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onlinePCmasters

onlinePCmasters review: misinformation 16

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Author of the review
8:04 am EST
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

In october 2009 I was contacted by onlinePCmasters who said they had been told by Microsoft that I had been have problems with my desktop PC. Each time somthing goes wrong on the computer you have the option to send an error report to Microsoft and sometimes I did and this lead to them contacting me. They said that for £79.95 they would give me 24/7 protection/technical support for 1 year. I agreed to this and they installed several software programs remotely onto my PC. Theses programs are 'Tune-Up utilities 2009', 'Tune Up 1 click maintenance', 'Registry Mechanic', 'Team Viewer 4' and CCcleaner. At the end of December pop ups appeared on my desktop saying that 'Tune Up utilities' was an expired program and was therefore not working. Ditto the other softeware.
When I contacted online PCmasters about this they insisited that it was only their service that was for a year and I would have to pay to update the software. This was never explained to me back in October. I was told I was getting a year's deal and nothing was mentioned about software that only had 3 months validity left. I also asked for their explanation to be sent to me in an email. They said they dont do that. They also said that the original invoice was emailed to me in October. I never received it. It turns out they had the wrong email address which they said I gave them! Why they think I would do that is inexplicable. Since then I was phoned by someone who said he was from Microsoft who heard I was having a problem with the software which he would sort out and incidentally if I wanted a 'free laptop' in August all I had to do was say I had two computers at home and renew the agreement with onlinePCmasters (twice!) He asked me for my email address and said that the one he had on file for me was different! (surprise).
At this stage I am totaly confused as to who works for who, why cant any of them email me, and why their definition of total tech support 24/7 for a year is not quite as straightforward as they make it sound.
For your information my email address IS [protected]@hotmail.com
I look forward to an explanation and clarification about how online PCmasters is a Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician and System Administrator as it says on their website www.onlinePCmasters.com

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

16 comments
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Ronald Hey
Manchester, GB
May 17, 2010 4:51 pm EDT

To: The Managing Director From: Ronald Hey
( www.onlinepcmasters.cointernet) 50, Dunkery Road
cc. Marketing Manager Wythenshawe
Manchester
M22 0NR
14th May 2010
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you to ask for your help and to tell you what has happened to me at the hands of your Company – www.onlinepcmasters.cointernet. Firstly I am a Pensioner 68years of age, I am at present looking after my Father who will be 90years of age in August (I have been under considerable stress as my father has just had a major operation for cancer; I also have undergone major surgery on both shoulders – as you can see I have had a lot of worry.
I keep receiving telephone calls from your Staff – I understood that I was taking out a subscription Technical Support Service contract for my PC and Laptop (Home Computers) I am not a Business.
This is what I have been charged by www.onlinepcmasters.cointernet :-
20thDecember2009 Card___5902 www.onlinepcmasters.cointernet GBR £114.95
10thMarch2010 Card___5902 www.onlinepcmasters.cointernet.GBR £79.75
(Mark or Mike promised me a free new laptop to be delivered on 30thApril 2010 – The Laptop has not arrived)?
22ndApril2010 Card___5902 www.onlinepcmasters.cointernet GBR £144.95 ([protected])
26thApril2010 Card___5902 www.onlinepcmasters.cointernet GBR £79.95
I have been very confused, the latest is that I have also been promised to be entered into a draw for a Laptop Computer to be delivered in September2010.
(I looks like some of your Staff are working a Scam to get money from people)!
As a Pensioner you will be aware that I cannot afford to spend this sort of money
I know that as a repretable Company you will take steps to make sure that what has happened to me dose not happen to anybody else – and that you will refund all my money.
All I ever wanted was to have professional online support for my PC and Laptop
I am not a Business I am just a Pensioner relying on your professional integrity as a repretable company, OlinePCMASTERS (I have also been told by your Staff that I have Life Time Support with OnlinePCMasters).
Your Company has taken a total of £389.60 from my account ending in ___5902.
Please will you investigate and return my money as soon as possible
Yours sincerely
Mr. R .B. Hey

PS. All I wanted was online support! Now I would just appreciate the return of my money.
PPS. Do these companies belong to- or are they associated with OnlinePCMasters?
13thAugust2009 Card___0503 Global Experts(GPE102) £79.95
10thMarch2010 Card___5902 Clip2Support(Alvin Smith) £169.95
8thMarch2010 Card___0532 Paypal Cyber Tec(EPO 0652) £169.95
2ndApril2010 Card___5902 First For PC Support(I.D.[protected]) £100.00
8thMarch2010 From my Ultimate Reward Account(clip2Support £169.95

Please can you Help me? Thanking you in anticipation
1.(Ron Hey)

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hollygarden
Liverpool, GB
Jan 13, 2012 5:21 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

This company worked the same scam on me in March 2011 but only charged me £48.50. I can't go into all the details of what they did but it involved Team Viewer and made a mess of my pc. Eventually they remotely uninstalled Team Viewer. I realised that I'd been 'taken for a ride' and looked on my internet banking site to see if the money had already been taken. There was a message for me on the bank's SECURE messaging service asking if I had asked for my overdraft facility to be raised to the maximum. I hadn't but OnLine PC Masters had! At this point I was extremely worried. The bank immediately cancelled my card, put a block on my internet account and told me to phone their fraud department which was VERY helpful. I recommended I install 3 security softwares and use them in this order: F-Secure, Spybot and Kaspersky (all free). They had been checked by the bank and I was assured they are REALLY safe!
There were a lot of problems running F-Secure, some of which could have been caused by Online PC Masters, but it was OK eventually. Spybot was BRILLIANT! It gave me a list of all the malware on my computer and the dates they were installed.
OnLine PC Masters had been installing spyware for at least 4 or 5 months, including KeyLoggers which I'd never heard of previously, Most of the really bad stuff dated from the day when they phoned me and gained access to my pc. Then I was glad that I'd fallen for their scam because that ws how I found out what they had already been doing.
The problems continued after I thought I'd cleared everything. The screen kept freezing and some of the keys on the keyboard were very slow to have effect.
So I took a friend's advice, nearly 2 weeks after the phone call, and cleared the whole computer and re-installed Windows. At last - some peace was restored!
But, guess what ! On Line PC Masters have had the effrontery to phone me 3 times this week and remind me that they gave me 'technical assistance' last March ! I can't believe they are so blatant!
Why can't the police do something about them?

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a_user123
Florida City, US
Sep 02, 2011 12:07 pm EDT

Just had a chat with them, using their helpful "Live Chat Feature". I wanted to know what software they used so that I can see what they could have done while connected. The answer is they use "crossloop", which it seems is at least designed not to have background operations. I'll look into finding ways to block that particular software in future.

By the way, my name is not Jim. And, oddly they didn't answer my final question...

[Jim] My PC has a virus can you help me?
[Support Team] may I know your name
[Jim] Jim
[Support Team] may iknow your phone no
[Jim] I put it in the form
[Support Team] have you paid anything to onlinepcmasters
[Jim] no
[Support Team] please give me your phone no so I can call you.
[Jim] not able to receive calls here at the moment
[Support Team] are you sitting in front of computer
[Jim] yes
[Jim] that is how i am typing
[Support Team] we can help you to get rid of your computer virus
[Jim] that is good news
[Support Team] how many computers do you own
[Jim] 1
[Support Team] please give a call to our technical support no [protected] and our technician will happy to help you.
[Jim] unable to make calls at the moment
[Jim] can you tell me how you can fix the problem, are you able to connect to my computer
[Support Team] are you our registered customer
[Jim] no not yet
[Support Team] then you have to purchase the plan after then we will help you
[Jim] i'd like to know how you will be able to fix it, is it a software fix or are you able to remote connect
[Jim] i need to know before i purchase please
[Support Team] we will scan your computer and after that we will remove them
[Jim] can you tell me what software you use to remote connect so I can ensure it will work through my connection.
[Jim] i don't want to buy unless i can be sure it will connect properly
[Support Team] these are third party software and they will definitely connect properly
[Jim] i've had issues with logmein rescue in the past, when I signed up with another service
[Jim] need a service which will work
[Support Team] please call our technical support no [protected] the technician will explain you everything
[Jim] I do have one more question
[Support Team] yes
[Jim] while you are scanning my computer, how am i to know you are not taking files and information off of it or installing your own virus programs?
[Support Team] that's why please give us a call we will explain you everything
[Jim] can't see why you can't tell me now. I'm not able to make calls at the moment.
[Support Team] sir our technician never touch the customer computer data
[Jim] glad to hear it, but it is a little bit of a risk to just allow someone to remotely connect to my pc.
[Support Team] our technician provide technical support over the phone and work on computer infront of customer
[Jim] this is another reason why I would like to know what remote software you use, so it is clear what can be done with it. Not all interactions are on screen.
[Jim] I simply want the virus removed and any other issues resolved but want to be sure my data is safe.
[Support Team] Definitely your data will 100% secure we work on your computer while you are sitting infront of it
[Jim] But does the software you use support file transfers in the background? Things which I would not see on-screen. I'd like to be able to verify this before my purchase and make my mind up or look elsewhere.
[Support Team] Yes sir the files transfer shows on screen
[Jim] How can I verify this without knowing what you use? I'd like to be able to independently lookup the software and see myself. Why is that a problem unless you are hiding something?
[Support Team] The software that we use is Crossloop
[Jim] ok, thank you.
[Jim] I can see that it does show transfers, that is good to know
[Jim] One final question
[Jim] Why are you calling up people and claiming they have computer problems and convincing them to sign up for your service?

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garyconway
London, GB
Jul 24, 2011 1:12 am EDT

i have also been contacted by these people onlinepcmasters i got as far as allowing them remote access to my computer before alarms bells started to ring and i concluded that they could not possibly have been instructed by microsoft to contact me as a) microsoft doesnt have my home telephone number they contacted me on b) i gave microsoft no authority to pass my details onto third parties. I feel a bit foolish but my question to others is how did this company know that we were all having difficulties with our computers assuming that their true instruction has not in fact come from microsoft? I suspect that someone from BT is providing them with contact details the reason being that i have been having problems with the laptop for several months yet the call from this company co incidentally only came today 2 days after i contacted BT and raised the issue. Did others contact BT or their service provider just before the call from onlinepcmasters? or was it a co incidence in my case? should i be worried that online pcmasters have had remote access to my computer albeit for only 3 mins?is there anything i can do to now limit the damage?

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Ollie R
Wendover, GB
Jul 12, 2011 11:58 am EDT

These people phoned me saying that they have detected a problem in my PC through the server. I asked them what server that might be and they replied "THE server". After 5-10 minutes of them trying to explain to me that they were right, I asked them to confirm the make and model of my PC - They hung up!

On other occasions they have phoned and all I have to do is ask them confirm a few details about the computer (make, model, software edition, Internet provider, ) ...any one of these will stop them in their tracks as they CANNOT tell if you have any issues with your computers.
After reading a few of the comments on here, I think the software that they install is free as I have CCLEANER and that's free.

PS - Don't install teamviewer, it is a remote control software allowing them access to your computer. If they are remote controlling your computer press "windows key + L"

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davtt
Grayshott, GB
Jun 08, 2011 8:55 pm EDT

My Father has just told me that they have tried to scam him today! He allowed them onto his PC, and now it will need a total rebuild as I shudder to think what they did! Thet phoned him up out of the blue, and told him that his PC had been reported by MICROSOFT? (not very likely) as being infected. As a Microsoft Partner, I shall persue de-registration for this company with MS, if indeed they have any connection with MS. Luckily he told me about it, and told them that he would have his Son look at the problems. I have since called them - try calling on [protected] - and got a very irate Indian gentleman demanding I get off his phone! I asked for their address, but I think they are not in the UK. Of course they won't tell you where they are. The registered address is 41 St Catherines Av, Luton Beds. LU3 9DU. I would suggest that you call them and ask them about the charges.

Good Luck.

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LA-9002
, TJ
Aug 26, 2010 10:10 pm EDT

johntx you are such a [censor] sucking dick
just because you jerked off in front of computer for five years does not make you an expert on the topic. The world of hacking and technology keeps moving forward and does not necessarily wait for dumb [censor]s like yourself to follow suit .

You need to need to take my advice buddy,

1) get your hands off your penis!
2) try and blast open that narrow minded brain of yours and consider the impossible ( you are the type of person that thinks the earth is still flat )

oh yeah... and one last thing, you need to get your money back from that university you studied at ... you got ripped off sucker!

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johntx
, IN
Aug 26, 2010 12:06 pm EDT

LA-9002 you are such an [censor]...
i am working for cisco systems, networking has been my life for past 5 years...
webcams cant be access when the PC is switched off...(because they need power supply through USB)

take my advice GO TO SCHOOL!

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sdfjlsdfsdfdsf
ljlkjl, GB
Aug 25, 2010 9:02 pm EDT

lol - la-9002, well said

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LA-9002
, TJ
Aug 23, 2010 11:02 am EDT

drsadz = one dumb [censor]ing [censor]
drsadz, I could not help but laugh my [censor] off after reading your comment which was in my opinion laced with disturbing racist statements . It is because of egotistical bigots like yourself that people like Mr “peter” and “Mark” thrive in such a business . The only suspicions you should have harboured were that if you had a brain the size of pea!
Let me show you the wonderful mistakes you have committed :
1) you entertained a call from a COMPLETE STRANGER claiming to be able to ‘help’ you with your problems.
2) As if that was not enough of a testament to your rat-sized brain you went and downloaded a program that HE TOLD you to download and gave him free access to ALL your private data on your computer. You might as well have given him your bank account on a silver platter ( much easier and saves time)
3) Now all the person had to do was find a LEGAL way to get the money out of you and leave you looking like a [censor].

All you had to do was hang up ! its that simple STUPID!

4) This person could and probably still has access to your webcam ( the webcam or the computer does not have to be switched on to be able to use it. The details of how this is done are a bit too much for that little hamster in your head to handle! )
5) The very fact that he was reluctant to give you the details of his company should have told you that this person was not trustworthy.
I really hope your family and friends don’t take advantage of you the way this douchbag did. I really feel sorry for you. But heed my advice, get your large rear end of the chair and GET A LIFE !

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drsadz
London, GB
Aug 23, 2010 8:46 am EDT

I just received a call from them myself.

Now in the past I've worked in Market Research so when we say 'this is not a sales call' we don't ask for financial details and if people are slightly wary then we give them our full reassurances upfront and tell them to look us up straight away. On asking for verification the man with the Indian accent name Mark said he would give it to me later. Suspicion one. He then asked me to download something called teamviewer, so I thought what the heck, doesn't sound dangerous, so I did. He now has access to my computer. Suspicion two. I told him I'm not going any further without his full company details which he then gave before handing over to his Indian-accented colleague Peter.

I was then showed all the errors on my computer, which have never been a cause for concern, and told of the imminent danger my computer was facing etc. Now he's demanding which credit card I'm going to be using to pay him. Laughing, I tell him I'm far from convinced and need a little time to look it over before handing £85 to a stranger. He became rather agitated, didn't seem to think people need time to consider before handing over such important financial information and altogether became quite a nuisance. Alarm bells were ringing at this point, and so I explained that if after careful thought and research I decided he and his company were trustworthy and necessary, then no problem, I'd give them a call back. My kindly caller didn't like this at all, and as Jazzyjenkins above commented, became rather rude. At this point my cordless phone, which was running out of charge, came to my rescue and disconnected us. Whew - one very close call indeed. And having read the above I'm sure I just about escaped being scammed. But you have to hand it to them, they're very good at what they do. Scamming, that is.

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stevo77
, GB
Aug 12, 2010 8:41 am EDT

I had a similar experience to the above - except I realised it was a scam before giving my card details.
It's no shame falling for this, because they lie. The deception is that they make you think they are calling in response to an auto error sent to Microsoft.
I'm an IT journalist and it almost convinced me. But quite a few things didn't add up.
Since then I have:
- Told Microsoft (they have 'passed to legal dept' but won't tell me anything beyond that on progress, etc. In fact, their email response to me was littered with typos! Doesn't breed confidence, eh!)
- Online PC Masters have called a few more times
- I've recorded the conversation this time!
- I've logged a complaint with UK trading standards, who were very helpful.
Hopefully these people will be stopped - and be forced to refund money to their customers.

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Ms N
Banbury, GB
May 14, 2010 9:01 am EDT

I have a similar story with Online PC Masters as well. I am single with no dependents, no employees in my home. Why would I ever want 5 computers? Also they say they took £79 from my credit card in Sept 2009 which I wasn't aware of. They have just agreed to refund the £169 Cybertech took from my credit card to pay for hardware support this year and take £144.95 so this will give me a credit of £25. I was initially told I would have to pay £144.95 and they would send a cheque for £169 in 45 days, however after an email to my local Trading Standards Office they agreed to refund my credit card £169 and take £144.95 leaving me a balance of £25 for lifetime technical support. How do I know they are not putting viruses on my computer on purpose so they can ring up and fix the problem, posing as Cybertech and when asked saying they are Online PC Masters, making you feel you have to pay again for antiviral software they should have automatically put on on the yearly renewal date when they took the £75. Does anyone know if there are any high street businesses offering this service in the UK?

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Jazzyjenkins
Market Weighton, GB
Apr 02, 2010 7:55 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

OMG I have been contacted by these people with the same scenario. I paid the £79.95 & they did some work on my computer - but it didn't really make any difference. I thought i had been scamed but decided to write it off & learn by experience. I also have had several phone calls saying i could have a free laptop in August i just needed to say i had 2 computers and i would only have to pay 'another' £79.95 for the licence. I told them i didn't want a 'free' laptop & couldn't afford the fee. The kindly young man then turned into a rude one! Then, last week i was contacted by them again to say that, as it was the end of the financial year they were ringing to offer me a discount on my next 4 years suscribtion! I then queried the '4 year' thing - he said i had signed up to a 5 year contract. I said i certainly had not, i hadn't signed anything but i had agreed & paid for a one year contract. He told me it was a verbal agreement & that i would have to pay £79.95 for the next 4 years! I was very distressed about this and asked where the contract was. He said i had agreed it verbally & that that had sent me an email confirming this. I said i not received it & would never have agreed to 5 years as i wasn't sure about the 1 off payment in the first place. He said they had an emailreceipt & also the recording of me verbally agreeing to the 5 year contract, however he could cancel the contract now but i would have to pay £69.99 cancellation fees. I asked him to let me have proof of this he said he couldn't do that until i had cancelled the contract. Well, to cut a long story short i paid the cancellation fee & the phone call ended. Afterwards when i had time to think, i realised that it hadn't even been a year since i had taken out the 1 year contract in the first place & that i was an idiot to give him my card details again as i thought that he would have had them already. I cantacted a friend who said i shouldn't pay anything until they provided proof & if necessary a copy of the so-called recorded conversation. I then called the bank & cancelled my card so they couldn't take the money. The bank advised that i email them to tell them what was going on. Surprise surprise the webbsite is down. However they have been bombarding me with phone calls since they couldn't get the money-which i ignored - until just now, in fact while i was typing this, so i answered. I had a long conversation with a very angry & loud young man, who talked over me and wouldn't listen. I told him eventually that i will not pay anything until they had provided me with a copy of the recorded conversation where i had suposedly agreed to the 5 year contract. He said they would provide everyting i needed once i had paid the cancellation fee. I said i wanted the information first, then i would pay if what they were saying was correct. Well, to cut a ling story short - he said that if i didn't pay the cancellation fee they would continue to take the £79.95 for the next five years. when asked how he would do this without my bank details, he said that they would get the money & i didn't need to worry about that! It was their policy set out by head office. I asked for the details of head office so that i could contact them myself - but he would not give them to me. The conversation ended with him saying they would see me in court if this is what i wanted & he hung up!

Oh dear! Anyone any advice or suggestions?

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Les Richards
, GB
Mar 23, 2010 7:32 am EDT

I have recently been contacted by these poeple with exactly the same proposal and when I told them I already have a 24/7 protection from Online Support 4 You I was given to understand that they were the same company and that my current cover support expires in May 2010. The Online PC master outfit suggested I pay another £79.95 to extend my cover, when I refused to do this they said I would be contacted by their engineers to install further programs and that I should tell them that I agree to a further £79.95 but as they did not understand the sales department procedure it was a formality for them to understand that they must have agreement for the fee to be paid to install the programs. When the enginers eventually rang me about two hours later and not two days I said I agreed to the payment. Two days later the payment was removed from my account. Having tried to phone these people I find that the number they gave me has been disconnected.

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Mrs R Currie
Rugby, GB
Mar 21, 2010 11:15 am EDT

Now I am scared. I too have just had a call from these people saying the exact same thing making me believe they are from Microsoft. I have given them my credit card details and they are going to call back tomorrow to install the three packages. Oh my God what have I done. I was very wary of them and won't give them my date of bith which they insists is for data protection. I am so scared they are going to use my credit card for illegal purposes. What should I do. I will not be answering my phone tomorrow and I will be contacting my credit car company to get my money back. I just don't trust those people.

What kind of people are they? I am tired of these people phoning me with some scam. I get so many phone calls usually I hung up but it sounded so real I listened and did as they ask.
Another thing I can't ever remember speaking to an english sounding person it is always some foreing b****** sometimes I just tell them to P*** off and hang up this time I didn't.

About 2-3 years one of these people used my credit card to travel abroad while I was working an 11hr night shift.

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