Period. Many of them consider support reps at iYogi unqualified, unknowledgable and, in some situations, completely unprofessional. Techs who were already aware of the relationship between Avast! and iYogi were wary of promoting the anti-virus software for that very reason – the iYogi connection.
Techs praised Avast for re-evaluating their relationship with iYogi, although some wonder why it took so long for the company to do so. However, should Avast decide to reconnect with iYogi, the AV company stands to lose what new-found respect they just gained within the tech community.