Calling Norton Antivirus was a long, frustrating experience. When I dialed the number, I was able to connect to Norton customer service's automated system, but it proved very poor at understanding what I was trying to say. I intended to ask for an expert's opinion about Norton product I needed to install to protect my computer, but the system seemed convinced that I said I had a virus and needed technical support.
I said that wasn't correct, but the system asked for my information so it could begin providing technical support for my issue. Not having an issue, I declined and tried to go back to the previous menu. The system instead said that it would try to connect me to an agent who could help me with my virus issue.
I still didn't have a virus issue, but figured that at least doing this would connect me with a live person who could either provide the information themselves or connect me with someone who could. As such, I decided to wait, assuming it couldn't take long.
That proved very wrong, as I never was able to connect with a live person. I waited through several repetitive hold menus, all telling me to continue to hold and I'd eventually be connected with an agent. But 30 minutes went by, and I didn't get connected to anyone. Every five minutes, I got the same repetitive message, saying to continue to hold and someone would be with me.
After 30 minutes, I'd finally had enough and ended the call without connecting to an agent. At no point did Norton's menu tell me how long my wait would be, mention the website as a solution to solve my problems or suggest that I could get a call back when it was my turn to be assisted. I was simply left to wait, without any alternative options or reassurances.
Overall, I wasn't impressed with my experience. I get that Norton is a web-first company and it makes sense that its phone system wouldn't be as robust as some others, but making customers wait this long without direction simply isn't a good experience.
At the minimum, if you're going to make customers wait for long periods, you should present an alternative option. A person might not be able to log on to Norton with their computer if it's compromised, but they could get a text on their smartphone and log in that way. They could also offer a call-back so that people don't have to spend all day waiting in line. Even knowing which place I was in the queue would have been a huge help.
Were I a customer of Norton's, I would try another solution before using this option for customer support.