Hey MSM canceling your AOL has been a pain in the butt for years

thepurpose

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:07 PM
Original message

Hey MSM canceling your AOL has been a pain in the butt for years

As a matter fact they have been putting their wannabe ex-customers through hell since the mid 90s for wanting to just cancel. There have been websites up recording and transcribing the frustrations of cancelling an AOL for almost as long. Every thing from lying reps to continuing to charge credit cards for months after a cancellation. This is not news.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

SeattleGirl

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:08 PM
Response to Original message

1. That's absoluely true. 5 years ago, I had to fight and fight and

fight with AOL, and they still wouldn't cancel my service, so I talked to my bank, told them what was going on, and did a stop payment on all future transactions with AOL. That company is a pain in the ass.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

nealmhughes

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:17 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. Exact same experience.

Letters, phone calls and emails do not help. They just kept on charging me month after month after month... I finally closed that bank account to get it to stop! Then the bank was hittig me with bounced check fees! I argued that a closed account that had been instructed to honor NO automatic deductions was wrong and illegal. Finally I raised cain and got loud in the bank president's office and they saw it my way. What a waste of a day.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

SeattleGirl

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:19 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. Grrrr! What a hassle, huh?

I will never EVER use AOL again. Ever.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Chipper Chat

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:16 PM
Response to Original message

2. I paid $24.95 a month for years. I used AOL for everything,

liked their mail storage system, and thought the price was worth it.
But with BellSouth DSL (now in my 12th month) my AOL usage shrunk 75%. When I called to cancel I got the hassle-treatment too. When I insisted, they pitched me the "new" part-time user category at $10.95 a month (as long as you didnt use over 20 hours of dialup a month or something like that). That kept me as a member. It's easy to bash them, but AOL was a great learning tool in the late 90s for a middle-aged population untrained in computers. So I'll throw them a kind bone here.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

SmokingJacket

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:23 PM
Response to Original message

5. AOL=useless

Extricating one's self from AOL is like getting out of a tarpit. Plus, their product is nothing. In fact, I don't even remember why I ever had it. It's a holdover from the days when a person needed a "portal" into the internet. They need a new raison d'etre, imho.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

CountAllVotes

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:33 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. you are right!

Edited on Fri Jun-23-06 07:33 PM by CountAllVotes

I agree. I heard that just by installing that m'fn program that it writes something on to your computer that can never be erased; some sort of "tracking" thing. I don't know if this is true or not but I wouldn't put it past them! They suck alright!! :grr:

:kick:

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

RoyGBiv

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 07:58 PM
Response to Reply #6

7. Well, sorta ...

There is nothing that cannot be erased. Fdisk does wonders. :-)

But, yeah, the moment you sign up, you give AOL access to write anything to your hard drive that they can legitimately claim is essential to maintaining their service with you, and that gives them a wide latitude. Every time you connect, you're downloading and installing something, and it is hell getting it all off, if you can find it. It can even interfere with your attempt to use another service.

AOL's software would technically meet the definition of a virus if it weren't for the fact you agree to let them due all this through the terms of service that no one ever reads.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

SoCalDem

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Jun-23-06 08:27 PM
Response to Original message

8. Easiest thing in the world to quit them

send an email telling them you are cancelling...call the credit card company for the card they have on file.. tell the CC company you have "misplaced the card".. they will cancel the old number and issue you a new one..

aol will eventually tire of getting a NO when they try to charge the card :)

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Sat May 04th 2024, 01:23 AM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.