What We Can Learn from McAfee

I wanted to ask a simple question today:  How do I scan an external drive using McAfee anti-virus.  The company is owned by Intel.  It was an adventure not finding out, but what I did learn was not something I really wanted to know.

First, when help desk people are not speaking good English and using a cheap phone system, it is very hard to understand what they are asking.  I had to repeat myself often, but it wasn't for that reason only.

The first person on the line told me I had a license and it was valid.  I knew that already.  I wasn't calling about the license.  The second person told me I had a license and it was valid, then asked my why I was calling.  You need tech support he said.

The third person was nice but went through the same things and asked me if I had a Mac.   My license was for a Mac.    You have a Mac and this section does not do Macs, so I will transfer you.  

The fourth person was actually a Mac person and understood the question, but was asking quite a few questions that weren't relevant to scanning a hard drive.  She didn't want to tell me how to scan an external disk, or she didn't know.

I asked her why she was asking all these questions about my system when all I wanted was to know how to scan an external drive.  She said she didn't have to have all that information and I could just log into a website called logme-in at a URL she game me.  I said, "Wait, you want me to log into a website that is used to give you control of my system, and all I want to know is how to scan an external hard drive?"

"Yes, we can help walk you through it if you do that."  

No.  That is worse than not getting help from the vendor.  Somebody who obviously isn't in this country wants me to turn over control of my computer to them so they can walk me through a procedure that should be easy.  They want to know more about my system than just the OS version I have (was it wired or wireless and others).  I just read about the problems with Baidu sucking data about the computer and nearby networks.  It sounded just like them.

I hung up and cancelled my subscription to McAfee.  My fond memories of my time in the government when McAfee was used on most every computer I had, are gone now.  I can't imagine some of the places I worked using any company with a help desk outside the U.S. and having them remotely control the computers that the government owns.  Either things have changed a lot at McAfee, or they put on a different face when dealing with individual purchasers.  It really does not matter to me anymore.