The customer support was responsive but it couldn’t fix my problem. Plus, it usually takes about a day to respond to each email.
Imagine you need help urgently with a security issue of some sort. With no live chat feature and such slow response time, I couldn’t help but wonder — how would you solve the problem? For me, this is a big issue, so I think if you commit to a year-long plan, you need reliable support.
For those ready to come up with more money, you can get AVG Security Premium Tech support as a paid service. I suppose this extra feature can help you get the most out of their system and put your mind at ease regarding security issues.
The difference is that AVG Premium Tech Support helps you with all AVG products and all operating systems at your disposal 24/7 by phone. You have 3 plans available:
- Simple Fix for basic help, 1-time call for $79
- Complex Fix for advanced help, $119 per call
- Total Care for $199 per year, unlimited calls
But even if you have more AVG products, I think paying this much extra for help makes no sense. I’d appreciate it much more if its regular support replied a little faster instead of paying for 24/7 professional tech support, which technically I should have by default.
AVG offers Premium Tech support as a paid service
For common questions, you can also check out its AVG Support Community page, where you can ask questions and share tips and solutions. The page is quite active, and its representatives generally respond — not to every inquiry, though.
Depending on the level of assistance you might need (mine was probably high), you have 3 ways of getting help:
#1 Self-Help
That means finding the solution yourself using one of the online resources provided on its support/FAQs page. While quite comprehensive, I found the online resource pages very unintuitive and not so easy to navigate through.
The page offers links to all sorts of educational or instructional content on its blog. I’d say the resources are helpful only if you need basic help installing and activating your VPN. All resources are categorized based on the OS you’re using.
AVG’s resource page is divided based on the OS you’re using
You can leave a question on its community forum, or read about other people’s issues, but its support isn’t as active.
#2 Enquiry Per Email
You can only contact a real person by filling out an inquiry on its tech support page. A 24/7 live chat feature is sorely missed here. You get your web ticket number, and you get a reply per email, usually in a day.
You have to mark you have a paid/trial going on to get help
I reached out to its customer support on several occasions, the first time being regarding the speeds on my 7-day trial. They told me it is because of the server distance.
The second time was because of the streaming problems. If you happen to have issues with streaming like me, you will not solve these quickly, if at all.
Its customer support usually replies the next day. It takes them 24 hours — more or less. I’ve reached out 4 times so far for different issues. Each time, I got a reply the next day at approximately the same time:
I complained I couldn’t unblock Netflix US and other sites
#3 Remote Assistance
My experience with its remote assistance was not great. Its tip to stream in Incognito mode didn’t solve my streaming problem, so I decided to turn for more help. Remote control is the last possible way to get help when you’ve exhausted all other means.
The support suggested I re-install the VPN first, then turn for more help if needed
I tried uninstalling and activating the VPN, but it didn’t solve my problems. Next, I decided to get the remote help they offered. But installing the support file didn’t go as smoothly on my Mac:
I encountered permission problems with Mac Sur while trying to install remote support software
To solve the permission issue on Big Sur, go to System Preferences/Security & Privacy/General
When I finally connected to its remote customer care, I got a reply telling me it was not up to the VPN but the streaming services. Read more about my streaming experience with AVG Secure VPN here.