So hard to get rid of, no wonder they are #1
Written: Mar 19 '01 (Updated Mar 19 '01)
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Pros: Disks make great frisbees
Cons: PLEEEASE keep us #1!!!
The Bottom Line: Make sure you have a big breakfast before you call the number to cancel your service.
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| Secret_Shopper's Full Review: AOL (America Online) |
You've seen the commercials. You get the disks in the mail. You see those disks attached to magazines, at computer stores, and even on banner ads. Yes AOL is #1, but do you know why?
AOL Hotel: You can check in, but it is hard to leave
Have you ever tried leaving AOL? Sure there are keywords to get you to customer service and also a few phone numbers you can call, but have you ever tried calling them when you are ready to quit? Here's my story...
To Kill an Afternoon
As a computer expert I am called by family and friends to help them with their computers. One Saturday, a friend of mine asked me to get him off of AOL because it was soooo slow and it kept kicking him offline. Now I stopped using AOL after version 3.0 and back then it was REAL hard to quit, so I knew what I was up against. After 1 hour trying to use the online customer service to cancel his subscription I gave up and decided to call the number. After being on hold for 30 minutes someone finally came on the line....and gave me another number to call if I wanted to quit right now because it was the weekend and my friend had used his credit card to pay for a full-year's service in advance. Actually, my friend says they tricked him a while back because when he first signed up he says it gave an "unusual" prompt and that he was billed for another year's service after a year when he started his service one day. Anyway, I am getting off the subject here.
Patience, patience, patience
Still another half-hour goes by on hold waiting for someone to help me cancel my friend's service. Finally someone does come on, I tell them I would like to cancel my service immediately and credit my credit card back the full year's service or at least a prorated amount. I gave him my friend's screen name and credit card number, but instead of doing as I asked he put me on hold "for just one second". Ten minutes later, he came back on the phone. Comment: I wonder if he thought I would give in and just hang up?
Don't try and stop me!
When he came back on the line he first sounded surprised (probably because I did not hang up) and said that he was still processing my refund and decided to come back on the phone to ask me questions like why I wanted to quit. Well I knew these kinds of questions so I was ready for them. I told the guy I was moving to another state, he quickly mentioned that my screen name could be used anywhere in the world, but I cut him off and said that I still wanted to cancel. He then offered me 500 more hours free, plus an opportunity for another few dollars to retain my screen name if I ever decided to come back to AOL. I said no and asked if the refund had finished processing yet, he put me on hold to check.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Lunch is ready!
Now I started at 10am to try to cancel his service and after all this mess the clock was approaching 12pm, luckily I had a big breakfast! Well after the third time on hold I was getting angry. The guy came back on the phone and said there was a problem and that he would have to recheck the refund again...he asked if I would mind being on hold again for a few minutes...you better believe me I said NO!
I get angry
Two hours later and I was no closer canceling my friends service than I was at 10am and this guy wanted me to hold again! NO!! I got downright angry with him and demanded that he keep me on the line while he checked on the refund. He did. But of course during this time he again asked why I wanted to quit and again I told him. He still offered 500+ hours free, but I again cut in and told him that I did not need AOL anymore. I added a phony saying that the company I was going to work for in the new state was paying for my DSL access from home so I did not need AOL. After that he stopped bugging me to stay with AOL.
We're in the home stretch
It's 1pm and my ear hurts from the phone being up to my ear for two hours. Finally, the refund happens and I get to hang up, but is this the end of the story? No because three days later my friend gets a letter (and disk) in the mail from AOL asking to sign-up again and that they kept his screen name just in case. Oh, and they offered him 700 free hours too. Did he take it? No.
Uninstall
After the phone call, I spent the next 20 minutes cleaning his computer completely of AOL including cleaning out the Registry and all relevant temp folders that AOL set up.
What I learned from all this
AOL should be used by people who know nothing about computers and the internet and don’t mind using their service. My Mom swears by it, but I know how much AOL messes up my computer so I will never use it again, and since Version 5.0 AOL disables features on your computer to prevent you from using other ISP’s.
S.S.
Recommended:
No
Version Number or Year: 5.0
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Epinions.com ID:
Secret_Shopper
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Location: Anytown, U.S.A
Reviews written: 51
Trusted by: 8 members
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