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I'm a 32-year old Bronx livin' sarcastic bastard. If you cross me, I'll shred you. I have no problems sharing my opinion whether you want to hear it or not, so get used to it. There's a lot of it going on here. Hang around if you'd like and comment if you dare.
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Appearance #2 From Today

So Toby was kind enough to provide video of my appearance on the Today Show today.

Thanks Toby!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2006 at 9:57 am and is filed under Cool. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Viewing 160 Comments

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    Saw the piece on The Today Show this a.m. Wanted to let you know that this very thing happened to me TWO YEARS AGO when I was moving and wanted to use my cable company as my ISP.

    The AOL rep would not let me off the phone. Actually, she kept me on the line longer than you were kept on. I finally told her that I wanted my AOL service cancelled and that because of her attitude on the phone I would never use AOL again and recommend to my friends never to use their service.

    These customer service reps are trained to try and get you to change your mind. My guess is that nobody gets fired.

    AOL sucks.
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    Here all this time, I thought it was me. I went through this 4 years ago. They are bleeding subscribers and they are desperate to stop it. I was offered several free months of service, told my cable ISP would not provide the "level of service" that AOL did. Thanks for outing them. Carl Grossman, Orange, CA.
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    I'm laughing so hard...with you. [Not at you]. And this comment from an AOL subscriber. You were just super in standing up for yourself in the Today Show interview. David-1. Goliath-0.
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    I had such a hard time cancelling my AOL account almost a year ago I ended up having to close my bank account to get them to start charging me. I also gave up trying to get reimbursed.
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    I saw the segment on the Today show and had to write and tell you I had the same problem years ago when I tried to cancel AOL. Since that time I have advised all friends and family to avoid AOL and go with another ISP company.

    It's interesting that AOL can stay in business with such poor customer service. I would rather go internet-less than ever go through AOL again :evil:
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    Wow are you ... large and round!!!

    ...spend more energy exercising; it'll do you good, and do much more good than this recording stunt...

    By the way, do we understand correctly that you took [wasted] time while on the job to call and cancel your AOL service? I think your supervisor would like to know about this!
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    Awesome Vinny! Looks like you got your 15 minutes. BTW, GB did you decide your time was NOT wasted by posting a comment? "I think your supervisor would like to know about this!"
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    I cheered when I saw this. What you don't know is this: AOL routes subscriber cancellation calls to a phone center in Spokane, where employees receive bonuses for talking customers out of canceling. A waitress for a chain restaurant (which more than slightly resembles "Flingers" from Office Space) bragged to me that her husband works in the unit and has the lowest rate of cancellations. What do you want to bet that her husband is "John from AOL"?

    Jason Plank, former AOL "retention associate" says that if you really want to cancel you account, you should call AOL, tell them to cancel your account, then hang up:

    "If you ever want to easily cancel your AOL account, send them a written request via snail mail. Or, call them, let them pull up your account, request them to cancel it, and then hang up. They are required to cancel your account in cases of disconnection if the last statement you make is a cancellation request."
    http://jasonplank.blogspot.com/
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    Vincent, I applaud your efforts to bring to our attention the bad customer service of the largest internet provider in the world. I admit it is bad even though I worked in the "retention" queue of AOL (or "saves" as it's called in the company) for about 7 months. From one side, I feel for the employee because he got fired. He was trying, however poorly and unsuccessfully, to do his job and he does deserve that because he was so bad. But unfortunately, there are still thousands of others just as bad or worse that are blindly following AOL's policies.

    The 3 weeks of training you go through to "save" members is really more like brainwashing. They convince you that you really are doing the best thing for the member. Showing them all the great things they will give up by cancelling, all the "benifits" and perks that other services don't provide. This may be true, and I was actually pretty good at convincing people to stay. I even did it with class and respect, unlike the employee you dealt with. They pay you bonuses on top of your hourly rate for how many saves you get, and with my results, I was paid better than any other job I'd had in the past. But after a while, the job became painful. Not because I had to deal with rotten people - and believe me, I dealt with my fair share - but because I realized that I wasn't helping these people. I was just annoying them as you say in the recording. I did feel bad after talking to the 80 year old grandmothers who signed up for their spoiled grandkids to be nice and then got screwed by AOL with charges and lies. I even dealt with the occasional deceased member - it is a task to convince their grieving relative to stay with AOL.

    In the end, I quit because of the guilt of what I was doing and the "carpal tunnel syndrome" of my brain from asking the same questions and repeating the same script over and over. I think customer service is one of the most difficult jobs there is and if the executives in charge would try it for a day, they would agree and maybe even change some policies. But we know that will never happen and these horrible tactics will continue because they are still making money doing it this way, and not losing enough - even with this bad publicity - to make the change.

    Even though I have high speed with a different company, I still have my AOL account, mainly to keep my long time email address. But I know if the day ever comes to cancel it, I can do it with confidence. For those who still need to cancel their AOL accounts, try mailing a registered, return receipt requested, letter to AOL here:
    AOL
    PO BOX 17100
    Jacksonville, FL 32245-7100

    In addition, fax the same request to 1-703-433-7283.

    Just keep this legal junk in mind. If you miss one thing they won't cancel the account. And keep copies for yourself as well.

    From the AOL website:
    "If you choose to write or fax us, please include a brief note stating the nature of your request, the primary billing contact's full name, phone number, address and handwritten signature.
    In addition to that, for account security purpose please provide any one of the following:

    -The master screen name of the AOL account
    -The last four digits of the current method of payment (for your security, please include only the last four digits)
    -The answer to the account security question of the master screen name.

    Cancellation will take effect within 72 hours of receipt of your request and AOL will send you a written confirmation. Please note that AOL LLC reserves the right to charge and collect fees, surcharges or costs incurred before your cancellation takes effect."

    Hopefully this helps any other members who are having trouble with this. Last thing to keep in mind - large corporations are brutal and willing to do almost anything to keep their customers. They will lie, cheat, and steal and somehow justify it later in apologies and PR statements. Customers shouldn't have to put up with it, but try not to take it out on the CSR who is doing their job. Respectful persistance goes a long way in getting what you want.
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    Hi VIncent,
    I'm so glad you are bringing this to everyone's attention. That "zero policy" they talk about in their "apology" is bull, though. My friend tried to cancel and the rep actually told her, "I can't do that, I'll get fired if I let you cancel". They were willing to offer her free service to stay!
    It's bad, they're evil and I'm glad you're speaking out. THANK YOU!!
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    Regarding AOL cancellation-
    I had AOL a number of years ago and decided to cancel- I called and spoke with someone and got the account closed- or so I thought. Several months later I noticed that I had charges on my bank account that I didn't know what it was for and so when I checked with the bank they notified me it was AOL. When I called to find out why I was still being charged they told me that my account closure "didn't go through" and that it was my responsibility to monitor my bank account and make sure that the AOL closure was approved. Needless to say I chewed thier ass but when I finally got a manager he refused to refund any of my money for six months of unused service- which was verifiable- and he still fought me on closing the account. He had the audacity to offer me a free month if I would continue using the service and resignup! I told him I planned on selling all my stock that I owned in the company and immediatly did so. Talk about shady business practices.
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    Thank you so much for going public with this. About 5 years ago I cancelled AOL. It took numerous phone calls, and yet they kept charging me. I finally had to cancel the credit card they had on file. Then, they had the nerve to send me to Collections!!
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    Simple solution to this problem as most of these AOL accounts are auto debit from credit cards: contact card issuer and deny charges from AOL then send fax/email notice to AOL to terminat the account. Why spend 20 minutes on the telephone? Very stupid.
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    Question: Do you know how long AIM (AOL instant messenger)has been available for free?
    I just found out last month that it is now free and have been paying for it up to May of this year.
    I tried to cancel my plan 2 years ago and they suggested I keep my AIM for a minimal monthly fee.
    Just wondering...
    Lindsay
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    Vinny!

    I nearly dropped my coffee when I heard/saw the story on MSNBC re: Cancelling with AOL!
    Being with AOL "ONLY for the Dell Promotion" time.... I did NOT LIKE ANY OF THEIR SO-CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE...... No one in Bombay was helpful to me anytime I ever called...

    When I found a GREAT DEAL with AT&T with DSL & Great Support online or telephone.. I TRIED TO CANCEL AOL.... Now.. being that I was unemployed, stressed, anxiety ridden... "I" thought I was overly sensitive YET after hearing your experience.. I am RAGING! These people treated me like DIRT.. I TRIED 3 Times to Cancel...gave up as they made me feel like I was going to be killed after cancelling-- and mostly...HOW DARE I CANCEL "THE FAMOUS AOL"???? I am sad that some friends esp with kids..love AOL with the security features etc... I did eventually CANCEL/TERMINATE with AOL...Complained that I have never ever experienced such a horrendous, demenaing & abusive situation like their customer service & attempts to cancel...

    THANK YOU for getting your experience out there.. You deserve any acknowledgement & interest in your creative works, that you get thru this horrible incident. I regret you had to experience this too.. yet.. I must say I feel a great weight being lifted off my shoulder knowing "I" was NOT the only one who was put thru Hell & Back with AOL ! THEY should be ashamed of themselves!!

    Bravo Vinny!
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    Yep, same thing happened to me three years ago. During winter break my soph year of college I went home and my parents didn't have internet access, so I signed up for the free hours, then cancelled in Jan. Well, I thought I cancelled in Jan, apparently they lost those records. When I finally realized what the coded line on my bank account was the next winter (that was causing overdraft charges on my bank account) I called up AOL and had a lovely 3 hour phone call! Well, needless to say they tried to convince me that the "online professors" would be of great service to me while I was in school. I replied by saying that since I lived in the dorm, my professors were directly across the street from me. Needless to say they continued to try to sell it to me on this point, despite the fact that I told them I had a free high-speed connection that was included in my dorm. Aarrgh. And would they refund my fees since they could see there was no usage on the acct for an entire year. No, of course not, but they would give me a year free starting today (did she not understand that I already had free internet access?) I had to ask at least three times for the cancellation number. And my exit recorded phone call tried to sell me the service again. I definitly tell people not to sign up for AOL when they ask me. I would suggest that everyone who reads this does the same.
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    I had a letter read by Letterman on "viewer mail". I'm sorta famous too....
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    The bottom line is that AOL should shut down his business !!! That is bad customer service; they don't understand or even listen to the customer !!! Do you understand the word "CANCEL"? It's bizarre because when I cancel my AOL account a week ago the person's name was also John. Looks like the all customer reps is named "John" !!!
    Anyways with this kind of strategy AOL you won't last long in this business !
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    Re: The above comment from GB:
    GB is obviously an AOL employee or some similar capacity and is a "clone" of the AOL representative "John" who simply would not listen to you. There must be a lot of them out there.
    Thank you, thank you, thank you for your time and effort to actually document AOL's ridiculous crap and get it out to the public. Do you think AOL would have given you the apology they did if things had not gotten public? Ha! Ha! Ha!
    So..... my question is: Why in the world would anyone ever do any business with AOL?
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    it's about time a class action suite was brought against AOL. I tried and did cancel my daughter's account and then they locked her out of IM! For a teenage girl this was terrible!