Did I get ripped off by a third party tech service to whom I was escalated to straight from the tp-link chat?  I purchased an AC750 Mesh Wi-Fi Extender for my home Google Wi Fi network.  I had had a tp-link before which lasted a reasonable amount of time and performed well enough, so I stuck with them.  Purchased thru Amazon.

These are the specs on my computer:

Device name     WIN-7NNFDBJ59TB

Processor           Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5300U CPU @ 2.30GHz   2.29 GHz

Installed RAM    8.00 GB (7.70 GB usable)

System type       64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Edition  Windows 10 Pro

Version 21H1

Installed on        ‎8/‎10/‎2020

OS build              19043.1348

Experience         Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3920.0

I installed the previous extender myself with little problem so I did not anticipate problems this time.  But after trying to follow the instructions I just couldn’t get it to work so went online to tp-link and used the “Chat Now” button.   This person worked with me a bit but then said they had to escalate the issue so I was transferred to some other service, talking to a man with a foreign accent who identified himself with some other company.  We spent maybe two hours working on this problem and I do think his entire attention was focused on my problem, he was not multitasking other calls, but I could be wrong.  Anyway, I eventually had to allow him to install something and take remote control of my computer.  And I had to patch a Ethernet cable between my computer and the Google router.  I saw all kinds of command shell lines moving across my screen.  About half way through this process he alerted me to much clutter and other security sensitive files, etc that he said needed removal.  Eventually this ended up costing me $99, which I paid thru Pay Pal.   He showed me the link to his company and thoroughly assured me this was legitimate and said he was copying a receipt and invoice to to my computer which I have not found yet.

I called back to tp-link chat the next day to talk about this and the agent spent maybe five minutes checking into it before writing,

“2021-11-15 00:02:02

Hi David, we don't have any paid tech support services here on TP-Link support. We suggest contacting that same number that you have used to contact the people who did remote access on your computer. It is possible that you contacted a tech support scam since they asked you to pay it.

We haven't received your reply for 4 minutes. Please kindly note that the chat will be closed automatically if there is no response within 8 minutes.

This chat has been closed automatically because there is no response within 8 minutes.”

The 8 minutes had not elapsed, the conversation was just ended at that point.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?