Symantec...You Pissed Off the Wrong Nutcase!

It's now 8:55 pm. I have been sitting patiently (not so much, actually) at my wife's computer since before 4:30 pm, trying to get the upgrades of Norton Internet Security 2008 and Norton Systemworks to work. This after she tried for two days.

I've communicated with people who work for Symantec in faraway places and they have given me directions...multiple times, the SAME directions...that don't work. The last guy with whom I communicated took control of the computer, with my permission, and got it to the point of downloading and running the removal tool for Norton, after which he rebooted the computer. When the computer came back up, a helpful little pop-up told me the analysts who had been helping me were not available...and asked me whether I wanted to chat with someone else. Yes. That was just after 7:00 pm. I was appalled to see that there were nine people ahead of me in the queue, but my two previous communications had come quicky after I requested help, so I expected there would be a delay....but not two hours!

Here is what I am seeing appear on the little "wait for us" screen:

We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.
We are experiencing higher than usual service times. Please wait and an analyst will be with you shortly.

I'm losing all semblance of patience. I'm plotting a massive public relations nightmare for Symantec. I've copied the little interchanges I've had with the Norton gurus and I'll have the reproduced in billboard size and placed all along the major freeways of America, blocking out Symantec's own advertising. I'll hire an army of hot-shot programmers to create a far superior set of products and will give those products away, along with free lifetime support. I will run for national office on a platform promising just one thing: "We will make it illegal for any Symantec product to be sold in North America and, indeed, anywhere in the world." I will make friends with unethical senior-level IRS employees so I can give all senior-level Symantec executives an opportunity to undergo what the truly power-hungry Washington crowd calls "audits on steroids and speed."

OK, it's 9:12 pm and still I'm number 4 in the queue. I'm about done. I don't have a gun, but I'm about to stab this computer repeatedly in the face with my pocket knife. I highly recommend switching to Macs or doing business exclusively with Symantec's competitors...ANY of their competitors.