Have you ever tried to cancel AOL Service

[motely36]

I did this a little while ago and it was almost a two hour phone call. I was accused of being rude because I interrupted the Customer Service person and said "I really just want to cancel my service!" She said well, you could at least listen to what I have to say. So I listened for what seemed like forever and then said "I want to cancel my service" again. She seemed shocked, but finally got the message! Of course now I still get things saying they want me back.

:banghead:

[Not Me]

1. Watch your credit card bill.

I had AOL a long time ago. And went throught the same persistent customer retention attempts you mention.

Then about three months later, I noticed they were still hitting my VISA card for service. Then it required another round of calls to get that to stop...and then I wasn't so polite.

[ET Awful]

3. Yup, they were infamous for this for a LONG time.

Ever since their inception in fact. I remember reports of problems with them back in 1994 and 1995 for the same reasons.

[motely36]

5. Thanks, I'll keep a lookout for that

:)

[Wickerman]

2. and, of course, check your statement, sometimes the stop

order just "doesn't go through" and you pay for an extra month until you spot it. They are quite simply, the worst. They have no product worth offering any longer and overcharge for it. :think:

[blue sky at night]

4. The game they play is ridiculous.........

Been there, it was years ago, and they just don't want to let anyone go. Good for you for wanting to end the service. I think their GUI is great for new computer users, but they do damage to your registry that can only be fixed by reformatting and reinstalling Windows. OH, you were rude........so what. Blow them off and get your system fixed. BTW, I heard if you are anti-bush you are not allowed to post on their message boards.

[WeRQ4U]

7. Is this for real?

That's so ridiculous.

[WeRQ4U]

6. I have to reiterate exactly what the other two have said....watch out..

I reailzed two months after cancelling that my CC had been charged those two months. I called them and tried to have it fixed. Well, it happened again. So I called back and was a little more "direct" so to speak. It never happened again. But I'll NEVER get fooled by that crap again. It's a scam.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

14. Same thing happened to me n/t

[ret5hd]

8. once you have been assimilated, there is no return. (nt)

[miss_kitty]

9. make sure when they call you during dinner in a month to make sure

you really meant to stop your AOL service, you say at the beginning of the call, very nicely, "Would you please never call me again?" It stops them cold (a law or something). You'll only get snail mail from them after that.

[Theres-a]

10. I still have an aol thingy

I have to close every time I reboot.I got rid of the icons,but this little login thingy never went away.I hate them.

[miss_kitty]

16. I did a search for 'AOL' after I dumped and uninstalled them.

then I removed all their shit, including 'waol' and I went into add/delete programs and removed the media player (which is considered to be spyware by many) and yanked that out too. It's Pinnacle, I think.

Is the icon in your tray? did you actually uninstall AOL? If the icon is in your tray (I am assuming you have a PC) then I think it's still on your startup menu. If you know how, you can open the startup menu and uncheck that box.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. Welcome to AOL California

You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.

[dhinojosa]

12. Scary, how very mormon of them

:scared:

[LibDemAlways]

13. I had a similar experience with Earthlink.

The entire time I subscribed to their dial up service the phone line would suddenly go dead and I'd have to constantly re-dial and get re-connected. At first I tried working the problem through customer service, but they've moved their operation off-shore and their customer service reps barely understand or speak English so communication is difficult. Finally I gave up and called to cancel the damn thing. You had to call to cancel. They wouldn't let you do it on-line. Then, despite my repeated polite requests to "Please cancel my service," they kept me on the line for a long time with all kinds of questions designed to keep me as a customer. Geez. Their service was lousy and then they had the nerve to not let me out when I wanted to go without a big hassle. I'm now with SBC and have never even had to contact customer service.

By the way a while back I signed my dad up with a small, regional dial-up provider and all was well until that outfit was bought by...you guessed it....Earthlink. Grrrrr.

[Mutley]

15. Same thing happened to me.

I had AOL back in the 90s when it first hit really big. After a few years I realized I really hated it. A lot. So I tried to cancel and they put me through that whole mess on the phone. Then they kept charging me for two or three months after that.

I really hate AOL. I refuse to even use Instant Messenger anymore.

[JPZenger]

17. Yes, Last Month

Yes, I called to cancel AOL last month and was put through a woman in India. She first said they would reduce the price. I said no thanks, it was too late for that. Then she said she would give me an extra free month, in case I changed my mind. I said OK, as long as I'm not billed again. Then I received a letter from AOL thanking me for not cancelling my service, but giving me a form to fill out in case the person from India misrepresented what I wanted.

I have had numerous Internet services over the years. Everytime I cancelled, and said I found a cheaper company, they offered me a better price. It pays to call to say you want to cancel your internet service, even if you want to keep it.

[terrya]

18. It's like the bad guest that won't leave.

I've unfortunately availed myself of AOL and it was an ordeal trying to get rid of it.

[Strawman]

19. Oh yeah. They suck

and I agree with post #1. They'll keep charging you. They did to me and then supposedly had no record of my phone call to cancel months before.

[Orsino]

20. Demand a tracking number...

...for the cancellation. It could be called a ticket number, or an invoice number, but something that customer service puts into their system to cancel the account has to have a unique code to identify it. Always get the name and extension number of the person(s) you talk to, and demand a written (could be e-mailed) confirmation of the cancellation.

Until you receive a confirmation, assume you are not cancelled, and stay on the line. If they try to palm you off by having you call another number later on, demand a confirmation on the spot that the cancellation has at least been initiated. Yell until you get a supervisor, if need be.