How hard is it to cancel AOL?
I decided to find out.
Here’s the setup.
I had an AOL account years ago. I kept it around because many of the suits in my office use AOL. When the boss needs AOL fixed, you’d better have an account to get it running. That’s fine with me. It made troubleshooting much easier. Even though my father and mother both had accounts under mine, their computer didn’t even have the software installed. No one in my family was using it, and at most I was using it once a month.
Recently, I decided that I could spend $14.95 a month in many better ways, and decided to cancel the AOL account. Knowing the horror stories, I decided to do the deed at work where I could record the whole thing. I knew it was going to be good, but I had no idea it would be the abusive disaster it was.
The highlight for me? Him asking for my father when the account is mine, the name on the account is mine, and the card paying the bill is in my name.
Warning: I know the audio on my end is a bit weak. I don’t have the greatest phone recording setup. Anyone else have an interesting “cancellation” story from AOL or some other company?
UPDATE: File is no longer on this server and can now be found at the link above. Sorry for broken links, but my server can’t handle being hit by Digg, Fark, Metafilter, and Anandtech at the same time!
Thanks to Putfile for bailing my ass out.
[tags]aol, cancellation[/tags]
Wow, that’s even better than the story posted to Consumerist recently by a person who tried to cancel their father’s account because he’d passed away … IIRC they were asked “Is there any other reason you’re cancelling the service?”.
Let us know if you still get an AOL bill next month …
I am sooo glad I never had an AOL account. They must have bonus for each person they talk-out of canceling.
What an idiot, either you’re really unlucky, or AOL needs to rethink their training strategies.
Just keep the one simple thing in mind. He’s doing his job. Yes that includes pissing you off. You have to call them and go through their shit to cancel. If they notice that there’s no way for them to convert you back then their goal is to get you off the phone without doing the cancellation. That includes pissing you off till you hangup. You THINK you are hanging up on them, but from their perspective you just made your account last just a little bit longer in their system AND maybe just pissed you off enough to NOT call them back to cancel. He was doing his job, and he did it very well. Blame AOL as a company, not some guy taking calls doing what he’s told to keep a paycheck. His job is to answer the phone and try to prevent you from ending that account. They take classes in this, they have meetings, they have “cue-cards”, they have people monitoring them and making sure they do what they are told to prevent you from cancelling. He was just doing his job. Blame AOL, not the little guy.
Be prepared for some annoying follow up phone calls from them. When I tried to cancel it took about 30 to 45 minutes, even though I just kept saying “cancel it.” Then they called about twice a month for three months trying to get me to come back. Every time I told them I would never come back and not to call me anymore. They finally got thet hint the last time.
I cancelled with a different isp, because I was no longer going to be using dial-up. They were extremely friendly about it and refunded me the unused portion of my bill that month without me asking. Guess which one I would go back to first if I had to.
I think im purposefully going to sign up for alot of aol accounts, and then cancel them all. i enjoy doing this like this, especially when thousands of people get to see what happens.
I think im purposefully going to sign up for alot of aol accounts, and then cancel them all. i enjoy doing things like this, especially when thousands of people get to see what happens. Perhapes i will eventually move on to the lofty goal of pissing off atleast one horrendous corporation a week.
too bad if you send this to AOL, they will probably sue you becuase it’s illegal to tape phone conversations without telling the other party…or have that beeping in the background.
Wow!!! How horrible is that? Dude, watch your cc statements to make sure they don’t keep billing you! I will have to say though, that the CS rep was doing his job. It’s not him we should be pissed at but his superiors who have the policies about making cancellation as difficult as possible. Trust me, he’s paid to talk about anything besides cancelling your account. I loved the way he made up stuff about the usage. Nice touch. I’m sure he talks a lot of people out of cancellation that way.
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Steve – http://tail-f.net/
I wish I would have recorded mine. I too had an old AOL account (11 years). Beside the “i am helping you by not helping you” line i also got the “in dangering your family & credit score” line (i am single). it took 30 min in the last 7min all i did way ask to speak to his supervisor, who was allways on a call. you should make a pre canceling page to get everone to record their calls.
It’s tactics like this that got AOL sued, and why they have lost so much money. I got the same spiel when I cancelled and luckily they didn’t give me too much grief.
Wow. I almost feel bad for that guy. You know that this kind of corruption starts at the top… he’s just following protocol. If I were working at AOL customer service I would be getting out right about now.
However, I do empathize. It’s frustrating when you see CSRs trying to take advantage of you, assuming they can get away with telling you blatant lies. For example, last year I set up a neighbor’s WiFi for them. I didn’t know how to sign back onto their Bellsouth DSL account after I had severed the physical connection. I called a CSR and told her what I was trying to do. Perplexed, she told me she would have to “go back into her lab and do some research.” She came back and told me that Bellsouth did not support Linksys routers. I sighed deeply… and asked to be forwarded to Level 2 tech support. Not surprisingly, the man who I spoke to actually treated me like a human being and we solved the problem.
It’s hard to find competent CSRs who won’t try and slip one past you. You just have to ask to speak to the right people, or in the case of AOL, stand firm.
I got the same routine from a Discover credit-card representative. After two non-pertinent questions, I simply said, “I’m sorry. I called to cancel this account, not to answer questions.” That did it.
This is exactly why the 2nd Amendment needs to stay in the Constitution.
Nuff said.
I saw this link on boingboing; went through the same thing with AOL. Are their reps taken out back and beaten if they have a cancellation? I point blank asked the rep ‘are you going to cancel my account?’ The answer: NO. !!!
I have a feeling that for each subscriber this dude stops from cancelling he gets to keep one of his children.
Man what a stooge!
That AOL guy probably scored top in ranking at the AOL staff retreats, you know the ones that coach teddybear spanking and autoerotic ventriloquism.
My friend also had the same experience like you. He got a fight with the CSR while cancelling his service on the phone for about 30 minutes.
In situations like that I just ask for a manager. If some drone gives me a hard time or starts asking stupid questions, all I say is “Could I please speak to your manager”.
What a moron. Good thing I’ve never been on AOL.
I listened to the recording and frankly I can see why the AOL person might have been a little testy. Clearly you went in with a chip on your shoulder, spoiling for an argument. The tone of your voice annoyed me, too, and I can see why the service rep responded as he did. I probably would have done the same, if not more (which is probably why I’m not in that business).
The words “please” and “thank you” go a long way to making life a little easier for everyone.
Remember, the poor slob at the other end of the line is just someone trying to make a living and put food on the table. They’re not de facto part of some vast AOL conspiracy trying to make your life miserable. They have procedures that they have to follow in order to keep their jobs, just as you probably do.
I also note that you did not tell the AOL rep that you were recording the call for “broadcast” and give them an opportunity to opt out. In some jurisdictions, that’s a crime.
nicely done, but that guy was annoying the shit out of me as well. Bridget’s right, this could be used in one of those anti- AOL commecials. Thanks for posting it.
How could something be at once so funny and so painful?
You mean you didn’t have to wait on hold for 45 minutes first??? After doing that twice, and getting the whole spiel about how it was in the middle of a billing period, and so I would been defaulting on the bill, so I should just stay on for another couple of weeks and then cancel, I finally had my credit card company deal with it. Only time will tell if it actually got cancelled, as it took a couple of cycles to quit showing up on my credit card statement. Kudos for remaining relatively calm under the AOL pressure
I remember a t-file going around ten years ago that instructed as to how to use a tesla-coil to jump a bolt of lightning through ma-bell’s surge suppressors and electrocute the brain of the person on the other side through the telephone.
Justice is sweet. Glad boingboing picked up this story.
Wow that was totally wild I feel sorry for you having to put up with that crap man…
I just canceled my AOL on 5/26/06 as I just got DSL. After being harrassed for about 30 minutes they finaly agreed to cancel my service. (They tried to get me to stay by cutting my rate from 24.99 a month to 14.99 and then finally to just 4.99 a month!) A week later I got a letter in the mail. It looked innocuous, just a piece of junk mail from AOL, but I decided to open it. Inside was a letter congratuilating me for renewing my service! That if I didn’t reply to the letter that they would begin to automatically bill me $24.99 a month. It also stated that “If my intent was to cancel AOL service” to fill out the form on the back of the letter and fax to AOL. I immediately called my credit card company and asked them to cancel any payment to them. (To use the payment dispute service you need to give the credit card company the name of the person you talked to, the date, time and the confirmation number provided by AOL. I luckily had kept these.) I then called AOL who quickly stated that this was an error and that they could see that the associate who handled my call had selected the wrong option. B.S. I believe this was on purpose. Anyway, I reported them to the Better Business Bureau. I suggest you do the same as I believe these are intentionally shady business practices that they employ.
Thanks
Have you had your epiphany yet? Has your Dad had an epiphany?
Good lord, you were a lot more calm than I would be.
I recently finally managed to cancel my AOL account – I’m at work so I haven’t listened to your experience yet, but I will listen when I get home.
I had a similar situation – a 14.95 account that I had for convenience, and to help other people out.
I actually tried cancelling it about a year ago, and finally got the person I was talking to (she was clearly in another country, probably India) to admit that she herself could not cancel my account on the phone – I had to actually mail a letter with all kinds of specific identifying information on it. All she did was keep trying to sell me on keeping the service. At the time I never got around to sending the letter….
This time I was more determined, and from the very beginning kept interrupting the guy’s pitch with, “I just want to cancel, I don’t want to listen to a pitch, I want to cancel now, If you can’t do it for me on the phone, tell me exactly what I need to put into a letter or fax, and I’ll send it right away. If you can’t do that put me thru to a supervisor.”
I had to repeat this above statement exactly 9 times – but he did finally stop trying to pitch me and cancelled my account, giving me a confirmation number. Just before he did this he had offered me three months free if I would keep the service – really amazing:roll:. He kept insisting that I would be plagued with malware and other evil influences if I didn’t pay to use the AOL browser. LMAO:lol:.
I’ll be watching my credit card statement very carefully to make sure I don’t get charged again.
Kudos to you for (mostly) holding your tounge and not going off on this guy. I wonder if you asked for his super if you would have eventually gotten to talk to one, or if you would have been “accidentally” disconnected in transfer.
I have 50 republic credits that say you get a bill next month AND they have no record of you calling to cancel. You proabaly also have the “irate & difficult customer flag” set on your account now.
Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
I recently finally managed to cancel my AOL account – I’m at work so I haven’t listened to your experience yet, but I will listen when I get home.
I had a similar situation – a 14.95 account that I had for convenience, and to help other people out.
I actually tried cancelling it about a year ago, and finally got the person I was talking to (she was clearly in another country, probably India) to admit that she herself could not cancel my account on the phone – I had to actually mail a letter with all kinds of specific identifying information on it. All she did was keep trying to sell me on keeping the service. At the time I never got around to sending the letter….
This time I was more determined, and from the very beginning kept interrupting the guy’s pitch with, “I just want to cancel, I don’t want to listen to a pitch, I want to cancel now, If you can’t do it for me on the phone, tell me exactly what I need to put into a letter or fax, and I’ll send it right away. If you can’t do that put me thru to a supervisor.”
I had to repeat this above statement exactly 9 times – but he did finally stop trying to pitch me and cancelled my account, giving me a confirmation number. I guess they can actually do it on the phone now. Just before he did this he had offered me three months free if I would keep the service – really amazing:roll:. He kept insisting that I would be plagued with malware and other evil influences if I didn’t pay to use the AOL browser. LMAO:lol:.
I’ll be watching my credit card statement very carefully to make sure I don’t get charged again.
I used to work for a credit card customer serive department. This was at least 10 years ago. I can’t tell you how many calls we got from customers that were having their accounts charged by AOL even after they’d cancelled their service with AOL. So, remember to check the credit card statement that is on file with AOL, and get ready for another battle. AOL will get the last laugh.
It’s beautiful, thank you for recording it and hope many, many more people will record these conversations and P.S. get the person’s name and time of calling to make it semi-official.
5 years ago I cancelled an AOL account for a client of mine standing right there and we had a blast. The idiot, like the one you caught on tape was going through the usual annoying how can I hekp you. So we played along and said too much porn spam. At the time, AOL was huge on porn spam. The idiot finally says that they had special filters for that after I had reinstated there were children using that account. I ask him to tell me again that AOL knowing we had children using that account and seeing it never bothered to protect them?
He promptly shut up and cancelled. This recording should be sent to AOL by the way.
Thank you…
Man…that was just ridiculous. The Better Business Bureau has some information on AOL you might find interesting/useful: http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?national=Y&compid=2087
Un-fucking-believable. I played this for several people around my office, and everyone says the same as Bridget — it pisses you off just listening to it. I cancelled an AOL account about four years ago, and got essentially the same runaround, but since my account hadn’t been used for over a year, they didn’t give me as much crap as you got.
Incidentally, some of my coworkers know people at AOL, and they have sent a link along to them. This has to get back to someone who matters at AOL, and “John” or whatever-the-hell his name is needs to get fired now. Unfortunately, he’ll probably get a promotion.
Of course, you’re already on the first page of Digg.com, so I don’t think publicity will be a problem anymore.
It took me over a half an hour of battling to get my AOL account cancelled a few years ago. The guy was a complete asshole. He asked me, “What were you using this account for?” And I said, “That really isn’t any of your business.” To which he replied, “It is if you want your account cancelled.” I was amazed. He wouldn’t let me speak to a manager when I demanded to speak to one. I hope AOL crashes and burns and all of their call center drones are sent to Guantanamo. Do companies like AOL not understand that all they are doing is creating hostility and losing customers for life by these practices? I told everyone I know about my AOL horror story and none of them will ever become an AOL customer because of it.
That is so obviously a fake..
I cancelled an AOL account years ago and they had the same sort of routine, asking why I didn’t want it anymore. They only asked maybe once or twice – the dude you recorded was definitely way more aggressive. I have also had AOL CHARGE me for using their free 1-month trial. This being said I think this call was a problem with Customer Service guy more than AOL. Sorry you had to go through with that…
this is the kind of passive aggressive bs that i hate about phone service people. assholes like this guy should have their job outsourced to india.
Never having had an AO-Hell account, I thank my lucky stars for my foresight.
I suppose if they absolutely refused to cancel you could just cancel your credit card and have it reissued so they couldn’t bill you anymore – but that’s more of a pain in the ass than calling AOL customer service if you have a bunch of automatic charges on the card.
i thought the caller was more abusive to the customer service than the other way around. profanity did not have to be used to insult the other person in the other end. it is the customer representative’s implied job to keep customers from an already failing company. we know AOL is going down. although quite a horrible tactic to customers though. caller could have just done it effectively without the hostile words and calmly duffused the situation. i have gone through the same situation similar through this. i just calmly repeated and kindly said i did not want to keep the service. although frustrated there was no need for such hostility.
that customer service personnel deals with many other people’s anger day by day and takes the end of it all day. even though the company tells them to do it. its not the customer represntatives fault. yet the caller blame the person and direct such anger to an undeserving person.
Terrible. It may be one of the many slackers, flunkies, IT-wanna-be’s and otherise a plethore of losers who work for a company called Software Spectrum (AOL uses this company to handle their tech support calls) a company that is equal to if not worse than AOL. I hope you deal a damaging blow to both of these reprehensible exucese for companies..
I bet that guy was just aching to get his “Employee of the month” diploma
The only problem with sending the audio to the hi-up people in AOL is that the employees are trained to try to convince the people who whish to cancle their account to keep it.
Although the employees sound like idiots the entire time, they’re trained to do that =P
Isn’t that funny?
Being trained to sound like a jerk off!
It’s hilarious!
Also, the highlight for me is threatening to not cancel the account if he didn’t listen to the promo at the end!!
this is amazing, i’m so glad someone recorded this. i work at aol so i know what a shit company it is. that type of attitude does not stop at the member retention department. its pretty much the lay of the land at this company. why am i still working here? i dont know….
Oh man, that is great! My parents still use AOL, so one day I will get them to switch to gmail and I’ll be making that call. Hahah. Good idea to record it.
Seriously, you are taking this up the line right? You deserve a corporate response.
This is just about the exact same experience that I had years ago – down to the repetition and obnoxious attitude. They must still have the same script and training in place.
I recently cancelled my old AOL account and it went through pretty quickly. I still had to say “no thanks” a few times, but all in all, it was very effortless. I spoke to an friendly woman from India. I think that to a certain extent, it depends on who you connect with on the phone. My guess is that the “John” this individual spoke to was employed at AOL’s Jacksonville FL (USA) facility (one of the largest in the continental USA with over 2k employees). Everyone there was recently fired, and the call center shut down, and most of the call volume sent to India. So I suppose that’s a kinda cool thing. The dude who “Vincent” spoke with is very likely unemployed or employed moping jizz up from a porn shop
hehe
This is just about the exact same experience that I had years ago – down to the repetition and obnoxious attitude. They must have the same script and training in place.
Sounds like the guy was just doing his job.
I’m trying to convince my partner to dump AOL but he won’t budge for whatever reason. I personally hate them and stopped using as well. My sister tried to cancel the account when she moved and ended up with 6 months free because the idiot wouldn’t take no for an answer. Morons all of ‘em.
I had a fairly similar experience, only my guy wasn’t as big a jerk as yours. He was just as insistent, but not as obnoxious. Of course, the reason we both had to call is that AOL won’t let you cancel online, since they can’t hector you that way. Thanks for posting this.
Wow! Was his next step gonna be to come to your house and put a gun to your head? I had heard the same stories and anticipated this when I cancelled awhile ago. I received the same treatment. My question was, “What part of NO don’t you understand!” I asked for the manager, who denied her employee stated what he did. She was worse than he was and when I started threating to call my state attorney general she relented. Down with AOL!
Note to self: buy an air-horn for when I need to cancel my aol account.
“Are you going to let me speak? We can stall you all day..”
BHWAAAAAAAAAA!
AWESOME!
“Helping me would be cancelling the account” – too funny.
What’s sad is I’ve had this same conversation with at least 3 other companies.
omg this happend to me around 2 weeks ago, i have comcast now and i still had an aol account and when i called to cancel they kept making me so many damn offers it wasn’t funny, offers as low as 3 dollers. Eventually they gave in and cancelled the account.
omg this happend to me around 2 weeks ago, i have comcast now and i still had an aol account and when i called to cancel they kept making me so many damn offers it wasn’t funny, offers as low as 3 dollers. Eventually they gave in and cancelled the account.
That is really sad. I second the motion to forward to an AOL rep. First contact the local news, they love stuff like this.
Yikes, that’s pretty embarrassing for AOL. I mean, I know the phone rep job really sucks, but he didn’t have to get all testy with you. “You’re going to listen to me if you want this turned off?” “We can stall you all day?” “If you want me to cancel this account you’re going to let me speak?”
Nice business practices AOL, and don’t try to blame the phone jockey.
p.s. cancel my account.
Makes me want to get an account just to cancel it.
Jesus Christ. I wonder whether threatening legal action unless they closed your account would have encouraged them…
Awww, when I cancelled my acct, the guy went through a similar shpiel, but I could tell he didn’t like doing it, and he gave in to the inevitable much quicker. Instead, he put me on hold a lot and tried to sell me their firewall service for DSL. The phone call took about 15-20 minutes and ensured that I’d never do business with AOL again.
Great story, even better audio. I hope you don’t mind but I posted the audio clip on my site to help distribute the load. Everyone should hear this!
I went through the same **** with these losers. Even after all that, they restarted my account and started billing my CC again. I had to get my bank to block it. Then then asked me to provide them another CC number (!) They then sic’d a vulture collection agency on me for “non-payment.” It’s been over a year and they’re still leaving recorded messages on my answering machine. They’ve also ignored a written response I sent to AOL with copies of their own cancellation letter I got from them. The Feds need to shut this American icon down and end the lunacy.
I actually had to cancel a credit card to stop AOL from billing it after phone calls, faxes and certified letters didn’t work.
You’ve been linked from boingboing.net, and I believe you’ve exceeded your bandwidth limit. Could you host it somewhere else, or maybe post a transcript?
Don’t be silly. You can’t cancel an AOL account… They once charged us for six months after we had already cancelled. A friend of mine once worked for ‘em for awhile, and he said that even the people who worked there couldn’t cancel their accounts.
An AOL account is like herpes. Once you’ve got it, you’ve got it for life.
And as this incident makes clear, they have now apparently added stupidity training to help insure that cancelling is *absolutely* impossible.
i’d love to hear that audio…to bad the link’s broke
Dude, that guy was annoying!
Btw, it seems that the link is dead. It might have something to do with being digged and boingboinged at the same time
.
I was able to get the whole thing via coral cache here.
hmm, the file doesn’t seem to be working anymore?
Meh. Most call centres have required scripts that must be read to the customer or they’ll take a hit for it when they have their performance reviews. The guy sounded like he was just trying to do his job. But at the same time the guy’s no different than anyone else. He’s not just going to sit there and take shit from someone. I’d say he was pretty frustrated being unable to do his job.
If Vinny here had just gone with it and remained polite it would’ve been over faster than the 5 minutes it took him otherwise. In fact I bet you the detailed description posted above could’ve been given point-form with relative ease, and I’m also pretty sure this AOL dude would’ve been satisfied with that reasonable explanation. His job is to keep AOL in the money. Keep that in mind.
I’m not able to download and listen to the clip, for some reason. Is there a transcription available?
Gettin a code 500 server error.
the audio link doesn’t work.
Actually, I think he was at least somewhat right. If the account showed recent usage by your father, he was right to question why were cancelling it. The fact that you said that he didn’t use it was kinda heresay to him..
The mp3 is gone……….
Hopefully the link gets back up soon. I had a similar experience. Perhaps not abusive, but it took me a good 20 minutes before I could cancel (for my boss even).
AOL has been notorious for many things. This definately ranks way up there, but for those of you that may have missed one of the other fun ones…
Some versions of AOL have installed an AOL VPN adapter along with the other AOL-specific networking components. (not sure if the latest version does, but it’s not that long ago that I learned this) The VPN adapter has the potential effect of handing AOL 100% access to everything on your hard drive, and the AOL software that includes it will not work without the VPN adapter there – uninstalling = total lack of the ability to go online.
Even funnier, I called and asked their tech support and engineers why iit was there, given the access to my computer that such a thing would grant, and they all claimed to have no idea why it was included…
When I cancelled my AOL account, I had the guy telling me that he was willing to put money down that I’d be back within a month, and that he could make such a bet because he made more money than me. By the way, I can’t access that link. Internal server error 500.
I quit AOL several months ago and had no problem at all. I don’t know why this guy had so much trouble. They even let me keep my e-mail address for free and I can check my account from the aol.com website (just in case somebody finds me)
I had something very similar happen to me a few weeks ago, but they kept going on and on about how great their network security software is, and how vulnerable my computer would be without AOL’s software.
I run a small data center out of my loft; I’m perfectly capable of handling my own network security. I finally started lying through y teeth just to get through with it.
“What are you doing for network security on your home connection?”
“I have a high-end Cisco firewall on my connection; it retails for about $30,000.”
(blah blah blah) “You do understand your computers are vulnerable when they’re connected to the internet all the time?”
“I don’t even have any Windows boxes on my network.”
(blah blah blah) “AOL has the best security software in the industry…”
“Look, I make my living as a network security consultant. Corporations pay me several hundred dollars per hour to help them keep their networks safe. I think I can handle my home network.”
And it took me about fifteen minutes to get through the call.
the link is down
Funny!
When we cancelled our AOL service, we had the exact same problem. The account was in my mother’s name, so she did it, and she had to tell them at least ten times (no exaggeration) that she wasn’t interested in any “super awesome deals” that AOL currently had.
They asked her as well if she had high speed internet, and she said she was getting it through another company. The AOL representative went on a tirade about how much better AOL was and how she shouldn’t cancel. The entire call took about 15 or 20 minutes before they finally got the point.
And oh yeah, they canceled the service about a week before they were supposed to.
You know what.. I didn’t even listen to it. I know from past experience what a nightmare it was, an I don’t want to relive it!
I still have clients held hostage by AOL. Mainly though it is their email addresses; they are frightened to lose them after all these years.
This is an article I wrote for Grumble Magazine about my dreadful AOL experience.
Isn’t that abuse? As if they have nothing better to do than to hassle departing customers. I feel that while technology has allowed us to connect with the world, it has also gotten that much bothersome.
AOL can be partially blamed for some of their ridiculous junk mail (trail CDs) and ads that come with certain software installations.
*sigh*
I had a horrible experience with the frea AOL 2.0 trial disks and just haven’t bothered since.
Living in Jacksonville, FL (The home of the recently closed down AOL call center) I have heard the AOL support complaints from the other end of the phone.
I was just talking to friend who used to work there and he quickly rambled off a bunch of the standard answers they are required to give to people trying to quit.
The #1 rule: Don’t let them cancel.
I used to work for a company that handled “retention” for Netzero, which is a great name for haggling people who wish to cancel their service with the company. AOL uses a different company for this service, but they use the exact same tactics.
The idea is to try to converse with the customer to try to find out why they want to cancel and attempt to remedy the problem. Unfortunately, their are very few customers that have an actual issue with the service that can be swayed to keep it. The call center’s policy is to “always get 3 NO’s” before giving in to the request. Individual employee tactics vary, but range from ignorance to straight-up deceit.
These call centers require a certain retention percentage. Many, like AOL and Netzero, give bonuses for every “save.” These bonuses increase as your save rate does. Like I said, not many customers are easily swayed to keep the service, so you can imagine the methods of the most successful in that business. I’ve seen those who will attempt to keep the customer on the phone as long as possible, denying their request, until they hang up and it does not count against them. Ignorance and misleading are also common tactics used.
As the people can freely give out a couple of months free service, I’ve even seen them credit an account with a few free months instead of cancelling. The charge stops for a few months, you go on with your life thinking your will is done…
It all ultimately lies with the person on the other end of that phone line.
I would have told the guy to pass me to his supervisor so I could tell them I would be suing. When the cardholder/account holder wishes to terminate a no-lock in contract, they have to do it or they are guilty of usuary.
And of course, the popularity of this post will be brought to AOL’s attention, they will realise the error of their ways and immediately fix their abusive customer service policies. Or maybe not. I hope they don’t and we get more hilarity from them in the future.
Well, I can’t dispute on this one coz it happened to my friend exactly the same way. I was listening to the phone while he was talking to the customer service of AOL and she was trying to convince my friend not to cancel the account. And even if my friend will cancel the account, and his sons will access (which is just the secondary account), the primary account will automatically reactivated. HOW THE HELL CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE??? If you are the primary account, and once you cancel it, the secondary account should have no authority to reactivate it. THAT’S HOW STUPID AND IDIOTIC THE SERVICE OF AOL.. And AOL is trying to advertise their “HIGH SPEED CONNECTION”, DON’T BE DECEIVED BY THIS ADVERTISEMENT, it is not true that they have a high speed connection. Their what they call “high speed connection” is only good if you have an existing broadband (DSL or cable modem) internet.But they still have the balls to charge you more than $10 bucks for their service. What the heck is their service if you already have an existing internet connection???
check out this webpage where they advertise their AOL HIGH SPEED for as low as $25.90 a month. Check for the details especially on the part which says “Now get AOL High Speed – it’s not just faster dial-up, – it’s true broadband – powered by a DSL or Cable connection.
There, from the statement “…powered by a DSL or Cable connection”, you MUST have an existing high speed internet for the “AOL HIGH SPEED INTERNET” to work. Isn’t this ridiculous??? Judge it for yourself.
I am sorry, i double posted the comment coz i got an internal server error when i first posted it and then when i tried it the last time, it says something that i double posted it.
The Audio file seems not to be available at the moment, if this is a problem with your bandwidth usage, would yo ulike it mirrored when i can download it?
mp3 linky doesn’t seem to work
I get a 500 error. A shame, as my life is basically a process of drifting between peoples’ tales of abusive IT types and thinking, there but for the grace of etc…
Being hearing impaired myself, I’d like to know if there’s any chance of having a transcript of this (a quick one is fine).
Any chance of typing up a transcript? The link to the mp3 seems to be down at the moment.
Can’t hear it, server error it says!
Damn, I can’t seem to access the file, I get:
“Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@insignificantthoughts.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
Additionally, a 500 Internal Server Error error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache/1.3.36 Server at http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Port 80″
Is there an alternate link?
Anyone have a link to a mirror?
Went through a similar hell with them a year ago. My partner tried to cancel his account because w/ broadband he simply didn’t need it.
I WISH I’d had a recording. We had just bought a house together and in the new place I had him all set up with our cable ISP. They stalled him and badgered (sp?) him, even though he asked at LEAST five times to close the account. Eventually I got on the phone and told them to just close the damn account and knock it off. Of course they asked who I was – told them I was his partner – and the comeback was “well, your ‘partner’ or whatever he is needs to be the one we talk to”… the guy actually laughed at me as he said it.
Hmmmmm. As of 7AM, June 14, 2006, this file no longer exists? I hope nothing bad has happened. Midnight raid by the AOL strike team? I was looking forward to hearing it.
Link to mp3 doesn’t work. Gives 500 error.
Oh,
unable to listen to it
Can you mirror it somewhere or seed it and post a link here?
cheers.
Sorry I couldn’t hear the cancelation notice due to some internal server error. But I can imagine what it was like since I went through a similar thing some years ago when I canceled AOL. They were insulting, rude, stupid and arrogant. When they asked me if anyone else used the account I told them that my son does sometimes. Well they wanted me to ask him if it was alright. (My son was only 10 or 11 at the time and he doesn’t pay the bills.) That’s when I launched into a series of invectives that that asshole may still be stinging from. Eventually I was able to cancel but was still being billed two months or so later. That required another phone call and another round of stupidity and rudeness. I
Sorry I couldn’t hear the cancelation notice due to some internal server error. But I can imagine what it was like since I went through a similar thing some years ago when I canceled AOL. They were insulting, rude, stupid and arrogant. When they asked me if anyone else used the account I told them that my son does sometimes. Well they wanted me to ask him if it was alright. (My son was only 10 or 11 at the time and he doesn’t pay the bills.) That’s when I launched into a series of invectives that that asshole may still be stinging from. Eventually I was able to cancel but was still being billed two months or so later. That required another phone call and another round of stupidity and rudeness.
Very similar experience for me. My call lasted much, much longer than yours – probably more like fifteen minutes.
The woman speaking with me would never agree to cancel my account until I warned her that if their bill appeared on my Mastercard Account, I would notify my bank to deny the charge.
I finally got a screen showing that my account would be cancelled but could not find a way to print it out. Finally picked up my digital camera and made a “portrait” of the screen.
After my experience, I would never, ever renew with AOL even if they had they were the best
ISP in the business.
Keep up the good work,
Jim
why is this audio link not working.
I hope its an innocent reason
“This call may be recorded for internet-amusement purposes…”
And is it just me or is the MP3 not downloading properly?
Is the link broken?
You got dumped by AOL – Your link to the recording is “Internal Server Error”. Big brother isn’t happy with you know. AOL has the power to reach out and grab someone! Be Careful – you are making big news!
looks like the link is broken to the MP3 file… it’s giving a 500 internal server error. I really wanted to hear this, having been CS for the last year and a half.
Wow, that sure brings back memories. I went through a very similar conversation about two years ago. I got so frustrated that I just said screw it and canceled my CC – it was that brutal.
FYI your audio link is down.
The audio is down.
They pulled that same shit with my grandmother. She called to cancel her account and hung up having subscribed for another full year. Scrimeballs.
I’m not able to open it for some reason…anyone else having trouble? It takes me to a page that says “internal service error”….
the file won’t play for me:
“The file you are attempting to play has an extension that does not match the file format.”
The file isn’t available here. Has it been posted anywhere else?
The link is broken.
An effective way to cancel such auto-renewed services is to buy a Visa or Mastercard gift card, spend all but a few cents of it, and then change the billing info for the service to that card number (which can usually be done on line). Amazing how quickly these things are over when the card can’t be billed. No human contact is necessary.
Yo….your mp3 link comes up with a 500 error….did you get slashdotted???
-evader
The reason this was such a horrible experience was that the AOL Overlords have declared that you should not be allowed to just cancel your service, and penalize the CSRs who let you do so.
What on earth do you think AOL does to the slacker CSRs that just let you cancel? Send them to prison in Guantanamo? Electrocute them through their headsets?
Yeah, wow. I have had similar experience(s) with them. They are always like this (not quite this bad tho) and, I presume, they are all trained to do some version of this. I hope you choose to do something *good* with this…. Wreak havoc!!
Your link is dead, and it’s KILLING ME. I’m eager to hear how all this went down….
Sadly, I am not surprised. I’d gotten a trial AOL account like five years back, and the cancellation call was a ridiculously uphill battle. Nice of you to grab the convo on your side though; those cancellation calls can be a comedy goldmine!
Been there, Done that – All my friends were on AOL when I got on the net so I decided to join as well. It took me 30 minutes to sign up over the phone. I downloaded and installed all their (AOL) browser and crap and it took over my computer. They told me which web sites I could view and which pictures or music I had to view/listen to. So I finally decided to cancel my subscription – HA! It took me 3 MONTHS worth of emails and phone calls to finally get rid of them – they kept billing my credit card even though I had cancelled. Not only that, I had to strip my hard drive and start all over again as AOL puts crap in every conceivable corner & niche of your computer that cannot be eliminated without a complete striping. Unfortunately, Windows Comes with AOL bundling. Never click on the AOL icon that comes with windows other than to delete it as you will start an unstoppable chain reaction and you will have to strip and reload windows again.
I had an account that we used here at the company about 10 years ago. It took them
3 months to get it cancelled and I had to
verbally abuse them and threaten bodily harm
before they finally got the picture.
LOL, the sad part is not that the employee is dumb but that the company actualy encourages the employee to behave this way to preserve the revenue stream and actualy discourage the enployee to comply with the customers request. I’m almost certain that this employee will get can bacause he manage to make a fool of the company.
just for the heck of it, the mp3 seems gone (and no need to publish this
“Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.”
Booo. If you need/want it mirrored, I can set up a copy for you.
If it weren’t so unbelievably bad customer service, it would be hilarious.
Years ago, I had an AOL account set up for my mom. It was fine, she was a Net newbie, and it was $22/month, which I paid for. Then my company became a partner of AOL, so we were all required to get an AOL account, albeit for free. So here was an excellent opportunity to cancel the AOL account I was paying for, so I called them up, went through the whole rigamarole, and it was cancelled. Right?
Wrong. I continued to get billed on my credit card, despite maybe 20 phone calls to AOL. I even called my bank to deny payment to AOL.
Finally, I just cancelled the card. Problem (finally) solved. AOL is worse than even the cell phone companies, if that’s possible.
Goood stuff. Reminds me of my sister’s experience with canceling my mother’s AOL account after the old broad died, they didn’t let her off that easy!
Back when I had AOL as the only means of dial up it was fine. Then I got DSL and wanted to kill my aol. Well after who knows how many searches on their site to the steps to cancel the account. And the hours on hold with the cancellation number I just canceled the credit card the account was linked to. That got them quick and they call me and ask what happen. I told them they suck their program makes my computer run like crap and please do not bug me ever again. They never did anything else to me of charge me any more.
God that was a pain.
Gamekiller
PS my girlfriend some how was about to do it in no time over the phone and she has one short temper. Go fig.
I feel your pain, it brings back memories of my own pain when I tried to cancel the account. In my case I had it for 2-3 yrs w/o using it and always wanted to get rid of it but had forgotten the account number so I “deferred” the coming pain. When I finally got around to it they did the dance about closing the account but still kept charging my cr. crd. Interestingly the cr.crd issuer said they were helpless and I was forced to eat 4 months worth of extra charges. I can’t believe that these pirates still manage to survive in business. By contrast Earthlink and even AT&T DSL closed my account in 5 minutes.
The link seems to be broken now
About two years ago I decided to cancel an AOL account that I had not used in ages. It was just the 4.95 account (or whatever the minimum, basic email cost was, I just remember that it was under $5 a month at the time)
It took nearly an hour to get that piddly account cancelled. I was asked very personal questions and endured some very abusive high pressure tactics. Was often threatened with the call being disconnected if I did not quietly listen to the lecture or if I did not answer the long list of incredibly intrusive questions. If I gave simple yes or no answers, I was questioned further. It was a most miserable and humiliating experience. The worst part for me was the fact that no one believed me when I recounted the experience to friends later.
I was glad when the State of NY sued AOL for these ugly practices. At least it brought the subject up in the news. I didn’t realize they were still doing practicing this reprehensible behavior. Maybe more States need to sue them.
I despise their TV ads…”AOL, The Better Internet”. Hmmph! Pure lies. How do they get away with it? Whatever happened to the Truth in Advertising laws? I hope to see the day when they cease to exist at all. Soon!
Jay Car
Ken
dude, the link seems to be dead, i get an internal server error every time i click on it.
Server is throwing an exception on the audio link.
Time to outsource customer service to India !
the link doesnt work
The mp3 link gives an “Internal Server Error”. Any luck of corrcting this?
I work for a center that handles disconnects for a large dialup service that is not AOL. It’s worse. A typical story goes like this: A customer calls up to ask about some charge or a service, the rep asks them if they ‘want information on the internet’, and the customer is sent a installation kit, usually no matter their reply. If the customer doesn’t open up the letter and call up to cancel it, the 30 day trial eventually expires and the customer is charged for internet. This happened one day, and the customer called me to have it disconnected.
It was for a call button in an elevator.
(which requires a active phone line)
I’d estimate we go through at least 1,000 disconnects a day at my place of work. But we won’t argue with you. Our only requirement is to ‘show empaphy to the customer’.
It is rather amazing that all traces of the audio recording is gone (today is June 15th, only two days after this ‘popped’ on…
is someone blocking this ???
Of course you realize that “Customer Service” no longer means “serving the customer”…what it means nowadays is “handling the customer”…at least as far as AOL is concerned. Incidentally, I’m unable to download your mp3 file. Probably a mime issue or something.
Hmm. What gives? The file seems to have been moved or taken down.
Too much traffic from Boing Boing?
Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
I went through the same thing, but with this butchy sounding woman. She asked me if I’d answer a few survey questions and when I told her “no”, she said I had to or she couldn’t cancel the account. She didn’t even wait for me to answer and started asking me all kinds of personal questions. When it because clear that I was not going to put up with her sh**, she finally agreed to cancel it (rather than put her superior on the phone), but she did so while being verbally abusive. As she was giving me my confirmation number, she cut the conversation off, so I did not get the whole thing. I called back to complain about her and found out that she had never processed my cancellation request. I suggest you call back and confirm it. AOL retention reps are a bunch of a**holes. I honestly don’t know how they sleep at night.
Usually there is a disclaimer up front “please be aware that this phone call may be recorder for training purposes”. That effectivly lets you record it as well.
You should have just asked for his name, let him know how unhelpful he was being, politely, and then asked to cancel the account. You have to say ‘i want out’ like 18 times for them to cancel your account while still keeping their job. If you say it once, then ask to speak with their manager if they don’t do it for you, you get them off the hook AND get what you want faster.
That guy HAD to be a Scientologist. Oh wait…that’s Earthlink…
I had a friend who called up to cancel his account. The reason? He was dying of cancer. He wanted to make sure his wife didn’t have to deal with the problem after his death. The guy on the phone didn’t believe him, said he was lying, and all that. Long story short, after my friend passed away, his wife told the AOL rep to check out the obit page on their local newspaper’s website, and they still didn’t believe that it was the same person. She cancelled the credit card, and AOL sent the account to collections. It took a certified letter from an attorney threatening legal action and the publicity that goes with it, along with a notarized copy of the death certificate to get the account closed. She was unable to recover the 14 months of fees that she was billed after her husband died. I’m positive that when the AOL execs die, they won’t see him where they’re going.
Similar story — many years ago. It took at LEAST 60 minutes of begging, pleading, repeating, yelling, asking for a supervisor (on my end); yelling, screaming, threatening and finally hanging up on me (on AOL’s end) to cancel my service. The guy was a complete and total A$$ — condescending, abusive, smug — you name it… I now wonder if AOL may just “encourage” this type of strong-arming by their CSRs to stall cancellation requests — this guy was GOOD and used EVERY conceivable turnaround in the book to try to get me to NOT cancel.
I’m getting worked up about it all over again! Ack!
Good discussion. I would disagree on one point tho. People seem to say the CSR is “just doing his job”. I think that is a bogus cop-out. I think it is ok to blame AOL and the CSR! I mean, i blame the guy leading jews in to the shower at aushwitz as well as hitler for the holocaust. I dont think its ok to dismiss culpabilty because you were just “following orders”. At some point a sense of right and wrong have to enter into the equation, that were things like integrity, honesty, etc become more than just words. I think to say you did something you knew was wrong just because you were told to is a huge blow to self-respect. I’m sure people would say, hes just trying to feed he family,etc etc. I would argue being the kind of person you want to be is hard sometimes, and impossible with the attitude of “i was just doing my job”.
Man, I’m using AOL, thank god the account isn’t in my name. I barely use it anymore though, but man, that’s more than a little fucked up.
I had the same experience about 7 years ago. Looks like they haven’t changed their tactics at all. Not only did I have to stay on the line with some tool for 30 minutes, but I also had to endure a venomous verbal attack from the aforementioned tool. After a few rounds of “No, just cancel it, please” he began yelling at me and trying to scare me off the phone. Like “WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST FUCKING SAY SO IN THE FIRST PLACE??! GODAMMIT! If you had just SAID THAT in the beginning, we wouldn’t have had to go through all that SHIT! JESUS!” And muttered like that for the rest of the call. I was a little shaken up afterwards, but glad I held my ground. No one had ever talked to me like that before, it was awful. They obviously train their employees to intimidate people off the phone and prevent them from cancelling. I hate those bastards.
I had a friend in Florida that wound up canceling a credit card to finally stop the AOL billing. The free perod after the supposed cutoff was still being billed to him…………..unreal. No wonder they are losing customers!!!
I just had a smiliar experience with Dish Network – and it’s still not completely worked out. They are annoying the crap out of me.
Our service went out the Friday night before Memorial Day. Called them, finally determined that it was the dish and needed service. Service on THEIR dish was going to cost me $100 unless I signed up for a warranty thing for something like $5 a month and then the service call was only going to be $30. I asked why I should pay for their equipment to be fixed, they replied I was paying for the labor. I asked why I should pay for the labor for their equipment? No answer. So I said never mind and hung up.
I called on Saturday, was told the same thing. I said again I would not pay for a repair. They offered it to me for $50 or $30 if I did the warranty. I asked again why I should have to. (They kept saying it was for the labor not the equipment) She said she wasn’t authorized to send someone out for free. I asked who was, and she was dumbfounded and didn’t answer.
I finally decided I was going to just cancel since we’re moving in August anyway. (Thankfully when I signed up last September and signed a 1 1/2 year contract they screwed it up and it was never submitted – so I was free to cancel at any time)
I called Tuesday (after Memorial Day) to cancel. I got bounced around and around and explained my story a million times. Finally had a lady processing it and I explained I was not going to pay their service and furthermore I was moving to take a teaching job and wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway. She offered me the service call again for $50. I said NO. She offered me the warranty again, and I repeated that I WAS NOT GOING TO PAY ANYTHING TO FIX THE SERVICE. Then she said that she could do it free if I would agree to a one year contract. I repeated that I was taking a pay cut and couldn’t afford it. Finally, she got it, and processed it.
Then came the part of returning the equipment. She said she’d send me postage paid boxes to return JUST the receivers and remotes in. I asked her like 3 times what had to be returned. I was supposed to have the boxes in a week. Last Friday, boxes had still not shown up so I had to call again (and be bounced around and around again) to ask for the boxes.
Finally got them yesterday. The instructions said I was to mail back receivers, remotes, a LNBF, and a switch. The instructions never said where a switch was or how to remove it, the LNBF was on the dish on the roof!! I called them and asked if they expect me to climb on my roof to remove it?!?!?! Furthermore, I never had my own dish – the stupid installation guy (who was worthless) hooked me up to someone else’s dish. The guy who barely spoke English said I didn’t need to return it. I asked if he was going to note it in my account so that I wouldn’t pay for it, he said yes. I asked what the switch was and where to find it, and he just mumbled “don’t worry about that either” – so I asked again that he was going to note it. He said yes. I don’t believe him though. I bet I get charged for both the LNBF and switch.
I will never get Dish Network again!!!!!
A while back, I started getting requests to cancel AOL accounts.. at attrition.org, a site that is just about the farthest thing from AOL. For kicks, I started replying to them and making it impossible for them to cancel. Wild how my antics end up being just like the real AOL support staff.
http://attrition.org/postal/aol.html
Vinny, please send me a copy of the mp3 if you would!
The .mp3 link doesn’t seem to work anymore — just redirects me to the main blog page. Please fix, I want to get in on the fun too
So easy to cancel, no wonder it’s #1!
i had a problem a few years ago canceling my AOL account… well what started it was this AOL long distance calling plan… remember when you had to pay for long distance within the US? any way when i called i was in a pretty good mood but by the time i was off the phone i was so upset that i called back and canceled my whol AOL account (which i had for close to 10 year). basically our conversation boiled down to this… me saying. I want to cancel my AOL long distance… and the guy saying what can i do to get you to keep it? what if we did this or that or this or that… and i would just say no i want to cancel. he was getting pissed and was yelling at me… finally i went into a tirade and he finally canceled it… the best part is how they have that script and say “is there anything else i can help you with?” I was on the phone for over 30 minutes just yelling with that guy about canceling a damn AOL long distance calling acount!
glad to hear that this guy got fired. i wish i could have had the same satisfaction.
I tried several times. Then they would just say they were cancelling, and then not cancel and continue billing.
The way to do this is NOT through AOL directly. I called American Express, told them I was disputing the charge and wouldn’t pay it, and they got AOL to shut it down. You turn off the money, and it’s no longer a problem.
Trust me you will get a bill next month.
I did, it take me 3 months and move my bank account to a diffrent bank, they call my bank, told them that they where a collection agency and got my new account #
So they charge me again, their reason was that I called and reactivate the account every month, and that I was stupid for doing that…
Unofficial transcript follows.
—
(ring)
JOHN: Hi, this is John at AOL. How may I help you today?
VINCENT: I wanted to cancel my account.
J: Sorry to hear that. Go ahead and pull your account up here real quick. Can I have your name please?
V: Vincent Ferrari.
J: ‘Kay, Vincent. And for privacy and security, can I have the last four digits of your payment method, please?
V: (omitted)
J: All right, thank you very much. Okay. Had this account for a long time!
V: Yep.
J: Used this quite a bit. What was causing you to want to turn this off today?
V: I just don’t use it any more.
J: Do you have a high speed connection, like the DSL or cable?
V: Yep.
J: ‘Kay. How long have you had that?
V: Years.
J: …The high speed?
V: Years.
J: Okay. Well, actually, I’m showing a lot of usage on this account.
V: Yeah, a long, a long time ago, not recently.
J: Well — well, the “Pops Ferrari” account was on 71 hours since the 24th of last month.
V: No he wasn’t. He doesn’t even have the AOL software installed on his computer. You’re looking at AIM usage, probably.
J: No, it’s… AIM usage doesn’t come on to this…
V: He doesn’t have the AOL software installed on his computer, so…
J: No this is — this is your father, then?
V: Yep.
J: Okay. Well, I’m looking at this account…
V: Ah, either way, whatever you’re seeing…
J: Well, what’s causing you to want to turn this off today? I mean, obviously, I mean…
V: I don’t use it and he doesn’t use it, so we’re cancelling. He’s –
J: ‘Kay.
V: I’m telling you he doesn’t use the account. The software is not even on his computer. So.
J: Well, okay, I mean is there a problem with the software itself?
V: No, I just, I don’t use it. I don’t need it. I don’t want it. I just don’t need it any more.
J: Hm. So, when you use this, I mean, use the computer, I’m saying, is that for business, or…
V: Dude, what difference does it make –
J: …For school?
V: I don’t want the AOL account any more. Can we please cancel it?
J: Well, on June second, this account was signed on. It was, it’s been on for 72 hours. On June second.
V: Ca– I don’t know how to make it any clearer.
J: Last year was 540– last month was 545 hours of usage.
V: I don’t know how to make this any clearer, so I’m just going to say it one last time: Cancel. The. Account. Please.
J: Well, explain to me what’s, why…
V: I’m not explaining anything to you. Cancel. The. Account.
J: ‘Kay. Wha- what’s the matter, man. It’s not, I mean, we’re just, I’m just trying to help here, a’right…
V: You’re not helping me, you’re– Helping me would be–
J: Yeah, I am trying to help.
V: Helping me– Listen. I called to cancel the account. Helping me would be cancelling the account. Please help me and–
J (simultaneously): No, it wouldn’t actually.
V: –cancel the account. Cancel my account.
J: Turning off your account would be…
V: Cancel the account.
J: …the worst thing that…
V: CANCEL the account.
J: Is your dad there?
V: My dad– I’m the primary paym– I’m the primary–
J: ‘Kay, let’s, ’cause, could…
V: — person on the account, not my dad.
J (laughing): ‘Kay, ’cause I’m just trying to figure out…
V: CANCEL THE ACCOUNT. I don’t know how to make this any clearer for you. Cancel the account. The card is mine, in my name…
J: ‘Kay.
V: The account is mine, and in my name. When I say “cancel the account,” I don’t mean “help me figure out how to keep it,” I mean “cancel the account.”
J: No, I’m sorry– I don’t know what anybody’s done to you, Vincent, but this is…
V: You’re annoying the shit out of me, that’s–
J: Well–
V: what you’re doing to me. Cancel the account, please?
J: ‘Kay, now that goes both ways, my friend.
V: Good. Can you please cancel the account?
J: Because, I, all I’m… *sigh* All right. Some day, when you calm down, you’re going to realize that all I was trying to do was help you, and it was actually in your best interest to listen to me.
V: Wonderful, okay, yeah, great.
J: Ah, when that epiphany happens, then ah, just give us a call back, and we (indistinct).
V: Wait –
J: As I process your cancellation request, like to tell you about a free benefit available for valued members like yourself. We will continue to provide you some features of AOL (indistinct as V. interrupts)
V: Don’t want it. I know the, I know the drill. I don’t even want it. Don’t even bother.
J: ‘Kay. If you want me to cancel this account, you’re going to let me speak and, and give this paragraph. ‘Kay? ‘Cause if not, we can just argue all day, I d- I really don’t care, to be honest with you. But, you’re going to listen to me if you want this turned off. So: can I speak now?
V: Go right ahead.
J: Thank you. Appreciate that. As I process your cancellation request, like to tell you about a free benefit available for valued members like yourself. We will continue to provide you some features of AOL service even after membership has been cancelled. At aol.com you can keep your existing email, buddy list, address book, and more at no cost for as long as you like. There is no catch. This is AOL’s way of continuing our relationship with you. We know you — We know you want to keep your same email. Just go to aol.com, log in with your screen name and password. An email confirming the cancellation will be delivered to your free aol.com email within 24 hours. To complete this cancellation (unable to make out the rest of this sentence)
(call ends)
I actually think you were the one who got nasty. He was being annoying, but you got nasty.
And now he’s fired.
Good work.
Transcript:
[[START]]
[AOL Customer Service] Hi this is John at AOL, how may I help you today?
[Vince] I want to cancel my account
[AOL] Sorry to hear that…Let me pull your account up quick. Can I have your name please?
[V] Vincent Ferrari
[AOL] OK Vincent, for privacy and security, can I have the last four digits of your payment method please?
[V] —-
[AOL] Alright, thank you very much. Ok…You’ve had this account for a long time.
[V] Yep.
[AOL] This is quite a bit. What was the cause of [unintelligible]?
[V] I just don’t use it anymore.
[AOL] Do you have a high speed connection like DSL or cable?
[V] Yep.
[AOL] OK. (pause) How long have you had that? The high-speed?
[V] Years.
[AOL] OK. Well actually I’m showing a lot of usage on this account.
[V] Yeah. A long time ago. Not recently.
[AOL] Well the [firstname] Ferrari account was on 71 hours since the 24th of, uh, of last month.
[V] No, he wasn’t. He doesn’t even have the AOL software installed on his computer. You’re looking at AIM usage probably.
[AOL] No, it’s, uh…AIM usage doesn’t come up on this.
[V] He doesn’t have the AOL software installed on his computer…
[AOL] Well this is, this is your father then?
[V] Yep.
[AOL] OK. (pause) Well, I’m looking at this account…
[V] Either way, whatever you’re seeing…
[AOL] Well what’s causing your [unintelligible]? I mean, obviously, I mean…
[V] I don’t use it and he doesn’t use it, and so, we’re canceling.
[AOL] OK…
[V] I’m telling you, he doesn’t use the account. The software is not even on his computer. So…
[AOL] Well, OK, I mean, is there a problem with the software itself?
[V] No. I just, I don’t use it. I don’t need it, I don’t want it. I just don’t need it anymore.
[AOL] So when you use it, use the computer, I’m saying, is that for business?
[V] What…
[AOL] For school?
[V] What difference does it make? I don’t want the AOL account anymore. Can we please cancel it?
[AOL] Well, on June 2nd, this account was signed on. It’s been on for 72 hours. On June 2nd.
[V] I, I don’t know how to make it any clearer.
[AOL] Last year was 540…, last month was 545 hours of usage.
[V] I don’t know how to make this any clearer, so I’m just going to say it one last time. Cancel…the…account.
[AOL] Well explain to me what’s, what’s, why…
[V] I’m not explaining anything to you.
[AOL] OK.
[V] Cancel the account.
[AOL] Well, what’s the matter Vincent? Where’s this…I’m just trying to help here.
[V] You’re not helping me.
[AOL] Alright.
[V] Helping me would be…
[AOL] I am trying to help you.
[V] Helping me…
[AOL] I am…
[V] Listen. I called to try to cancel the account, helping me would be canceling the account. Please help me and cancel the account.
[AOL] No, it wouldn’t, actually.
[V, concurrently] Cancel the account…Cancel the account
[AOL, concurrently] Turning off your account would be the worst thing…
[V] Cancel the account.
[AOL] Is your dad there?
[V] My dad? I’m the primary paying…I’m the primary person on the account, not my dad.
[AOL] OK.
[V] Cancel the account.
[AOL] OK, ’cause I’m just trying to take care…
[V] CANCEL…THE…ACCOUNT. I don’t know how to make this any clearer for you. Cancel the account. The card is mine, in my name…
[AOL] OK.
[V] The account is mine, and in my name. When I say cancel the account, I don’t mean help me figure out how to keep it, I mean cancel the account.
[AOL] Well, I’m sorry, I don’t know what anybody’s done to you, Vincent, this is…
[V] You’re annoying the shit out of me, that’s what you’re doing…
[AOL] Well…
[V] Cancel the account please.
[AOL] Now that goes both ways, my friend.
[V] Good. Could you please cancel the account?
[AOL] Because, all I’m…alright. Someday, when you calm down, you’re gonna realize all I was trying to do is help you, and it was actually in your best interest to listen.
[V] Wonderful. Ok, yeah, great.
[AOL] Now, when that epiphany happens, just give us a call back. As a process of a cancellation request, I’d like to tell you about a free benefit available to valued members like yourself. We’ll continue to provide you some features of the AOL…
[V] Don’t want it. I know the drill.
[AOL] OK.
[V] Don’t even want it, don’t even bother.
[AOL] If you want me to cancel this account, you’re gonna let me speak, and give this paragraph, ‘K? ‘Cause if not, we can stall you all day, I don’t, I really don’t care, to be honest with ya. But, you’re gonna listen to me, if you want this turned off. So, can I speak now?
[V] Go right ahead.
[AOL] Thank you! I appreciate that. As a process of a cancellation request, I’d like to tell you about a free benefit available to valued members like yourself. We will continue to provide you some features of the AOL service even after the membership has been canceled: At AOL.com, you can keep your existing email, buddy list, address book, and more at no cost for as long as you’d like. There’s no catch, this is AOL’s way of continuing our relationship with you. We know you, We know you want to keep your same email. Just go to AOL.com, login with your screen name and password. An email confirming the cancellation will be delivered to your free AOL.com email within 24 hours. [unintelligible] complete this cancellation, a lot of important details [unintelligible]
[[END]]
I had virtually the identical conversation with Compuserve–yes, I know they are the same drones now–but I don’t have it recorded. I bet they didn’t REALLY fire this guy’s ass–just promoted him to supervisor…
Its unfair to quote AOL in the last transcript as this guy, John clearly does not represent the AOL as I know it.
I think you’re being too harsh. Mountain out of a molehill. You’re too easily set off, and I think you went looking for trouble. Unlucky for the rep who got fired as a result, but at least you got 4:57 of your 15 minutes.
Went through the same bullshit. You can forward these recordings to your Attorney General. Eventually AOL will be sued again by all states in US.
By the way, America Online recently changed it’s name to AOL. So if you submit this for review you need to look at the Better Business Bureau and they can investigate this.
You can make free AOL membership accounts at http://free.aol.com – you can make accounts online then cancel them via phone. Record the phone conversations (Phone number to cancel is 1-888-265-8004). These phone recordings will serve as proof to bad business practices.
If someone feels the same, email me and we can start the Anti-AOL Movement.
I am amazed that there are so many people who think this guy was not responsible for how he treated you. If AOL does train employees to handle customers this way, he can certainly choose to work somewhere else. If it is their procedure, did AOL think that there would never be back-lash over this treatment? I can’t imagine that there would be too many customers who would put up with this treatment and remain quiet about it. I just don’t believe that this guy was a innocent employee.
It was sad that even you seemed to feel a little bit responsible for his behavior and disiplin. I think you deserve a pat on the back!
I would like to add that as necessary as it is to make this sort of ‘abuse’ public, when we are treated with extra respect and kindness, we should make those incidents public also.
incredible!
it cant be legal to treat customers like that
it may look like
“Could you please cancel my account” is some kind of cue for the aol person.
He went from asking all kinds of irrelevant and strange questions to go through some kind of speech after that.
Oh, jeez! I’m not really all that surprized. I knew someone who worked there in the customer keeping dept. (the dept. you dealt with) and knew that they tried to talk people outta dropping and had a script they had to follow.
My recommendations, if you haven’t done so already, is to complain to AOL about the guy and to call up the credit card company which AOL bills you and tell them to not accept charges from them anymore.
I wish I’d have recorded my AO-Hell…
I was moving house and phoned a few weeks in advanced to ask if I could start getting broadband at the new place. AOL said they could but only when I moved in and that they’d cut me off right away… (offering me a dial-up in the meantime).
WHAT?! I said… if I want to move my broadband you cut off my current broadband. So… I said “forget it” I’ll get broadband in the new house from someone else and leave the broadband in this rented house until I have it in the new one…
I said, “why can’t I have broadband in this house until I have broadband in the new one?”… AOL said “because of internal processes”… ” ‘Internal processes” what are those?” I asked… they said “Internal processes”.
THEN… after asking him not to say “Internal processes” ever again… I said, “If this was water I’d die of thirst if I moved house”… so the AOL person said “The internet isn’t water sir!”… to which I replied “If it was water I could get it in bottles, I can’t buy bottled-internet… and anyway… it’s more IMPORTANT than water, I use it to make a living”…
At that point the AOL person says, “Oh you are using it for business, we don’t support businesses, AOL are a family internet business….”
I then made sure they weren’t going to do anything… and I started researching other broadband companies…
They said “ok”… then cut off my broadband the next day anyway.
The story doesn’t end there though but you know what it’s like… AOL can continue to piss people off like this because customer service nightmares are quite hard to recount and make interesting, they have become part of life… unless you record them that is… well done…
InteractiveUser (#180):
Please take note of the initial names given: “AOL Customer Service” and “Vince”, which are both accurate. I subsequently shortened them to “AOL” and “V” for the sake of my fingers and getting the transcript up as soon as possible. I did not intend to imply that that is representative of AOL, or that it isn’t. It was simply an abbreviation. Sorry for the confusion.
wow- I MANAGE a customer support team (for a web-based application- not an ISP) and I would’ve killed any of my guys for acting that way- CLEARLY AOL is losing tons of customers and these guys are paid not to allow customers to cancel. pathetic.
You need to be off-the-wall with them:
I AM my father!
My brother was an only child!
Everytime a phone provider calls me and asks me to change my provider, I tell them that I don’t have a phone. There is a pause, followed by “but, what are you talking on?”
answer: “this is a Secret phone, and just how did you get the number?”
they always say, meekly “I’m sorry” and hang up.
When I canceled AOL, I changed my bank acct and called the credit bureau to report a possible identity theft…nobody investigates, they just write “disputed” on the acct and you go your merry way…I never heard from AOL again.
Good work documenting this, frankly. I’ve done my time as a rep, and treating the customer with disrespect is the kind of crap that makes it hard for other reps further on down the line.
Dude got fired? Probably for the best, he should be doing something else if he doesn’t have the disposition for working with people. He’ll move on to something else and I hope he’s happier.
Getting canned from an AOL call center is probably often a blessing in disguise.
I almost peed myself listening to that audio. I feel for you buddy. I had an equally frustrating experience with their tech support. The genius I dealt with was trying to help me to get my address book to sync correctly and somehow coached me into deleting the whole book of 2000+ addresses. I sued them in Small Claims court and just won a $5000 judgment. It also changed the law in NY. AOL’s forum selection clause, which forces you to sue them in Virginia, was rejected by the court and now anyone can sue them in small claims here in NY. A more recent decision, using my case as a reference, just rejected the forum clause in the NY Civil Court as well. You and everyone else who is frustrated and annoyed by the company should simply file a lawsuit and take them to task. It’s amazing the crap they get away with.
wow. this brought me back…this sounds a lot like my experience trying to cancel AOL. As a former CSR, I’m patient, I treat them as I want to be treated, and I understand that they’re just doing their jobs. But if they get an attitude, I am not afraid to pull out the big guns — prepaid legal, it’s great! People need to recognize that everyone’s just trying to get on with their lives.
But the AOL story is nothing on my MCI story. Way back when I signed up for a free cell phone and some dinky service that eventually got bought up by MCI. Fine. I happily used that service til I outgrew it and cancelled it with minimal fuss. Silly me.
A couple months later, I received a past due notice on my account. I called customer service, had them confirm my account was cancelled, the balance was clear, and the past due charge was a mistake. A couple months later, I get a call from collections. When I call them to tell them its a mistake, the agent blows up and starts threatening me with legal action and damages to my credit if I don’t pay. I call MCI and they tell me although their records say my account has been inactive, since it got sent to collections they can’t do anything about it. I call back collections and spend hours waiting, arguing with CSRs and managers, hanging up, calling back, until finally I got someone to transfer my account back to MCI. Call back MCI, they confirm my account is cancelled, the balance is zero, and the past due is a mistake.
Another couple months later, I get another past due notice. It’s around Christmas and when I call CS, they have a special message about the high volume of calls and they can no longer take any more. Try back later. I hear this same message for about a week before I decide to go to an MCI store and have the rep there fix this for me. Guess what? The computer system at the store is not connected to the main accounts database so they can’t do anything for me. They can’t even call CS, because they use the same number as the public and would just get the same message about how they can’t take any calls.
After the holidays, after hiding from daily calls from collections, I try back again. I go through the same process with getting my account transferred back to MCI, call them up and talk to an incredulous CSR who can’t understand why I’m still being charged. Yes, my account was cancelled and paid in full, and yet I was still being charged monthly, although I never got any statements, just past due notices. Kind CSR put strongly worded comments into my account saying that I was being wrongly charged. I thanked her and suggested she get into another line of work because MCI was obviously a poorly managed company and she deserved better.
A couple months later…another past due notice. Finally, and it’s a good thing I kept all the notices and took notes on my phone calls, cuz I forwarded it all to the FCC and filed a formal complaint (this was all several months before the Worldcom scandal hit the press). They responded that they were looking into it. Nearly two years after I cancelled my account, I finally got a letter from MCI HQ apologizing and confirming my account had been cancelled, my balance had been paid in full, and all the charges following the cancellation were a mistake. And then they asked that I keep them in mind for my future telecom needs. Yeah, right!
My grandmother got “Free AOL” when she bought her new Dell desktop. Now that the free period is over my mother tried to call them and cancel. She ended up with more service than she started off with. -_-;;
I just listed to this, and, like the other comment, I was getting red-mad just listening to it. It reminded me of the time a couple of years ago when I cancelled my AOL for about the third time (they kept billing me!) and when the girl asked why i wantedto cancel, I just said, “Just because.” I didn’t want to go through a whole big routine. Then she got pissy and said something much like the guy says to you at the end, that I better tell her why or she won’t cancel. I hate that fucking service.
what program did you use to rip the phone call?
it’s rather funny that some people here feel sympathized for the csr. they mention the reasons such as ‘he is just doing his job’, ‘doing what he is told to do’, or ‘trying to put food on the table’. that’s just bullshit. do these csr’s have any morals at all? they don’t think on their own at all? would you consider killing/robbing someone as you were told by your boss a right thing to do? this example may be on the extreme but it demonstrates a point that these csr’s should have some morals too.
I went through the same thing with Earthlink last year. Had to tell them ‘I’m breaking up with you’ for them to finally listen.
I had a similiar experience with AOL a few years ago. One of my staffers decided to get her AOL acount attached to one of the many hunt lines in my office. I called AOL to protest. When the agent refused to do anything about it, I threatened a lawsuit as we lawyers like to do. He said “Go ahead and try to find us…you never will.” I am fairly certain that AOL recruits its help from group homes and gets a tax credit for these helmet wearing morons.
So the user on the other end was you?
My man I just got done having a couple odf the shittest days ever and I know I need to get a life but man that brought me back hard. I love it!
Man I needed that what a great way to end the week.
If anyone is still masochistic enough to stay with AOL after listening to this, check out your credit card company’s options for virtual cc numbers. At the next AOL renewal provide a new (virtual, cancellable) billing number that can easily just GO AWAY anytime you need it to.
Why were you such a dick to the AOL guy? He had to try and save face, just like anybody else. Don’t be so arrogant. I canceled like two months ago, and they offered to give it to me for 10 bucks a month, and then when I declined, canceled it. So maybe he doesn’t know as much about computers as you, but don’t be such a dick.
Put a stop on the bill with the credit card company and AOL cannot bill you.
Darn, problem solved
When we tried to cancel our account a couple months ago, we told them that we had signed up for a free trial and yet they had billed us– even after we stopped using it for months.
They said we had had usage, but we had uninstalled the software on our computer over two months prior!!!…
“we see you had usage on this computer,” they kept saying, but that was impossible. Just because they say you had usage doesn’t mean you did. It’s probably just a tactic.
AOL should be investigated, if this is going on all over the place…
To all of you who say “don’t blame the little guy, he’s just doing his job”, I say
I DO BLAME THE LITTLE GUY.
If your job requires you to do unethical things, you must refuse, or quit. Otherwise you are tainted.
For example, the U.S. military has a principle. If you are given an unlawful order, you are not only allowed, but REQUIRED, to disobey it.
For another example. Can anyone count for me how many defendants in the Nuremburg trials tried the “It was just my job” defense? How many succeeded?
Granted, abusing a phone caller is a few orders of magnitude lower on the ethics scale than killing people, but the individual is still culpable.
Happy to help,
–JMike
My mother told me she was cancelling her AOL account. I warned her to keep a close eye on her credit card because of AOL’s well known history of continuing to charge after cancellation. She replied that she was also cancelling the credit card as AOL was the only thing she used it for. No flies on Mom.
I just saw this story on CNBC. That behavior is so offensive. I hope the recording of that conversation forces AOL Customer Service to treat people like human beings.
Dude I had to blog this. I hope AOL catches fire one day. The whole damn place.
Note to FBI internet spies: I am kidding, I have no intention of setting fires or engaging in any illegal activity personally. Put down the patriot act and go enjoy a muffin or something.
Hey bro I feel your pain. Back in Febuary the video card on my laptop died and I no longer had a way to log into the internet. Febuary 7th i called to cancel my service with them. They refunded the charge because i was just billed the day prior to my call. I no longer had a computer and i wanted to cancel my account. I pretty much got the same run around as you did. The billing was withdrawn from my checking account 5 aditional months after I canceled the service. The other night I had to call up to cancel again cause the first time I called aparently they never canceled my account. The guy told me that i was logged into aol each of those months even though i never installed aol on my computer, just instant messenger. Those service reps really can shovel it like the best of them. I only noticed my account was still active when the motherfu#%&@’s almost overdrew my checking account.
I am very upset with aol and im sure many other people share stories very similar to this. Iamstupideatme@yahoo.com
I had no problems canceling AOL last summer.
I had a similar experience with them and other shady internet companies as well. The kicker with AOL though is that a few months ago my account was mysteriously reactivated and I was charged 25+ bucks for a month of service that I never even signed on to! They cancelled my account (again!) but refused to refund the money. After a few calls to my credit card and some conversations where they actually confirmed this very shady practice, I was credited the full amount. CRAZY!!!
Son … what an absolute loser you are. Let’s count the items:
1. If you were to try cancelling anything else (from a credit card to a cable subscription), you would find that you’d go through exactly what you got via AOL.
2. By Alexa calculations, this website could earn at best $10.00 per month from ads, but you’ve poured way too much effort into the site than you could ever possibly recover. Why? Do you just have nothing to do? Have you changed anything at all? (Hint — Try cancelling something else, whether it’s a second AOL subscription or another kind of subscriber service, and tell us all if they really will let you cancel without asking a few simple questions.)
3. Some poor guy — who in no way can impact AOL’s customer service policies (or those of any other company, for that matter) — is now unemployed. A job which wasn’t much to write home about in the first place has now said it didn’t want him, all because you couldn’t spend a few minutes to explain why you didn’t want to continue paying a measly $25.00 per month. Then again, if you survive on the revenue you make from this website, maybe I understand why that amount of money is hard to digest — yet with the amount of time you waste with this website, how was a few minutes with an AOL rep that bad? If you really are cheering for the “little guy”, just look at the collateral damage you’ve caused…
What an absolute sorry addition you are to the civilized western world! Best wishes for your continued “success”!
GB
Yale College ’08
Way to go!
Glad you’ve been able to bring so much attention to this most dishonest business practice.
That is classic AOL, I just cancelled my step-dads account December 2005 and it was the same exact drill! EXACTLY I wish I recorded it. I had an account with AOL from 1996 until they cancelled it in 1998 or 1999? I tried to cancel it when I got DSL in my area through BellAtlantic phone company, now Verizon. They told me at the time I could keep AOL for $4.95/month unlimited using BYOA or Bring Your Own Access, you may remember the big AOL crash after offering unlimited service for $19.95/month, that was in 1997 I think? That’s when they came up with BYOA, so I kept the account, but years later of using AOL unlimited as my primary e-mail AOL decdided I was using it too much I guess and cancelled my account. They told me I was cancelled for e-mailing inappropiate material, when I asked when this occurred the time so happened to coincide with the time I was 30 miles offshore NJ fishing for tuna! lol Needless to say AOL was not making any money on me @ $4.95/month and had to get rid of me! lol
From the BBB information in the link posted above:
“The company agreed to eliminate employee bonus incentives involving retention of subscribers, to record all cancellation requests, and to verify cancellation through a third party monitor. ”
Obviously this didn’t take though, as this post is from far after August of 2005.
Oh, and as for people saying that the guy is just doing his job? Evil pays well, but that doesn’t mean you should do it.
Soul first, Money second.
We have had the same problem. We tried to cancell several business accounts with AOL shit company and we where still charged more then 7 months later after cancelling and only after we had a hired a lawyer (!) things where settled. Private the same thing happend. Actualy this happend with all Time warner companies. Trying to cancell a magazine with them is a nightmare. This is not the fault of the service dept. rep, but a company policy.
same thibg happened to me a few years ago frm aol. the woman would not let me cancel. hopefully, this bad rap will punish this ungreatfull co. and serve as a warning to others. it is not isolated with respect to aol.
Here is a good one….My son passed away in 2004 so I tried cancelling his account. I got the same run around. They were trying to keep his account open even though he was no longer alive. In case you are wondering, it was his account but billed to my credit card.
I know from having worked with AOL that it is hard to cancel an account. The department you called is paid commission on keeping you as a customer. “John” was above the top. I do not agree that you should have to lie to close an account.
My own experience was that I had high speed already. They gave me a price that did not tell me if I cancelled anytime after the end of the call that I was going to be charged $50. I told them I would not pay it because I had the dsl before them at a good price. I did not use AOL at all, so it was a waste of money. After 2 calls the amount was “forgiven” since they did not want to take the time to listen to the call or look up the letter they sent. They are liars and a waste of money. Just get aim and you can do everything on aol for free. Stupid that they shot their self in the foot.
Also, look out for the 90 day trial. It is a paid trial.
My wife and myself tried to cancel our aol account. Our first call to cancel was disregarded. We had to call for cancellation of charges through Amex. We kept calling for six months and finally cancelled the credit card to get the billing to stop. Same thing happened with showtime. Never set up an automatic billing to your credit cards, they will never stop charging
I had it about 6 years ago and decided to cancel. I have heard horror stories about how they were charging a dead woman for 4 years, etc.
I decided the easiest method of cancelling. DO NOT call AOL to cancel. Call your bank and tell them that you lost your card and would like a new one with a new number issued.
It worked perfectly. I was inconvenienced by not having my card for 24 hours. I didn’t lose a dime and didn’t have to deal with AOL.
It took me 5 months to finally cancel my aol account. They kept transferring me to different people who relentlessly would go on and on trying to convince me to stay. Then they’d give me a free month of service to stay, so I’d finally give up and wait a month and then call back. They’d just wear me down and I’d get so sick of arguing that I’d give in (stupid, I know). I did this 5 times before my husband finally got on the phone and basically yelled at the service rep to cancel the service once and for all. I thought I was just not being assertive enough (I probably wasn’t) but I’m glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who had a hard time.
It took me 5 months to finally cancel my aol account. They kept transferring me to different people who relentlessly would go on and on trying to convince me to stay. Then they’d give me a free month of service to stay, so I’d finally give up and wait a month and then call back. They’d just wear me down and I’d get so sick of arguing that I’d give in (stupid, I know). I did this 5 times before my husband finally got on the phone and basically yelled at the service rep to cancel the service once and for all. I thought I was just not being assertive enough (I probably wasn’t) but I’m glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who had a hard time.
It took me 5 months to finally cancel my aol account. They kept transferring me to different people who relentlessly would go on and on trying to convince me to stay. Then they’d give me a free month of service to stay, so I’d finally give up and wait a month and then call back. They’d just wear me down and I’d get so sick of arguing that I’d give in (stupid, I know). I did this 5 times before my husband finally got on the phone and basically yelled at the service rep to cancel the service once and for all. I thought I was just not being assertive enough (I probably wasn’t) but I’m glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who had a hard time.
That sounds exactly like the phone call I made 10 years ago when I cancelled AOL for a local ISP. 2 months later I had to call and cancel again with AOL because they were still billing me. When I told them I had called before they said “your account is still active.” I asked how much usage in the last 2 months and they said “you are paying for the service if you use it or not.” Needless to say I was irate and demanded it be cancelled. They said ok and 2 months later I had to go through the whole thing again. The 3rd phone call started with me saying “I’ve cancelled twice in the last 4 months, I want a refund, my service cancelled and I want to talk to your supervisor……NOW.” I think it worked but just in case I told my bank to change my checking account number. Never heard from them again!
Had an even worse experience canceling my Earthlink account of 8+ years last week. They try to trick you up front by saying they “are experiencing a severely high volume of calls and the wait may be lengthy. You may want to try your call again later.” However, somebody picked up the call in less than 10 seconds after the message. They go on and on and on. Offering discounts, etc… Then at the end, after you have painstakingly made your point, they tell you they will cancel your service at the end of the month. I instisted they do it immediately and that I be credited for the balance of the month, which they begrudgingly did. I’ll never go back to them, or AT & T, but that’s another story.
Holy shit dude, are you sure this wasn’t an episode of “Crank Yankers?” I doubt the guy was fired too.
I too had trouble cancelling and they hung up on me so I called back and told them I was terminally ill with cancer and had 3 months to live, please cancel my account. Would you believe they tried to offer me 3 months for the price of 2? Evil Rat Bastards!!
Kathy, now a satisfied Charter High Speed Internet Customer!
I signed up for the free trial and quit before the trial ended. It was a fight, but I was able to cancel. About 8 months later, I noticed a charge on my credit card. I called and AOL claimed that I reopened my account – which I didn’t. They told me that I was online for hundreds of hours – which I wasn’t. The software wasn’t even installed on my computer anymore. They gave me my password – it wasn’t my password. They refused to refund the money. Check your credit card – I received NOTHING in the mail to suggest that this was going on. I hate AOL and would never go back.
I tried to cancel my father’s AOL account after he passed away. It took about one month and was an absolute nightmare. Without his password they refused to help. I finally had to get my father’s credit card company and my mother on the line. To top it off, I found out they were charging him over $120 a month for one dial up account. It was showing up several times each month on his statement. This company is a disgrace!!!@#$@#$
Well this brings me back.
I was an AOL subscriber from 1996-2000. I pretty much used it whenever I was home from college on vacation. When I was at school I’d downgrade the account to the low-use, low-billing type. So when I graduate and move into an area where DSL is available I decide to cancel the account.
So, I call up. They ask for my information and I say that I want to cancel my account. As fate would have it, the Customer Service Rep says that her system just went down and can’t help me and would I call another time. WTF? She just took my info down and I could hear her typing. Whatever. I hang up and call and hour later. I either got the same person or someone with the same strategy because as soon as I say I want to cancel my account bzzzzt… yep the system “goes down”. So I hang up and call again. First thing I say is “Is your system up?” “Yes” “I want to cancel my account and if you give me any trouble I want to speak with your supervisor. If your system goes down again in the middle of this call, I want to speak with your supervisor. Got me?”
So, after sitting through the same things Vincent went through (Why do I want to cancel…Anything wrong with it…Well you could keep the service even with the DSL…Are you sure…Are you really sure…Sales pitch #1) I ask for her supervisor. Silence. Beat. Finally she cancels the account.
Bloody hell. Having a tooth extracted is quicker, easier, and faster than cancelling your AOL account it seems.
I went thru a similiar experience. After faxing, phoning and emailing them to cancel my account they said it would be cancelled effective before the next billing cycle. Well they didn’t cancel charged me my fee and when I called to see what was going on they refused to refund my money eventually they sent me to collections for the $23. The kicker is that this was all occuring during one of their supposed free trial periods! So I had to pay $23 for a free trial they wouldn’t cancel. I probably spent 3 hours dealing with them between phone, email and fax.
AOL is simply evil. It is internet access designed for morons. My father-in-law is an AOL user and I have been trying to get him to drop AOL but it is the only ISP he has ever used and he is comfortable with it. He uses dial up from work and has three co-workers who are part of his account. I have had to help him a couple of times with his problems with his account and modem. John’s problems with AOL mirror the problems I had trying to work with their CSP to fix some of my father-in-law’s.
Why anybody uses dial-up is beyond me. I went high speed in 1997 wen I was living in California and never looked back. I could never live anywhere w/o highspeed.
Ok, I haven’t heard the audio, but I’m familiar enough with the tactics not to need to hear it. Enough is enough. I had to go to my bank a short time ago to put a stop-payment on a check for another dishonest company that apparently decided that such tactics were the new business norm. At that time, the lady at the bank told me the stop payment would be enough…unless they happened to be like AOL and changed their vendor number in order to keep putting through the automatic payments.
So, here’s my new personal strategy: Call the CEO. Sure. Just hang up, call the company, ask to speak to the CEO and tell THEM that you don’t appreciate their tactics. After all, they get the big bucks.
Of course, you probably won’t get the CEO, but I bet if everyone trying unsuccessfully to cancel their AOL account let the executive secretary know about their dissatisfaction, AOL and the rest of these companies would finally realize that we’re just mad as (AO)Hell, and not about to take it anymore.
I too had a problem with AOL a few years back. I was under my parent’s account. My mom decided to switch providers and called AOL to have it cancelled. We thought everything was fine until we found out that we were still being billed after we “cancelled” it. I will NEVER use AOL ever again.
I had a horrible experience trying to cancel AOL about 6-7 years ago. I called frequently for several months. They never could find my account (even with the account name, number, email address, everything); or they would hang up on me. It was a nightmare. I finally paid off the credit card and cancelled the credit card just to get rid of AOL. They somehow managed to bounce the AOL charge to another cc I still held with same cc company. I called the cc company and finally got it stopped. I tell everybody I know NEVER SIGN UP FOR AOL!!! NEVER USE THEIR FREE CD’S. NEVER TOUCH AOL WITH A 10-FOOT POLE. It was a nightmare I never forgot!
I was a VERY early subscriber to AOL. Cancelled my account like 1995. But they billed me all the way to 2000… yup… five years they billed me. I disputed the charges, I cancelled my card… they got the charges transferred to the new card. I called Chase Visa security and they were very understanding they told me AOL is thier worst customer for this type of complaint. I sent faxes, emails, registered letters, I called customer service. Each time I was told YOU DON’T HAVE ANY ACCOUNT WITH US… and I was like… ‘my point exactly’ but every month you bill me. Sorry sir but with an active account user name, we can’t help you…
There isn’t anybody I know that this HAS NOT happened to. My Mother signed up a few years ago with the test account on a new computer. Entered her card number to activate the account. Cancelled long (long) before the free period was up but it took her a year and fifty phone calls to get them to stop billing her.
This is ‘obviously’ SOP for AOL… they’ve been sued for it (they settle quietly), New York State has gone after them.
They call it the cost of doing business. If we can keep them from quiting then we can just keep billing them for services we don’t provide.
Most useless crap on the planet…
Marek
In the summer of 2005 I worked at the AOL call center in Jerusalem, Israel. I was an AOL Retention Agent, the official title for the person you reach when trying to cancel. Before beginning training we had to sign a complete confidentiality agreement, so I really can’t tell you the secret goings on, but it’s nothing you couldn’t figure out yourself. I can tell you that John’s conduct went against everything AOL mandates. At the center of every callflow is “3 no’s and a go”. The salesperson can pitch any three ideas, but if the customer is still not interested then the account is canceled. If you don’t like the phone routine you can always cancel by fax or mail, information on these are available at keyword “CANCEL”. And yes, the faxes and mail do get obeyed. I saw them properly entered on many accounts.
If you hate AOL, like I now do, the best way to hurt them is not to bitch to fellow consumers or agencies like the BBB. AOL has been thwarted at every turn by the FTC, which is just itching to shut down the entire concept of retention. If can complain to them enmasse, this would be over.
In the summer of 2005 I worked at the AOL call center in Jerusalem, Israel. I was an AOL Retention Agent, the official title for the person you reach when trying to cancel. Before beginning training we had to sign a complete confidentiality agreement, so I really can’t tell you the secret goings on, but it’s nothing you couldn’t figure out yourself. I can tell you that John’s conduct went against everything AOL mandates. At the center of every callflow is “3 no’s and a go”. The salesperson can pitch any three ideas, but if the customer is still not interested then the account is canceled. If you don’t like the phone routine you can always cancel by fax or mail, information on these are available at keyword “CANCEL”. And yes, the faxes and mail do get obeyed. I saw them properly entered on many accounts.
If you hate AOL, like I now do, the best way to hurt them is not to bitch to fellow consumers or agencies like the BBB. AOL has been thwarted at every turn by the FTC, which is just itching to shut down the entire concept of retention. If we can complain to them enmasse, this would be over.
I am more then stunned after hearing the recording of that call. I’ve had AOL for over 7yrs and I must say and admit that their customer service is by far, the worse I have ever experienced. I do use my AOL a lot so (for now) I have no reason to cancel my acct but I can assure you that when and if I do ever cancel my acct, I now know what to confront and how to approach it. As far as the rep, I am flabbergasted at how rude, nasty and condescending he was. How dare he? I mean yes, I am sure AOL pressures their reps to act a certain manner when a customer calls in to cancel their acct but come on, being rude, I hope is not one of them. I am more then digusted by what I heard and read in the transcripts posted on the CNBC website. Vincent, I more then admire the fact that you kept your cool throughout the call despite of you using just one “fowl word”. I would have used a countless amount of them and would have been yelling at the rep at the top of my lungs. Again, I more then admire your way of keeping your cool despite of having someone talk down on you when you are the customer calling “customer service” for “assistance”.
5 Years ago – I had the exact same experience with AOL. Bravo and congratulations for outing them. And, already as we speak they are lying through their teeth all over the airwaves claiming that they don’t do this and it’s against policy. Bull!@#$ – it IS their policy to abuse customers trying to cancel. They’ve been manhandling their customers for years and years – and this time it will truly hit them where it counts. Nice job!
I listened to the recording, and I feel that the whole thing is an unfortunate situation. While the CSR was trying to do his job, he had no way of knowing that the caller was 1.) Recording the call for the purpose of broadcast, and 2.) Approaching with a one sided opinion that no matter how hard he tries to address the customer’s concerns, he will not be able to overcome. This practice of convincing the customer that they don’t need to cancel the account is not an act of evil. If the account has something to offer that the customer was unaware of, it could be of benefit in the future. This is the case with the closing paragraph of the call. The CSR made the caller aware that he could still keep his email address and such, at no additional cost. As little as the caller wanted to hear that in his angry state, the CSR delivered the message anyway. I am not saying that the CSR is blameless. I don’t think he handled the call as well as he could have, but I also don’t think he needed to be fired over it.
As for comment #47 by awesomeo… You need to quit, get fired, or otherwise lose your job! It is not good for the company, the customers, or even the disgruntled employee to have people in the organization with such a lack of pride in their work. Find a job that your heart is in, and you will have a happier life.
YES. I work for AOL.
YES, I am proud of the massive technical marvel that makes up every small part of the AOL service.
YES, there will always be a certain section of the population that will hate AOL no matter what. For these people, I am sorry you feel the way you do.
For everyone else, and our customers especially… You are the reason I go to work each morning. So think of this as you read all of these negative posts… For every person within AOL who feels that it is an evil corporation, there are many people like me who are proud of what we do, and will be with the company until the end.
No company is perfect. It is not hard to find things to be angry about with any company if you are looking. If this post only gets a few hundred negative responses in comparison to the tens of millions of people who we work hard to serve every day, I still think we are doing pretty well.
Have a good day.
Oh, what an amazing piece! We can all relate. I remember where I was when I dumped AOL. I just wrote about it on my video blog… http://www.willvideoforfood.com.
Then I ended up staying up well past my bedtime to make this tribute to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JYIXzfhel8
Hope you enjoy the video version (2 minutes)
Oh, what an amazing piece! We can all relate. I remember where I was when I dumped AOL. I just wrote about it on my video blog… http://www.willvideoforfood.com.
Then I ended up staying up well past my bedtime to make this tribute to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JYIXzfhel8
Hope you enjoy the video version (2 minutes)
“AOL will probably sue because its illegal to tape a conversation without the other side knowing”
When he first called in it says “This call may be recorded” – in those very words.
Well since vincent was probably the last aol member and this guy couldn’t keep him it is no wonder he was fired – no need for him any more
Vincent Ferrari’s AOL experience only tells half the story. AOL had me respond to a snail mail confirming my cancellation which was slow in arriving and meantime continued to be billed, it took me three months to finally get cancelled and only after literally screaming obsenities into the phone. I have absoulutely no sympathy for “John” the AOL customer rep nor the worthless AOL business. I was once a happy customer of many years. Now they can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned and hope they go into bankruptcy asap.
Having worked for AOl just recently I have read all the posts. Most of the people responding w/horror stories are idiots. I was in Retention and the guy that mentions Netzero is exactly correct. Most customers call to cancel. Its the retention specialist job to find out why? Are you satisfied w/the service? Is it too expensive? Do you realize that by giving up AOL that if you don’t have Secutity installed on your computer that your giivng that up? Do you have DSL or Cable modem? AOL does offer AOL highsoeed in some areas. Ever heard of TIME WARNER CABLE? Well people AOL OWNS TIME WARNER!!!!!! In most areas they have special rates with other cable companys and DSL carriers so they can offer AOL Highspeed for 25.90. This price includes the price of the highspeed connection. Most customers have no security or they did but decided that it was not needed. Big Mistake! Some posts mention cancelation fees. Well again most customers don’t read the TERMs OF SERVICE and the cancelation fees are told to the customer when they agree to the special rate. Its amazing how many people “forget” that when they call. Some AOL plans have cancelation fees. BE responsible for your actions people. I am not a fan of AOL but it is a ggod company that has a strong customer loyalty, the problems with most of these posts are that alot of customers DO CALL with a chip on there shoulder. I think AOL should go after this Vincent guy for taping the call without first informing the retention specialist. In most states that is against the law. If you care as to why I quit, well it was due to dealing with a bunch of assholes that would not allow me to do my job. Allow the AOL reps to hit there “marks” and most will go ahead an cancel your account. There are always “bad seeds” but this John guys only mistake was at the end when he was reading the confimation of cancelation. He should have never said we can keep you on the phone all day..That was wrong! and last but not least don’t call from work to cancel your account…its just stupid. Most employers don’t pay ther employees to do personal business on company time….
It is about time this problem got some attention. Kudos to you for posting this! When I canceled my AOL account, I thought their telemarketer was going to show up on my doorstep and physically force me to use their product. It was an absolute nightmare trying to cancel AND it wasn’t the end of it. They kept calling and calling trying to get me to come back. Now, the first thing to go in the garbage is those CDs they’re always sending out. I will not have a thing in my house with AOL’s logo on it. Never again.
I went through the same thing that Vincent went through. AOL is lying thru their teeth if they say that the rep’s behavior was inexcusable, since AOL is condoning this.
when I tried to cancel, the customer rep said he had a script to follow and he was going to follow it, despite me saying that I had no wish to go through 20 questions, and just cancel my account.
He wouldn’t do it. I started verbally abusing him, calling him a few profanities. He said he was going to disconnect the call.
Fine, I am going to deliberately cause disruptions in the chatrooms so I get a few TOS (Terms of Service) warnings. If you get 3 in 6 months, then your account gets canceled.
Had the same problem!
Spent 30 minutes on the phone and my office mate thought I was talking to a machine because I kept repeating “No thanks, I want to cancel my account” over and over and over again
Hi , first of all you need to know that you were doing a crime “recording the call without the consent”, and the guy sounds really genuine to help you , it is just the matter if you gave him a choice to offer you what he had , his job is to stop cancellation and possibly give you everything to satisfy your online needs, dont like refuse everythig, and you would realise the guy has no other choice than cancelling your account !
My aunt tried for over 6 months and kept getting “free months” everytime she contacted aol support to cancel, finally she decided to stop her account
I, on the other hand, have also experienced “free months” from aol to stay, finally letting cancelling the charge card that aol had on file so they could no longer charge me . after numerous mailings(snail) to my apartment, finally aol got the hint…but i also moved in the mean time with no forwarding address to anyone LOL.
Aol…the anti-christ ?
As I look through all of the posts on this message board and think about the call that was recorded all I can think is that you all don’t know the half of it. I just recently ended my employment with AOL and it was for many reasons but the main reason was that AOL as a company doesn’t give a shit about it’s employees and it’s members. They are all about numbers. This John guy was in fact doing his job and that is how most of the employees do. They are monitored and recorded but only a fraction of the calls are observed. The company sees a print out (in this case with the cancellation dept.) showing the “save rate” (how many accounts were not canceled and for how long they stay active) and also see how many accounts were canceled and what the reason it was. To keep the numbers high in the “save” category they offer incentives, a 24 hours saves bonus, a 90 day save bonus which ends up being a lot of money for the person taking the call. On any given bonus check this ends up being thousands of dollars. AOL is in a mad run to keep as many people as possible with the company. They know that they are charging too much money and that they screw their members over but they don’t care they are bringing in the money. The employees also know that they are screwing over the people they talk to and most of them hate their job but, there aren’t many places that kids right out of high school can make the money that AOL pays and have all the benefits. If you live in a city that has an AOL site you will notice that they are constantly hiring and that is because they are about the numbers as I said earlier. They have unreal expectations well, they can be met but you as an employee feel dirty and morally wrong at the end of the day, no matter what department you work in. So, in the end you can blame John but the shit rolls down hill. All of the evil that AOL members experience comes from higher up. And if it makes anyone feel any better, John was fired after this call was posted on the Internet and all employees know about the recording and are being told to cover their ass on the phones.
Hi, now that Vincent Ferrari is a celebrity, who knows if this message will ever be read!
I want to preface that I am not siding with the AOL CSR, I’ve been through the same thing and I feel for Vincent to have to go through that. HOWEVER, I believe the CSR was simply trying to determine the discrepancy as to why there were hundreds of hours logged when Vincent said he never used the account. Why does this even matter? Well, maybe there was a relative or friend that WAS using this AOL account, and you can argue that the CSR *MIGHT* have helped Vincent by noticing this, and having whoever this mysterious user keep their internet access.
Now, I know it got out of hand, because Vincent was very clear in saying that it doesn’t even matter who used it, that he just wants to cancel it, and at this point the CSR should have just obliged.
So I’m sorry if this isn’t a popular opinion, but I think there was SOME merit in the CSR’s questioning, albeit the last half was completely ridiculous on AOL’s part. Curious if anyone agrees to my thoughts?
WOW!
This has been going on for so long that I’m surprised it hadn’t come back to bite AOL much earlier.
I’m speaking from experience when I cancelled my AOL account back in the 20th century (aka the mid-90s). Not as bad as Vincent, but their stalling tactics and utter lack of English comprehension to the words “CANCEL MY ACCOUNT” still irritated the hell out of me.
I would not be surprised if AOL gets slapped with a lawsuit for the monthly fees they still collected after someone has specifically said to cancel. Hell, throw the RICO act on them for this common tactic of mobsters.
On a humorous note, I vividly remember sitting in a seminar during the 1998 Web Developers Conference when the lecturer started the session by asking for a show of hands in how many are AOL members. Not one single person raised their hand in a room of about 75-100 people. The lecturer then gave off a wild “Yeah! Woohoo!” yell while pounding his fist in the air! Truly memorable.
I’m surprised at all of the people that believe that John was in the right and just “doing his job”. If, as a customer, I simply want to cancel my account without enduring the Spanish Inquisition, so be it. To believe, as a business, that you have the right to impose your will on your customers is arrogant and “biting the hand that feeds you”.
I had a free six month subscription to AOL when I bought my latest PC. I tried it and found that I disliked AOL which was nothing more than personal preference. While I didn’t have a tremendous amount of hassle canceling, my problem was the barrage of phone calls at every time of day and night trying to get me to re-up. I continually reminded the callers that I was on a national no-call list and they were violating that. It wasn’t until after 3-4 weeks of several calls a day that I explained to an AOL caller that they were violating the no-call list and that I had documented 38 cases of this violation, that I was able to force AOL to quit calling me or risk huge fines.
Because of their arrogant actions and disregard for their customers’ desires, I will never again subscribe to AOL.
This was a setup. You really are an ass dude. All you had to do was ask for the guys supervisor or call back and get another rep. It’s very clear you knew you had a guy on the line that was going to make good copy for your blog. Had you done what any other customer would have done, your fat UGLY ass would not have made it onto all the TV shows this morning. Enjoy your 15 min of fame you pathetic loser. A guy lost his job because of your sorry ass.
It’s the supervisors of the CSRs that need to be strung up.
Now about that employee. I’m sorry but the a-hole got what he deserved. Just who the heck does he think he is to tell a customer “we can argue all day long”? He practically threatened NOT to cancel the account if the customer refused to listen to his paragraph!
I think Vincent handled this well. People who know me would tell you, I would have been screaming profanities at him about two minutes into it.
Anyone defending aol or even the CSR on this really needs to wake up. Yes, a CSR is practically forced to follow certain rules. But again, to tell someone “we can argue all day long” is enough to make many people seriously think about catching a flight just to meet you face to face.
Before anyone points a finger and says I don’t understand customer service… I’m Senior Systems Admin at an ISP, and direcly deal with hundreds of customers a month, in varying states. So, yes… I too deal with customers. And at my height of frustration, I have never started having that sort of disrespectful tone with a client.
That’s not to say I haven’t run outside muttering incomprehensible curses, after hanging up the phone.
At least two years ago I had this same problem cancelling one of their so-called “free” accounts. I ended up having to pay for 6 months service! I reported them to the Better Business Bureau. That was another waste of my time.
Amen let me tell everyone here that I will NEVER use AOL again. I had cancelled(or thought I had) my aol account, but they didn’t cancell it like I had asked a million times and charged me next month which made my bank account go under. I don’t like the way they run things and I know 3 other people that this happened to . When you tell them that you want to cancell they do everything to keep you (including lying to you).
Keep up the good work and I am glad that you recorded that call.
I had the same experience and Im sooo glad that you have put them on blast – I just saw the clip on the news and it was great!! I was on the phone a total of 15 minutes I kid you not. It was very annoying at the time I had a newborn baby and I just wanted the cancel order done fast I had no idea that canceling something could take so long – Ive cancelled stuff in the past and I never had such a problem. I commend you for staying so cool I actually blew up. Anyway I hope they are embaressed by this – they should be!
….Is anybody going after these clowns legally?? I had to use a 3 way phone call with a FRAUD INVESTIGATOR from my credit card co. ( Chase ) , and they lied, THEY LIED to the FRAUD INVESTIGATOR..!!! Finally, after about an hour of being transferred litterly around the world, we wound up with someone in oklahoma city ( I think ) that finally cancelled the account..!!! Obviously, the get paid for waht they sell, and GET DOCKED if they cancel someone, so you have to find a “new-bee who’s “stupid enough” to actually cancel you.!!!
Hey! Just saw your interview on the Today Show! You did a teriffic job!
This is obviously more than one difficult employee — it’s a company policy at AOL. I had a similar experience a few years ago when AOL bought CompuServe, which was my ISP at the time. They offered me 3 free trial months of AOL, along with my CS service, and when I called to cancel before I began to be charged, the rep I dealt with was a jerk to me. Actually laughed at me for cancelling, with a snide “Well, okay, if that’s what you *really* want,” like I’m some kind of idiot. He even offered me another 6 months free. I remember him saying “You do realize that you’re passing up $25 worth of free service each month.” YES! I REALIZE THIS! What good does it do me if I never use it. I already had an ISP – CompuServe, the same company they just bought. Of course, this was in the days before hi-speed, when AOL pretty much had the corner on the dialup market. These days, I’ve found much better service (still dialup) and at a much better price elsewhere.
The publicity you’re getting over this is killer. Good for you, and it must suck to be AOL. Their tactics are getting national attention.
Saw you this morning on Today. Way to go.
I don’t think you treated the csr fairly. CSR’s have scripts that they must follow, blame the company not the poor guy on the other end of the phone. If he didn’t try and save a customer he would no doubt lose his job. If you have a problem with a csr you should ask to speak to his supervisor. This poor guy lost his job maybe he has a family to support. Vincent you should be ashamed of yourself for doing this to this guy but looking at you on tv I can understand why. Baldheaded fat guy with no life no nookie makes you like that I guess.
A lot of fuss going on here about a persistent AOL customer service rep who was trying to do his job but took the wrong approach. Having heard part of this illegal recording on CNBC TV, I have no doubt that the customer service rep should have understood earlier in the call that you were curt and close minded and did not want to engage in any conversation and just wanted to cancel the account. I can understand your frustration however the issue at hand leads me to many questions as to how you handled the call including its recording. If you were the customer service rep, I wouldn’t have enjoyed talking with you either.
I have been an AOL customer since 1996. I have cancelled my account a few times for various reasons but most often to save a few dollars when another ISP offered 6 month specials. I always returned to AOL because its value, due to content, always exceeded the competition. I never encountered a rude AOL rep however I disliked talking to reps in Indonesia for various reasons. I also recall speaking with a rep or 2 that may not have handled the call properly in terms of fielding a technical question. Such types of customer service problems exist virtually everywhere. There are many other companies that are far worse with respect to customer service both on the front line and their supervisors. Your incident, in my humble opinion, is overblown and should be extended to the real culprits out there, both on the phone and in the stores.
I think CNBC should be directing their energies and resources by assigning their journalists and correspondents to corruption on wall street and to investigate the real reasons WHY crude Oil is stuck in the $65 to $75 trading range. If they reviewed the increases in the price of oil futures with corresponding headlines and reasons for those increases over the the past 5 years, they would realize traders bid up the price of oil over the same headlines over and over again with little regression as those issues dissipate. I believe CNBC does not want to spend the time or step on toes in the insane world of trading at the NY Mercantile exchange. Pretty weak in my opinion. I will CC this to AOL and CNBC.
Good Luck with your 15 minutes of fame.
I just saw this story on Today. A few years ago I had the same experience trying to cancel my aol account. It was a nightmare!!! I think the aol employees are encouraged to behave this way, otherwise why would it happen so often!! Good for you for doing this!!!
I tried to cancel aol June 19, 2006. The first time I called I also got John. He kept telling me I was the boss but kept butting in with this offer and that offer. After 20 minutes I was finally told he would connect me with my confirmation number only to be hung up on. When I called back I was on hold for 20 more minutes before I talked to another person. If John was fired I don’t know when because I caught the Today show June 21st and I recognised his voice on the tape playback.
My mother tried to cancel aol for about 6 months. She’d call and get the same run-around, and after some time on the phone with the rep, would be assured the account was closed. Next month, another charge to the account, and she’s on the phone again. She finally told a rep that she wished she knew where aol was so she could bomb the place!!! Not seriously, of course, but that’s how furious she was!
This was in the time period that Spitzer was prosecuting aol in NY State on charges that they were doing exactly what my mom went through, BECAUSE AOL WAS TELLING REPS THAT THEY’D GET BONUSES FOR GETTING CUSTOMERS TO NOT CANCEL THEIR ACCOUNT AND KEEPING THEM ACTIVE NO MATTER WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTED.
Too bad we don’t live in NY. aol settled, IIRC.
I cancelled my account a few weeks ago via fax, so I wouldn’t have to go through the hassle. Got a letter in the mail that the account was cancelled. I’m watching my bank account very closely, anyway.
I worked for the cancelation department for AOL in Orlando Florida. And as with all sales jobs we went though 2 weeks of extensive training on keeping customers. Out on the floor you are set up in teams you had goals and other incentives. Being the moral person I am when you were confronted with people like Vincent all you really wanted to do is cancel his account. They told you that you were suppose to after three definate request by the consumer. But that wasn’t the truth. If you didn’t do what John did you quickly lost your position and livelyhood. I feel sorry for him. He sounded like he was under alot of pressure to meet his sales quota. AOL does alot more underhanded things then the cancelation department. Which reminds me I better get on the phone right now and cancel the 6 months free trial for just buying my DELL even though I never installed it AOL will start billing the credit card I used to purchased it with. Hows that for morals.
I once had an encounter with an unhelpful and hostile “customer service” rep at Merck-Medco. When I asked to speak to her superviser she said “My superviser don’t want to talk to you.”
Hey everyone beware of AOL. Don’t buy into this free 90 day trial. I tried this out about 2 months ago. I got my credit card statement in the mail and it had a charge from AOL. when i called them the guy told me it was because its a 25.99 cahrge for the FREE 90 day trial. Thats pretty missleading if you ask me.
Vinny, I loved seeing you and your story on the Today Show this morning. Thanks for your national exposure of AOL’s “customer service” tactics.
I experienced the same unbelievable frustration when I canceled my AOL account 7 years ago. You couldn’t have played the recording of my conversation with the customer service rep…by the time their intimidation tactics had gone on for what seemed like an eternity, I was screaming CANCEL MY F’ing ACCOUNT over and over!! I didn’t care who was listening or recording me. Even after that phone call, my account wasn’t canceled. I too had to finally close my credit card to stop them. How can they get away with this kinda crap for so many years???
AOL SUCKS.
I must have had the same operator when I tried to cancel my account a year or two ago. My experience was very similar to yours. They fired this operator for his handling of the situation but after hearing this it reaffirms what I thought: this has to be a company policy. Since my bad experience I hate AOL and refuse to use any of their products!
You should send a copy of that to the FTC, who has settled at least 3 action against these scumbags already. This was SUPPOSED to have stopped. The clowns get a commission for everyone they keep, so the incentive is there
Just saw you on the Today Show. Thank you for recording the call. I had the same experience, but your customer service rep was much nicer. It took me three times and over 30 minutes to cancel my account as the first two reps refused to cancel the account, would not let me speak with a supervisor and told me I needed to “think” about what I was doing since I had been a customer for 6 years. They wanted to know the reason, why would I want to leave such a great company, etc. I told the third customer service rep that this was my third time, did not want to have a conversation and just cancel the account. I went on to say that I was recording the conversation and that if they did not cancel my account immediately that I would use the tape to take legal action as my time was valuable. They immediately cancelled the account. Took less then 3 minutes. I will NEVER use AOL again and have dicouraged other from signing up. Thanks Vincent!!!
Sorry for the second comment, my server went down and id not think it took.
I’m so happy to hear I’m not alone. I’ve had this experience with AOL not once, but TWICE. It was a horrible experience. I swear I must have talked to the same customer “service” rep. I even asked to speak with his supervisor (which he wouldn’t allow me to do). I submitted remarks to AOL about the experience, but of course, never heard from them again. Thank you for recording it–I wish I had!
I had the EXACT same problem a month ago, and was treated exactly the same way. After 15 minutes, I was so mad I could barely stay polite. I severely doubt AOL actually fired anybody; if they did that, then their entire customer service dept. handling cancellation calls would not exist. I will NEVER have anything to do with AOL again.
I don’t have an AOL cancellation story but a “forced signing up” story. My wife and I never had AOL, and we had recently moved to a new apartment. One of the first pieces of mail that shows up is a bill from AOL for $24.99 for their internet service. It was totally ridiculous considering that we don’t even have a land-line telephone to connect to the internet and we used TWC cable internet. The funny part was that letter was directly addressed to our new address, with no forwarding from a previous one.
To get back at AOL, I pick up their free installation cd’s from Walmart and use them to play frisbee. Atleast my game has improved thanks to AOL.
This is one more confirmation of what I have known for 10 years…AOL sucks. The best contribution that AOL has provided to the world is a hefty supply of skeet targets.
Besides, who needs AOL anymore?
After signing up for broadband with a new company I cancelled AOL and then noticed that months later I began seeing charges on my credit card statement again. AOL claimed that someone had once restarted my AOL program and since AOL had kept my account on file, it reinstated the account, and charged my credit card, although no one had been actually using it. It took a while, but I finally got AOL to completely CANCEL the account meaning I would now have to supply them with new credit card information if I wanted to use the service. I had to go through their fraud department to get reimbursed. So, just make sure you really are cancelled and not just put in limbo land until something starts you up again.
Terri
I too had similar problems cancelling AOL. Watch your mail CAREFULLY for the next few months. About a month after I cancelled, I got a letter from AOL stating “we’re happy you decided to renew your service”. Only after I called and threatened to have my lawyer make the next call was my service cancelled for good. BUT Aol isn’t the only one that does this. My 18-yr old son said “yeah, sure” at Best Buy’s checkout counter and ended up with 4 “free” magazine subscriptions. In order to cancel them, we had to endure 10 minutes of a computer talking and asking questions like “answer YES if you’d like to cancel your trial subscription and start a yearly subscription”. You really had to think hard about your answers so you didn’t inadvertently sign back up!!
I had an account for 5 years and when the account was hacked and someone started getting me TOSed for stupid garbage I called AOL to try to straighten it out. What happened was the Indian guy on the phone said that the United States Consitution and Federal laws do not apply to them for computer crimes and that they would be cancelling my account for me. Nevermind that I had resumes and such out there with my AOL address on there for employers to contact me on, and I lost contact with most of my friends because of it. AOL, you do fall under the US Consitution and US laws. Stop kidding yourself, you are NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread.
This exactly resembled my experience trying to cancel my AOL account more than a year ago. I’d had the account since the very earliest days of AOL, and since I had a good screen name, I was slow to give it up. BUt I had no idea what “slow” could mean until I spent more than an hour on the phone convincing a (sweet sounding Southern) woman that I wanted to CANCEL!!! I got mad only at the very end, when she said: “We can keep this name reserved for you for six months if you change your mind.” I said, “Ok.” She then immediately said: “All right, then, we’ll continue your account on the same terms.”
She also admitted at the end that she got a bonus if she talked people out of cancelling.
I had terrible luck with canceling AOL, and so have a few people I’ve spoken to. I spoke to a guy who was th rudest customer service guy I’ve ever spoken to, who threatened to ruin my credit and harass me until I paid $48 he said I still owed. I then spoke to a really nice helpful woman, but in spite of her efforts to fix my account and credit money back to me for the abuse I suffered, AOL ended up charging me more than twice what I was to be credited. AND, I still get notices saying I owe $48. Not only are they ruthless, but there service isn’t even any good.
It is interesting to see all of the stories. I, too, thought I was going to go insane before I had my account cancelled with AOL. I had a three month trial subscription. I set the account up under a false name (long story-found out my husband was quite the swinger on the internet and I was snooping and did not want to be found out!) After the 3 month trial ended, I called to cancel. I spoke with a rep. whose accent was so thick I could only understand the words, “cannot cancel, not your name” even though it was billed to me, had my billing address, credit card info, etc. After 45 minutes, I FINALLY got a so-called supervisor who was also a jerk. After another 10 minutes I told him I was going to cancel my credit card and was told that even if my credit card was cancelled, they could STILL charge it because we had a “contract”. I ended up screaming at him, then finally hung up. They, of course, continued to bill me. I called 2 more times and finall spoke with a woman (obviously sympathetic to my situation) and explained the reasons why I the account set up in the first place and did not need it anymore(hey, I had already filed for divorce at this point!!) and she mailed a letter to me that I had to sign and mail back to them before they would cancel. This was over a year ago and I still have a copy of the letter…just in case!!!
I saw your story and can relate to you although my experience took only 20 minutes. It should not have taken that long because people have the right to cancel services when they choose and the strong armed tactics at AOL are horrible. I will never use AOL again. I hope that their PR people are reading these messages and realize that they (AOL) have a credibility issue.
I had a similar experience but with the IRS. Spending hours spread over several days just trying to talk to a person to get things straightened out.
I’d like to point out though that 545 hours logged for the month equals to over 18 hrs per day.
Wow, I can’t believe this, the exact same thing happened to me. If I didn’t know better I’d swear I had the same AOL rep. I was only being charged $2.95/month just for email service, I had it for years and never used it. The rep would not let me cancel it, he gave me the same bull story as Vincent. I finally gave up and agreed to keep it but I planned to call my bank and have them dispute it. I hadn’t called the bank yet but in a couple of days I got an acknowledgment letter in the mail from AOL stating that I had agreed to keep their service but on the back of the letter was a form that can be faxed back to AOL if you want to cancel the account. I sent it in and voila, it worked, they finally canceled it.
Somehow, someway, I had an AOL account and could not even remember how it was started. I figured this out one day when I took a look at my bank statement and noticed an AOL withdrawl for about $20.
I immediately tried to find a number to figure out what this charge was all about and stop it. Finding a number in itself was an ordeal. Once I found the number I had the almost exact conversation as you in the first minute or so.
After “cancelling”, I went to my bank to find out how to prevent these charges in the future and after explaining how I didn’t even know how I had the account they stated they might be able to get me the money back if the charges were just happening for that past few months.
After looking into how long the charges were going on, they found that the charges had started about 3 years earlier. Now, granted I should have taken a look at my account more readily, but 3 years of inactivity and I still get questioned about cancelling and let alone the fact that I had the hardest time finding the number.
I don’t at all believe that the man you spoke to was the same man I spoke to in order to have such a similar beginning conversation. AOL is responsible for how there employers act and should be held accountable.
I am more than willing to be part of some kind of action that might help stop this horrible company from doing business in this manner.
In addition, there software is one of the worst things to try and get out of your computer and has alot of problems working with other application.
I only wish I had know about this cancelation problem sooner so I could have recorded the conversation. (oh, and the looked at my bank statement a little more often):?
Please help keep this movement alive.
OMG!!!!! This exact thing happened to me yesterday! First, it took 8 minutes to actually get a human. I know this because Im trying to keep 3 kids quiet and entertained while I was on the phone. Finally a lady, Mary, comes to the phone and gets my info and then says about our being a customer for 8 years and how she sees I just used their site today (duh, where else do you get their phone number?) she tried to sell me many things and offered free service for a month among other things. She then wanted me to sign on and check out their Spyware keyword to prove they were blocking all of my spyware, I was polite at first then became angry and loud with her to no avail. I asked if she had a supervisor that could get me through the process quicker and she still kept going. Needless to say we were over 15 minutes at this time and my patience with her were gone. She could clearly hear my kids in the background and was being totally disrespectful to me at this time. She then said there was one more piece of info she was legally required to read to me and I told her she could read all she wants and it would do nothing for me. All said I spent 28 minutes on the phone with this ‘witch’. I dont care if AOL bought everyone out and was the last company offering internet, I would go without!
“I have 50 republic credits that say you get a bill next month AND they have no record of you calling to cancel. You proabaly also have the “irate & difficult customer flag” set on your account now. – Mr. Atoz”
That’s exactly what happened to me. I called to cancel my account and the rep I spoke with tells me that she put in the cancellation order.
Nine months later I’m checking my bank statement and I noticed a reoccuring charge from AOL. I know we should check our statements routinely, but it’s also very easy for things to get past my attention at the number of tractions that pile up.
Anyhow I call AOL customer service again wanting to know why I was still being charged. The new rep says there’s no record of me ever requesting to have my account canceled. That in fact the previous rep gave me some kind of discount or credit which is usually given to coerce people into keeping their accounts. But I was very explicit in you my request to cancel my account in the first phone call to customer service.
Anyhow, I requested the cancellation again and this rep assures me that the order has been placed. Then I ask for a refund of the 9 months of charges for an account that was supposed to be cancelled. The rep tells me that I have to write a letter to some office in Georgia and “ask” to have that money refunded.
After all of the headaches I only got 3 months refunded even though they clearly could see my account has had 0 activity from before I originally request to cancel my account and to my second call to customer service.
Lesson learned from these comments:
If AOL won’t cancel the account in a timely fashion, go to your bank to have the charges refused.
As for Jon being “fired” (btw- love the use of the tem immolate!), I’d really like to see what REALLY happened to him. He obviously was operating under AOL’s retention policy.
I stopped using AOL when I realized how invasive the software was on my computer. I eventually dumped that computer and vowed that I would never install ANY AOL software again.
As for the comment about how rude you (Vincent) were, I disagree. You were very clear and concise about what you wanted. My opinion is that ANY internet provider should allow you to simply cancel on line- the fact that AOL forces you to call demonstrates that they want you to talk to someone that is a trained retention specialist.
I think that AOL’s practices are improper and insulting to human dignity. Kudos to you Vincent for getting them in limelight and exposing them for what they are.
Thank you.
I went through the same ordeal years ago. After cancelling my AOL account over the phone (took 30+minutes), AOL mailed me a letter two weeks later indicating how happy they were that I was renewing my AOL service. So I had to call them again, and go through the same scenario.
I am so glad I am not the only one who has had this problem. I cancelled my AOL account but continued to get billed on my credit card for about six months. I would call each month and spent hours on the phone with AOL trying to cancel my account. Finally my only option was cancelling my credit card. Thank you Vincent maybe now AOL will cancel accounts.
I thought we were the only ones with difficulties in the cancel procedure ….silly as it seems. I was in tears and my husband tried to “rescue” the situation and after 3/4 hour, his face was as red as a beet. This is surely no way to run a company. Thank you for bringing this forward.
UNBELIEVABLE – I watched the Today Show this AM (6/21/06) and could not believe it – someone had just as bad of an experience with cancelling their AOL service as I had!!!
I had an AWFUL time cancelling my TRIAL AOL service last Spring. My conversation was longer and worse than Vincent’s – the AOL Rep could barely speak English, but was JUST as pushy and irritating.
It got to the point that I told her I was going to hang up now and to send me confirmation that my account has been cancelled. Like you, I repeated this SEVERAL times. My husband couldn’t believe what he was hearing – and he was only on my end of the phone call!!!
I gotta tell you – I was red in the face, shaking with anger and upset for HOURS after this call. And, I vowed to NEVER use AOL or let any friends use AOL from that day forward. And, this was a simple 2 week trial!!!
Glad to know I am not alone!
Wow.. great way to get promotion for your site and blog… setting up AOL and the poor guy that got fired. Well done, Vincent.
I just went through the same thing with aol just 2 weeks ago. If you really believe this guy John lost his job I have some swamp land to sell you. This practice is appauling
I tried to cancel because I never used it either and it became an argument just as you mentioned. Ridiculous questions and statements. It took me 1/2 hour, then they sent me crap in the US mail. Then they billed me the next month anyway. Yet another lengthy ridiculous phone call. Talk about not taking NO for an answer. AOL is truly a greedy and pathetic company!
I HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME. IOT WAS AWFUL. THE GUY KEP ME ONLINE FOR 1 HOUR WITH ME SAYING OVER AND OVER, JUST CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION. THEY ARE IDIOTS
Back in the early 90s I went through this, only I didn’t have the pleasure of speaking to anyone. All I got was hold. Indefinite hold. My solution was to blatantly and repeatedly violate the TOS in a chat room. After several warnings from the moderator, my connection dropped and I got a message box saying my account had been cancelled.
I also tried to cancel my AOL account last October, was talked into a free month of service to try to keep me, then when I confirmed the cancellation as asked by December 2, my account was turned over to a collection agency for Decembers charges and I am still receiving bills for that month even though I had no Aol service! I am so sorry I ever signed up in the first place. Thay always called me a “Preferred Customer” because I had the account for almost 5 years.Never again!
Don’t believe for a minute that “John” got fired. He wasn’t even an AOL employee, and what he did is exactly what the call center wants him to do. He probably got a raise.
My son worked for AOL retention at ICT in Spokane. They earned bonuses for keeping customers, and they got fired if they didn’t keep enough customers. These (mostly) kids are trying to make a living by doing a very tough job and making people extremely angry. I have sympathy on both sides. I remember how many times my son came home after a day of taking these calls and trying to keep people on the phone until they got tired of waiting and just gave up. That counted as a “save” for him too. He made up scripts, used a false name, and told every lie he could think of to earn his bonus, which ICT also made as difficult as possible. I understand ICT no longer has the AOL account. But some poor schmuck at a call center is on the other end of that phone when you try to cancel. It isn’t an AOL employee.
Thank goodness I never got an AOL account. Those of you that do, and are cancelling…you should start the conversation out by saying that you are recording this for quality assurance purposes. That should make the cancellation run smoothly.:lol:
I had a similar problem with AOL…I called and cancelled the account. I told the guy I was divorcing and moving and that maybe in six months if things were better, I would come back to AOL… only to find four months later they billed me for four months of service on my credit card. After getting no where with a customer service rep who insisted there was no one above him to speak to, the better business bureau got me my money back. Then I found another charge on my account and they told the BBB that it was because I have to give 30 days notice to cancel. I was tired of fighting with them, so I gave up trying to get $14.99 back and instead let everyone know what happened, and was happy to hear nearly everyone I know who uses AOL cancelled their accounts as well. The way they treated me has caused them to lose me as a customer for life as well as those around me. It’s sad to see after so many people having the same experience, they haven’t learned a thing.
I had a similar experience with aol. We had moved. I called to cancel and they gave me the run around. I eventually hu and called back only to go through the same hassel. I will never use them again.
AOL has done this from the very beginning. I had AOL way back when there wasn’t many other choices. It took me months to cancel my account. Luckily I was getting billed every month and paying by check, so they didn’t have my credit card number. The only way I got them to cancel was to stop paying, which I would encourage everyone to do, who is unfortunate enough to be in their clutches. These people are crooks and always have been. Besides being the most expensive ISP service in history, their software infiltrates your computer, and even if you are lucky enough to stop being charged, you’ll never be rid of AOL until you get a new computer. Whatever you do – NEVER install those “Free” service disks they send through the mail.
Hi Vincent,
I just had to commiserate after I saw you on Today this AM! Canceling my AOL last month took over 40 minutes. Though I began the process as a polite, reserved person — I ended up angry, exhausted, and feeling somewhat exploited. My call sounded exactly like yours (they all have the same script, I’m sure). My guy was beligerent toward me at more than one point and the entire experience was insulting and absurd. I asked for a supervisor but he wouldn’t put one on. He kept offering me better deals and rates, etc. I’m probably asked him to cancel my account upward of 50 times. Too bad they made your guy the scapegoat — as AOL makes all their customer service people do the same thing to be sure. Either fire all of them, or radically change their policies. Singling out one man because they were “outed” by you will not solve their problem. Ya hear me, AOL??
Thanks.
Alix, Newport, RI
i spent over half an hour repeating over and over “I want to cancel my account”. The customer service rep assured me he would help me and then proceeded to tell me I need to keep using the aol browser for only $4.95 a month because it was easy to use, I was familiar with it and it was secure. I repeated myself “I want to cancel”. He then replied he needed to go through the process which meant he needed to give me his speech about why I should continue my $4.95/month service. He refused to let me speak to a manager because the call was not escalated, but my anger was.
After continuous repeats of “I want to cancel” he then informed me that my account was still open. What part of cancel the account do you not understand? What a jerk this guy was. After continuing to repeat myself that I did, in fact, want to cancel he finally gave me a cancellation confirmation number and was very condescending to me. I refuse to keep my screenname because I absolutely want nothing to do with aol. good luck to all who must encounter the customer service idiots.
Apparently they get a bonus for convincing someone to not cancel. I have had it with bullying tactics!!!
I had the exact kind of hellish experience with AOL, repeated several times, with multiple represetatives.
I also would find myself repeating, in the most measured, polite voice I could muster: “Cancel the account. I’m done. Don’t like it. I don’t want it. I don’t need it. Have a high-speed connection with another ISP.”
And would actually hear things like, “How can you do this to me? After all I’ve done for you?” from multiple representatives.
Furthermore, they continue to try to reinstate my account. I’ve never experienced such ridiculous harrassment.
That is EXACTLY what happened to me when I had an AOL account. It took me two phone calls at over an hour both times to get it cancelled. It was a nightmare. It is just awesome that you busted their chops so publicly. They obviously don’t care about the complaints they receive.
I had the same experience with AOL about 4 or 5 yers ago. I only got AOL temporarily during a temporary absence of my regular provider. Used it for 2 weeks, after which it was almost impossible to cancel. Yuk. Congratulations on showing them up.
I worked for AOL in the Tucson call center…needless to say I only lasted 30 days..I could not believe the level of unethical ways we were trained to ‘retain’ customers….I took the job so I could go back to school after working for 2 fortune 500 companies. I wish someone would file a class action suit against this company. Not only did AOL not prepare for the high speed age but they’re using predatory techniques to keep their customer base. I think its time for Time Warner to dump their bastard child and I love that they’ve now ended up with egg on their face as their misdeads are now online for all to see.
I totally see the frustration! When I tried to cancel they denied that my credit card was on file even though they charged that card. They made it very difficult to cancel. It was about 2 hours on the phone. I will never use the service again!
BTW, the hassle-free way to cancel AOL is to send the bastards a snail mail letter. (The address is actually not hard to find if you look for it.) Believe it or not, they cancelled quickly and efficiently when I finally quit.
I call for a law that any subscription service that can be initiated online, must also offer cancellation online. (e.g., Audible.com is good about that).
Thank you so much for finally showing AOL for who they are! I had a very similar situation three years ago. I was on the phone with the rep for an hour while he tried to give me everything but the kitchen sink. I thought he had cancelled it and while we were getting ready to hang up he said he had me set up for two months of free service. I am a very nice person, but I had to yell at him I didn’t want ANY service.
I agree with Ken too, they sent me a letter to confirm my cancellation and I was charged until I received the letter. When I finally got the letter ( I can’t remember exactly what it said but it sent up a red flag for me to call them), I called back they said that they had no record of me cancelling my account. Finally after months of dealing with them it was cancelled.
What a crock. AOL are lying about customer service. I am finally glad someone has hard proof of it. Good for you Vincent!!!
Sadly, I feel sorry for John. The problem is not the pushy CSR, but rather the corrupt uncaring company that encourages his behavior. I have never subscribed to AOL because they are both the most expensive service, and the lowest quality all wrapped into one. I take my internet straight, not watered down. To discover that AOL allows if not encourages CSRs to act in this manner is no surpise to me!
Comment 259 says that the rep did not know he was being recorded. Each and Every call center employee who works in a call center has to sign a statement with their HR staff allowing their calls to be monitored by their company. The recordings you hear before you get to a rep says, this call may be monitored. If there is such a recording then THEY ALREADY KNOW it is being recorded, so the customer recording is covered since the company makes that disclaimer at the begininng of each call!!!
Saw you on the Today show this morning. Great Job!! So glad this is getting some attention. I had the same experience calling to cancel my brother’s account. I called as him ( he had a terminal illness ). I recieved the same treatment. If I were near that phone person at the time I would have beat him senseless! I don’t remember ever beeing so mad! You rock Vincent! Keep up the good work!
I am so glad you did this. I had a very similar experience trying to cancel AOL when I was moving and switching to Road Runner. They tried to tell me I still needed it and all this other BS about why I shouldn’t cancel. It went on, and on. I had canceled AOL before and had similar issues so I was somewhat prepared, but I stupidly thought that with a clear reason for not needing it anymore they wouldn’t try as hard. It’s obviously not just one or two employees, but company policy.
I have a horror story for you regarding AOL. I tried out their service on a free trial. After a few months of having the service and rarely useing it i decided to cancel my account. i was given the same runaround as to why i wanted to cancel my account and yadeeyadeeyadee we went on for 10 minutes. A few months later I received another AOl disk and decided to give it a try one more time. I only had it a few weeks when I had to cancel again due to moving. when i called in the Cust. Service person informed that I never had cancelled my last account(which I did) and that I would be billed for the time which I never used. sure enough a few days later a bill arrives in the mail for roughly $130. i couldn’t believe it. I called AOL and spoke with this very rude girl and she confirmed what I was told before. lets just say that conversation was not pretty. I have not paid that bill and never will. My advice for AOL users… RUNNNNNN Thanks Kenny
Well I hope that this ends it for you, however, my husband and I cancelled our aol account two years ago and it took us about 4 months to actually stop getting mail stating that if we did not respond by such and such a date the account would remain active. Each month we called explained that we had cancelled the account and they said okay. The next month another letter appeared.
I know I am number 300 and something, but I saw your appearance on the Today show. I had a similar experience with AOL. I decided to cancel them after they charged my credit card twice a month for a couple of months. When I called and questioned them, they blamed it on my credit card company. When I called to cancel, the customer service rep gave me the third degree about cancelling, then informed me that I was cancelling in the middle of the month and that I would need to call back at the end of the month to remind them to cancel me! I said to bill me for the rest of the month and get the hell out of my computer. As I talked to other people, I heard other horror stories. I have a friend who cancelled and it took two years for them to stop billing her.
I can’t believe how this company can get away with this!!!!
I thought I just had dumb luck with them, my brother, living at another address used my phone number to start an acct and it was billed to my phone, when I caught on I called AOL and they gave me crap about the acct and told me to take it up with my brother. I told them that I was recording and that I would contact my attorney so they changed their tune real quick with me. I would never again use them or refer anyone to them. Thanks for airing their dirty laundry!
HOW FUNNY! We had an AOL account years ago and it took months to cancel the darn thing. I hate AOL and would never have an account with them again especially after this validation that it wasn’t just us having a hard time cancelling
My mother had a similar experience with AOL. We talked her into DSL because she kept complaining about the time it took her to upload pictures to her photo developing website. When she called to cancel AOL, they used the scare tactic to at least try to get her to keep the protection plan for $7.99 a month. She is not very technologically advanced, so they scared the pants off of her and got her to keep it for another 2 months until my husband and I found out that she was paying for this. Thanks for getting the word out about AOL – I just hope they are looked into for these horrific practices!!
I had an incident with AOL myself. I had AOL a few yrs ago and I cancelled it. My bank account was charged 2-3 months every month after that. I called AOL back and told them to stop and that I had cancelled it and wanted a refund. Well they told me they could only refund me for 1 of those months because I did not say I wanted it cancelled IMMEDIATELY. It has been 4- 5 yrs since this has happened and I STILL have not received the refund they owe me.
I spent about an hour on the phone with AOL trying to cancel my account…..it was like beating my head against a concrete wall. Someone else stated they must get a bonus for each person they talk out of cancelling, they could not pay me enough to put people through this ridiculous process, all it does is make everyone really angry and determined to NEVER have anything to do with AOL ever again. As to Jonathan getting fired, this is a load of crap, with all of this feedback he was following AOL policy, the person I had was just as bad, no matter what I told her she had a comback, I was screaming at here towards the end of the call….CANCEL MY ACCOUNT!!!!!!!!
I see where AOL apologized and stated that this was in violation of their policy. Well, when I cancelled my AOL account I had the same experience as Vincent. I would venture that AOL is lying thru their teeth when they say it was a violation of policy. Based on what I have heard from others and my own experience, it is “policy” for their customer service reps to do everything in their power to discourage the customer and get them to give up on canceling their service. I have been in the customer service side of business for over 20 years and am totally appalled at the outright gall of AOL and how they treat a customer who wishes to cancel service. They are despicable in their customer service practices and should be sanctioned for it. I will never use them again and I encourage everyone I speak with not to use them either.
Vinny – You’ve done more for the average consumer than the BBB and FTC have done for a long time. Every call that I now make to cancel any type of service or subscription will begin with me saying (after I get the CSR’s name and document the date and time of day) “this call is being recorded and may be aired on a local and/or national news program”. I’m sure that I’ll get much better ‘customer service’.
The one similar story I have is when I tried to cancel my wireless data service with Verizon Wireless. I was placed on hold for 1 hour and 20 minutes before someone came on to answer the call. I tried multiple times to get through more quickly, but was always told by a computer answerer that the wait was 75 to 90 minutes. What made matters worse was that the queue to add new wireless service was non-existant.
I am so glad that you caught them in the web of s*ht that you have to go through to cancel it took me a total of 10 calls 4hr 25 min to finally get them to cancel my account but would not credit from the 1st day i called to cancel but kept saying they don’t show any other calls about this matter. Thank goodness for cellphones it logged all my calls to them.
At first i was sad that the guy got fired but hey he is an adult and knew what he was doing and wouldn’t like that done to him or his family. (they probably got NETZERO) last note check your credit card
Had the same experience trying to cancel my account, kept promising me free month, etc. Such a bad taste in my mouth that now I would never go back and I tell everyone to join AOL.
Had this same issue a couple of years ago. Mine took about 30 minutes to cancel. The funny this is I let the guy go on and on about how great the software was, and then still told him to cancel it. He kept pushing so I let him talk
He was kind of upset but if he had just cancelled the account in the first place he would not have had to waste time.
I knew I wasn’t alone! When I tried and tried to cancel my AOL account I was faced with a barage of delay tactics, irritating questions and finally an offer to downgrade my service to the minimum $4.95/month internet access only. When I refused and finally got them to agree to cancel I was relieved. Of course, what I didn’t realize was that their offer was to cancel my account at the end of the next billing cycle. When I automatically clicked my AOL icon (just a habit in my sequence of checking e-mail accounts) I was automatically signed in and my account re-activated! Damn, what a bitch! Now I get a 4.95/month bill that I pay becasue I’m not willing to go through the torture of cancellation again. I mean really, shouldn’t there be a law?
Aol Brutally canceled my account , only to bill my credit card the next month with fraudulent charges which resulted in overdrafts , what a nightmare, to this day I am still awaiting credits from there fraud dept , everyone who cancels should also request that any screen name with their account payment info should be canceled as well
Canceling my account was just the beginning of my problems with AOL. After repeated software problems I stopped using my free AOL trial. Then one day when I was attempting to go online, a pop up message said I needed to pay my past due bill to prevent interupted service.
I immediatly called to cancel the account. After several minutes of waiting I was told that the past due ammount would be erased if I would try another 90 day free trial. I reluctantly agreed.
A few days later a computer repair tech. advised me to uninstall all the AOL software from my laptop to solve the performance problems I was having.
This helped tremindously.
Then approximately 4 months later I realized there were automated charges from AOL on my check card.
I called AOL and After nearly and hour and a half I was told that my AOL account is closed at my request. Approximatly one year later I start getting hassled by AOL collections department to pay a past due bill. I finally called AOL customer services and it was determined that they had made a mistake. The lady appologized for any inconvienance and assured me it would be taken care of.
Approximately 3 mo. later I begain to get hassaled agian by AOL collections Department. I spoke with them several times, attempting to explain what I was told by customer services, and I requested that they stop calling me . But, they kept calling and eventually I got a letter from a collections agency demanding payment for nearly tripple the amount of the original bill.
I called them and the person was rude from the beginning, stating that according to there records I had logged on nearly 8,000 minutes during the billing period. I tried to explain that I removed the AOL software from my computer over a year earlier and they just continued to be rude and basically called me a liar.
I attempted once again to contact AOL and remained on hold for 45 min. before hanging up.
I call it organized crime.
I went through this same exact phone call with whom I am 99.9% certain was the same John. I run a restaurant that carries the local news rag and every couple of months, they are stuffed with the AOL CD with the 1001 hours of ‘free’ service(would take that long to download a few songs on AOL). In my efforts to be a good samaritan, I pull out the CD’s and put them where they belong, in the trash. I don’t want my customers going through the same thing that we and so many, many others have gone through.
OMFG, I can’t believe he said that the annoyance “goes both ways.” Talk about a very unprofessional representative. Let’s hope Jon finds a new line of employment. If I said things like that in my line of service (cable/internet call center), I would be out the door. Some people need a good slap in the face to realize they need another job.
Vince…you rock. Thx for posting this.
Vince for the most part employed the “Broken Record” technique. Let the other party dodge and weave while you keep repeating your request over and over.
John hung in there longer than most customer svc. reps.
I cancelled AOL in Jan. ’06 after 7 yrs of svc. My disconnect episode was much, much easier.
the fella is correct, It happend to me just a year ago!
U.F.B.! ….. Approx. 10 years ago I had the very same type of problem with AOL removing their monthly charges from my credit card. It took ONE YEAR to get it resolved. Ever since that time I have told as many people as I possibly could to NEVER use this company. Actually I have caused several to change providers, which to this day makes me feel GREAT! I was only made to feel better when I heard of this case getting national attention. WHO WAS THAT PERSON on the AOL side of the call???? Instead of going to India, does AOL have a phone center in a mental institution somewhere???? It just sad to think that even if AOL terminates this person he will probably work somewhere else dealing with the public.
WELL I GOT TOOK BIG TIME .I JUST NOTICED ON MY BANK
STATEMENT THAT AOL HAS BEEN CHARGING ME FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS.I CANCELED APRIL 1ST 2004.AND THE PERSON I TALKED TO DIDN’T CANCEL IT.THE THING IS I SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHECKING MY STATEMENTS BETTER.
I ADDED UP MY CHARGES AND THEY TOOK OUT MORE THAN $500.00 DOLLARS OUT OF MY ACCOUNT.SO I CALL AGAIN ON 6-18-06.TO PERMANTLY CANCEL AND HE GOES AHEAD.I CANT TELL YOU WHO I SPOKE WITH (I WAS SO MAD!).BUT IT WAS FINALLY CANCELLED.I WENT AHEAD AND GOT A NEW DEBIT CARD ACCOUNT,SO THEY COULDN’T TAKE ANYMORE OUT.BUT THE BIG KICK IN THE BUTT IS THAT I WAS TOLD I COULD NOT BE REIMBURSED ALL THE MONEY.THEY ONLY GAVE ME TWO MONTHS WORTH BACK.ABOUT $50.00 BACK.I UNDERSTAND I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED MY STATEMENTS BETTER.BUT THEY SHOULD HAVE CANCELED ME A LONG TIME AGO!!!!
THATS MONEY I COULD HAVE REALLY USED!
I cancelled my AOL almost a year a half ago…and it took me 3 months before they finally cancelled it…
I tried to cancel it on February…but would still get billed the following month…then I would call again, and be given what I thought was a reference cancellation number…then…get billed again the following month…the reference number I would get is always the same…it’s like a generic number, they issue just to satisfy the customer…but if you bring that number during cancellation process…they don’t have a clue what it is…
I did ask for a supervisor…who got irate with me…because of my insistence on cancelling the account…
AOL finally stopped billing me in May…after calling them continuously for 3 months…
I think my cancellation experience with AOL was worst than any other customers…I should have taped my conversation with AOL and sent it out to the media, also…
AOL’s apology letter…is faked because…all those people who work in the cancellation department are trained to give you as much trouble as possible if you try to cancel…
I’m hoping more people will come to realize that AOL is a rip off company…and more people will cancel their account.
I went through the same thing about 5 years ago, except that I had to do it 3 times. I would call stay in the phone for 30 min . thinking it was taken care of , only to find 3 months down the line that they keep charging my credit card. Call again repeat the process. Next months there is a charge again (AOL’s argument? it was canceled but it was re-open automatically when somebody try to use it) The last time I called I was screaming at the top of my lungs, and punching wall while the pas my call to 2 supervisors and wouldn’t cancel my account or give me a refund for the previous 2 times that I canceled. I ended up giving up on the 4 extra months they charged, just happy that maybe this time they would let me go.
I had an experience just like that about a year and a half ago. Just like your experience, the guy kept trying to keep me on the line as long as possible. And then, just like your experience, when he finally relented and decided to go ahead and cancel the account, he turned into a total dick, making smartass remarks for another couple of minutes before he finally gave me the damn cancellation number.
Long story short: AOL sucks.
Thank you for having the presence of mind to record your conversation; hopefully other people won’t have to put up with the same garbage that we have.
Thanks to the class-action lawsuit in New York last year, when I cancelled my AOL account I encountered absolutely no problems.
I cancelled my account because I refuse to support any “American” company that outsources to third world companies just to save a buck, putting hard-working Americans out of work.
Article on this:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/17/BUGB3FPGT01.DTL&type=tech
I hope Americans continue to speak out and act up over corporate criminals intent on taking jobs away from Americans.