McAfee, The Cheater

McAfee has dishonest business practices. In fact, I'm confident it's not only intentional, it's business as normal for them. I haven't used McAfee in YEARS. The last email I have on file from them is from 2010, when I'm certain I cancelled the service. Fast forward two years and I suddenly get a bill. On a credit card I never use. From McAfee. For services that were neither requested nor rendered.

I tried to call and resolve the issue, but their helpline doesn't recognize Skype's touchpad tones, making it impossible to access their menu. Next, I tried the chat help. This is the transcript:

GoToAssist (14:24:55):
Thank you for contacting McAfee Consumer Support.  An agent will be with you shortly.

Praveen (14:24:55):
Hello, Jenna. Please give me a moment while I review the description you have typed in.

Customer (14:27:05):
okay

Praveen (14:27:34):
As I understand your concern, you would like to know about your subscription?

Customer (14:28:09):
I do not HAVE a subscription. I have been charged for something I cancelled two years ago.

Customer (14:28:26):
I want the charge removed. Immediately. And my information removed from your databases.

Praveen (14:28:27):
Jenna, I see that you have expired McAfee products registered under the e-mail address (...)

Customer (14:30:18):
My last contact with McAfee until this morning was in January 2010 with that email address, yes.

Praveen (14:31:32):
Please hold on for additional few minutes, I am checking your account status. I appreciate your patience.

Customer (14:32:18):
I will hold

Praveen (14:32:33):
As I understand your concern, you are unable to renew your McAfee subscription?

Praveen (14:33:24):
Sorry for the wrong information. Please ignore the previous response.

Customer (14:33:28):
I DO NOT HAVE A McAfee subscription. I DO NOT WANT a McAfee subscription.

Praveen (14:33:36):
May I have your billing  phone number for verification, please?

Customer (14:33:43):
(number removed)

Praveen (14:35:07):
May I have the first name and last name that you used when you registered the McAfee software?

Customer (14:35:37):
Jenna Pashley

Praveen (14:36:27):
I am still not able to locate your valid account Jenna.

Customer (14:37:56):
That is because I do not have one. Yet my credit card was billed this month by your company.

Praveen (14:38:11):
Since we are unable to locate your valid account, I would suggest you to contact our McAfee Phone Support to locate your account using your credit card information.

Customer (14:39:38):
I attempted that, but the customer service number doesn't recognize the touch tone dial, and so I cannot speak to anyone.

Praveen (14:40:03):
May I know the country in which you are located, Jenna?

Customer (14:40:06):
I will contact my credit card company and tell them that this is a fraudulent charge.

Customer (14:40:23):
Is it pertinent?

Customer (14:40:33):
I am calling via Skype.

Praveen (14:41:10):
I would recommend that you contact McAfee Customer Service number at 1-866-622-3911 in order to know your account details. Their business hours are from 8 am to 8 pm CST, daily.

Customer (14:43:00):
I called that number.

Customer (14:43:28):
It did not recognize the touch pad. With the numbers? That you have to press to talk to someone?

Customer (14:44:17):
This is a great conversation, by the way. I'm going to blog it as evidence of why no one should do business with McAfee. Not because you are a bad employee but because your company has such terrible business practices.

Praveen (14:45:29):
I would suggest you to call the number and inform the issue and locate your account by providing your credit card information Jenna.

Customer (14:45:43):
You have a nice day. I will report the McAfee charge on my bill as fraud to my credit card company and let them deal with it.

Praveen (14:45:54):
Your Service Request number for this chat session is (...). You can quote this number in your further contacts.

Customer (14:45:55):
Goodbye.

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If McAfee recognizes that I had expired products and no account, it should be a no brainer that I dont owe them any money. They didn't even send me a notification email; just charged my card and hoped I wouldn't notice.

Visa was very understanding and I don't think I'll have to get my blood pressure worked up like that again over this company. But seriously? In Brazil, this would totally be cause for a lawsuit. Why can't the US fond a way to stop this practice of  fraudulent billing and/or neglect to cancel accounts by what are considered legitimate companies?