May 29, 2007

Canceling AOL: Welcome to La La Land

I tried canceling AOL by phone last summer. The conversation that ensued is similar to this guys' on You Tube. You only need to listen a minute or so to get the gist, but believe me, this conversation is identical to the one I had. This was after I waited 7 minutes to get through to a live person. Oh, and I don't believe the person in this tape got fired. He was probably promoted to the collection department.



Because one of my boys needed AOL for his own use, I agreed to pay a smaller amount for continuing service. A month later, AOL offered their services to the public for free. My brother and parents don't pay a dime for using the same service that is costing me $9.99 per month.

Earlier this year, I canceled the credit card from which AOL payments were deducted because those folks were also gouging me. ($5.00 to pay by phone and payment deadlines that kept shifting.) I haven't been able to call AOL or contact them to make new payment arrangements and to point out that I am paying for a service that everyone else gets for free.

Just now I prepaid 80% of my contract by mail, telling these folks I WANT OUT! Honestly, it's harder to get rid of an AOL account in this country than to get a divorce. And AOL? They've got sucker written all over my name.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try http://anti-aol.livejournal.com

It's mine.

You should find all the advice you need there to get rid of AOL (and all the phone numbers you need to call them, too).

--Marah Marie

Vic said...

Thanks, Marah, That complaint number is new.

I am so fed up with this company. The only reason they're still in business is because chumps like me signed up with them years ago during the days when there were fewer choices. Now we can't get rid of them.

Will give the complaint route a try, though I did not tape the call or save the number of the person I managed to speak to.

h said...

A certain internet portal that shall remain nameless offered a free-trial for a business website.

Whether you wanted it or not, you got a BONUS Free-Trial with the long-distance company SBC as part of the deal. Perhaps a nice deal if you HAPPEN TO LIVE SOMEWHERE WHERE SBC ACTUALLY OPERATES.

Cancelled the website before the 30 day free trial ended without incident. SBC, a phone company that doesn't HAVE an 800 phone number, was another matter.

I never activated the SBC service to get my "secret code" for a simple reason. SBC does not OPERATE in my State. Got that?

The only way to cancel their Service (that isn't offered in my State) was to go online and punch in the "secret code".

Those freaking bandits billed me for 4 months for a service THEY DON'T ACTUALLY OFFER IN MY STATE.

Resolved the matter through the Credit Card company they were auto-billing me through.

Hope you get your situation resolved with the scumbags at AOL.

Anonymous said...

It's the same little game a lot of companies play these days. I had to go through hell to get Netzero to cancel my subsription, then six months later, I see their charges back on my credit card.

What I do now with any service that wants a credit card number from me, is a I give them a "Virtual Account Number". This is a service for Citibank card holders where I run a software client on my PC that can generate either a one time use only credit card number (tied behind the scenes to my real credit card) or I can generate a card with a specific dollar limit and time limit.

That way all of these services that would automatically renew my subscriptions are blocked from doing so. They then have to contact me and ask me to update my info with them.

Anonymous said...

To cancel your AOL account, call 1-888-265-8008. I did it.

Vic said...

Thank you all. I am following your advice. Stay tuned and see what develops!

Oh, I haven't used this account since summer 2006.That's what burns me!

BigAssBelle said...

that is absolutely unreal. what an ordeal!! this is just amazing!

Anonymous said...

Ms. Place,

So, how did it turn out?

Vic said...

Oh, thank you for asking. I forgot! I sent a special delivery letter with a check paying off my service and asking them to cancel me. Which is what they did. No explanation; no, we are so sorry for the inconvenience of not being available during off hours.

However, the process left a mark on my credit record, since they kept dunning me even as I questioned their methods.