Repair scams: Let’s take a look at iYogi
All Windows users
iYogi is a remote support outfit whose home office is in India. They have “local headquarters” in the USA, United Kingdom, and elsewhere around the world. “Local Headquarters” is in quotes because iYogi does not have a physical presence anywhere other than India. Now before we get started, there’s nothing wrong with being in or from India. That being said, India is known for its notoriously cheap labor and sometimes its not quite legit business practices.
iYogi’s methodology seems to be to spend a lot of money advertising so as to come up at the top of searches for example, Intuit support. This kind of misdirected advertising is misleading and often tricks customers into believing that Intuit and other companies pay iYogi to handle their support or that iYogi is partnering with them. From what we’ve been able to find out, this is not true — although it is true that Avast did partner with iYogi to provide support in 2012. This ended when a plethora of customer complaints flooded Avast and they had no choice but to back away from iYogi.
We’re not sure if iYogi should be classified as a scam or just plain incompetent – but both seem to fit iYogi to a “T”. They charge people from $200 to $400 for repair contracts — yearly or multi-yearly — and from our research their record is abysmal in all areas not the least of which is actually repairing computers. iYogi seems to be a money pit for unsuspecting computer users who are not technically savvy and who don’t do a lot of research before giving out their credit card information
If you search for “Intuit support” the very top search result is this * http://www.iyogibusiness.com/intuit/8370910/support-for-intuit.html?gclid=CNfAxem49b4CFeKXOgodVgQAmg . And if you go to that page it sure looks like iYogi is the go to support team for Intuit products, which it is not. And to be fair, Google displays a small label next to this search result that identifies it as an advertisement. How many people click on it anyway thinking it’s the legitimate number to call for support for Quicken, QuickBooks, Turbo Tax and other Intuit products?
The actual support site for Intuit is http://www.intuit.com/support / and it comes up #3 in the search results.
And iYogi is just one of many using heavy ad spending to misdirect searches. If you search for Kaspersky support, AVG support, Avast Support, or McAfee support, the number one search result is iYogi:
Legitimate companies, those who have paid their dues and earned good reputations don’t have to trick people into using their services. If you have iYogi or you’ve recently purchased a support contract from them, you need to carefully consider if you want to trust a company which garners much of its business by trickery.
And customer reviews of iYogi are telling. Here’s an example, iYogi customer Dorothy from Pennsylvania posted:
“I was having some problems with my desktop programs running slow and programs crashing. While trying to contact Dell, I was rerouted to IYOGI, and told that they work with Dell. After 3.5 hours, I was harassed into purchasing a contract for $429.00. Now I am getting emails that state that there are patches missing in my program. When I called back for my free updates or patches, they tried to sell me another program. How do I stop this company from trying to add to my contract or adding on other charges?”
To see more comments about iYogi, see http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/iyogi.html .
One of the things we harp on and keep repeating over and over is: Slow down, take your time, do your research, and be careful. If you have been contacted by iYogi and purchased anything from them, consider requesting a refund, and if iYogi refuses, contact your credit card company and have them cancel the charges. No legitimate company would conduct business in such a tricky, underhanded way.
Be careful out there – the Internet is full of chicanery. But it is also full of valuable information, so learn to tell the difference between fact and fiction and use the Internet wisely.
IYOGI, IS A BAD CHOICE FOR COMPUTER SOFTWARE REPAIR. I SUBSCRIBED TO IYOGI SUPPORT FOR THREE YEARS. QUIT USING THEM AFTER TWO YEARS. STARTED USING YOUR SERVICE. IYOGI WAS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, LEFT MY COMPUTER IN WORST SHAPE THAN BEFORE THE PROBLEM ON TWO OCCASIONS, MOST OF THE TIME HAD TO ELEVATE THE PROBLEM TO A MORE QUALIFIED PERSON, WAS ALWAYS TRYING TO SELL ANOTHER PRODUCT, OR HARDWARE. THAT WAS WHEN I WAS RUNING WINDOWS XP. I AM NOW ON A NEW PC RUINNING WINDOWS 7. FINALLY, I TURNED TO YOU FOR HELP. THANKS, JIM B.
You warned me about iyogi, butafter I had contacted them by phone for an update that appeared to be a Emsisoftt site.
They were still apparently able to put a load of garbage ( ads etc.) on my computer even though I didn’t bite on their sales pitch to repair my computer . They used high pressure tactics and wanted my credit card information in the worst way.
Thanks again for your trusted website. Ralph