Smilebox seems to be a box of trouble

By | February 18, 2012

Karen wants to know about Smilebox
Thank you both so much for all that you do. I have learned more from you about computers that from all other sources put together. My question is, Is Smilebox safe? I have received some greetings & albums from others and they are so fun. I downloaded the program about a year ago and made an album. It was so cute and I loved the program, but immediately after, my computer crashed with a virus. It was SuperAntiSpyware that alerted me, so I called them and the tech told me SmileBox is bad, but I know several people who use & enjoy it. I did not reinstall SmileBox, but would like to use it. So what is your take on Smilebox?

Our Answer
Thank you very much, Karen. SmileBox is owned by Incredimail and it seems most complaints are for charging when customer did not expect a charge, refusing to refund, difficulty cancelling, nagware/ads/toolbars, and problems uninstalling. Smilebox has a reputation as the “World’s Most Annoying App” http://www.talentzoo.com/digital-pivot/blog_news.php?articleID=10968 .

Typical review (after Incredimail purchased):

“I tried SmileBox earlier this year and it took forever to get rid of it. The program popped up constantly from the system tray asking if I wanted to add the most recent pictures uploaded to my computer to my Smilebox. It wouldn’t uninstall, once I was able to find the uninstall option, because it was running. You first have to get it to stop running, which is a chore in itself since it seems to have a mind of its own.

They offer a 14-day trial period, after which they automatically charge your credit card. Several users have complained on download sites like CNET.com that they were charged before the trial period ended and were unable to obtain a refund.”

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ONCE PAYMENT IS MADE, NO REFUNDS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

WHILE A MEMBER, IF THEY OFFER FREE TRIALS OF OTHER THINGS, ONCE THE FREE TRIAL IS OVER YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY CHARGED, SO BE CAREFUL OF THEIR MANY OFFERS. SINCE THEY ALREADY HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION, YOU MAY NOT EVEN REALIZE YOU ARE GOING TO BE CHARGED WHEN TRING (sic) NEW OFFERS.

YOU AGREE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THEIR NEWSLETTER

Complaints about not being able to keep them from continuing to charge their credit cards after they quit the service and problems with getting customer service to respond:
http://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.smilebox.com

Beware as they do have a C rating with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) mostly due to what is called improper billing practices:

http://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/scrapbooking/smilebox-in-redmond-wa-22069332

Many issues with auto-charges and problems with refunds, inability to get customer service to respond:

http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item2137

Smilebox seems to be a box of trouble.

10 thoughts on “Smilebox seems to be a box of trouble

  1. E Muriel Schlecht

    Wow! This was interesting to me. At first read I said to myself “Hmmm, now where did I hear of Smilebox before? Turns out I downloaded that a long time ago, but never executed it. Mine was not a “trial” download ’cause I don’t do “trials” unless somebody I trust (TC) recommends it, so where did it come from? Who recommended that I download it?” Maybe it was bundled with something else? I can’t remember. Cutting to the chase, I found the “execute” file hidden in a file labeled “Stuff to try (spare-time)”. Yep, I downloaded it to my desktop and embarrrassed to say….in 2007, and moved it to that “stuff to try later” folder. I usually wait to “execute” ’til I have time to research it and really spend meaningful time with a program to find out if I like it. I never did that, and I guess it turned out to be a good thing. I did an advanced uninstall with RevoUninstaller without a second thought. Thanks Karen and TC. Isn’t it a shame that some great programs have to be affiliated with such unethical, money-grubbing “jerks”.

    Reply
  2. EUGENE ERWIN

    TC. Mentioning IncrediMail, I am wondering about the Protection Center through IncrediMail. IncrediMail is automatically charging me for this service on a yearly basis (39.95 plus almost 3.00 foreign transaction fee). Do I really need this service and is IncrediMail really safe? Thanks to you two for all you do.

    Reply
  3. Norma

    Incredimail has always been a program that, once installed, takes over your computer. I teach seniors about computers and warn them never use Incredimail because you will be swamped with email “offers” or worse; stick to your basic email clients or Thunderbird. So now they’re calling it Smilebox? No surprise!

    Reply
  4. Terry

    Incredimail is spyware. I have been doing PC help for years and know that as a fact. If Smilebox is in anyway affiliated with Incredimail then it will be spyware/adware etc. Anything that is “pretty” is generally going to add spyware and or adware. When Incredimail first came out I thought it was great. Maybe at first it didn’t have spyware but it does now. Any program that comes bundled with something that you haven’t heard of or sneaks itself onto your computer will be bad news. Research before you download anything. Even big name companies like HP and ACER add spyware to your computer right off the bat with their gameing counsels. It comes with Wild Tagent games which are bad!

    Reply
    1. infoave Post author

      try a different keyboard. If you’re using a Microsoft keyboard, you definitely should try a different (Generic) keyboard.

      Reply
  5. Dianne C

    I have wondered about people who email me using incredimail. you can not completely remove all the tracking lines from the emails before forwarding. I always clean up as much as I can but wonder what tracers or trackers hide on my computer because of it. I used incredimail 10 yrs, ago and had a lot of problems , I uninstalled it but found an unknown name attached to one of my contacts in Outlook Express and no matter how many times I uninstalled and reinstalled outlook, that unknown name would always re-appear. I stopped using outlook for 2 yrs.until I had to do computer upgrades.

    Reply
    1. infoave Post author

      Maybe one of our friends can help you – I know little about scrapbooking but I’m sure someone reading this will.

      Reply

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