AOL Slammed For Making Quitting Hard > No kidding

No kidding

I'm not sure I understand...if a user logs on to a cancelled paid service again using the username and password, what's wrong with having to pay for that? If the user doesn't want to pay again, and he doesn't use it, he doesn't have to pay.
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Danieli Consulting LLC, Strategy and Branding »kdanieli.com

Because 'cancel the service' means 'cancel the service'.

reply to koam
Then how would you be able to test if the service is actually cancelled?

reply to Dennis
I regret not recording the phone call a few years ago when I tried to cancel. It was like a comedy bit.

reply to koam

reply to Dennis
i had to wait once an hour to cancel. It was really bad, then they refused to cancel me. So i called up the Credit card company and told them to decline anything from aol. I guess when common sense doesnt work, just dont pay, then they will cancel you, for sure.
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Feed your Faith, not your doubts

reply to Dennis
Back in 1993 or 94 I wanted to quit AOL because I found a better dialup provider. It was hell trying to get my account cancelled. Always the same run around. You sure you want to quit, you can't quit, we'll give you a free month, yada, yada, yada...

I finally got fed up with it and started recording all the phone calls I was making to them (you can do this in Ohio with out letting the other party know) after the 5th call I got a VERY belligerant CS rep that called me an asshole and then some. SWEET, just what I was waiting for. I had her get a supervisor while I rewound the tape. When the supe finally got there (30 minutes or so?) I had him listen to what I recorded and told him if my accound wasn't cancelled immedialtely I was going to an attorney with the recordings. My account was immediatley disconnected and I never heard fromm them again.

My question is why did I need to take these steps just to get an account cancelled. Utter BS in my book.

Chuck
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A computer is not a tool. When was the last time you had to do maintenance on your screwdriver?

reply to Erwin_D
If a canceled account logs on, it isn't automatically reactivated...the user has to click on some dialog boxes with explicit information saying that the account will be reactivated and the billing will resume etc. etc. Additionally, the account isn't canceled on the day the user calls...it is done on the day the current billing period ends.

I'm no fan of AOL but let's place blame where it belongs and not just bash AOL. If someone is too stupid to click on 'start billing me again' then, well, maybe they belong at AOL after all.

...then again we live in a land where people see 'click here to activate 911 with your VoIP service' and think it actually says 'sue us and rob us blind'
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Buy Stuff From Me! - »www.DomainObjects.com

reply to elias
I know it doesn't sound like i'm making sense, but I swear that's what they told me.

Even though I requested to cancel the account, they said if anyone logged on using any of the usernames under it, then the account would reactivate....

crazy....

reply to kapil
AOL goes much further than having a reinstate account button. They truthfully keep an account open well after you have it cancelled. They continue to bill you for the account you no longer access and requested cancelled. They tend to "forget" those phone calls where you said you wanted out. Then (at least in the early days) they call you incessantly getting you sign back up again. I know this from personal experience.

reply to Dennis
apparently none of you have heard of customer retention.
It's when a company tries to prevent you from canceling a product or service. which is legal and ethically viable.
This is a Gross injustice against AOL.

Explain what? get a dictionary.

reply to anonpronman
Customer retention techniques are fine. But, 25 minutes on the phone with a representative explaining over and over that "I want to cancel" means "I want to cancel" seems like quite a burden on the customer, much less a complete waste of time for both.

reply to Dennis
The company involved in this scam was IDT. They are a call center located in Israel owned by parent company IDT (the same company as the calling card company). If you cancel AOL you are routed to one of IDT's call centers. IDT is complicit in this as well, and while AOL should get blamed and has been, IDT is complicit here as well.

I had a dealing with IDT Energy, and they tried to pull every scam in the book on me. In that case 2 companies tried to take advantage of me, my electric utility (for delivery) and IDT (for supply). The tactics were the same and IDT should be held accountable. Hopefully there is a criminal investigation being pursued behind the scenes against IDT.

reply to Jeffrey

reply to anonpronman

What a troll...

I remember repeating over and over that I wanted to cancel my account. The representative just kept going on like she never heard a thing. She asked me who my new ISP would be. I didn't feel that was any of her business, although I'm sure AOL likes to know to whom they are losing business. She asked me questions about whether or not my new ISP had "7 layers of protection." Before I could say anything, she added, "They don't." I finally asked her why she was making it so difficult, after about 15 minutes of trying to cancel. She said to me, "Ma'am, I'm not being difficult, I'm just doing my job."

I would absolutely hate to be an AOL representative. I couldn't stand driving people crazy like that, and dealing with the responses that come with it. AOL probably loses a lot of customers who get some skills and no longer need training wheels and the high price that goes with them. I'm sure that's why they offer all the freebies.

Then they called a few weeks later to try to get me to sign up again. Like someone said, customer retention techniques are one thing, but AOL is like a bulldog--grabs on and doesn't let go.

reply to anonpronman

Re: No kidding