This morning, I found the following comment on my post from last night about a new spyware removal tool:
Ad-aware .. more like ad-unaware
Posted Jun 30, 2004, 2:37 AM ET by Dan
I've tried Ad-aware, and I must say.. it left my computer not much different than it was before. It found maybe 4 or 5 spyware apps. I work for Gateway Tech Support, and we carry a product called Webroot Spysweeper. We were recently all given free full-version copies of it, and let me tell you: This makes Ad-Aware look like malware. It found over 6,000 entries, cleaned them all, and I havent had a trace of spyware since. But, if you wall want to be cheap, and use the crappy free options that are available.. go right ahead. But I think that the $29.99 Spysweeper would be a steal at twice that price.
Wow! Thanks Dan. Your snide attitude is absolutely reflective of much of what is wrong with most hardware companies' tech support groups today. A know-it-all, I'm-smarter-than-you-are attitude that turns off customers, fails to resolve problems, and is designed primarily to pump more revenue by selling people more stuff. If your approach to intelligent discourse is typical of the support ethos at Gateway (I sincerely hope not), it goes a long way towards explaining the unenviable position your company finds itself in.
I get calls on my radio show every week relating conversations with people like Dan when my listeners are having an issue with their PCs. They're either told they're dumber than dirt or given plain bad advice that usually ends up screwing things up worse than they were before. How long have you been in the biz Dan? What's your ratio of successful resolutions to "I'll never buy another thing from your company!" responses? What page in your decision-tree manual did you look up the answer you posted here?
More importantly - how many systems did you test before posting your "advice" here? One? Am I supposed to be impressed by the fact that you're a "professional" tech support person who had 6,000 pieces of spyware on his system and only discovered it after being given a free copy of some software? This ability to maintain a "clean" system is the basis for your moral superiority?
Please!
There's a reason why these "crappy free options" have been downloaded millions of times Dan. They work. And they're free - the product of some very smart people with a lot of talent and an understanding that if you provide a valuable tool for free, you can then legitimately ask for the "customer" to pay for something even better. It's a pretty common way of marketing these days Dan. Go read Seth Godin's Free Prize Inside and Purple Cow. Get a clue.
Oh, by the way Dan. Guess how many pieces of spyware your recommended tool (not a bad piece of software by the way - that's not the point of this rant) found on my system which has only been protected by "crappy free options" like Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Spyware Blaster? Six.
Dan, I said six - out of nearly 85,000 files scanned. And you know what Dan? Two of the six were cookies I had specifically allowed on my system. The other four? Oh, they were already quarantined by one of my "crappy free options".
And guess what Dan - even your recommended tool is available as a free trial. Does that make it "crappy" until I buy the subscription?
Take a lesson from this rant Dan. Lose the attitude. Or find another line of work where you don't impose your poor attitude on the very customers who pay your salary. And do your homework before you post. Oh, and one more thing Dan. Try to develop the ability to present an opinion without resorting to petty attacks without merit or support. You'll have a lot more credibility as a result.
UPDATE: Ed Bott, who has a lot more credibility than Dan ever will, recently posted a review of the tool Dan suggested we should all be using. Turns out, Dan's wrong about this too. Ed's reaction? "Ugh!"
1. I run Ad-Aware once a week on my systems. For the most part, it just finds cookies, BUT it has found worse stuff in the past. The fact that it's free makes it even better.
On another note...I've always had good luck with Gateway Tech Support, but luckily I've never had anyone be as rude as Dan was in his comment to you.
Posted at 6:20AM on Dec 19th 2005 by M. Eaton