Aol sucks

[kramer]

OMG!!! I tried to cancle my account and it was death. He had to do a thoral investigation why I wanted to cancle. He kept asking me questions. I kept telling him cancel it. Then he said wait till the end of the trial and then cancel it. I said no. THen he asked the same question in a different way. I said no. Then he ended up canceling it. The whole proccess took like ten minutes wich should have took one.
It doesnt seem that terrible but it really sucks.
Any one else have an experiance like this.

[kram 2.0]

"AOL Sucks" is a redundant phrase...I would agree with you on that. I used my cousin's Windows ME computer, which was already very instable in itself, with AOL dialup service...it was very irritating. This would go along the lines of kramer's recommendation. Avoid.

kram

[ktkendall]

The title of your post says it all..

[kramer]

I dont mean to be 2 harsh i guess i should have said costumer support. Oh well.

[rjfvillarosa]

I quite agree.

[Blue]

I have to agree. I tried a trail of this, i called up to cancel. Spent 10 mins on the phone telling the guy, i do not want it anymore, just cancel it. Hung up then realized the guy tricked me into saying at the very end, he signed me up for another free trail when i told him whatever just get my cc info off of there.

So had to re call spend another 10 mins, those guys are so sneaky, trained to say things so fast if your not listening close they will end up charging you for something you do not want at all.

Never doing free trails or anything related to AoL again. Its mainly just the customer support that pisses me off. AoL itself isn't that bad i guess, just those people who work there.

[bigandy]

Same song and dance here. Although the lady I spoke to wasn't quite as pushy, but she did try to offer some special AOL service, but I just said no, and that was that. And from what I had heard from others, was pleasantly surprised by my experience. But cancelling sure doesn't stop those AOL CDs from coming.

[Punked Out Comp]

I they sign you up for something just don't pay and then they will have to cancel your account or give you free service.

[Dodge7]

Earthlink isn't much better. In fact, they're what brought me to this forum the first time. My modem would disconnect if it was set for over 33k connection speed with Earthlink. So a person on this forum told me that Earthlink limits connection speed. And another confimed the noise I was hearing, just before Earthlink cut me off, was my modem trying to get better than a 33k connection.

Earthlink wasn't helpful, claimed it was probably just where I lived, wouldn't let me talk to a true tech person.

Then I call to quit Earthlink to quit, and THEN they become extra helpful, offfer to let me talk to a "top level" tech person. Sure sure. It was to late then.

I got with a small ISP thereafter and got 48k connection speeds thereafter.

[Carpedebass]

Someone smart or creative should come up with a use for all those AOL and Earthlink CDs. What really cracks me up is when I get the CDs with "Surf the web faster than your current ISP" written all over them. I'm running DSL!

[kramer]

It continues. Today instead of getting a cancelation letter I got a confirmation letter that I decided to pay money to stay with them. Then coincidently on the back it said if you didnt wish to stay and wanted to cancel fill out this form. Yeah right that was mistake.

[jong2k4]

I hate dealing with customer service that is trained to get you to do things you don't want to do. Fortunately, I rarely have to- the AOL days for my family are long over.

For anyone else who wants to cancel their AOL service and is afraid of getting the runaround, here is a trick my friend told me to deal with customer service reps who are really sales reps: Say "I am going to record this call. Is that all right with?" (if you are in a state that requires you to do so) and when that is out of the way just say "I want to cancel my AOL service. This call is being recorded, and I have also recorded the exact time I have made this call. I want you to cancel my account and do nothing else, no surveys, no promotional offers." From there on out, it should be easy going because they'll know that you mean business. But don't hang up until they've actually informed you that your account is cancelled, or that they've done whatever it is you want them to do, because these people are trained to be pushy and when someone is pushy back it annoys them.

I haven't had the opportunity to try this yet, but I'm halfway looking forward to getting a pushy service rep in the future just so I can. It doesn't make very much difference whether you record the call or not, but if it's an important call like cancelling an account, ALWAYS (and not just when you try this) record the time you made the call in case there is an issue later on.

[MulderMan]

the cancellation process is pretty much the same in the UK. the ammount of times my freind has tried to cancel AOL and they just interigate you or insult other ISP's that you want to change to.

[el_novato]

When I bought my laptop, I got a 1 yr free trial. I signed up for it to have in case I needed to connect on the road. I don't like AOL because of excessive content they provide. I just wanna connect and do what I gotta do. Anyway...after the trial, I was billed for $22 for a month of service. I called them and told them I wanted to cancel. The rep asked me why and I told her I only wanted the free trial and I didn't like the excessive content. She rebutted with, "We have other options that are more basic and won't have as much content". The price? The same $22. Needless to say, I didn't bite.

Another time, I had AOL for broadband for about a month before we moved. It was also a free trial. I was paying $35 for their content plus $15 for the DSL provider. The area we moved to had the SBC for $30 at the time. I told the rep I was canceling because I was moving and SBC had a better deal. He suggested that I keep the AOL service ($35) and use it with the new SBC ($30). Go figure.

e.n.:)

[kram 2.0]

Can't agree with AOL's "manipulation of the mainstream users" here...really, I considered getting AOL for broadband for a while until I just moved to the local company's ADSL - much faster, much less intrusive.

kram

[SARGE]

Someone smart or creative should come up with a use for all those AOL and Earthlink CDs.

As with any unwanted CD, they make great targets for a .44 Magnum.

[rjfvillarosa]

As with any unwanted CD, they make great targets for a .44 Magnum.
Not much of a challenge though Sarge, they can't run very fast.......

[MulderMan]

http://www.eddnet.org.uk/comedy/aolcd01.php - uses for a AOL CD!

[colecifer]

I remember seeing a while ago a very good use for AOL cds. Somes guys are getting as many as possible(goal is one milloin) Then they want to get some dump trucks and dump one milloin AOL cds in the AOL headquarters parking lot.
here is the link http://www.nomoreaolcds.com/

[nubbler]

I remember seeing a while ago a very good use for AOL cds. Somes guys are getting as many as possible(goal is one milloin) Then they want to get some dump trucks and dump one milloin AOL cds in the AOL headquarters parking lot.
here is the link http://www.nomoreaolcds.com/

Thats is awsome, thanks for the site link!!! :D

[Dodge7]

There is a simple technique for dealing with such sales people. It is called the "broken record approach" (or maybe these days it is the repeating CD approach) You just keep saying what you want "I want to completely quit your service" over and over. Ignore whatever they say, just keep saying you want to completely quit their service until start doing so.

All their training and diversion techniques can't do anything if you stay with this approach.. and ask for a comfirmation notice of end of contract.

[nubbler]

There is a simple technique for dealing with such sales people. It is called the "broken record approach" (or maybe these days it is the repeating CD approach) You just keep saying what you want "I want to completely quit your service" over and over. Ignore whatever they say, just keep saying you want to completely quit their service until start doing so.

All their training and diversion techniques can't do anything if you stay with this approach.. and ask for a comfirmation notice of end of contract.


I know that really works, that's also what I do to all credit card, phone companies etc. that call.

[mountainking]

wow how long did it take you to figure out that aol sucks. with aol, the www doesnt stand for world wide web anymore. it stands for world wide wait.

[nubbler]

wow how long did it take you to figure out that aol sucks. with aol, the www doesnt stand for world wide web anymore. it stands for world wide wait.

We gotta come up with one for AOL ;)

has to be more sofisticated then "America offline".

[Panama Red]

Do not let this degenerate guys. Don't like where it's heading.

--------------moderator-------------------

[nubbler]

Sorry, got a bit carried away.

[glc]

To amplify on what PR said, let's not forget that AOL is the largest ISP in the world, and as such, we must be able to support their users in these forums without constantly slamming the service. We are all entitled to our opinions, but if they were THAT bad, do you think they would be able to stay in business?

This forum is based on respect and a friendly atmosphere. If you want to slam AOL, go find another forum where nobody cares - I'm sure there are plenty of them out there and you will have all kinds of fun.

[kramer]

they stay in buissness because of there mind games and people that dont want to cancle.

[SARGE]

they stay in buissness because of there mind games and people that dont want to cancle.

business, their, cancel.
;)

[kramer]

im not writing an esssssay i dont care about spelling puncuation or spelling but thanks for pointing that out.

[Pounder]

That is what I think is so great with cable (broadband) just click on ie and I'm there

[mountainking]

They stay in business because it seems ok for the 1st month and regular 56k speeds at 5kbps and then right after that, its slow as heck. its like 2kbps after ur 1st month and im like OMG CAN IT GO ANY SLOWER. Then finaly our fraternity got broadband. I dont have time to wait 2 minutes for a stupid web page to load hehe.

[glc]

AOL DSL is actually not bad, if you set up a router to log you in and don't use the bloated software. It's just not worth the extra cost over DSL from the local phone company.

Yes, you do not have to use the software - you can just open IE or whatever and go surfing.

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

AOL DSL is actually not bad,

I agree with that, here in the UK the AOL DSL is just the standard BT stuff, and the modem itself (well the ones I've seen) is just a standard BT one, which means no software needed, you just to do as glc says. It also means that whatever DSL company you chose it is normally just a BT line, with a standard adsl modem, connecting to the BT exchange, and which ever company you chose you get that. No real difference other than price, for me at least.

[EzyStvy]

Guess I'm the only one that has gotten good service from them?

I did the trial thing as part of setting up new surprise pc for good old mom. Few months later I realized I hadn't cancelled. Called em them up. They checked that I hadn't used the service and credited me back two months worth of charges.

Not sure why, but I'm collecting their cd's too. Have a whole 50 or so. The cases they use are pretty cool :eek:

[Punked Out Comp]

Things to do with your AOL Disks:


At a restaurant, shove one under a wobbling table leg.

Christmas ornaments (the more the merrier).

Give them to young children play with.

Room dividers for hamsters.

Drink coasters.

Ice scraper.

Bathroom tile.

Air hockey puck.

Dog chew toy.

Pooper scooper.

Grill scraper.

Destroy them - smash, burn, or run over to relieve stress.

Light switch cover.

Chinese throwing stars.

Halloween treat.

Firewood.

Paper weights.

Incense burners (put stick in hole of disk hub and light the incense).

Put them on car windshields at the mall.

Hand them out as party favors.

House insulation.

Grind them up to make fake snow.

Hood ornament.

Give them as stocking stuffers.

Use them as elbow and knee pads.

Use them to decorate your aquarium and create Comp USA underwater.

Baby mobile. Fence (may need a few thousand).

[mountainking]

lol those are some good uses. How bout sign up for slow speed dsl with aol slowspeed turbocharger!!!

[kramer]

i got my coasters and party gifts for my next party.

of coarse theres the most obvious. frisbe