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Comments on news posted 2005-12-04 10:21:07: A new lawsuit accusing America Online of illegal billing (SeattlePI/AP) has been filed in Illinois, add this to the more than a dozen or so legal proceedings that have been pending for years in state and federal courts throughout the country. ..
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  mark470eh?Premium
join:2002-01-09
Hooksett, NH | i'm not surprised aol has been doing that crap for years,
it's about time somefolks stand up to aol.
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darn wears that boot loader | |
| |  Grail KnightQui audet adipisciturPremium
join:2003-05-31
Valhalla
kudos:6
 ·Time Warner Cable
| Re: i'm not surprised True, but there is an endless supply of gullible users signing up for AOL to keep them around.
More states and past and present users need to jump on this bandwagon to force AOL to once and forever go away.
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Fx v1.0.7 Mmoy_Fx v1.5 Stipe_Tb v1.0.7 Aviary | |
| | |  zcdCondom Sense
join:2001-10-03
Plano, TX | Re: i'm not surprised quote:
More states and past and present users need to jump on this bandwagon to force AOL to once and forever go away.
Let em stay with AOL, for if they got on another company, perhaps one you're using, that's less bandwidth for you!
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-Zach | |
| | | | Grail KnightQui audet adipisciturPremium
join:2003-05-31
Valhalla
kudos:6 | Re: i'm not surprised I do not like seeing people get ripped off.
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Fx v1.5 Stipe_Tb v1.0.7 Aviary | |
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|  Rob AJets AFC ChampionshipPremium
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ
2 edits | Who isn't surprised? Probably no one, from aol, this is expected. | |
| | | | | Re: i'm not surprised AOhell is evil. Haven't used them since 96,and they still tried to keep me on. They charged me without me even knowing. I made them refund me my money. They do not know what the word cancel means. | |
| | | | Rob AJets AFC ChampionshipPremium
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ | Re: i'm not surprised You can say that again. | |
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|  novaflareThe Dragon Was HerePremium
join:2002-01-24
Barberton, OH | said by mark470:aol has been doing that crap for years, it's about time somefolks stand up to aol. Yep when i had a aol free tril years ago the big thing was slamming aka changing your long distance to aol long distance even after you explicatly said not to. How about charging for the free trial that was popular to. And oh yeh for a couple upgrades to the software that you could nto refuse they charged for that as well. Aol is known for screwing the customers over.
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DSLR security chat at us.ausirc.net chanel #dslr_sec lets pack this channelopen source dns server for *nix and windows »powerdns.com | |
| | | ronny_b
join:2004-10-10
Saint Louis, MO | Re: i'm not surprised Back when they were getting into long distance, they sent me a check in the mail for $50. The idea was if I cashed the check, they would automatically switch my long distance to AOL LD. Well, being short on money at the time, I endorsed the check and deposited it in my bank. My long distance never got switched!
Ron  | |
| | | |  dvd536as Mr. Pink as they comePremium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:4 | Re: i'm not surprised said by ronny_b:Back when they were getting into long distance, they sent me a check in the mail for $50. The idea was if I cashed the check, they would automatically switch my long distance to AOL LD. Well, being short on money at the time, I endorsed the check and deposited it in my bank. My long distance never got switched! Banks do this too only the amount is like $2.50 then by cashing it, you get suckered into a $129/year travel shoppers service
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
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| | | Working for a baby bell and seeing the charges billed via several entities to people's phone accounts with out authorization.
I see customers who are billed monthly the moment they are assigned a new number 29.95 for AOL charges that where for the previous customer who had the number. Then AOL gives many of our customers the runaround to remove the charges and stop the billing. | |
| |  major marcoRes Firma Mitescere NescitPremium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA | said by mark470:aol has been doing that crap for years, it's about time somefolks stand up to aol. The sad part is that the litigation is a drop in the bucket. Atty fees to AOHell are chump change and these suits won't do shit to dissuade gullible n00bs from using the service. I know plenty of people who can't give up AOHell because of their rural locations and there aren't any other providers. So between illegal charges and the rest of the population rurally located AOHell is set to stay in business for a long long time. 
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You work hard to put food on your family...shouldn't the pResident speak the words you want to hear? »www.wimp.com/presidential | |
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MizTEcK
join:2003-08-01
North York, ON | wow about time FINALLY? | |
|  RobIn Deo speramus, God Bless the USAPremium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
kudos:2 | Since June.. My friend called in June to cancel her AOL Account. Yesterday she got a call stating she owes back payments since June and that they don't have record of her "cancelling", so pay up. She's not going to pay. | |
| | | | Re: Since June.. Stuff like that is crap. I bet they can look up the last time she logged in as proof that she hasn't logged into the account since the time she supposedly cancelled, but they don't care. They are all about extortion. | |
| | | RobIn Deo speramus, God Bless the USAPremium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
kudos:2 | Re: Since June.. said by insomniac84:Stuff like that is crap. I bet they can look up the last time she logged in as proof that she hasn't logged into the account since the time she supposedly cancelled, but they don't care. They are all about extortion. Oh she did. She told the Indian lady to look up the last time she logged in, which was back in June. But the Indian lady said that there is no record of cancellation.
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|  fireflierCoffee. . .Need CoffeePremium
join:2001-05-25
Limbo | That's why I run a system at home that records all of my phone conversations. Someone says I didn't tell them something, I send them a CD or an email with the conversation in question. There are roughly 12 states with two party consent for recording. Just gotta watch out for those.
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When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. | |
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 OlegBellsouth FastaccessPremium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL | Reply This Is why people like AOL  | |
| Prhamil
join:2001-05-01
Winchester, KY | Common Practice There is nothing unique about AOL's consumer abuse. Bellsouth, Cingular, AT&T, have all charged me for goods and services I didn't order or didn't receive. They always apologize and give me my money back, but that's just being polite when caught in the act. I consider myself a highly aware (paranoid) consumer but most of my friends and family (and a LOT of others) are being fleeced without protest. | |
| | | AOL is great! What other ISP provides all those features at *no additional cost*?
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| | Rob AJets AFC ChampionshipPremium
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | Re: AOL is great! said by Anonymous:What other ISP provides all those features at *no additional cost*? Yup absolutely nothing added the 23.90/month, LOL!
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| | | | | Re: AOL is great! I thought it was $24.95 | |
| | | | Rob AJets AFC ChampionshipPremium
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: AOL is great! Maybe they raised the price since I last had them, wouldn't surprise me. | |
| | | | | Bangy
join:2000-12-20
Lincoln, RI | Re: AOL is great! wowsers, and all that for a 56k?
How did I miss this friggin' bargain all these years??!!
*cue choking sounds* | |
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 owenhomekeeper of the magic blue smokePremium
join:2002-07-13
Bentonville, AR | AOL sucks Have you seen that commercial for AOL over broadband? More intruders coming at you faster? Viruses, spyware, etc. are all supposedly _taken care of_.
I cannot even begin to tell you how many machines have come in to my store infected to beat hell and are running this AOL security BS. BUT, they were sure that they couldn't be infected because they were using AOHell.
AOL is playing off consumer fears to sell this AOL broadband BS but it's security software is more useless than McAfee.
AOL needs to make an about-face and actually come up with some useful services. If that happened, maybe they would actually stay afloat without having to screw their customers to stay in the black.
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Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference. | |
| | Rob AJets AFC ChampionshipPremium
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: AOL sucks Gotta love those commercials with all the computer speds in a presentation room with a aol guy saying how all of aol's security features help protect you from the evil viruses of a high-speed connection. I crack up everytime. And your right, its even funnier just knowing that aol actually makes things worse security wise with their bloated piece of crap software.
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| | |  MagManLife is simpler when you tell the truth.Premium
join:2003-10-01
Westlake, OH | Re: AOL sucks Yes I LMOF every time I see that Ad what a joke they are.:p | |
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1 edit | Re: AOL sucks said by MagMan:Yes I LMOF every time I see that Ad what a joke they are.:p You must have a great temper. For the past two years I've been overwhelmingly annoyed by AOL and now even Earthlink's ("I believe") commercials. Every time they come on, I uncontrollably scramble for the remote to change the channel. A few days ago, I accidentally bruised my wife because of an AOL commercial 
EDIT: Going for the remote, that is. | |
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| OlegBellsouth FastaccessPremium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL | AOL RELEASES NEW SPYWARE PROTECTION TO IMPROVE INTERNET SECURITY FOR MILLIONS OF USERS
New Protection Offers Four Scans – Every Minute, 15 Minutes, Daily, and Weekly –
to Find and Block 28,000 Known Types of Spyware and Adware
AOL Partners with Computer Associates
to Offer One of the Most Comprehensive Anti-Spyware Packages Available
Dulles, VA - September 21, 2005 - America Online today launched AOL Spyware Protection 2.0 (ASP 2.0), a powerful new multi-level package of spyware protection that includes four different scans, including minute-to-minute, every 15 minutes, daily, and weekly. ASP 2.0, powered by eTrust® PestPatrol® Anti-Spyware technology from Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA), provides one of the most comprehensive protection packages available and finds more than 28,000 known types of spyware, adware, keystroke loggers and trojan horses.
“Spyware programs are the snakes of the Internet,” said Joe Redling, President, AOL Access Business. “They creep silently onto a user's computer and wrap themselves around everything on the machine, choking the computer and poisoning the online experience. Spyware and adware can cover your screen with unwanted pop-ups, steal your connection, change your preferences, slow your computer, redirect your Web navigation and searches, and even steal your personal information. AOL wants to protect our members from dangerous and damaging software, and ASP 2.0 offers a powerful tool to help our members keep their machines safe and clean.”
Provided to AOL members at no additional charge, ASP 2.0 helps users find and disable a wide range of security threats, nuisance software and Web tracking programs. ASP 2.0 offers four levels of protection against surveillance and advertising software:
* Every approximately 60 seconds: An automatic memory scan looks for roughly 15,000 types of spyware and adware that may be running silently in memory (less often on slower computers);
* Every 15 minutes: The AOL® SpyZapper™ feature scans in less than a second for any new programs that have been downloaded or attempted to reinstall themselves;
* Every day: Automatic “Quick Scan” takes just a few seconds to check for more than 28,000 known types of spyware and adware;
* Every week: A “full drive scan” performs a thorough review of the user's entire hard drive for all 28,000 known variants.
Automatic updates help protect users against new threats as they emerge.
“The quality and value of a user's online experience can be seriously compromised by the growing tide of malicious code that has become pervasive on the Internet,” said Jeff Clarke, CA's Chief Operating Officer. “We commend AOL for taking advantage of our industry-leading anti-spyware solution to protect their users from these pervasive threats.”
Members on AOL® 9.0, as well as those on AOL 8.0 and above who have separately downloaded the software, will automatically receive the new version during sign-in. The new version also will be available for download for users of AOL 8.0 and above at AOL Keyword: Spyware. The product will work only via unused memory and therefore tends not to slow or interfere with computer performance during scans or updates.
To further augment this protection, AOL and CA will launch updated versions later this year and early next year. The updates will feature an “always on” active shielding that blocks infections before they occur, neighborhood watch reporting, and a Web-based spyware encyclopedia that includes an elaborate description and discussion of detected programs.
Backed by five years of market leadership and supported by an industry-leading spyware research team, eTrust PestPatrol Anti-Spyware is the one of the strongest anti-spyware solutions available today. As a standalone product, eTrust PestPatrol Anti-Spyware has sold more than 13 million licenses in 100 countries and earned top rankings in respected online publications including CNET Downloads and ZDNet Australia.
About America Online
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX). Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
About CA
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE:CA), one of the world's largest management software companies, delivers software and services across operations, security, storage, life cycle and service management to optimize the performance, reliability and efficiency of enterprise IT environments. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, N.Y., and serves customers in more than 140 countries. For more information, please visit »ca.com.
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© 2005 Computer Associates International, Inc. One Computer Associates Plaza, Islandia, N.Y. 11749. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. | |
| | |  RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY | Re: AOL sucks The one thing that they forget to list in the Press Release is the System Specs on what Platform and Operating System you must be running to take advantage of this Security Support. I KNOW that they do not support MacOS (Apple, BTW, was the ORIGINALLY computer platform that started AoL - Windows support came much later). I think that the Windows Support is restricted to Windows XP (and possibly 2K). | |
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| | | said by owenhome:Have you seen that commercial for AOL over broadband? More intruders coming at you faster? Viruses, spyware, etc. are all supposedly _taken care of_. Pretty ironic, considering I'd almost go as far as to call AOL itself a virus. I've seen more than one computer that got FUBARed when someone tried to install AOL on it. | |
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Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
| Holy Smokes I got Duped by AOL again After reading this topic I decided to double check to see if AOL cancelled my so called free trial of 6 months when i bought my dell. Sure enough they charged my credit card 44.95 for 3 months service since i was always maxed out on my card. What a disgrace. Should i be able to challenge the charge? | |
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See 7 replies to this post | |
 algPassionately apatheticPremium
join:2001-04-10
Houston, TX
kudos:3 | Say it ain't so AOL; say it ain't so.  | |
| rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO | Try to cancel a credit card! If you think AOL is bad, try to cancel a credit card. Even though you told them you want to cancel, they'll ignore you and send you a new card with 0% balance transfer for a year and 0% on purchases for a year. Try to cancel that and you'll be transferred to a "cancellation specialist" who is trained in the art of making you feel that you'll be missing out on becoming financially independent because little did you know, your credit card is a top notch investment vehicle! And then they mention that it can also double as a slice, dice, blend, shake (not stir) multi-function kitchen device.
If you insist, they request that you write them a letter stating that you wish to cancel. | |
| | major marcoRes Firma Mitescere NescitPremium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
1 edit | Re: Try to cancel a credit card! said by rradina: Try to cancel that and you'll be transferred to a "cancellation specialist" who is trained in the art of making you feel that you'll be missing out on becoming financially independent because little did you know, your credit card is a top notch investment vehicle! Did you fall off your chair laughing uncontrollably? Next time just tell them to skip the bullshit and ask where you should address the written cancellation notice. Saves time and don't forget to make spare copies of that notice because 6 months to a year later when the extortion credit card company account still hasn't been cancelled because it was (insert excuse here) you'll have something to back up your argument. He who documents wins every time.
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You work hard to put food on your family...shouldn't the pResident speak the words you want to hear?
»www.wimp.com/presidential
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| | | fireflierCoffee. . .Need CoffeePremium
join:2001-05-25
Limbo
1 edit | Re: Try to cancel a credit card! I was thinking the same thing--no calls, just a letter.
And if you really want to show them you're serious, send it certified/registered--then you've got proof they received it so they can't claim the never got it. . . | |
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 pb5kCan't TriforcePremium
join:2005-11-16
Glendale, AZ | Not Even Worth $3 I had similar issues with AOHell. For some reason GM had an agreement where GM employees could get AOL dialup for $3 a month, so we decided to try it. Well, after a month of using their crummy ad-filled client and never being able to get on (literally took us more than 75 dials to get a connection, at half speed) we decided to quit.
I told them it wasn't even worth the $3 a month, and the CSR pretty much choked. Much to my chagrin, they continued billing my card for $3 a month without my noticing for about 2 months. I finally sent them a registered letter telling them that if they didn't stop billing me and issue a refund I would take them to small claims. They backed off, but it was a lot more effort than it should have been.
I hope they get vigorously sued. | |
| | | | Re: Not Even Worth $3 I think AOL counts on people not even looking at their CC bill (a pretty risky habit a lot of people have), but it is listed, right there on your bill every month, right? You're lucky there was only a $3 charge that you didn't know about. | |
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| | Elliott Spitzer The NY AG is looking into fraud against NY customers and threatening to sue AOL.
It is funny Time Warner officially dropped AOL from their corporate name and now want to "dump" AOL that cost them $100 billion (no cash) on their balance sheet.
I think AOL founder Steve Case sold them a bill of goods. | |
| | | | Re: Elliott Spitzer Actually, I think AOL bought Time Warner, not
the other way around.
Paid in stock I believe.
Then changed the name to AOL Time Warner and
later dropped the AOL name.
I remember because I stupidly held some stock
at the time. | |
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1 edit | Just a fraction of That's just a fraction of the crap you have to deal with from that company. I simply can't believe there are still enough nOObs signing up to them to even keep them afloat. It shouldn't take anybody with any common sense whatsoever to realize what a BAD deal they are.
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See 9 replies to this post | |
AT11
join:2003-03-05
Sedalia, MO | They tried to tag my checking account Years ago when the closed the For Sale forums (I talked to a manager and they said too many people were using them and they didn't need my business... da...) so I cancelled and also put a notice at the bank to refuse any charges, just in case. The bank caught the attempted e-check months later trying to get back charges after I canceled and called me....
Morons... We refused the E-Check and I've had no further issues with them.
I can't tell you how many people I've told this story to and how many have not signed up with them because of it. I hope they rot and go to AOL Hell......
Never again....They are too arrogant.... | |
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1 edit | Well now... AOL is well known for their cancellation policy among the membership "community". There are many of said members who have not paid for AOL service for months, if not years. They view it as: If AOL wants to give me free months, who am I to argue?
This is why there are so many dufuses that hang on AOL and make it a mess for all. They can simply get a few free trial CD's from Wal Mart and sign up (interestingly, all the CD's have the same passwords on them), then cancel before the payment due date and get more free months (no, AOL does not seem to discriminate, nor care), unless they get terminated for terms of service violations because of member complaints from their being trolls, spammers, flamers, babblers, scrollers..You get the picture, I'm sure. In any case, if they get terminated, they just use the next free trial CD and are back on in a snap with new screen names.
Actually, I would imagine their being sold (likely to MSN, whom they are in talks with now along with, I believe Yahoo) will result in a long overdue cleaning up and tightening of their service and policies, to their memberships great relief, as they have been complaining about these problems for YEARS with no response from AOL who MUST KNOW (unless their IT people are totally stupid) that these problems exist.
I have never used MSN myself. However, many have told me that they are a lot tighter than AOL is and dont put up with disruptive behavior (which is, of course, likely why all the babblers, trolls, flamers, scrollers and porn spammers are on AOL).
If it weren't for getting over run by all the script kiddies (it's amazing how far some young punk wannabes will go to be able to disrupt everyones use of a chatroom with the latest scroller, trying to lock up other members computers in the AOL version of a DOS attack, wannabe hackers and trouble makers, AOL wouldn't be half bad.
But then, I remember how it USED to be, years ago, when there were actually good places to be on AOL, before they got lazy/sloppy and lost control. AOL's biggest problem is that they have lost control of their chats, and have far too much advertising on every possible screen.
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| | | AOL Bloatware I just got finished cleaning a machine owned by people that trust and love AOL faithfully. The computer was full of viruses, trojans, and malware. AOL was running so many bloatware programs as startup, the computer was rendered useless. The system was un patched, and not using any anti virus detection. There were three copies of AOL bloatware installed on this system, taking up most of the valuable hard disk space. It was horrible accessing Windows Update using IE, because AOL kept trying to load every five seconds. I hate AOL so much that from now on, I will charge more to clean a computer that is infected with AOL bloatware! AOL pushes so much misleading advertising and software on unsuspecting or un-knowledgeable customers, it's no wonder their machines lock up. | |
|  DavidNow accepting new patientsPremium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
kudos:70 | St. Clair County, Illinois Well I live here(Granite City, IL) but this is the first I heard of it. It does not really suprise me. I hear as least one person a week complain about AOL at some of the social places I visit. | |
| | | AOL 3.0 I still use AOL 3.0 on an old laptop and get one hell of a fast dial up connection when traveling. But on my main computer AOL doesn't touch the harddrive...we just use their email. We are only paying 19.95 a month...what is this 29.95 crap you people are paying?...sheese...we might be dropping down to 7.99 if we go to their BYOA plan in which you pay for just the service without dialup...not a bad deal for a large practically unlimited email box and no upload limits size wise. So I'm not getting a bad deal plus since we are "long-time" customers we get special treatment and get american tech support along with a free month if we threaten to cancel! AOL content sucks but they have their mail act together and their chatrooms are great for kids...so I keep em around til the kids are gone...then AOL service gets knocked down to mail/AIM only. (1.99 a month ) | |
| | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | Re: AOL 3.0 Dude, BYOA is $14.99 (with 10 hous dial), dial-in is $23.95, and Gmail beats anyone's mail. | |
| | | | | Re: AOL 3.0 Really?...I just switched it tonight and its only 7.99...odd | |
| | | |  AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ | Re: AOL 3.0 I just double checked and I pay $4.95 | |
|
BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH Reviews:
·Comcast
| Aol is not all bad sure, thier security sucks, as they use IE, and a/v and anti-spyware is out there for free, and it is better. But, the Radio is great, they have all of the XM channels plus a couple hundred more, and it works in FF. Right now they have at least 13 holiday channels. Thier dial-up and email does suck pretty bad though (which I why I won't touch it with a 10 foot stick). Also, they host the 7TB (or something like that) of bandwidth for Twit every month, and the only thing they want in return is that Twit is not on Sirius, as they have an agreement with XM. | |
| | Bangy
join:2000-12-20
Lincoln, RI | Re: Aol is not all bad Lets face it, folks are pretty stupid as well. I'm sure AOL didn't go out of their way to make it clear about the accounts but most times when companies do things of this nature, people still are too dumb to know what they're getting into. | |
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| | Just try to cancel AOL A few years back I tried to cancel my AOL trial membership, talked to 3 different people, all of them totally ignored my request. Every time I said "just cancel my account please", they would go about their crap of saying we can give you another month free. I ended up hanging up on all three getting nowhere, totally frustrated, and boy were they lucky I couldn't reach through my phone!!!! The next day I called again, got a nice lady that apologized for the behavior of the idiots the day before, she canceled my account with no problem. It still baffles me that a company would allow this to go on for so long and expect to keep customers. I would never go back to AOL even for a trial and I steer all my friends and family away from them. | |
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Re: They tried to tag my checking account
