Two consumers contacted Mouse Print* and Consumer World this past week complaining that Office Depot’s current tax software promotion was misleading and a “scam.”

The offer promised $1300 in free software — 24 different titles — if you bought certain tax preparation software like TurboTax Deluxe or H&R Block Deluxe. All you had to do was pay for the free software and fill out rebate forms to get your money back. Not so simple, as it turns out because of a conflict in requirements for many of the rebates. And to add insult to injury, some rebates are debit cards instead of cash back.

For example, if you buy TurboTax, you can get a starter edition of Quicken free, as well as several Norton security products among others.

*MOUSE PRINT:

To prove you bought TurboTax and Quicken, you need to enclose:

Quicken and TurboTax UPC labels (shown below) for the eligible software products, located on the product boxes (photocopies will not be accepted).

And in order to receive a rebate on a Norton combo-pack when purchasing TurboTax, you need to enclose:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Enclose the original UPC code from Norton Internet Security 2012/Norton Utilities Premier Edition and any Turbo Tax, H&R Block, or Tax Act software or tax forms. The UPC code is a 12-digit bar code found on the bottom of box. Photocopies will not be accepted.

Oops. The same original UPC has to be included with the rebate requests for multiple companies and products. Oops. This scenario is repeated for some of the other free software products which also require the original UPC from the tax software. What is a consumer to do?

Our two consumers contacted Office Depot, but were initially given the runaround. One consumer ultimately got the store manager to lower the price of one of the software packages to compensate him for the $15 rebate card he cannot obtain. The other consumer had to jump rank and contact “executive resolutions” to get satisfaction, and was told that Symantec (Norton) was adjusting their rebates to not require the original UPC. She even followed up with Symantec and their rebate fulfillment house to ensure they would accept copies of the UPC. They said yes, but none of the PDF rebate forms have been updated to eliminate the requirement of an original UPC.

Mouse Print* asked Office Depot’s PR folks for an explanation of how they intended to handle this mess, but they did not respond.

Thanks to William-Andrew and Rebecca for contacting us about this issue.

If you buy an app from the Android Market to put on your cellphone or tablet, you do have return rights in some cases. This is helpful if the app does not work, is not compatible with your device, or it is not what you expected.

There is, however, a very unusual catch.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Returning apps

Refund policy

You have 15 minutes from the time of download to return an application [color highlighting added] purchased through Android Market for a full refund. You may only return a given application once; if you subsequently purchase the same app again, you may not return it a second time.

How to return an app:

From Android Market on your phone, visit the My apps page, and select the application you’d like to return.

•Applications that are eligible for return are marked with a ‘Uninstall & Refund’ button. Please note that after the 15 minute return period has expired, all sales are final.

From a practical standpoint, it is almost impossible to fully test some apps in such a short period of time, so your return rights are for the most part illusory. Even if you could fully test an app in 15 minutes, it might take that long to figure out the procedure to request a refund because you probably never paid attention to that when you first purchased the app.

Dell just came out with a new notebook computer that it is claiming is “the thinnest 15-inch PC on the planet”.

Advertisements sent by Dell via email and on their website in the U.S. look like this:

According to the London Guardian, however, the advertisement a reporter saw there in an unnamed UK newspaper, but did not include in his story, had a little asterisk after the claim. To our trusty mouse, asterisks are like cheese, so he hunted through newspaper after newspaper in the UK to find the suspect ad. And he found it! In an Internet exclusive, here it is (pictured below) and in a fuller view here .

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Based on Dell internal analysis as at February 2011. Based on a thickness comparison (front and rear measurements) of other 15″ laptop PCs manufactured by HP, Acer, Toshiba, Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, MSI. No comparison made with Apple or other manufacturers not listed.”

Taking a page from the advertising tactics that we have reported on here, Dell omits computers in the comparison that might actually be thinner than their own. That is like Alamo claiming they are the biggest rental car company* (*if you don’t count Hertz and Avis).

In this case, they exclude Apple, among others. The Apple Macbook Pro is 0.95 inches thick, while the Dell laptop is actually a hair larger at 0.97 inches thick.

From a legal standpoint, Dell is using a hyper-technical definition of “PC”, which in many circles refers to an IBM compatible computer as opposed to a Mac. (Remember the “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC” commercials?) Where the company may have a problem is in its press release, email ads, and website, where it repeats the thinnest claims but does not include any disclaimers.

Does the 0.02-inch extra thickness of this Dell laptop really matter? Of course not. The problem is their use of a tricky claim to proclaim something that really isn’t true.

Thanks to Mark Young for the tip on this story.

A few years ago, Mouse Print* pointed out the tactic that the maker of Quicken (Intuit) uses to get customers to buy an upgraded version of their software: Every three years, they deliberately disable online functionality so you can no longer make electronic payments or download account statements. That nasty policy is unfortunately still in place.

Now comes Symantec, the maker of Norton Anti-Virus, Norton Internet Security, and similar protection products, with an even nastier ploy.

Here is how Norton Internet Security (or Anti-Virus) used to work. You buy and install the software, and you get one year of updates free. (Packages have clearly disclosed that you are buying one year of service.) The updates included new “virus signatures” that would protect your computer from the latest malware threats. These typically might be pushed to your computer at least once day. After your year was up, you would no longer get updates, but the software would still function fully, giving you virus protection, etc., at least for the known threats and the known patterns up until your new updates stopped. Fine, that gave you time to get new software, wait for a sale, change brands, whatever, but still have significant, though not complete protection.

That was then, and this is now. Starting on the day your one year service expires, all protection is stopped (note greyed out areas):

The software completely disables itself along with the protection you previously had, including the anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall. Even Windows 7 announces that you no longer have protection, nor a firewall installed (via Norton Internet Security).

When looking at the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA), the fine print that nobody reads when you install a new software program, one discovers the following:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“The Software may automatically deactivate and become non-operational at the end of the Service Period, and You will not be entitled to receive any feature or content updates to the Software unless the Service Period is renewed.”

This language about the product automatically becoming non-functional actually goes all the way back to licensing agreements starting in 2007, but it is unclear if this had been fully implemented until the past couple of years.

Interestingly, on the box top of the software package itself, in what is virtually unreadable two or three-point type, the company is not quite as explicit about the product’s limitations:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“1 Year Protection: With this service you receive the right to use this product on one PC or on the specified number of PCs during the service period, which begins on initial installation and activation. This renewable service includes protection updates and new product features as available throughout the service period, subject to acceptance of the Symantec License Agreement included with this product and available for review at Symantec.com. Product features may be added, modified, or removed during the service period.”

Mouse Print* asked Symantec why they decided to completely disable the product, when they first starting doing that, and whether they would more clearly disclose the new limitation right on the box:

“We do not want to convey the impression to users that simply having an old Norton install with an expired service period will provide them with effective security since they are not receiving protection updates. This could create a false sense of security and lead to risky behavior. ”
…
“The retail packaging for both Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 includes a clear disclosure of the length of the service period together with an explanation that users receive the right to use the product during the service period and to receive protection and product updates released during the service period.”

The company confirmed that since the 2007 edition the product disables itself upon expiration of the year.

A related issue was raised by a reader who noted that if one renews updates when time is still left in the current year’s subscription, such as weeks in advance when you begin to get renewal reminders, one loses the balance of days or weeks left on the original subscription. We posed that issue to Symantec. They responded that if at the time of renewal the customer downloads the latest version of the software, then they do indeed lose the remaining time on their current subscription. If however, they just extend their subscription for another year, but delay downloading the new version (which is free to subscribers), then the extra year will be added to their balance of time. Notice to this effect, they say, appears on the website.

It seems to us that both these practices are anything but consumer-friendly. They may come as a surprise to the customer because of inadequate notice and deny that person the use of the product that they might have expected. The company did not agree, apparently, that the disclosure on the box could be improved.

Judge Judy certainly has a way with words, and these retailers certainly try to use them to make a lousy deal or non-deal seem beneficial to consumers.

Example #1:

Best Buy recently unveiled a buyback program whereby purchasers of certain electronic equipment can buy a policy that guarantees a certain trade-in value for their new purchase.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Their ad only promotes the best case scenario — up to 50% back. When could you get 50% back?  Only  if you want to get rid of your purchase within six months of purchase. More likely, you may wish to trade your item after a couple of years of ownership. In that case, you will get zero back for your phone or computer, and only “up to 10%” for your TV. In our opinion, most consumers would be crazy to PAY a company to offer you a lousy buyback price or no buy back at all during such a short period of time. Selling the item yourself on eBay or through Craigslist would more likely yield a greater return on your purchase.

Example #2:

Earlier this year, Office Depot promoted TurboTax Deluxe with a free state tax download.

*MOUSE PRINT:

What Office Depot didn’t tell you right there was that they added $10 to the price of TurboTax Federal in order to offer the “free” state download:

Bottomline: they are giving you NOTHING extra for free, they are charging you $10 extra for that supposed free benefit.