It may seem hard to believe, but I have actually received a handful of emails from people trying to defend AOL. Several of them were employees, so I can't blam them for being defensive. The rest of you, however, are just plain confused.
zookatooya@juno.com
Ok, let's at least tell the TRUTH while we're bashin' AOL.
First, Joe L, as an employee you NEVER ENTERED A METHOD OF PAYMENT FOR YOUR EMPLOYEE ACCOUNT!! (or for your plus-one account for that matter, which is the "extra" account AOL give it's employees as a benefit.
So where are you justifying that $70 a month thing at?
And Catherine, the Terms of Service say that you agree that you are "of legal age" to enter into a legal agreement. IF YOU ARE (doubtful)
then you can use your checking account, debit card, or phone as a source of billing.
Meher, did your dad KNOW you opened THREE ACCOUNTS on his Amex?
How's that workin' for him?
Goto Keyword "CAncel" and follow the instructions for fax or mail cancellation and quit
whining.
Angelis-GREAT IDEA!!!
O, you have another account that you somehow muddled into, OR your
grandkids are helping themselves to your checking account numbers.
Have 'em search by your checking account numbers instead of your
name. (they probably didn't give you credit for it, anyway)
And gkefalas, when was it you thought AOL was FREE? When you were through with YOUR
purpose with it? Did it occurr to you that maybe you should tell THEM??
All of ya need to think about this.
AOL is a communication service. So is your telephone.
So is your cable tv. BUT IF YOU NEVER WATCH IT, OR IF
YOU NEVER TALK ON THE PHONE....WHY IN THE HELL ARE THEY
STILL BILLING YOU??????
It's not Life, Liberty, and Free AOL.
The ARE a hot for profit company.
Comcast, Verizon, SBC, BellSouth, Roadrunner...
they would ALL do the same thing!!
So why do you think AOL owe's you something for being dumb??
And....if ya can't control your kids any better than that,
why are you looking for a company to PAY you for your lack
of parenting? Grow some gonads and MAKE your kids pay it back!!
And if they won't do it, just start EBaying their belongings
until they get the message.
Just a "heads up" for you trial abusers out there: The NEW 3
month "Risk-Free" trial is NOT 3 Free Months! You PAY from
day-one. (read the disclosure) and if you call within the 3
month trial period and cancel AND REQUEST A REFUND they will
credit your account back. (it may not be immediately)
killakel187@aol.com
you know what man, your site is bullshit. You and all your techie wannabe friends, all you do is complain about AOL on your website... Let me ask you then, why do you come back? After your account is cancelled, WHY DO YOU COME BACK? why do you click on that signup screen AFTER your account is terminated. You spoke with the retention people, so you would know whats up... If you ACTUALLY LISTENED TO WHAT THEY SAY. They ALWAYS inform you of what date your account is cancelled on. NOW AOL does NOT bill people for no reason. If you sign on AFTER your cancellation date, you automatically REACTIVATE your account. Its simple. If you dont want aol, tell the retention person straight up. Tell them you dont want it. They will cancel you once they feel you have enough information. TIP: dont cut off a retention consultant, they will only inform you more about the GREAT deals that aol offers. DONT WHINE DONT COMPLAIN... USE IT OR DONT USE IT.... AOL DOES NOT STEAL UR MONEY. You agree to have them take it from you, you agree to use the service. go to keyword:TOS.
Robert - udlosebad@yahoo.com
You know that when you call to cancel a free trial...every company tries to retain membership because they try to make money. Also not everyone knows what they have to offer. I used to have aol and loved it. YOu and the people at your web site are being babies. Grow up and stop crying over nothing. So it might be hard at times..wa wa..wa...
Brad Hannaford
brad42004@yahoo.com
Sir,
If I told you that I agree with everything AOL does, then I would be lying. However, you are a real jerk, mostly because you are attributing the part to the whole and making a crusade out of it. You put some horror stories on your website that make many really good people look bad. I personally handle 2 to 3 emails a day from customers whom I keep in touch with. They ask me how AOL can help them in just about any given situation, and normally AOL can. Before you go bad mouthing AOL, take time to learn the product you are bad mouthing. 90% of all the consultants at AOL will bend over backwards to take care of you, whether you are cancelling the service or not. I dont have enough time to tell the different ways AOL can benefit people. Maybe not someone as savvy and smart as you, but not everyone is a computer junkie.
Read the back of the FREE CD, it clearly says that if you do not cancel the free service, that you willingly signed up for, then you will be charged. It is the first line! How is anyone going to be so stupid as to think that if you put your credit card number in anything that there will eventually be a charge. You are hating on a good service. They provide people with an opportunity to try out the internet for free. What those people do from there is their business. If you don't read, listen, ask, and most of all check your bank account balance, you are asking for trouble. There is a fiscal responsibility here. I would like to hear a response back from you and we could converse on this matter, you would be better served to do so than to hide behind your website.
A concerned individual
Jaron Quigley
quigs200@hotmail.com
Hi.
My name is Jaron. I work for AOL in the cancellation department. I have worked there for about six months. Let me tell you a thing or two. I've spent the last little while reading over the posts on here. First thing. In the time I have worked with AOL, I am still waiting to see the first time AOL has ripped anyone off. People claim that we are ripping them off all the time. But I still have not seen one legitimate claim. Here are the main causes of people "claiming" money stolen from them:
1. The free trial is free for a few months. After that, is DOES START BILLING! It is right in the Terms Of Service, Which you agree to when you start up your membership. Even if you don't use it, it will still charge. AOL is a membership. Just like a gym membership. If you don't go to the gym, you still pay for your membership. Same thing with AOL.
2. If you sign in to your AOL account after you cancel it, it will re open the account. That is also in the terms of service. Even if its only for a few minutes, or only one time, it will open the account, and billing will start again.
3. People Spin off a sub account. You can spin off screen names by going to Key Word Names, and taking a screen name on the account, and making it its own seperately billed account. With this, AOL will spin it back, and refund your money the majority of the time.
The reason that we try to keep members with AOL is that its our job. We do get paid well to do it. I make nearly 50,000 a year. Many people do leave calling us very pleased with the phone call. We will cancel your account if that is what you want. Also, if you do call AOL to cancel, and we leave the account open, we are REQUIRED to read a full disclosure, verbatim, which includes information such as next billing date, price plan, date you need to call by to not get billed again. Every single call is monitered by QA, and if that full disclosure is not read word for word, the consultant is written up, and fired if it happens 3 times.
So, for everyone that "claims" we are ripping them off, look a little closer. There is a good reason for every single charge. We are closely monitered by the BBB, and the other agencies. We are not a dishonest company, we are just trying to retain members, just like any other company. We are giving free months to try to help people in tuff situations. I have talked to thousands of members, that were so thankful that we could help them out when they were in a financial pinch, or were moving and couldn't use the service. 95% of our customers are happy with how thigns have turned out, and that is why we are still the worlds largest ISP. I have heard similar stories to all of the posts on this site, and there are reasons behind each one as the why things are happening. If anyone wants to contact me directly, you can contact me at quigs2000@hotmail.com. I can't give out my aol address, because it is my screen name, and employee id, and am not allowed to post that anywhere on the internet. I would love to discuss any specific situations, and would be willing to give advice as to how to get them resolved. Thanks for reading.
Jaron
AOL Retention Consultant
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