It still amazes me how people can sign up with and then even after having experienced AOL, stay on it- though I have to admit their marketing campaign is brilliant, targeting those who don't know any better.

Why do you think their messenger service doesn't allow other messenger services to connect with them when every other IM touts it's ability to talk to other IM programs? Because they don't want their customers to find out they're getting ripped off, that's why!

My experience with them was nothing short of hellish- the short version because I need to get back to work, is that THEIR SOFTWARE screwed up my computer so badly that I was barely able to use it, and could not connect to the internet, so I called tech support to cancel my account, whereupon I was informed I could not cancel over the phone, AOL will only accept a cancellation online.

HUH? HELLO?!! Can you transfer me to someone with a brain?

Not only were they unable to help me correct the problem THEIR software created, but after hours and HOURS of calling tech support, (and most of that time is spent on hold, sometimes for HOURS, thank god for speakerphones) climbing the escalation ladder, and trying to get some kind of help out of them, but they absolutely refused to cancel my account over the phone. I don't know why I kept trying for so long, but finally I had to go to Kinkos and RENT a computer to cancel my account with them. Which they OF COURSE, COMPLETELY IGNORED and continued to bill me.

More calls to support line to complain about this where I was told after waiting on hold for more hours that they could not accept cancellations over the phone, and since they didn't show any record of my cancelling, they COULDN'T do anything. Riiiiiiiiight. SURE you have no record of it.

When I threatened legal action, they HUNG UP ON ME!! Can you believe this? They would say, and I swear as God is my witness these are the actual words they used; "well, you've threatened legal action against AOL, so at this time according to AOL'S POLICY I have to terminate this call." And the more I called, the snottier their tone got, to the point where they were laughing at me!

I finally had to CLOSE that checking account completely in order to stop them from billing me.

You'd think the story would end there, but NOOOOOO- somehow they got ahold of my credit card # and started billing THAT! And I'd never given it to them! So I had to have THAT reversed and not have access to the credit while the 30-day dispute period ticked off slowly.

In my mind, they're nothing but high tech (and it ain't all that high) con men and thieves.

Don't even get me started on how many viruses and problems I had while using AOL since hackers know that the people on AOL are tech neophytes and prey on them MERCILESSLY. I had more viruses and attacks on my comp during the few months I was on AOL than in ALL the years since then.

And how people can pay almost as much as Cable or DSL would cost them for that lousy service is beyond me.

hey force: most people i know who have aol are actually quite happy with it.sounds like you had one really bad expereince after another and that cancelling it was almost your worst experience of all.sorry about that pal.at least your rid of them for good.

I am having the same problem with
aol. They also got a hold of my credit card number after I closed my other debit card in order to halt their billing. I cancelled the account several times, yet they keep billing me. After I closed the card, they got my new card number...and I don't know how they did it. I am royally ****ed. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating and so is my bank, but the FTC recommended that I go online to see if others are having the same experience. They told me this yesterday, and they said I should attempt to form a class action suit, so as not to sustain legal fees. And walla! Here I am reading your account, which sounds like mine.

They refuse to cancel, they get your credit card number mysteriously, they lie about cancelling, and don't really cancel.....

I'm ready to create a class action against these abusive SOBs! Who the F___ do they think they are to operate a global business like 2-bit flimflam operation in my opinion, and steal from everyday people, everyday, in my opinion, and it makes me sick that their employees have to do it daily with a straight face!

Do you know what AOL did? They transferred me to the cancellation department, and I asked for the new guys name and then what dept he was in. He was defensive and asked why I wanted to know the dept... I said it was because I needed to know I was in the right dept with such a big co as AOL. He then told me he was in the "SAVES" dept. I said "the what depatment"? He said " The SAVES dept". I asked him what was the saves dept...and he said "Cancellations dept". I asked why they called the cancellations department the "SAves dept" and he said "I don't know."

Yah right, we all know why they call it the saves department. I asked a manager why they called it the saves department and he said that was another subject and we were not discussing that and it was not relevant. He got rid of me fast, because he did not want to discuss the reason why it was called "Saves" dept.


Anyone else want to form a class action against AOL unethical billing practices? I think it requires thousands of people to make it worth while, but it only takes a few upfront cases to get a worth while class action suit started. A snow flake can start a snowball.

I say they are criminals in my opinion. This whole thing is criminal in my opinion, and totally unethical in my opinion!

Jon

gosh you sound more ****ed than force and hes the one who started this.anyone else this dissatisfied?and just think, all my buddies LOVE AOL.oh well, as they say, to each his own.:)

Thank god, someone who's had the same experience, usually when I tell people they mysteriously got my credit card #, they just kind of get an amused look in their eyes like I gave it to them and forgot or something. Even though AOL themselves tell you REPEATEDLY never to give out your credit card # to anyone who asks for it, and that AOL will NEVER ask you for it. And on AOL, you get so many hackers trying to trick you into giving it that there's NO WAY you'd EVER give it out.

Yeah, I would love to be part of a class action suit, but I don't think you need to have thousands of people to start one, and I'm surprised it hasn't been done already. I think you just file one and put out advertising to ask anyone affected to sign on to it. but feel free to contact me, I will lend whatever support I can. Although this was a few years back, and I don't know if I still have the documentation on all that.

Danny, haven't you ever had someone steal from you? Remember how ****ed you were? Now imagine you politely call them and assume it was an error and jump through all the hoops they say you have to in order to rectify their error, but they sneer and laugh at you and refuse to give you back your money, then hang up on you. Think you'd be ****ed?

Or try doing a google search on the words; AOL, and "class action" or "complaints", you'll find no shortage of reasons to hate AOL.

And those who like AOL, well, I would put forward the opinion that they signed up with AOL and have never been with any other major ISP. They're a little like the people who benefited from Hitler making the trains run on time while being unaware of the death camps. Yeah, I'm making that comparison. That's how much I hate those creeps. It's one thing when a scumbag steals from you, it's another when a supposedly above-board company that succeeds despite it's nasty, unknown, and flat-out illegal business practices flaunts it's power over you and sticks it's metaphorical tongue out at you daring you to burn more of the precious seconds of your life trying to see a multi-million dollar company brought to justice. At the time, I think I'd just had enough, and was tired of dealing with the whole thing and didn't pursue it once I finally shut them out of my life.

I can only imagine what kind of person works for AOL- they have to be just really bottom of the barrel creeps. They know exactly what they're doing.

Healthwiz, here's a link, I'm surprised there isn't a suit already going forward, but this is a good first step...
http://www.bigclassaction.com/class_action/aol2.html

Originally posted by aforceforgood

Danny, haven't you ever had someone steal from you? Remember how ****ed you were? Now imagine you politely call them and assume it was an error and jump through all the hoops they say you have to in order to rectify their error, but they sneer and laugh at you and refuse to give you back your money, then hang up on you. Think you'd be ****ed?

sure id be ****ed.and i have been ****ed.incidentally a good friend was in a terrible car accident yesterday.a total f___g idiot was driving like a maniac, hit a car which then hit my friend's car and then the idiot didnt have the balls to stop and admit his fault.so he gets off scot free and leaves my friend and one other person's emotional and physical lives in total chaos.think thats fair?she has to pay deductibles and heaven only knows what other expenses out of pocket.basically this guy STOLE lots from my friend.im sure this idiot, like AOL, "assumed it was an error".life aint fair force.do your best with aol and let it go.no sense in prolonging all the anger about it especially when theres so many other isp's out there now.all you can do is share what happened to you be ****ed for awhile and let it go.huge gigantic companies like aol will NEVER get caught.NEVER.guarantee it.trust me on this.class action law suite?they will WIN..so know what to do? warn your friends about aol, your experience, and move on.youve seemed like a pretty serene and peaceful guy to me.dont lose that.

Thank you Aforce, for the link, and I will check into it. As you said, wasting precious time is frustrating, but if there is a class action in the works, I will support it. Also, the comparison, with Hitler and death camps, in my opinion could be better compared to ENRON or other large companies operating in a criminal way. There is something sacred to me about the death of Jews and others from so many ethnicities and countries and faiths, that Hitlers regime is responsible for, that I prefer to compare that to only the most henius of crimes upon humanity. AOL does not measure up to that level of crime, but it is at the level of major corporate fraud, which also hurts millions of people, in my opinion.

Trust me, I do understand the anger, there is no denying it, they ****ed me off royally with their games and outright theft, in my opinion, and they will be caught for whatever they are doing wrong.

My new slogan :

" Its time to KICK SOME AOL! "

Jonathan

Force: Listen, my just turned 76-year-old father has been getting AOL pretty much since its beginning.....for his own home computer....he's done all his business on it....and fun/pleasure stuff too. When I go home I play on it, OF COURSE....occasionally it does act up....How do you know if it's the ISP that's the problem OR the computer itself that's the problem? In any event, my real question is should I suggest to my father that he chuck the AOL and get something else???????????????? What would you do? Thanks...:)

Joan, there is or was- not sure, veeery cursory glance at google results of "AOL class action" (not wanting to waste more precious seconds of my life) a class action suit regarding AOL 5.0's software messing up people's computers, and given their entire business model which is to do the least expensive thing while maximizing profits, I'm sure their current mode of operation is no better. They've shown no compunctions about screwing with people's comps to make it difficult to connect to the internet, so I would expect that to continue.

I would say yes, with these qualifying remarks-

Your father, unless he enjoys paying more than he should for things, will appreciate;

lower price - www.dsl.extreme = $9.18 per month, factoring in first free month to 13 month subscription,

no busy signals - those who use AOL may be unaware that these are not SOP when trying to connect. Some ISP's actually roll a little of the money they make every month back into buying enough modems to service their customers. AOL's thinking is; "great, if they can't connect, that's less bandwidth we have to pay for."

Use of the whole screen - not sure if AOL still does this, but I used to have a bar at the top of my screen that played commercials while I surfed the internet. That and pop-ups. Many, MANY pop-ups. Also not done by any other major ISP.

Instant Messaging services that allow you to talk to other IM services. No more being trapped in the matrix.

Cable or DSL for about the same price as he's paying now for crappy slow unreliable dial-up. This opens up whole new worlds when you have fast downloading capabilities, believe me.

No more getting kicked off and having to reconnect if you go for a drink or whatever. Yes, you can actually have your comp on ALL the time, and if you sign on and try to IM him, it will make a little noise like a phone ringing or whatever. Lots cheaper than dialing long distance, and there's even voice chat. Like talking on the phone, but free. (This works a lot better with cable or DSL)

Better customer service - it won't take 15 minutes to an hour+ to get to tech support, and they'll likely be nicer once he does get to them. If he ever does need them, which will be a whole lot less than with AOL.

THE BAD STUFF
Make sure he has all his data backed up (a good idea anytime anyways). AOL software has been designed to be almost impossible to completely remove from your system, and it's possible that trying may cause his OS to stop functioning or keep him from connecting to the internet. It's possible to get everything that AOL software has changed reversed, but depending on your level of computer savvy, it may be easier to just back up everything and reformat the entire c disk, (reload windows via the restore disk) which will wipe out everything on the computer besides windows, even the other programs, which will all have to be reloaded. Yes, AOL is that petty and mean and cruel that they will screw with people even after they're gone.

He will probably have to cancel the checking account to shake these ticks loose. From memory, I seem to recall my bank telling me I could dispute each charge each month as they came in, but that I couldn't prevent them from taking it, as I had given them permission to debit that account, and would have to talk to AOL to get them to stop debiting it. Fat chance. He'll have to watch his credit cards for about 6 months after he cancels AOL.

He'll have to switch email names, which is a BIG sticking point for a lot of people. They're afraid they'll end up with an email address like fred239857938@whatever. I recommend www.mail2world.com for it's customizable email addys, like aforceforgood@mail2karma.com, or it could be mail2sailor, mail2senior, mail2coolguy, etc., and for the FREE 10Mb of storage they give. Plus it's even got a translater built into the svc, and lots more cool stuff. He can open an email account there before he cancels AOL and mass email all of his buddies fairly easily letting them know about his new email address.

So I guess you'd say it depends whether he should cancel AOL or not. I'd say yes, doing the right thing and fighting for freedom are not easy, but worth doing. Unless he wants to add strength to a company with a business philosophy of victimization.

As for being angry at AOL, yes, I am, but I've mostly let it go, but I can't just sit idly by and let others be victimized by them. My name isn't just a cool screen name, it's WHAT I AM.

Oh, and as for the Hitler comparison, I see what you're saying, but I've also compared California's Governor Joe "Gray" Davis to Hitler in that he makes use of Hitler's "Big Lie" technique. And people say the same thing, that Davis is no Hitler, but I don't agree with the underlying notion that AOL or Davis have to match up with all the heinous things Hitler did to nineteen decimal places in order to draw a comparison.

Force: I just started to read this....but I have to go....the darn insurance adjusters, etc. are calling and I have to take care of stuff.....THANKS FOR THIS DETAILED ANSWER.....WILL READ SOON:)THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that's probably a good thing, considering I've edited it three times... ;p

oh God Force, my father doesn't give a hoot what he pays for things....he just doesn't.....and he hates change.....if had to give up his hisfirstname1771@aol.com address I think he would go nuts....plus cancelling checking account with aol account....and pay close attention to his credit cards....hmmmmm - I don't think he would go for all of this....too much work for an old man like him.....he hasn't a clue about being a victim either! ....he never uses IM by the way....never...doesn't like it....God force, it's a HUGE piece of work just to get OFF AOL....BUT I will send him a copy of YOUR post, if I may, and let him be totally enlighted by your words on his own.....actually I may show him this entire thread....My father is a man who is very set in his ways......sorry force....BUT I promise when I get my first home computer, I will NOT get AOL.....PROMISE:)

By the way force, if you don't mind if I ask, what ISP do you use now?

Thanks for all the trouble you went to do this.....appreciate it very much.....:)

Don't mind at all- despite my low socioeconomic status, I use roadrunner cable. There are some core beliefs I have, and a couple of these are;

life is too short too;

Drive a four cylinder engine car,

use dialup when a highspeed connection exists,

lose a friend over a disagreement over politics.

I'm not terribly worried about your father's reasons for not wanting to switch, I know that I've done my best to put a seed crystal into public thought today and hurt AOL's bottom line just a little bit and hastened their ultimate demise. I've no doubt that these AOL stories will propogate virally- as in when the subject of ISP's comes up, you will have some juicy stories to tell 2 people, who will then tell 2 people, etc.

For that matter, the stories will probably be embellished on each retelling until there exists a version where AOL ninjas bust into my house, urinate and defecate all over the carpet and impregnate my goldfish...

The irony is that AOL tries to represent themselves as the easy to use ISP when they are the most difficult one I've yet run across. And now I'm just talking about using them to surf the net, not trying to cancel them.

Roadrunner huh? Cool...........Now that IS fast.....Please don't mention four cylinder engine cars....at least not today....I know you're not just talking to me here, you're talking to everyone, but I'm writing right now and I was in a crappy car accident yesterday with my beautiful Honda Civic which does have 4 cylinders....So "Forceforgood", why do car accidents happen????? which are not my fault and wreak havoc on my life??? What is God telling me?

Hard to surf the net with AOL? True....at my father's (and mother) house, I seldom did that because it was such a pain in the neck...However, I was able to actually use my YAHOO IM even though he has AOL....impresssed??? Moving along, I'm glad you have started an AOL rumor mill that AOL does indeed suck...yes it will go round and round two at a time....most of all Force, do not EVER lose your wonderful sense of humor.....You are darn FUNNY!!!:)

Mmmm, well, the car accident could be any number of things, only time will tell whether that prevents you from being in a place where you could have been hurt worse, meeting the man of your dreams due to this, or teaching you something... keep your eyes open.

As for dealing with the other guys' insurance company, TAPE RECORD EVERY CONVERSATION YOU HAVE WITH THEIR ADJUSTER. He is not your friend, though he will act like he is, at least in the beginning. His job is to minimize the amount his insurance company has to pay you.

Not sure of Florida's laws, but a buddy said that tapes of conversations can be introduced by asking if the other party has any objections to the tape being played. If they say no, the jury wonders why, if they say yes, there's your evidence.

They are responsible for renting you a car comparable to the one you were driving, don't accept their offer of a $15 a day econobox. ABSOLUTELY DO accept their offer to rent you a replacement car though. And when negotiations get tough, they will retract that offer. Rent one on your own dime, they will have to reimburse you, and it will keep pressure on them to come to a resolution quickly.

I went through dealing with an insurance company over a car that a car wash crashed for me, I wasn't even in it, and it was an ordeal, so steel yourself. But it did have a sweet payoff- I was able to say to the vice president of the insurance company (after haggling back and forth for 3 MONTHS [!!]) "You know what, let's you and me fight. I've had enough of you aholes jerking me around. Let's go into a court with 12 people who've been paying insurance for YEARS and getting NOTHING in return. And maybe some of those 12 people will have even had to deal with you insurance scumbags and will regale the other jurors with those tales in the jury deliberation room, and I'll play my tapes of all of the conversations I've had with you and your adjuster, and we'll just see how much of your money they give me."

There is a principle called "BAD FAITH" which states that a company can be sued for MORE than the total of the damages if they willfully deal with someone in bad faith, in other words, try to deny them a reasonable settlement in a reasonable amount of time. And in the case of insurance companies, in order for a judgement against them to have any effect, it typically has to be at least a MILLION dollars to get the companies attention.

Please keep me appraised of what the other guy's insurance company does, and I'll do my best to share what little knowledge I have on how to deal with these jerks.

about the accident force: what happened was the "at-fault party" took off - it was a hit and run (check out joan's "much support needed" thread among the new posts). he hit the guy who was forced to hit joan.and he apparently freaked out and took off.the police are still looking for him. so the only insurance company joan's dealt with so far is her own.they put her in a little rental today.and are paying to have her car fixed.they are hoping to find the moron who took off.your advice is great.hopefully they will get a hold of the moron and his insurance company so joan will be able to use your advice.

Thanks Danny.

Very interesting...only insurance companies? Does "bad faith" apply to AOL?

I think its time to kick some AOL!
Kick some AOL!
Kick some AOL!

I'm hoping this catches on....

:)

Not sure. I'm sure there's some equivalent legal principle if that one only applies to insurance companies. They're guilty of something like it, that's for sure.

Force: What Dan said is pretty much how it happened! He's a typical lawyer, watching this thing like a hawk......thanks for responding to his words....on this and my other post.....:) Whatever you wish to see happen with the AOL CREEPS.....I hope happens....By the way, the rumor mill about how AOL really is continues....I shared with my friend/roommate last night and she took heed....she's in software sales...and so will probably share with a few of her co-workers today....:)

Great! Good to know I'm achieving some success in my efforts to be a force for good. Hope your car thing goes smoothly. Sounds more cut and dried than my situation, but still keep your gaurd up. Hope you (and everyone else) is having a great day!

Yes having an okay day....feel more "normal" today....my appetite is back and I actually want to exercise today.....I am less numb and I really want to feel my feelings...a good sign....or at least BE with my feelings...and continue with job search....yes my situation is more cut and dried than yours but that is cool....perhaps the demise of AOL has to happen slowly....little by little more and more of their customers "catch on"...I hope you're having a great day too:)

Update on AOL: According to the Florida Attorney General office:

AOL Contact for double billings, over billings, trouble with cancellations:

Consumer Advocacy Agency Rsponse Team
PO Box 17200 Jacksonville, FL 32245-7200
FAX 904-232-4808

cool, thx healthwiz, but no number to call to talk to a person? I can call anywhere in the US on my cellphone for free... where did you come up with that info?

AOL ate CompuServe. I'll never forgive them. Compuserve was a commnity. Compuserve was a balanced and profitable business model. CompuServe had integrity.

AOL has been spun back out of AOL Time Warner, for good reason!

AOL was sue 25 times in 5 years and lost every suit, for billing after cancellations, for billing but not having enough phone lines to allow connections AT ALL, etc.

AOL is not compatible with many things people might be able to do on the net with a real ISP.

AOL is a weed in the garden, taking over, but unsustainable and making enemies. The Gardener Will Return. IMHO

:) David

I got that information from the Florida State Attorney General's office, who began researching how I could handle this problem, and called me a week later, with that information, and a suggesion that I alert the Virginia State Attorney General of the situation, since AOL bills from Virginia, (or is it West Virginia - I forgot).

Jon

David,

In those lawsuits, did individuals sue, or groups, and what did they get back from AOL for their headaches?

Jon

Question: I'm at a couple of other forums populated mainly by computer geeks and technicians. Does anybody mind if I share the contents of this thread with them?

I really liked th eCompuserve threads, you could respond to individuals up the thread branches, they'd get notified, everyone could read it, it wasn't private, and things didn't get missed as easily.

The thread is public, share what you will if you are asking me.

As fo Law suits, do a real search in WestLaw or your local Law Library for real info. Web searches don't provide primary source information often enough, IMHO.

I don't know what luck others are having, but my searches of the Web have not brought up the articles i read years ago detailing the litigation trail that follows AOL.

Good Luck!

I found this site:

http://www.aolwatch.org/aolwatch19.htm

Some information here on major litigations AOL have been involved in.

On the right hand side of the screen is a link with some additional information on how to cancel your AOL service.

thank you paul...!

Got another anecdote from another forum... here it is:

"J" from Minnesota

Well I for one had not as bad but simular dealings with AOL.

When I first got the internet, I didn't know jack about it. Which explains why I chose AOL.

Anywho, after a while I decided I wanted to switch to DSL. I called to cancel AOL, and I thought it was done and over with. Nope. The next month I get my debit card bill, and I see AOL charged me again. So I called them back. They CS person told me unofficially (because she wanted to keep her job I am sure), AOL never cancels on the first call. You have to call them again to tell them that you really really want to cancel. What part of I want to cancel did they not understand the first time. This seems to be normal business practice for them.


Now aint that F***ed Up?

Remember, when you get connected to the department for cancellation calls, its called the "SAVE" department. Thats what the unwitting customer service rep told me at AOL. Hmmm..makes you think.

Another one: "N" from Indiana...

AOL outsources their CS calls (like most companies do) to larger operation that can handle the volume of calls.

When I was at school in IL, I lived in addison. Just north in Paletine there was a company (name undisclosed) that would handle lage volume calling for many companies. AOL included.

My roomate worked their during the night after classes. He would bring home CS manuals for AOL and I tell you they were atrocious with the practices.

YOu are right...its standered procedure to never cancel on the first call. Even if you cancel online, it still doesnt go through completely.

If you do not contact them again, and they bill you but you contend the charge they consider that jumping ship on what youowe them. They will actually send you to collections on it as well.

If ever there was a corporatin that deserved to burn in hell, and forever rot in the pit of the all might demon beelzebub himself....it would be AOL

Originally posted by Paul S




If ever there was a corporatin that deserved to burn in hell, and forever rot in the pit of the all might demon beelzebub himself....it would be AOL


So Paul, may we assume you don't use AOL:D????

And Oh my God....SOOOOO many people I know DO.....heaven help them when they EVER try to cancel....what should we tell them? Stay on until they die? That seems to be the ONLY solution, right?

Hehehe, I didn't say that, I am quoting someone else.

For MY opinion of AOL... check out my comic strip. :D

What to do when you have had enough of AOL: You're either gonna have to reformat your computer, or hire a professional tech to get rid of it. And it sounds like you have to cancel at least twice online, and if it was me, I would cancel every day for a bloody month, just to make sure that it went through.

One of your many characters is AOL Cyberdemon who is deceased......well I guess that pretty much reveals your true opinion of AOL.....:D

Cancel EVERYDAY for a bloody month? (do you have any British in you Paul?).....that's a wee bit tedious, don't you think???:)

And here I always thought the owners of "you've got mail" were sooo cool..........NOT......:(

P.S. "You've Got Mail" all right.....forever!!!:D

So Force: What do you think of some of the posts that have been added on here since you started this thread (very creatively titled I might add)??:)

Thanks- It's a strange mix of feelings, on one hand, I hate to hear stories of other's tribulations with AOL, on the other hand, I'm very gratified to hear that it wasn't only me, and it's cathartic to publicly bag on AOL as they so richly deserve.

I'm also surprised there aren't more stories here, but then, there are countless poor souls still trapped in the AOL matrix.

More notes from the other forum I am on:

"B" - Spokane, Washington: The saves dept is named for the fact that when a customer wants to cancel his account, the tech transfers it to the dept that tries to save the account. In spokane, wa, there is a company called ict that does "saves" for aol and all the techs do is keep promising you more months (to a max of 3) of free service if you decide to keep your account. If you do keep it a month, you (the save agent) end up getting something like a quarter or so for the first 500 accounts, then it jumps to 50 cents and so on. I may be way off on the numbers, but thats why its called the saves dept, becuase they try to save your aol accounts.

So the save agents get a small money amount for each account that they save hence the hard sell of canceling.

"G" - London, UK: My wife used to work for a high street bank over here in the UK. Every day she had to deal with numerous people asking why AOL were still charging their accounts with the monthly payment AFTER they had cancelled. Every day she had to manually cancel direct debits to stop them doing this.

This was one medium sized bank in a smallish town, AOL must be doing this to an absolutely staggering amount of people if this is just a snapshot.

Next...

My neighbour has AOL, (yep he's a newbie and YES I advised otherwise), and has just discovered the joys of £1 per minute telephone support when his phonebill arrived. </smirk>

"D": If it's a credit card then they are pretty much stuffed. However, some debit cards such have Barclays Connect now seem to be given a slightly different card number each time a replacement for an expired card is sent. AOL nags and nags that it can't collect the funds because the account info is inaccurate (I've dealt with AOL users who ignored the 'send us your card details' communications, believing them to be an eBay style scam) and ultimately stop you from successfully logging on. Not sure if they've ever sent debt collectors to recover money supposedly owed despite cancelling.

"N" - UK: AOL support is free... what was he phoning?

"G" again: Pardon me When the neighbour had his problems, he phoned AOL, AOL blamed the PC and he phoned DELL, (£1 per minute), who blamed AOL who blahdey blahey blah etc.

...and he's just signed up for AOL broadband because he liked how fast my connection was, (with BT internet). (laughing graphic)

I had AOL with dial-up for a short period of time just because the connection with them seemed to be more stable. But I hated it because it really was overpriced, and everything was so "dumbed down" for the first time internet user. The way things are set up on there was just plain weird for me. But, I didn't have problems canceling or anything. Now I have a cable connection- when we got it hooked up the cable guy said, "you know you can have AOL Broadband with this" and we were like noooooo! I like Internet Explorer, Thanks!

Diane

Well that explains my experience with the "Saves" dept. lol

Jon

Yeah Ive tried to escape
but even if you call them and say you are think moving isp from aol to another
they offer you a free month, here in the UK.

deciet and now Temptation? sounds devilishly demonesque

Well I am travelling right now and at my parents' house using my father's computer which has AOL...and oh my God the pop-up ads are making me nuts...and heck this thing is really comparatively speaking -- pretty slow.....

I mean GORGEOUS computer....(my father gets the latest and greatest every year).....but man this AOL.....and I warned him -- not to even TRY to get out of it and why...he laughed.....:)