Zone Alarm support stinks...

[Budfred]

For anyone who is interested:

I bought Zone Alarm Pro on Monday and attempted to install it. It seemed to install ok, but it wouldn't actually stay loaded when I rebooted or even when I opened it. Thus, no firewall protection. I uninstalled it and reloaded the free version after a number of unsuccessful problem solving attempts. I wrote an email to ZA which required that I share personally identifying information, which I find offensive for a company based on selling privacy programs. Their registration also requires you to uncheck 7 boxes in order to avoid getting put on advertiser and email lists.

I immediately got an auto response saying they would respond within 7 days and I got a response today. Unfortuately, it didn't address the problem that I was having at all and seemed to be completely computer generated - it appeared that no one had actually read my question. However, it did note that my case was closed. It was extremely complex instructions for removing and installing ZA, but gave no indication for why I would want these instructions.

It also included an instruction to write their customer service if I had any problem with technical support. I did so and promptly got a response that my "request" had been sent to technical support because they don't deal with technical questions. I was asking them a question, I was simply telling them about the situation. Again, it appeared that the question had not actually been viewed by a human and was simply generated automatically based on keywords. I wrote back a response indicating that this was the worst customer service I have encountered and my intention to return their product... I await their response, but I suspect it will be equally infuriating.

As I was typing this a message came in from Tech support again, but I suspect that it is another auto response since that seems to be how they fuction. I have now received something like 6 messages from them and I don't think a human has been involved in any of them.

I now plan to return this program and probably switch to Kerio. Poor support is ok if I don't pay for the product, but this is ridiculous. :mad:

[Vic 970]

Hi Bud

I know how you feel, but we are in a age of the 'computer generated response' it is now very infrequent that you get a reply from 'something that breaths air' and if you do it is more than likely that they will pick keywords from your question, tap it into a pc & out pops your answer.

still things aren't all bad, if we got decent support, this forum and others like it might not be so successfull.

BTW: I have often been very impressed with much of the free progs on offer, but then when paying to upgrade to the fuller version been dissapointed. now I tend to stick to the freebies unless there is a substantial amount to gain.

[Lucias_Clay]

Budfred sorry to hear about your problems but as Vic says that seems to be the rule now. If you are looking for a good firewall you may want to look here. I am running this one and during a recent trip to shields up
http://grc.com/intro.htm all my ports came up stealth(they could not be found by thier program) and it showed no identifiable information.
http://www.v-com.com/product/ss_ind.html While this is packaged with several other applications they are all be turned on or off seperatly. and the cost is not much more than most other firewalls. I have sent in questions they were answered fairly quickly and by a person(or so it seemed):p

[Mark Miller]

Hi Lucias,
Just for your own info, the internet connection firewall from MS also shows up completely stealth from shields up and dslreports. And as everyone has told me numerous times thats not a great firewall. I am not saying your is not good but even the bad ones are passing shield up.
I liked icf but have been talked into something more robust. [keiro]Have a great day, Mark:D

[Budfred]

Lucias,

I actually already run SystemSuite for a number of other things, though mostly for PowerDesk (really good file manager). I haven't used the firewall because it was not real well rated in the review I read, but that was a long time ago and maybe it has improved. Thanks for the suggestion.

An update on the support saga:

I got a response today that indicated that a person had read the message and indicating that the reason they told me how to uninstall and reinstall is that this is their solution. This response was almost unintelligible, apparently they don't use a spell check. The actual response was buried in a bunch of automatically generated garbage including the assurance that again my case is closed. Apparently giving me a generic response means a satisfied customer to them. I may try again, but I don't have a lot of hope at this point.

Also, I believe what you are both saying about computer generated responses, but these were the most useless and confusing responses I have ever received from human or machine. I will continue to complain about this kind of garbage to the companies and anyone else that will listen because it is unacceptable to me. If a company won't support their products in a way that is actually supportive, I think people need to know and that product deserves to lose potential customers. Of course, anyone who reads this makes their own choices.....

[Mark Miller]

Your 100% correct. I am going through a semi saga right now with hp.
Their support tries but I got a nice young man from India and we got just a real simple solution that did not work and the next thing is do a non destructive repair of XP. I know thats not the answer and it's really too long and complicated to post on the forum. I think I will have to find someone locally and pay [I don,t mind] to help me. Not stopping me from using the compouter just very annoying. Even MS knowledge base says ignore it. What kind of answer is that?
I am with you
Rage against the machines.
I am off to write an e-mail to hp
Mark:mad:

[mjc]

Fix for most HP problems......remove the HP "extras". :D

Nothing is too long or complicated for the board.

Budfred, you'll probably have better results over at the ZA forum (http://forums.zonelabs.com/zonelabs)

Manually uninstalling ZoneAlarm
If you are having persistent connection problems even after running the ZoneAlarm uninstaller, manually uninstall ZoneAlarm by following the steps below. Note that the steps differ depending on your operating system.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows 98/2K/XP

To manually uninstall ZoneAlarm from a Windows , 98, 2000, or XP system, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Start your computer in Safe Mode.

Enter Safe Mode with administrative account without networking. To learn how to start in Safe Mode refer to Windows help. Go to Start | Help, click the Search tab, then type 'Safe Mode' in the search box and click List Topics.

Important Do not start ZA/ZAP, or run the uninstaller, while in Safe Mode.

Step 2: Remove VSDATA registry entry (Windows 98/ME only--not required for NT/2K/XP)

Important Deleting registry entries incorrectly may require reinstalling your operating system. Always make a backup copy of the registry before editing. Perform the steps below with extreme care, or seek help from someone familiar with registry editing. For further information about registry editing, see Windows help.

In the Windows Start menu, click Run...
In the Open box, type regedit.
In the Registry Editor window, use the left-hand navigation to locate the following key:
W95/98/Me/XP HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD\VSDATA95.
In the right pane of the window, right-click the key, then choose Delete from the popup menu.
Choose File | Exit to finish.
Note After editing the registry in safe mode, you may get a VXD error when restarting your computer. This means Windows did not allow editing of the registry in Safe Mode. If this occurs, press Enter. Restart your computer in normal (not Safe) mode, then repeat Step 2.

Step 3: Delete selected files

Using the Windows search function, locate and delete the files VSDATA95 and/or VSDATANT.
If you want to keep a record of previous alerts, copy the ZALog files from the Internet Logs folder to a safe location).
Using the Windows search function, locate and delete the Internet Logs folder.
Step 4: Cleanup

Empty your Recycle Bin.
Restart your computer.
Step 5: Complete Uninstallation

At this point, your Internet connection should function normally. To complete the manual uninstall, you will follow steps posted on the ZoneAlarm Web site.

Go to http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/support/zapInstallFAQ.jsp .
Under How do I unininstall, then reinstall ZoneAlarm, click the link for your operating system.
Under Uninstallation step 1, begin with substep A, then follow all the remaining uninstallation steps.

[Budfred]

Thanks mjc,

They actually sent me what appear to be the same instructions you entered, they just didn't say anything about why they were relevant and since I had already uninstalled and then reinstalled the free version, they were pretty much irrelevant. The tech who finally responded in person suggested (in barely comprehensible manner) doing an uninstall and then reinstall, so I will probably try that, but I am so irritated with the whole thing that I may return it even if it works. My computer is now connecting with the web on boot and I can't figure out why, but it seems to be related to this whole ZA hassle.:(

[mjc]

That is a ZA3.x bug and I can't remember the solution right now...I'll look it up and get it for you this evening.

[Budfred]

mjc,

Thanks, but it may not be worthwhile to bother looking for the solution yet. I will try uninstalling and then reinstalling the CD and then immmediately update the damn thing to see if it will work and fix the bug. If it doesn't, I will probably uninstall again and get Kerio...

[Lucias_Clay]

I origanally got system suite for the anti-virus it is very good and checks e-mail before it is downloaded. Also I can continue to surf the web while I update onething I could not do with McAfee. The fire wall works good to me it just runs quietly in the back ground and blocks hackers and scan attempts.
As far as HP goes I have never had any problems with support and mine works pretty good. very few problems(most are of my own doing). :o
You go Budfred you do not have to take bad service, that is not what I meant. Just that is what you seem to get nowadays.:mad:

[Budfred]

I eventually got a terse response from ZoneAlarm telling me that I needed to go through their complex and ineffective uninstall process to remove ZA so that I could then install the update that I downloaded from their website. I went through this process and installed the update. It seems to be running ok, although my system has been more unstable since I installed it.

I decided to write to their customer service to express my distaste for their support system and the fact that their customer service never responded to my original questions. I got 2 responses that said absolutely nothing that meant anything to me and clearly had no human intervention. This was after I had already received the immediate automated response. I sent another email asking why they sent me 2 messages that said nothing and expressing my anger about the general lack of regard for their customers. I then received 4 responses (not counting the automated response), 2 of which had no human additions to them and seemed to simply say that my question was closed. The other 2 were the same message from a customer service person who informed me that I was expecting too much if I needed to have an explanation of why the sent me instructions for uninstalling their program, that if I didn't have the technical expertise to use this information I should seek assistance from someone who does (obviously not them) and that any trouble I had was basically my problem.

I am now looking for the info needed to return the product, although I fear I am stuck with it since MicroCenter won't take it back except in exchange for another copy.

I don't have access to the email from them at the moment, but I will copy and post it here in a few minutes....

[Budfred]

Okay, here is the actual text from ZA:

"Hello,

A human being reads every piece of email thats sent to us. The
response you received to remove the software is correct. To resolve
your issue you must follow the directions we have given you. If you
do not we cannot help you any further. The directions were given to
you to resolve the problem you described to us, thus no explanation
is needed when we sent the directions to fix your problem

Were sorry you feel our support is unfriendly but due the number of
email's we recieve we cannot type a custom response to every
customer when standard responses fix 95% of all our users issues.

If your having problems following the directions because you dont
have the technical skill to complete them, then we suggest possibly
a friend, neighbor or relative could help you.

Best regards
Zone Labs"

[Reid]

I count six spelling and punctuation errors. That is sad, coming from such a "professional" company. Perhaps a friend could help them. :)

[kayofcircles]

I had a similar experience months ago. Emailed a credit card site, explained that I was having to login three or four or five tries before getting to my account, if I got to it at all. Explained that I had never had any problems in the previous year and a half, told them I was using same puter and same browser, told them what I had checked on. Got computer response that basically told me to "check" on the stuff I told them I already checked on. Sent them second email..repeated that had already checked on that stuff, didn't apply/wasn't the problem, so ?? They sent another puter email..same dang stuff. ARGH. Thinking maybe third time would be charm, emailed them once again..told them already did that stuff, was working fine, their site the only one having problems with...and FINALLY got email that basically said, "So sorry, it's not us, it's got to be your puter..but we'll send your email off to tech support for "study"..case closed" So, do understand completely your aggravation.

Also appreciate the heads up. Idly think from time to time that maybe ought to "upgrade" to the not-free version of ZA..and glad to have an excuse not to.:)

[Sylvander]

Perhaps some good news will bring a little cheer and reassure that not all companies give a poor response.

MY STORY
I had a seeming problem with a Hewlett Packard firmware upgrade for my CD-RW drive.
I went to their site and filled in the standard form.
Their information said that I’d receive a response within the hour.
I got a confirmation after about 5 minutes and received the solution [human generated I believe] after 45 minutes.
It was to the point, extensive and thorough.
I had made the silly mistake of forgetting that my second CD-Drive had no connection to the motherboard for audio.
They told me to check for a connection and explained about the use of a “Y” splitter [plus a lot of other stuff].
Thank you very much, problem solved!

Hewlett Packard shine yet again!
[The only negative was the lack of instructions supplied prior to the upgrade, which is unusual for HP in my experience]