Noah Vail
Premium
join:2004-12-10
Lorton, VA
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to pnh102
VERY Old News
Back when people were just catching on to dial up, I used to play clean-up to AOL's Marketing Strategy. AOL would heavily CD Spam some areas, knowing that there was no local dial up number for those users.
AOL's software would choose a dial up number for the customer, and if there was no local number, it would choose some outlying exchange. That is, AOL would connect to a Long Distance Number without notifying the user.
If a user were computer savvy enough, they would go into the connection properties and discover what AOL had done. But in nearly all cases, a savvy user wouldn't sign up with AOL at all.
The end result was huge and unexpected phone bills. If the billing timed out right, those bills would reach $400+ before the customer found out. I would get the service calls and have to explain to the customer what kind of company AOL was.
Since then, it's been a goal with me to remove every customer I can from AOL. Also to let as many people know, what a deplorable entity they are, one that probably shouldn't exist.
My best guess is that I've effected a few hundred customers or potential customers in the last 15 years.
If we all do our part......
NV
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The More Alike 2 Religions are, the Stronger the Hate between them. |
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markrubi
join:2004-08-11
Edmond, OK
| One had to choose an access number from the very beginning. It was the customers fault for not checking if the number was LD or not. It was this way from the very beginning. There even was a warning about the access number might be long distance and to check with the phone co if you were not sure. If AOL would have chosen a number for you and picked a LD number there would have been lawsuits long ago. AOL has done some shady things but what you posted is not one of them. |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to Noah Vail
said by Noah Vail  :AOL would heavily CD Spam some areas, knowing that there was no local dial up number for those users. That seems quite odd. AOL would gain nothing by having people dial long distance numbers or intra-LATA numbers.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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Noah Vail
Premium
join:2004-12-10
Lorton, VA
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to markrubi
Not true, at least not always. The Software Changed. Having to choose an access number came after the Class Action Suit filed in California that included, among other things, deceptive account inceptions (people signed up who had never heard of AOL) and (sound familiar) account termination problems.
In a release of the software, there would be an option to see the number choices, but it wasn't displayed by default. Having the dial up numbers displayed openly is something that came after the class action suit.
Afterward, they still CD Spammed the long distance areas, counting on people who couldn't tell where the extended calling termination lines were. The extended calling areas were confusing enough that even the phone co execs couldn't always tell where they were.
AOL DID always research their market targets carefully.
NV
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The More Alike 2 Religions are, the Stronger the Hate between them. |
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Noah Vail
Premium
join:2004-12-10
Lorton, VA
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to pnh102
Well it's not a business model I would have chosen, however I serviced dozens of customers that endured this. I heard stories (directly and not) of maybe one or two hundred more. Nearly every customer I had, had a story to tell, of a friend or relative.
If my anecdotal experience is represtative, it was VERY successful for them. $20 - $60, plus termination issues that brought months more of unwanted service, plus there there those people who kept the service, added up to something.
NV
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The More Alike 2 Religions are, the Stronger the Hate between them. |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by Noah Vail :If my anecdotal experience is represtative, it was VERY successful for them. $20 - $60, plus termination issues that brought months more of unwanted service, plus there there those people who kept the service, added up to something. Hmm... I suppose another way to look at it then is that since these people are dialing long distance or intra-LATA to reach AOL, it saves AOL from having to set up a POP in these customers' local calling areas.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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markrubi
join:2004-08-11
Edmond, OK
| reply to Noah Vail
I've used aol since DOS (pcaol) days. I even worked for them for 7.5 yrs. The software always asked your area code then provided you a list of numbers. The user chose upto two of them. AOL did not send out floppies or cd's hard coded with phone numbers for a certain zip code or area code. They blanketed the entire us with floppies/cd's. They did not send extras to an area which didn't have an access number. It was pretty much the same everywhere. Flood gates wide open. I wish I still had an old 1.0 version floppy. |
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Noah Vail
Premium
join:2004-12-10
Lorton, VA
·RoadRunner Cable
| I never said the the software came hard coded with phone numbers for a certain area. I never said they sent any extra anything anywhere.
It was the same software they shipped nationwide. When the software ran, it called a toll free number, downloaded a list of phone numbers in and around your area code. You then had a choice of accepting whatever number they chose for you (without preview and by choosing next) or you could select viewing the list of numbers they downloaded and make a different choice. You could choose up to 2 numbers, or not.
I've always related the California Class Action Suit with the change in the software behavior, but I've never been sure. Suddenly, the access number list was displayed by default. I'm nearly certain there wasn't a version change. There was lots of different behavior within versions. I remember 4 being the last version that held your stuff (emails, contacts, etc.) on the local drive and it was around forever; so I'm guessing 3. This would have been about 1995 or so.
If you're defending AOL by saying AOL had no idea that they were distributing sign up software to areas with no local access number, it'll be a tough sell anywhere. There's no way AOL spends that ocean of marketing and market research money and never bothers to check where any of their access numbers are.
I don't know, but I'll wager they spammed us over a billion times.
Speaking of Ultra Mass Marketing, any one remember the campaign to send 1M AOL CDs back? »news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,···6,00.htm
I've always regretted that didn't work out.
Well, there's always insignificance followed by bankruptcy, here's hoping.
NV
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The More Alike 2 Religions are, the Stronger the Hate between them. |
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