Why I No Longer Recommend NordVPN: A Support Nightmare

As an expat or digital nomad, a VPN is an essential tool, not just for accessing region-locked content, but for maintaining privacy and security on unfamiliar networks. Honestly, more people should be using one even if they never leave their home country.

I’ve used NordVPN for many years and even recommended it to others. But after my most recent experience with their so-called "support," that ends now, as NordVPN officially has the worst support I’ve ever experienced, and that includes Squarespace, which is saying something.

I’ve had a NordVPN account for over five years. I needed to change my login email because I no longer have access to the original one. Simple request, right? Here is the form on their website:

I filled out their website’s “submit a request” form, as required. This form demanded:

• My full name

• Payment method + amount + date

• First 6 digits of the card

• Expiration date

• Description (Where I explain the issue)

• Attachments (I attached a screenshot of the receipt)

• Current and Former Emails

I provided all of that. Their first response?

“Please confirm by sending us an email from your current login email.”

umm.. I already told them I don’t have access to that account, when I filled out their online form. They then ask for the exact same information I just submitted. I resend it.

Next response (different agent):

“Actually, we need information from any Nord product (except the most recent one)”

Their own website doesn’t say this. It says “any Nord product.” But fine, I go back through my records and send ALL of my receipts, five years worth. Still not enough.

Now they demand:

“A bank statement screenshot from the card used in 2023.”

Which I can’t provide, because I changed banks. I told them this repeatedly (but also, why would you need this?).

They proceed to reject:

• The 5 years of receipts from their own system

• My most recent payment details

• Everything I’ve submitted through their own support form
  

At this point, I’ve repeated myself across six emails, dealt with five different agents, and gotten zero help.

Let’s review how dumb this is:

• Email updates should be a user-side setting in 2025, not a week-long Kafkaesque support hell.

• I’ve given far more verification than any reasonable company would require.

• They’re hiding behind “privacy” to justify refusing basic account recovery.
  

Their last message, paraphrased:

"We take privacy seriously. Sorry. Try contacting your old bank."

No.

What you’re doing is stonewalling customers with account access issues, even when they follow all of your company's own website instructions. What’s the point of a support form if you ignore everything submitted through it?

I’m done. I’ll be switching to ProtonVPN and Mullvad, where user control and actual support exist.

If you’re thinking of buying NordVPN: Don’t. If you ever lose access, you’re screwed. Their support isn’t just bad, it’s hostile incompetence.