Overpriced software, cheap business practices
Very poor experience with this company. I downloaded Dr. Fone a few months ago hoping I could restore some data lost from a major software crash that wiped out my phone's memory. I had hopes that the software would be able to restore important pictures and videos. The software wasn't able to restore anything. Ok, fine. In the "purchase details" email I received initially after purchase, Wondershare said that if I forgot to cancel my free trial I would be charged $35 for one month. I knew there was a strong likelihood that I would forget given my history and ADHD, but I decided some of the photos and videos- important family memories- were worth that gamble. A few months later, I saw an advertisement for Wondershare and it occurred to me that I never cancelled the Dr. Fone free trial. So I figured I would be paying $35.00. Not $200. I finally was able to get through Wondershare's AI assistant which was of no help at all and contact customer service. Soon after contacting Wondershare I get a reply from somebody named "Tina." I figured the fast response was a good sign. Only later did I find out "Tina" is not a person. very small print at the bottom of the Email explains that Tina, who in every way seems human is actually AI. So AI that presents itself as AI directs me to contact an Email and AI that sounds human and goes out of its way to seem human can not help me some more. AI assistants are a dime a dozen, but I don't think AI support has ever sent me to another human sounding human presenting AI before. That's honestly the tip of the iceberg with this company. The next day I get a response from somebody who, as far as I can tell is human. They tell me they cannot refund more than a month because it is against their "policy." And I have to agree in the email to those terms to even get that money back. So I repeat my original request- refund all months. More or less the same response with a screenshot of the one page on the website where the words "auto renewal" appear. I point out that it takes a number of clicks to reach that page. Customer service says it's my fault (in nicer language) because I get emails and it shows up on my credit card statement. This is true, but I have ADHD so I often forget to check these things and my inbox is flooded with junk. These rules and regulations are in place to help people who may not be the most organized and who struggle with focusing. And whether Wondershare agrees with these rules, if they're going to do business in a country or state or province they need to follow the rules that apply to that area. i acknowledged that I don't know what the laws are around this stuff in China, where Wondershare is Based but my understanding is that the information must be thoroughly disclosed where I am from. I told Wondershare that I would be leaving negative feedback because my experience had been so nightmarish, while continuing to push for a refund. They tell me, and I screenshotted and saved this, that they will try to help me get more months refunded If I don't leave negative feedback. Keep in mind, I did not attach a condition to my comment, I just said I was going to. I call them out on this. Presumably realizing they messed up, they send me another email saying, despite earlier claims about the policy not allowing it, that they would make an exception and give me two months back. They also claimed that wasn't what they had meant and blamed the language barrier. Up to this point there was no real language barrier, and what they claimed they meant wasn't even in the same realm. At this point I'd had it with them, I insisted they refund me all but the first month OR fix their website so it's more in line with the law. (I found out later most of their revenue comes from auto-renewals, so I have to wonder how many are intentional vs unintentional.) I told them that I was willing to risk not getting two months back if it meant not letting them walk all over me. I sent another email later, I think just again requesting the refund. Lo and behold, it won't send. So I figured they blocked me, even though I don't think I did anything wrong (I went out of my way to clarify that I was angry at the company not the person helping me. And that's still the case) because they didn't want to refund me and realized they had made a big mistake. So I try a totally unrelated email. "address not found." so it seems they deleted the actual email address after all that and if that doesn't scream shady I don't know what does. I don't know what their new Email address is or if they even have one and I'm guessing they'll be surprised to see this after all this time. I don't expect a response, at least not a genuine honest one and certainly not a refund, but I hope other people see this and realize how shady this company is and don't lose their money like I did. Avoid this company and anything in its very large family.