My son had a problem with his HP-laptop, so he contacted the SmartFriend services. They said they could only help him if he agreed to a 1-year-contract, being $ 49.99 for the first month, and after that $ 14.99 per month. My son accepted. They ran some program, and when that was finished they told him they didn't find anything, so he should go to a repair shop. If he wanted to cancel the contract at that time, he still had to pay the oustanding 12 x $ 14.99 = $ 180.
So we wasted $ 230 as HP obviously didn't have any idea what was the problem with one of their own laptops.
I just called them as they continued taking out $ 14.99 although the year has passed. Now suddenly the 1-year-contract has turned into an indefinite contract unless you call them to cancel it. With my first call Joe connected me to a filled up mailbox. Nice way to get rid of a customer. When I called a second time I spoke with a Mike who refused to give me a cancellation number ("the system doesn't provide for that"!), or any proof that the contract had been cancelled. He didn't want to give me a last name either, so I have no proof that I cancelled their "service", which can best be described as stealing in my opinion.