After reading all these complaints, I see I am not alone in my recent experience with this felonious company.
My software purchase was from Bitdefender, (through Avangate of course).
I was not asked to sign up for the Auto Renewal plan, nor did I request to be, but I was none-the-less auto-Magically signed up.
I was notified that my personal preferences account was set up to auto deliver and auto Bill for the next year's software upgrade.
So I went in to my personal preferences and changed the auto-renewal setting to 'Disabled'. Then I was billed anyway. Here's my tale of woe....
1) I sent them this email to Avangate...

Sep 25, 16:41 EEST

I DID NOT AUTHORIZE YOU TO BILL MY ACCOUNT!
I DID NOT AUTHORIZE YOU TO AUTOMATICALLY UPGRADE MY ANTI VIRUS SOFTWARE!
I TRIED NUMEROUS TIMES TO TURN YOUR CRAP OFF, BUT YOUR ACCOUNT SOFTWARE SEEMS TO DISFUNCTION FOR THAT PROCESS.
IMAGINE THAT...
I HAVE FILED AN ILLEGAL TRANSACTION TICKET AT PAYPAL FOR YOUR FELONIOUS ACTIVITY.
AND... BY THE WAY...
I WILL NEVER PURCHASE YOUR SOFTWARE AGAIN.
BIT DEFENDER PROMISES TO PROTECT MY COMPUTER, BUT FAILS TO PROTECT MY PERSONAL SECURITY BY LETTING YOU PROCESS THEIR SALES ACTIVITIES.

YOUR COMPANY SUCKS!
HAVE A NICE DAY!

2) They responded...
We have received your ticket (number 1485940) our support staff is currently reviewing it.

Avangate manages the eStore for various Software/SaaS companies. If you need support with a purchased product, please contact the owner (vendor) of the product. The contact details can be found either on their website, or by accessing your Avangate myAccount available at:

https://secure.avangate.com/myaccount/

Avangate myAccount also allows you to:
- retrieve your license code/registration information
- request a refund
- renew your service;
- stop the automatic renewal of your service/subscription
- download the invoices for your orders
- edit your personal data (billing information, credit cards);

To add additional comments or to update your request, just reply to this email or click the link below:
https://support.avangate.com/hc/requests/1485940

3) I received this email from Bitdefender...
Hello,
My name is David and I am reaching you on behalf of Bitdefender, from the Retention and Loyalty Department. I've picked up your refund request today and I'll do my very best to help you with your query.

Your order was auto-renewed, as this feature was enabled since your initial purchase. We strive to deliver the best service and with this feature we want to make sure that your devices and data remain protected against latest threats and that is why your subscription was prolonged.

We would really like to keep as our valuable customer, so what would you think of a 2 year extension to the validity of your product, so that you will have a total of 3 years of Bitdefender protection?
OR
If you don’t want to pay in advance for your protection, we could simply apply a 50 USD discount to the automatic renewal charge, so you will only pay 39.95 USD for 1 year of protection.

Before taking your decision, I think you might be interested in knowing that the latest tests and reviews reconfirmed Bitdefender as the #1 security technology.

Your private information, your credit card credentials or family pictures deserve being protected by nothing less than the best security protection!

Please pop us an email back confirming if you would like to accept our offer and continue using Bitdefender.

I hope to hear from you soon so I can sort this out for you. If you have any further questions, please let me know – I’ll be happy to help.

Best Regards,
David JITARIU
Retention & Loyalty Specialist

4) I responded...
David,
I appreciate your kind offer, but there is a bigger issue here.
The Avangate Personal Preferences page either is NOT Functioning properly, OR, they deliberately configure their website to periodically ALTER/CHANGE the customer preference for Auto-Renewal.

I logged into my Personal Preferences page TWICE to verify the auto-renewal setting, only to find it was turned ON. I then Disabled it, Saved my change, logged out, logged back in again to verify my change was saved. AND IT WAS SAVED.

Then after some time had passed, I received an email from Avangate notifying me of my anti virus software expiration date, and not to worry, because it would auto renew.

SO...

I went back in to my Personal Preferences AGAIN, and went through the same process to DISABLE the auto Renewal setting.

NOW, I am being billed...

Since this unexpected billing, I have gone in to my Personal Preferences page just to see what the status is. I am seeing that my LAST purchase info has been reduced to a single line stating COMPLETED. However, for this new billing, I see that the setting for Auto-renewal is set to DISABLED. SO... Again, I am only surmising that my previous settings for last year's purchase were copied over onto this latest record.
(If they thought last year's purchase was set to Auto renewal, why then wouldn't the Newest record ALSO be set the Same Way?)

To ME, this is all a bunch of dubious skulduggery.

I believe someone of Major Authority at Bitdefender should discuss this with the individual(s) in charge at Avangate.

And, just for the record, I am not some dummy that doesn't understand website and software development. That just happens to be my lifetime activity. I've been doing just that for over 25 years.

This is why I believe 'for this situation to have taken place', is not just an honest mistake.

NOW...

IF... After you have read this diatribe, and still wish to make the offer you have emailed, let me know what you think. I am curious to see if any of what I have said makes sense to you or anyone else there at Bitdefender.

Thanks for you time.
Most Sincerely,

5) (Since they did not reply, I sent them this email)...
David,
Since I have not heard from you in reply to my email yesterday, I have decided to NOT ACCEPT either/any offer from your company.
I wish a complete REFUND!
YOU, Bitfender, & Avangate can go scratch.
So I'll be waiting to see if you all can get THIS right.
Most sincerely,

6) I filed a complaint with Paypal. They settled my complaint in favor or Avangate.

7) My reply to Paypal...
Status of a disputed payment
9/28/17 at 7:58 PM

Since you have found in favor of Avangate, what am I supposed to do NEXT YEAR when they bill me again? ....
Since you have given them the right to do so without authorization.
Don't you see/realize what you've done?
-----------------------------
Now, my advice to anyone presented with a situation requiring the necessity to deal with Avangate...
DON"T DO IT!
Then handle their business dealings with Most Disregard for their Customers.
They obviously have no Christian or Moral ethics...