The Teamviewer SCAM

This keeps getting worse… removal of lifetime memberships, subscriptions for everything, and now predatory tactics to force it’s users to keep paying by removing cancellations of the subscriptions.
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[@ChrisTitusTech]

I'm see a bunch of comments about using a virtual card or gift card to sign up. My main worry here is they can still send you to collections from their contract. It even has an option if you were contacted by a collections agent from their 1-800 number. Be very careful as the yearly rates for teamviewer are $500+.

[@edwinrosales6322]

Adding Teamviewer to my list of shitty companies (featuring companies like Comcast and Lastpass).

[@darknessblades]

Seems like we soon get another hilarious Linus tech tips hot take

[@sFeral]

scammers are their user base so it seems they doubled down on being associated with scamming lol

[@tuckersguitarfiasco]

slightly off topic but it is still something to consider: A lot of tech support scammers use AnyDesk and other free Remote viewing software (Like TeamViewer), AnyDesk is trying to stop scams on their platform. But do you really hear TeamViewer doing that? Nope. and this video proves it, because they are scammers themselves! Why would they care about theft of their free clients when they are scamming people themselves?

[@tuckersguitarfiasco]

@@sFeral basically :/

[@leonardomanes6713]

There is a law in Brazil that forces every company to provide cancelation trough the same channels and times they use to sell you that service. They can't have different channels to provide cancelation.

[@DasIllu]

Same in the EU.

[@YannMetalhead]

I'm Brazilian and was working in a call center when this law was created; the company went crazy because of it.

[@steven631764]

We definitely need that in the US

[@patosuave]

Same in Argentina

[@DevilbyMoonlight]

thats a fair and sensible!

[@Jackpkmn]

The thing i've noticed is that companies that do this are basically in their final thrash before they fall onto their deathbed and start actually properly dying.

[@bubbleboy821]

The problem is TeamViewer knows that they are the best software option for what they do. I use AnyDesk because I hate TeamViewer, but it's not quite as good.

[@BobbyGeneric145]

A company in music production just did this and the backlash was so huge they reversed course in 3 days

[@_VeritasVosLiberabit_]

I really find sad that TeamViewer is going to die, because I've used it for around 10 years, and I tried some "open source" options like AnyDesk, but the transfer quality was never good as with TeamViewer. It is definitely a good product. 😢

[@alexandruianosi8469]

TeamViewer went from a tool used by scammers to a scam itself. What a ride.

[@PlanetEleethal]

Thank you Titus, TeamViewer has been a thorn in my side for years. The company I work for had a lifetime license that was not honored as well.

[@ForcefighterX2]

Yeah it's a common thing: Don't ever pay lifetime licenses which are payed for only once. It may seem like a good deal from the monetary perspective, but business-wise you are dead to the seller. If you pay a lifetime license once, the manufacturer will never make any cent with you anymore and thus you are nothing more than a distirbance to them. Only when you pay periodically, they have an incentive to provide a service to you. Thus one is better of paying nothing (free), or paying periodically. But don't pay once and expect continued service - they have zero reason to do that sadly.

[@Martinit0]

@@ForcefighterX2 Why would you pay once and expect (indefinite?) continued service? Back in the days it was always time-limited service that you got with a perpetual license. typically 1 year. Then you'd buy support contracts if you felt you need service. Microsoft still offers this with some products.

[@RogerioPereiradaSilva77]

@@Martinit0 If the service provider doesn't plan to provide continued service forever then it shouldn't offer a 'lifetime plan' as that is just deceiving advertising and likely a legal liability for them, right? Some cloud storage/backup providers do offer lifetime plans at a heavy discount and if I ever decide to pay for such a service then heck yeah I fully expect them to honor that contract! That said, I wholeheartedly agree with @ForcefighterX2 above in that by paying once and being entitled to the service forever just makes you a nuisance to the service provider. You're not generating recurring revenue for them and thus that puts you really down in their list of priorities. And that doesn't even take into account those companies that decide that they will not honor the lifetime license after a little while...

[@batsonelectronics]

@@Martinit0 are you nuts ? every program pre around 2016 was lifetime ownership. my office 2008 and 2012 still work just fine. newest oses may not support older programs but running an older os with the lifetime program should still work. i still have customers using photoshop cs2 and cs3. it does everything they need so no reason to upgrade. i still use quickbooks pro 2008 for my business.

[@MRJMXHD]

@@Martinit0 exactly. Support Contracts work just fine.

[@fookingsog]

That's *ABSOLUTELY SCUMMY* customer service!!! Disallowing a simple subscription cancelation is an anti-customer service!!!🙄

[@AsmodeusMictian]

That's a strange way to say "makes me lots of money." Remember folks, none of us deserve any consumer protection laws according to our representatives. No consumer protection, no data privacy. We've literally become the product, and our owners don't like it when we try to wiggle out of that arrangement, that should be a clue.

[@RebellionAlpha]

I just found out, that Kaspersky is doing the same. You have to submit a ticket via a web form.

[@afungusamungus2860]

This was declared illegal in Canada when Shaw tried it before. Can't wait to see the lawsuit.

[@BryanChance]

Let me guess, Shaw is a cable/internet provider? LOL

[@BanR902]

@@BryanChance Bingo.

[@willparkin]

@@BryanChance Soon to be bought out...

[@BryanChance]

@@BanR902 I’’m surprised i guess it but someone how it is expected. In the states, Comcast aka Xfinity is voted the most hated company in the last decade. LOL the things they do just outage customers like no other

[@PeptoBismolPone]

​@@BryanChance i'd rather deal with Xfinity than AT&T any day of the week.

[@smug_slime]

I can't believe canceling TeamViewer is worse than canceling ISP

[@xeridea]

Comcast is regularly in my Walmart in the main back aisle by electronics blocking traffic and harassing shoppers. Doesn't matter if you have your 5 kids with you, they want to waste your time. I go the long way around just avoid being within 50-100 feet of their booth.

[@MrNickpeck36]

@@xeridea I hate that crap, whenever I see anyone selling something like that, I have to hope I don't need anything in the isles around them so I don't get picked lol.

[@jedznawczasypl]

depends on country. one in the country does not even have described cancellation process on their website and process works almost like teamviewer one, just theoretically service should be cancelled within 5 days. if you fail to pay final bill they will literally bring service back and charge you full amount

[@ScottAshmead]

Sounds like a dream class action lawsuit for some lawyer to take on or several lawyers from many US states

[@EthosAtheos]

You signed a contract, in the USA we have almost no customer protection laws. I doubt TeamViewer is violating any laws. They are just a garbage company and sadly that isn't illegal.

[@muddyexport5639]

I absolutely couldn't agree more about your take on TeamViewer. And it is sad that a outfit that at one time was very good is now digging its own grave.

[@eidodk]

Teamviewer doesn't want me to use their products, so they mean nothing to me.

[@spakeschannel]

Huh, fellow russian, too?

[@Raffix394]

@@spakeschannel 🤣

[@alexandrpyankov430]

Not only they don't want me to use their products anymore they were very expensive when they did. Now i use anydesk and still can buy it through the partners. Greetings from R. country!

[@Caroline-ez8ls]

WOW! I am looking for a company to use for remote access... after this video our office definitely WILL NOT be using Team Viewer. Thanks!

[@rorybernard4481]

Got caught on this. Used a card with an expiry in the year the subs ran and obviously did not allow a renewal charge. They then sent it to a collections agency - they are totally beyond the pale.

[@somecatyoudontknow6471]

Geico try to do this to me. I went for a quote, and because their very flawed system said I didn't have insurance they wanted to not only charge me for the quote but also charge me for the two years I had been with Root. They also said I had multiple tickets that I didn't.(confirmed with the BMV I didn't have those tickets) Once they had my card they said it was too late. I had to explain to them I was more than willing to wait the two weeks to get a new debit card and if they sent it to collections I would sue... I will NEVER go with Geico....

[@thecandyman9308]

wtf! OMG

[@Mikkel111]

Did they give up or are they still attempting to retrieve the money?

[@CdrmnkNathan]

This is why I prefer to use third party payment systems like paypal that you can go in and cancel payment authorisations and auto renewals.

[@katrinabryce]

In Europe, every card provider is required by law to cancel auto-renewals.

[@AngstG]

EXACTLY!!

[@biblebadcopycatofcuneiform8210]

Yep, I would use PayPal exactly for that reason. I have a few things I'm subscribed to via PayPal because of that.

[@themedleb]

That and some other ways are just workarounds, we need a solution instead, companies must fix this willingly or forcibly by the law, that's the real solution.

[@lorekeeper685]

Ye fair then there is some cases like artists where this hurts them because some shit people who just tries to crash people's wallet

[@MiGujack3]

If they told me I need to do a "ticket" to cancel I would just go and file a chargeback immediately.

[@sotonin]

Yep. That's what chargebacks are for. If the company charges you for something you either didn't want or wanted to cancel or aren't happy with. Chargeback

[@nonsuch]

I had a health insurance company do the same thing where they said I had to write a written letter to them if I wanted to cancel. I just told them cancel it because as soon as I get off the phone with you, I'm calling my credit card company to cancel you for me. Well, the customer service person started getting angry and said that if I do it, it will be hard for me to get insurance from any other company in the future, which is a blatant lie. So I called my credit card company and they were happy to cancel it for me. A few days later, I shopped new policies and easily got a new one from a different provider. It's funny how if you miss a payment to most places they will threaten you with cancelation but if you call to cancel yourself, they try and run you through hoops. Don't fall for it, you're in charge of your money.

[@aldozampatti]

This is definitely worthy of contesting the credit card charge if you get 're-subscribed' anyway. I've done it a few times in the past when I wanted to unsubscribed for something and they made it hard for me.

[@sotonin]

Yep. report the charge as fraud and charge it back. I've done it, they have no recourse. You can dispute any sort of collections. They can't charge you for services not rendered.

[@earthwobbles3534]

I agree, just make sure you uninstall all their software from your machine ASAP! Even if you don't use it they could find you & show up on their servers as a user/client. Make a clean break & avoid gray area.

[@MeaTLoTioN]

I had a free account, I just deleted it. Thanks for the heads up Chris, you're a legend!

[@ForcefighterX2]

Wow amazing that you managed to actually make use of a free TeamViewer account. While their competition added features, TeamViewer only restricted their free features. Thus I dropped it even personally, because it was not even sufficient for helping out my own friends and family without TeamViewer claiming I'd use the tool professionally. The funny thing is, only because of that I found another tool I also pay for and actually do use professionally now. Too bad for TeamViewer for being a scumbag.

[@benwu7980]

Same, I'd been using the free version in LAN only mode for accessing my homelab servers. They have currently been down for a while due to electricity costs, so have some time to test out some of the alternatives. It's a shame really, it was a decent program >

[@RealNovgorod]

They don't have "free" accounts anymore since several years. You can create one, but you can't connect to any remote machine.

[@sotonin]

@@RealNovgorod This isn't true at all. I have one. I've had one for ages. I used it not long ago. It works just fine. I pay them nothing and never have. I am able to use it to connect to any other computer that I have also installed teamviewer and logged into my account on.

[@szaka9395]

Same here, up to today, they flaged me as commercial use, and now i cant use it. I created a ticket, used only to connect my mobile to PC, 100% personal non commercial. Guess im moving to google remote desktop. Whatever.

[@Martinit0]

The actual Teamviewer software is also annoying in the sense that if the other side has a newer version than yourself they won't connect. Happened to me several times that I had to let a customer wait because I forgot to update the Teamviewer client before the call.

[@TheGodpharma]

I don't know how it works in the US but here in the UK, if you bought the subscription with a debit or credit card, you can cancel the renewal via your bank if the merchant is being difficult, and you are not obliged to inform the merchant.

[@markh.6687]

As Chris said, sounds like trying to quit AOL years ago; a friend argued with AOL for some 20 minutes--they were willing to give her a free membership to avoid losing a customer. She actually had to get rude for the CSR to finally cancel her account (!).

[@defrigge]

Here in Europe we have a central EU agency taking care of digital abuse as soon as this kind of info is forwarded. Team Viewer can't afford this kind of behavior here, or they will be out of business in Europe in no time...

[@subbookkeeper]

TeamViewer is a German company btw so that's in Europe.

[@benhur563]

@@subbookkeeper However, what is shownn here is indeed illegal in Europe

[@memyshelfandeye318]

@@benhur563 Check their website. Even the german one tells you the very same thing (use DeepL to translate if necessary) on their support forum: " XXXX Beiträge: 802 [Former Staff] April 2022 bearbeitet April 2022 Hallo @YYYYY, vielen Dank für deine Nachricht! Zu der eigenen Sicherheit unserer Kunden, müssen alle Kündigungen schriftlich über ein Ticket eingereicht werden. Schriftliche Anfragen müssen TeamViewer spätestens 28 Tage vor Ende der ersten Laufzeit bzw. der Folgelaufzeit erreichen.Wie du ein solches Ticket erstellst, erfährst du im folgenden Artikel:"

[@seiboldtadelbertsmiter3735]

I predict Teamviewer will get hit with a class action lawsuit because this is crooked as hell.

[@DeancentGarage]

That is pure insanity. I hope they have a massive lawsuit against them, inexecuable polices. It always amazes me how some companies lose site of who is serving who.

[@OraC6666]

They didn't. They are serving their stockholders or owners.

[@musiqtee]

We’re not consumers, we’re consumed… 🔥

[@synthoelectro]

these companies start out good, then suddenly you have the enemy loaded in your machine.

[@johntankard]

This happened to me, I ran over the 28 day notice period which I wasn't aware of, I then tried to cancel but was told because I was over the 28 days notice period (but still within my 1 year licence period) I would be changed another full year even though I didn't need it anymore. I wrote an email explaining I didn't need it and please cancel my licence. Within 1 week of that email I had a debt collection notice served saying I had 28 days to pay or I would be taken to court. I had no option but to pay. Never ever will I use team viewer again nor will I recommend it.

[@chrisowen2925]

The nice thing about the USA the debt court won't come after you. It just goes on your credit history for 3 years as unpaid. But if you did go to court the judge likely would toss it out due to the abusive language in the inappreciably one-sided cancelation terms.

[@mailleweaver]

I ran into this a few months ago when I signed up for the wrong subscription. It took weeks to get it converted to a different type and actually be functional. It appears that the best practice if you do have to do business with them is to submit your cancellation as soon as you subscribe. You'll still have the year you paid for (probably not knowing that it is forcefully billed in yearly increments instead of monthly), but then it won't auto-renew in 11 months when you've forgotten the ridiculous cancellation policy.

[@rns10]

They can cancel immediately as well if they understand if in wrong way. So try it at your own risk.

[@tellurian2229]

Few years ago a noticed Teamviewer moving in wrong direction. I was smart enough to quit. This case confirmed my predictions

[@Martinit0]

Yes, they are a publicly owned company now and if you read their latest annual report: proud of upselling and cross-selling customers. Revenue up 13% YoY, EPS up 46% YoY.

[@ktm690sm4]

What u using? Dameware?

[@tellurian2229]

@@ktm690sm4 I use TrustViewer or ZeroViewer, ... depends on situation.

[@ImHeadshotSniper]

@@ktm690sm4 there is something called RustDesk which is open source and does what teamviewer does, but i haven't personally used it so i can't say how it competes

[@derram0k]

I remember the aol thing, I got free internet from them for like 2 years. My bill was basically a 2 minute phone call once a month where I would say "I want to cancel."

[@bazurdia]

I totally agree with you, I bought the perpetual license and then they harassed me until I accepted an offer they made me for $10 dollars a month for life. The offer only lasted one year and the following year they increased it to $29 without my consent. The sales team is terrible too.

[@sashag1547]

Not just them. A lot of states like NY banned these auto renewals for consumers, but not towards businesses. Had a similar issue with our corporate phone company. We were under the 30 days to submit via email a cancelation. We ported out our numbers, and told them to pound sand. After a few scare tactics and their "lawyer" letters, they stopped contacting us, as no services were being provided and they knew they didn't have a leg to stand on.

[@CMDRSweeper]

If you HAVE to subscribe, use one of those prepaid / virtual cards with a fixed amount or that times out. That way you can just let it expire if they get too pushy after you have told them to cancel. Should they decide to legally pursue you, you have a nice evidence that you had let them know, which often causes an open and shut case if they really want to waste their money in court over it.

[@ChrisTitusTech]

One scary thing is they can still send you to collections for violation of contract. When you call their 1800 number the first thing they mention is about being contacted about a collections agent. I wouldn't recommend this.

[@AngstG]

@@ChrisTitusTech ONLY creditors - that is, companies like banks or credit unions that you have borrowed actual MONEY from have the ability to impact your credit profile, not some random company that you purchased a product or service from (a service that you discontinue is NOT the equivalent unpaid debt) So --- SO WHAT if they send you to collections?? It just increases their costs to try and get money out of you they are not legally entitled to and they know this and will likely drop it once they realize they can't collect anything...

[@TazzSmk]

failure of payment for a service you don't cancel is YOUR problem, nobody cares your card expired

[@fiecylick3981]

@@ChrisTitusTech Although I may agree what you are saying there are loopholes around these sort of things. Of course this varies on contract to contract. I recommend you use a fake name and what not if possible to bypass this whole trickery thing or possibly get a fake ID if you can to get it to go through. That although is risky but personally worth it for me if I were to ever need something for my day to day life.

[@ruineka_one]

Microsoft puts a bill on your account and prevents you from unsubscribing from their service until you pay off the balance. I had this happen with a free trial of Office 365..I got charged $100 to "unsubscribe" from the trial.

[@SergirothGames]

We need more videos like these, for more companies, so people know where they are getting themselves into. Thanks for your insight!

[@Ridgyed]

Fiouf! Thank you Titus, was just about to fall in the trap. I was searching youtube to see how to use teamviewer in a specific mode when i found your video. That stopped everything for my project.

[@ChristianWagner888]

Most subscribtions in Germany work the same horrible way as Teamviewer. Sometimes you have to cancel 3 months in advance in order to prevent another yearly renewal. Therefore I avoid such services based in Germany as much as possible.

[@GrdDog]

Chris will you do a video on the recommended remote programs and show how each work, with links to their websites for download.

[@harryisawesome0420]

That sounds like an absolute scum move on their part and as you've mentioned it might actually be violating a few consumer laws. I have switched from TeamViewer for a while now to using Big G's Remote Desktop (when a family member or a friend needs me to remote in to help with something). With TeamViewer, my account got flagged as a "suspected commercial" account because I used a VPN and emailing them had no positive results. Thank you also for mentioning alternatives, I'm an IT guy but I do software development and use Linux solely

[@Homeward2019]

​@@username8644Wouldd you please tell me about those other methods? I'm new to this.

[@mrmotofy]

I just started using RustDesk...so far so good and very easy

[@AVClarke]

It is almost laughable how these tech companies make signing up so incredibly easy with just a few clicks, but you want to cancel, it's like having to go through the Maze of the Minotaur.

[@BrightAngel007]

Teamviewer's cancellation scam is the same one that has been used by so many companies from AT&T, AOL, Columbia House, and so many others. It was really bad in the 90s. EDIT: Yep, you remember the 90s so well that you even remembered the gym cancellation which even Friends had an episode about it. But I really have to question that "you are good if you get your ticket in before the 28 days". Teamviewer has really went way down hill and I quit them about 7 years ago. I use Nomachine for most remotes and Parsec, Sunshine/Moonshine, Steam Link, and AMD Link for gaming. So need a good gaming remote with acceleration for a closet XP box that has a GTX 960/970/980/Titan X in it...

[@EwanMarshall]

And since 2010 it has been illegal in the US to not have simple subscription cancelation mechanism, needs State Attorney Gerneral or FTC to bring a case against company though.

[@TheAkatran]

We had exactly the same story. We are based in Greece and Teamviewer is based in Germany. Legally not easily to pursue them. We tried to cancel 26 days before expiration and fall into the same SCAM. We do get a drop in their subscription fee, but still, it is for a product that we don't use!

[@gmansi]

[@k00bly26]

Kinda sad that this practice you discribed in this video is more common in Germany and Teamvierwer AG is located in Germnay. This is also the reason Germans for many years were afraid of any subscription since if you forgot to cancle a month before it runs out you just stuck with it a year longer.

[@muellerhans]

You could have mentioned: Cancel button (on the front page, named "cancel now" in german or similar and without required login) is mandatory since July 2022. If you miss to cancel your long-running subscription, you can candel to the next month since October 2021.

[@edgarhilbert4797]

​@@muellerhans The last law is outright criminal.

[@diogoalmeidavisuals]

Don't call companies for cancelation. Call the bank and don't authorize the payment to go trough. They'll reach out to you really fast...

[@pauls7544]

Unfortunately it's more likely to a debt collection agency reaching out to you and it can have an effect on your credit rating. Authorities seem to have very little effect enforcing laws with these online services. Very frustrating.

[@tatata1543]

@@pauls7544yep, they set debt collectors on the case.

[@burntxela1258]

I find it ironic that I get this video once I install teamviewer for my Linuxbox, good work, thanks for always updating us with knowledge

[@AdrianMoseley]

Teamviewer was my go-to for years but I only used the free version. But since Windows Quick Assist is built in, it's been easier to get a remote none technical person to get me to share their screen so much faster.

[@nonatobk]

I use to have a free license, they push me to leave. They acuseme of comercial use, and i use just to check my personal compurer, finally I change to AnyDesk, could be more intuitive but finally work for me. P.D. I use in Linux and Windows

[@RickMyBalls]

I got burnt by the 'commercial use' thing too, haven't went to the bother of talking them into reactivating my account - not worth it

[@alekss0225]

I'm not a technical expert, not a developer - just an enthusiast. Just wanted to say excellent videos, excellent, explanations on technical issues. Not just on this video, but the overall library.

[@NapkinNexter]

They use predatory business tactics

[@iamnickdavis]

I'm not sure how you do it everyday. Keep up the good fight and thank you!

[@V1Tz]

Adobe is just as bad. If you cancel CC subscription in the middle of the annual subscription period they will charge you for the rest of the subscription period but still ban your access. I canceled mine early so I won’t forget when annual renewal comes but then found out they kicked me out instantly 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@markh.6687]

Me: "I hereby cancel in the middle of my already-paid subscription!" Adobe: "I banish you from the Kingdom instanter, and send you to Hell!"

[@KeithBoehler]

@@bowlerhatfromspace Man, Adobe really is a case study on why you should always pirate software. There was a Louis Rossman video about them closing the servers to activate some older versions of their stuff, so basically not honoring the perpetual license. Who does not have to deal with this? Pirates. Linus Tech Tips was talking about Adobe having a bit of a fallout with Panton, but again if you are already using cracked versions you could side step that. Now this comment about getting the boot on a prepaid yearly license. The only people they hurt are their paying customers; everyone else is already comfortable and has methods to side step the policy.

[@TechnoEsoterica]

The flipside of this type of business practice is I had a subscription to midjourney. I let it lapse and got recharged then when I went on and cancelled they gave me a refund for that time even though it was a few days into that new month because they could see I hadn't used it in those days. What a great way to do business.

[@fidgetspinner343]

Grammarly Premium is the worst experience I have ever had trying to cancel. Vimeo was pretty awful too.

[@jagdtigger]

4:49 At this point i would tell the bank to scrap that credit card and block any charges attempted.....

[@AngstG]

Easy-peazy! This is the way to do it. Screw their hoops/obstacles...

[@jakemeals]

Could you do alternative programs for Windows and Linux free/open-source versions? Thank you

[@wyfyj]

Why do I have to resub to channel? Second time I've had to resub to you? Thanks for the content Chris.

[@sierragutenberg]

As a programmer I love reinventing the wheel, hence I coded my own remote control computer software 😂

[@NFvidoJagg2]

recently setup rust desk for managing a windows vm with a gpu passed through. once i plugged the fake monitor dongle in, it worked perfectly. perfect replacement for teamviewer

[@atomycal]

While I hope all your videos get tons of views, I hope this one REALLY gets viral.

[@ryufrank]

That's crazy! TV used to be a leader in the field, but nowadays with so many competing alternative products, sometimes I question myself for maintaining an enterprise license. Such behaviors definitely do not help them keeping their customers Thank you for exposing their "fine print"

[@Aaron613V]

Thank you very much for this video. I personally don't use them but have connections with a huge company that uses then. I'll certainly push them strongly to change to alternatives.

[@GeekIWG]

I really cannot recommend Privacy enough to combat companies who make unsubscribing difficult. Give them a virtual debit card to start with and then if they make it difficult to unsubscribe, just disable the card.

[@yoriichiT]

Modern problems require modern solutions

[@katrinabryce]

If you are in the UK or some other countries, Revolut is a good choice. It is a regular bank account, and you can create as many virtual cards as you like linked to the account, and delete them when no longer required.

[@GeekIWG]

@@katrinabryce I'm from the United States. I'd love it if banks around here would begin offering that service

[@katrinabryce]

@@GeekIWG Revolut are I believe available in the US.

[@AngstG]

@@GeekIWG just put a block on the company with your existing credit card issuer. You can even contest the charge if you feel they fraudulently gimmicked you into auto-renewal and your credit card company will refund you directly!

[@BorisEagle]

I have a 13th-version lifetime license, which still works for me (I have about 3 new installs left). However, ensuring that customers don't upgrade their clients automatically is a significant pain. Because a remote downgrade, of course, doesn't work.

[@Anonymous-sq6eo]

You have limited installs on a lifetime license? Or what do you mean with three new installs left?

[@BorisEagle]

​@@Anonymous-sq6eo yes, installs on new devices are limited. The idea was that I could get more installs through requests on a particular managing console, but since then, the website which showed those counters has disappeared. I will try manual support requests when I run out of installs, but I have low hopes.

[@peterschmidt9942]

The thing is that if it's taking a person there 7-10 days to look at a ticket, the membership would have been auto-renewed in your case (except you contacted support first). Then they would have charged the client the membership, then have to go back and credit it when the support person finally reads the ticket. And thats providing they stick to their word that they'll fix things from the time the ticket was initiated. Thats just crazy shit.

[@whitedynamite21519]

In 2015, when I purchased a lifetime license for TeamViewer version 10 these types of licenses were common. At that time I was managing Samsung mobile devices, TeamViewer had an addon for that which made them fully remote controllable. What I liked back then was that TeamViewer basically licensed per concurrent connection and authorized devices with unlimited hosts. This made managing the hosts easy but added difficulty if your authorized client side PC crashed. Unlike LogMeIn, which worked the opposite at the time. What made me start to dislike TeamViewer was when they started to add features to version 10 but then prevented me from using them since I did not have a subscription. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to not add the features to version 10 rather than to hear me gripe that when a newer Android device allows remote control with an addon available for TV10 but TV support told me that my license didn't cover that. So basically they reverted me to "view only" on any device manufactured after they stopped selling perpetual licenses. Rather than complain and challenge their tactics. I stopped using them in favor of competitors. Their pricing was out of control as well. I do not remember the exact cost of the perpetual license in 2015 but is was competitive and reasonable. Then after the horrible support of the TV10 license they tried to quote me annual subscriptions where their annual license was almost as expensive as the license I've used for a few years and they haven't added that many useful features to warrant such a price hike. Sounds like this company has been mismanaged into the ground and is fighting to stay alive like other commenters have stated.

[@katrinabryce]

I use Apache Guacamole. That is a bit more complicated to set up though than the likes of Teamviewer. It sits on the middle between the computers, and you need to use rdp, vnc, or ssh for the connection between the Guacamole server and the desktop/server computer.

[@ZeroLivesLeft0]

Quick assist is built into windows and does a pretty good job as long as it’s windows to windows and you have someone on the other side to get you connected

[@JustThePine]

+1 When I find out Quick Assist exist it was a game changer for me and windows users.

[@jackt6112]

I don't need a company like that.

[@calvin6235]

If they dont let you cancel the account easily, contact bank, block them from deducting and report them for fraud.

[@ferdievanschalkwyk1669]

We have been using anydesk for the last few years, but I would love to use a self hosted RMM and remote access tool. Any chance on a video on tactical RMM?

[@jester1376]

Take a look at Remote Utilities.

[@hule8899]

Be informed that Anydesk is just doing the same.

[@ferdievanschalkwyk1669]

@@hule8899 I know, fortunately our Anydesk licences comes through our Atera RMM. But I would really like to have a self-hosted RMM and remote access tool.

[@telocho]

All these tools are based on VNC which was developed by some hobby of people with a need at AT&T and made open source. The only added value is that they found a way around port forwarding in the router. Probably you can use a tunnel over VPN to the machine, and then use VNC (or RDP if windows) on top.

[@raimogeel9497]

At least you’re in time for the next year. Then you are more than a year before the next renewal. But make sure you have copies of the tickets.

[@unclealig]

how much did TV charge you for calling the phone support? :D thanks for bringing up this topic. looking forward to see the video about the alternatives including FOSS.

[@heliosgnosis2744]

And for all curious as to why tech scammers over all these years used a non-licensed version of team viewer BEHOLD the reason, even they know a scam when it's hiding in the grass lol great video!

[@JessicaFEREM]

at this point, it's probably easier to initiate a chargeback.

[@l0gic23]

These are getting harder. Disappointed in capital one these days

[@AngstG]

YES!

[@alexstone691]

Wow im early Sad foss alternatives are pretty bad in terms of ease of use

[@mrfoodarama]

Despicable company. I was a paid customer but left for a self hosted service after Multiple issues with almost everything mentioned here.

[@chrism3790]

This makes me want to subscribe, document the process of trying to leave, and then suing them when they don't let me.

[@Cobinja]

The 28 day thing is probably because Teamviewer is a german company where it is legal to have a notice period of up to 1 month. The fact that the 28 days don't include the time to process the ticket probably also stems from this. In germany, the date when the cancellation arrives is what matters, not when the cancellation is processed.

[@raughboy188]

This stunt is one of many that in the end does favour to open source software. Open your eyes people and stop being stubborn. Commercial software has advantages in financial sense and is often more convenient than open source. Chris warned you about this video. Our life expenses are growing more and more and adding subscriptions for software makes them even higher. Rather than paying subscription to commercial software donate same amount to open source developers from time to time and save yourself from being slave. I hope you all see what i see in this video: Convenient isn't always better and at some point become very expensive.

[@joshallen128]

Rust desk

[@capn]

Banks: How much in chargeback fees do you want to pay us? TeamViewer: yes

[@siddharthdas579]

Apache Guacamole is also a good alternative.

[@AcidiFy574]

I have to ask, do we have a forumn similar to protonDB but for non-steam games ?

[@countfrackula6707]

I've had a free membership with them for a while. My experience with them was so bad, I would actively discourage every company I ever work with from ever purchasing a subscription - and I've frequently been in a position where I have at least some say over that type of purchasing.

[@SB-qm5wg]

I remember being impressed by teamviewer almost 20 years ago. I guess they went the McAfee route

[@benwu7980]

That so many large pc/laptop companies still bloat in McAfee is truly awful.

[@xlerb2286]

At a former company we used McAfee's commercial product. I guess it was ok but we didn't stay with it very long because IT found a company they said was better and cheaper. Admit I never did like seeing that McAfee icon sitting there on the system tray. At least it wasn't Norton. ;)

[@andyash5675]

Sooner or later, TeamViewer will qualify for government assistance. Then things will improve for everyone because it won't matter if they don't have any customers. Welcome to the future!

[@edgarhilbert4797]

Wellcome to Socialism.

[@TotalyRandomUsername]

Never understood why companies doing that. Ruining their reputation long time for a short time profit.

[@facundosoler2200]

I don't know what the hell happened with them lately but just tried to make my dad share his desktop with me through TeamViewer and with their new UI and setup it's INSANELY hard to understand and use ! I can't believe my eyes. The previous simplistic versions were perfectly fine as is !

[@Favdere]

You know maybe its because I'm young.. but I always grew up not using teamviewer. I assumed no one but Indian call center scammers used it.

[@PerryCS2]

it's a shame large companies are so greedy...

[@tomrineair944]

So currently use screen connect but some issues we have that not been addressed, looking for 200 node support for 2 techs. Any good alternatives?

[@TariqMehmood-1307]

FOSS are best

[@markh.6687]

I've seen some FOSS that wasn't worth the effort to learn how to use it, because it was just as bad as closed-source software. And you have to watch which license they do it under; there are variations of the licensing which just complicate things for some users and circumstances.

[@johnk3366]

This just sounds like any contract in Germany.

[@johnk3366]

Except these guys don't ask you to cancel via _fax_

[@markh.6687]

@@johnk3366 "Senden Sie ein Fax, bitte, you dolt!"

[@HasanAkdogan]

Oh boy, don't you just love it when companies make it easy to sign up for their services online, but when it comes to canceling, suddenly it's like we're living in the dark ages? I mean, come on! What's next, requiring people to send faxes to cancel their subscriptions? Sheesh!

[@Juncti]

Will that trick of changing your address to a California address work here? Apparently they have a law that requires you to be able to cancel online if you subscribed online and if you change your billing address to California the cancel button appears on a lot of services. I haven't tried it yet but I've seen numerous articles about it on tech sites.

[@RickMyBalls]

rustdesk is better

[@justindouglas3659]

Is it any better then anydesk

[@RickMyBalls]

@@justindouglas3659 yeah, it's free, you can self host relay servers, it's as reliable or even more reliable, and very user friendly clean interface.

[@romakrelian]

You know it’s a scam when you hear an indian accent.

[@SicknessX9]

These cases are exactly why I have subscriptions on paypal or a virtual credit card. No way I'm cancelling in written form or calling them when i can just revoke payment.

[@EthosAtheos]

Although I agree with your strategy. Be carful because just canceling payment might not be enough if you signed a contract. The business can sell the debt to a collections agency and either file a suit or ruin your credit rating. The USA has inadequate consumer protections for membership services like gyms and Software As A Service.

[@gabriel579]

Hi. Could you do more videos in which you do talk about better alternatives to popular programs. Also, more videos exposing other outrageous "deals" in the tech sector: other things like TeamViewer or bad deals overall and what are the alternatives. Thanks for the excellent video, please consider my requests. PS: Distros do matter. Lol

[@margyjr]

Hi and thank you for video, is it possible to do a video on using Rustdesk, ie: showing the benefits of running Rustdesk server and installing Rustdesk server on windows 10-11 machine if that's possible? Cheers Paul

[@maxwellgriffith]

Do you have an opinion on Remote PC? I’ve used them for a few years just for personal use but I don’t have experience with the others you listed.

[@jondoe3273]

I had a button to cancel, customer portal - subscription status, and click cancel subscription. Fairly easy?