Adventures in CA support

I received an Email notice this morning that my support agreement with CA for their Internet Security Suite was ending and that I should pay for an update. Since I'm well aware of how long a Windows XP system will survive on the network without a security breach, I dutifully went to the online shop and purchased an update. My whirlwind adventure began after downloading the product.  As you might expect, it went from bad to worse throughout the day.

After the updated software was installed, I found that my data stored on my file server was no longer available. Furthermore, I started seeing application errors poping up all over the place. I was told "The instruction at "<some address>" referenced memory at "<some address>". The memory could not be read. Click on OK to terminate the program. Since I had never seen this message before updating the CA software, I knew it had to be something related to that installation.

My first guess was that the file server access problem was a simple firewall configuration issue. The other messages appeared a bit more sinister. I could reconfigure the firewall settings, but had no idea what to do with the other problem.

So, I opened up the security console, clicked on help and clicked on contact CA. I was led to a web page that presented a number of options. One of them was to take part in an internet chat session with a technician. I chose that option, entered all of the necessary contact information and downloaded the chat software.

Since it was 5:30 AM ET, I was able to get through to one of CA's technicians  almost immediately. Unfortunately, I didn't note down his name.  So, he'll have to be nameless during this narative.

He asked did I uninstall the previous version of CA's software before installing the new software. I told him that the installation procedure didn't mention uninstalling the old version before installing the new version of software. Since it is common practice for software to automatically uninstall previous versions, it was somewhat surprising that CA's software required this step. He told me to uninstall the software and then install it again. Since this process caused my system to reboot, I lost the connection with the technician.

After the uninstall, reboot, install, reboot cycle completed, I checked the configuration settings and was able to connect to the file server. The ominious messages continued to pop up telling me that other applications were dying.  So, I went through the rather laborious process to connect with another service technician. As it so happens, I ended up with the same technician.

He did some diagnostic procedures, suggested that I change a few parameters and then disconnected. I planned on making those changes after a telephone briefing that was previously scheduled.

After getting through with the conference call, I implemented the technician's suggestions  and, sure enough, nothing changed. The ominous messages still popped up all of the time.

So, I connected to the technical support chat line for the third time and had the opportunity to speak with Gyan Prakash. He seemed professional and helpful. He did some magic to correct some suspected registry errors. This magic also uninstalled the CA software. This also rebooted the system causing me to lose the connection with the good Mr. Prakash. Here we go again, I thought. I reinstalled the software, checked the parameters that locked out  my file server and noticed that, once again, that ominous errors continued to pop up.

So, I contacted technical support for the fourth time and got into some sort of interdimensional warp. The same technician was on the line. He would ask a question and I'd answer. Five to ten minutes would go by before he'd anwer again. So, I disconnected from that session and started another session.

Sure enough, Mr.  Prakash was on the line again. This time he asked "does it say that the error is because of CA?" I replied that the errors started immediately after the installation of CA Security Suite 2009 and had never ocurred prior to that time. So, it had to be related. His next message was that I should call an 800 number, pay $19.95 for a support incident and everything would again be right with the world.

At this point, I got angry and called the CA main number and got routed to a pleasant sounding gentleman that firmly indicated that CA would not help me fix what this software had done to my machine without an additional $19.95. I asked for a refund which he was glad to offer. I promised him that I would post something here. As you can see, I do my best to live up to my promises.

Have you ever dealt with a company that acted this way?  What problems have you had with CA support?