insignificant thoughts - Latest Comments in Appearance #2 From Today

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Raging Ranter — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:26:33 -0000

You do realize of course, that when you talk to a "customer service agent" regarding cancelling your service, you are actually talking to what they call in the industry a "save agent". That's right, "SAVE", as in trying to "save" this account. The IVR menu leads you to a person whom you believe is there to help simply to help you cancel, when in fact you end up talking to a person whose job it is to talk you out of cancelling. Therefore, AOL's response is laughable. They may well have fired the employee, but he is nothing but a scapegoat for what is entrenched policy at AOL. I guarantee you he was only carrying out company policy. The only place he might have gone overboard is right at the end, when he told you "some day you'll only realize I was trying to help you..." Other than that, he was carrying out the AOL customer service policy to a T.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Bert Whetstone — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:00:19 -0000

I had AOL for about a year back in the early 90's, and even then they had a bad reputation for the way they handled cancellations. When it came time to cancel, the rep asked me why I was cancelling, and I told him I no longer had a computer nor any plans to own one again. Wasn't much he could argue about with that answer, even though he sounded very surprised.

I saw one comment in here from someone that AOL lied to , saying that in order to continue using AIM they needed to keep paying for their accounts. What a bunch of scumbags AOL are! The AIM service is free, and always has been. You don't even have to use AOL's ad-ridden AIM client to use AIM.

With all the crap AOL has been pulling for years, it's a miracle anybody ever signs up with them.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Ante — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:35:50 -0000

:?
Had the same experience in Sweden, to or three weeks ago, with Viasat. My wife only heard me and thought I was going nuts, repeating the same frase over and over. I will show here this video! Great work!
Best regards
Ante

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Tami — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:17:16 -0000

Bravo to you! I wish I would have taped my experience with AOL. My nightmare occurred on a Saturday afternoon last summer. I called AOL to cancel my account because I also just didn't use it. My CSR whose said his name was Chris was nice at first, but then after a couple of minutes says to me "I know what's going on here", I respond, "Oh really?" "and what might that be?" He claimed I was canceling because I was going through a divorce or a break-up and was just doing this out of anger. I exploded. No remaining calm like you did. I told him what nerve he had and that I wasn't even married and sorry, but he was wrong about the reason. I asked him if he was having a slow day and if this is what they taught in CSR class. In hanging up he just had to get a last little jab in at me, saying, "Well, I hope you BOTH have a nice rest of the day." I was the only one here. Lastly, AOL waited like 2 or 3 months and then they took $25.00 out of my checking account for canceling. Like I would've forgotten about my coversation from hell with Chris.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Mirchiss — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:02:04 -0000

Must say that the timer is a bit of a scam. It at allready runs on 2mins when the whole video has played for 1min but

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Teri — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 12:47:53 -0000

Great idea, Brian. I'm going to do the same!!!!

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Brian — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 12:17:13 -0000

I have forwarded a link to this website to everyone in my address book who has an AOL address. I included an offer of my assistance in helping them cancel AOL as well as finding a different ISP. We went out with some friends last night and discussed this AOL hell. They currently have AOL and I am going to their house on Monday with a Ethernet cable to meet the local broadband company. Not only will they get away from the crappy dial-up service which they struggle with every time the try to get on line, they will have a much faster connection and AOL loses another $24 a month. This will be the 5th person I have converted. I will keep going from here until everyone I know or meet drops AOL. I am also going to see my shrink, because I think I may be a little OCD.:lol:

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

I H8 AOL 2 — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:02:57 -0000

Sorry that I posted this in another group as well, but I just wanted to let you know, like you didn't already know, that you are not alone.

I cancelled my account, or tried to, about two months ago. After BS-ing with the guy forever, I gave up and took the free month they offered, thinking I would come back and cancel when I had more time to deal with these tools. That was my second mistake, the first being when I subscribed to AOL.

I am in the navy, so my ship went out to sea, and came back just before my time would be up to cancel. I got home pretty late, but made my call at just after 11pm, well before the 12-o-clock deadline, but I was wrong. Apparently the number I called to cancel was based in another time zone, and therefor I was "late" and was charged an additional month's worth of service.

I pled, not no avail, to have this refunded, and apparently no one has any span of control over these things. I guess AOL, in their infinite knowledge only gives these phone retards the power to grant a free month of service. After about an hour of me arguing about how I was not 20 minutes late, I gave up and went to bed. A week later, I receive a letter from AOL stating that "[I] would not receive any more charges after the 19th", so I felt the issue had been resolved. That was until the 23rd when my account WAS charged.

So, I proceeded to call their "customer service reps" to defend my case. Their answer was the typical legalistic, "the letter was sent before the draft went through"-type answer. I argued that I knew when the letter was postmarked, and when the transaction had occurred, but no mountain of evidence could help my case. I was ensured that I would not receive any MORE charges and that my account was cancelled, and I hung up in disgust.

I hope that AOL is proud of themselves for having milked another month's worth of payment from me over being 20 minutes late to cancel. I hope the 20 or 30 dollars for them was worth all of the negative publicity I would ensure they got. I have done nothing since then but bash AOL to anyone who will listen. The service is garbage. The people are garbage. Their practices are abhorable. They will be broke before they know it if they continue with this course of business. They think their little checklists of high-pressure, annoying tactics are bull, and they should be required to cancel accounts with NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I shouldn't have to prove my damn case as to why the service sucks and I want high speed or whatever. I hope AOL takes a substantial hit in the pocketbook from all of the negative publicity, and I will see to it that I do everything in my power to help that along.

As far as your comments with CNN about "did you feel bad the guy lost his job", yes it was his fault, BUT, he was following AOL's policies and tactics. If they disagree, they are just lying even more. If it was not their policy to harass, then so many people would not have the SAME STORY. I applaud you on your efforts and hope you can help bring all of this down.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Marty — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:01:38 -0000

Are you dying to get away from AOL? In 1994, I tried to cancel my uncle's AOL account. He had just passed away, which I told "Evelyn" at AOL. She insisted that he might still want to keep the account. I explained, as patiently as I could, that I didn't think so. She just wouldn't let me cancel, so I finally agreed to keep the account open for 3 more months at no charge, but they charged anyway. Another rep finally canceled the account (amazing!!!), but I am still awaiting a $23 refundâ€šÃ„Â¶and waitingâ€šÃ„Â¶and waitingâ€šÃ„Â¶.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

christopher — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 08:42:10 -0000

I know what you mean man I try to cancel my aol acct but i was on the line with there asshole for 30 min i know what vinny is felling AOL have relley bad servies i hate AOL:evil:

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Quin Child — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 22:09:35 -0000

The absolute best way to buy any on line service is to use a virtual credit card. You set the expiration date and the limit. I have used this method many many times with great success. The card just stops the credit when ever you want it to.

Outsmart online thieves with virtual credit card numbers.
Several major credit card issuers, including Citibank, are offering customers the option of shopping online with virtual, single-use credit card numbers, which expire within one or two months.

Here are some banks that offer this service...

Just copy and paste the address in the address bar of your browser.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20021011a.asp
http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/tour/cb/shp_van.htm

MBNA also offers this service, a good description is found here...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001679.html

This is the way to go to end online transactions that are hard to cancel.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

aol fun — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 21:39:55 -0000

oh an easy way to cancel, is to claim that you just bought an ISP and make the general statement as to why should i bet with AOL when I have high speed now? infact promote the fact to the rep that they are doing a good job that if they cancel the account now that you would consider hiring them.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Belf!!! — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 21:12:58 -0000

To those who choose to criticize Vinny for his weight/size rather than his tactics in cancelling his AOL account, slinging insults does nothing but make you appear childish. Instead, engage him in a debate. Say something useful. Contribute something to either side of the debate. Criticize his tactics if you want. Agree with him. Disagree with him. Whatever. But please, the mudslinging is just so juvenile it's beyond belief.

P.S. If the best you can come up with is a fat joke or comment, while completely ignoring the subject at hand, it kinda makes whatever you have to say that much less important. (Just givin' ya a heads up on that!)

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Cole — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 20:41:20 -0000

Here's a simple and powerful point: It's rude to try to control a conversation, and especially rude when you are dealing with a customer who simply wants something he is entitled to.

The only way to depose a conversation tyrant is to become confrontational, point out what he is doing, and shift the conversation to the appropriate topic. Subtle hints will work for polite people, but conversation tyrants won't bat an eye. Explicit requests will work for all normal people, but conversation tyrants will manage to resist even those. The only recourse: confrontation. In this case: "Cancel the account. Cancel the account. Cancel the account. Cancel the account."

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Herschel H — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 19:32:45 -0000

Vincent I dont think this was a bold effort on your part to cancel your account through AOL. but to toot your own horn for the publicity. I think you need to do what the other gentleman said and go to the Gym for god sakes. If you were sitting on your fat butt all the time on AOL , then you wouldnt be in the Shape that youre in now....LOL....good luck ...but I dont think you will stir up any trouble other than for your own self.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Heather B — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 16:43:55 -0000

I absolutely hate AOL and this just give me all the more reason to hate them, their software sucks. It's a control freak.

That is so awesome though that you recorded all that. GENIOUS!

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

JC — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 08:46:11 -0000

In response to GABE WILLIAMS posting... you say vinny should have been a little more personable?... somehow I find it hard to keep cool while on ROT HOLD for twenty minutes.... a little more personable?... maybe he should have chatted a little bit?... Can you actually understand what you are saying GABE? You must be a trainer for AOL.... HEAD BRAINWASHER even...a non-grad promised the fast-track and a whopping $22k/yr + "saves" bonuses.... It's morons like you that disgust me... get a grip... you're the same asshole that bitches if the slightest thing is wrong with your meal... you're the asshole that walks into a store 2 minutes before they close....you catching my drift????You're just an ASSHOLE if you want the cliff notes....

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

puffball — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 08:30:38 -0000

after being on and off AOL several times, i finally learned the trick to keeping my sanity:

1) do NOT call to cancel; fax or mail
2) immediately call your bank or credit card and have them make a notation on your acct that you have cancelled AOL and do not authorize any more charges. ask if they want a copy of the fax or letter.
3)if AOL threatens you with collectors, ignore them.

there is v little they can do except put it on your credit report. this scares most people, but no one pays attention to certain things on a credit report: doctor bills, record clubs, AOL. if you have otherwise good credit, it has no effect. lenders know these creditors have bad practices, and don't pay attention to them. plus you have the right to protest anything on your credit report, ie "I cancelled AOL on such-and-such date, but they never stopped billing me."

4)do not let AOL needlessly upset you; do not talk to them. it ain't worth it!

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Brian — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 07:19:17 -0000

I finally talked both my Mom and Mother-in-Law in to cancelling their AOL and going with broadband. They both thank me everytime I see them for getting them away from the horrible service they got from AOL. After reading all of the posts about AOL continuing to bill you after you cancel, I called my Mother-In-Law to make sure she checked her credit card statement. Remarkably, she told me that before she had actually cancelled AOL, she googled the topic. She found all sorts of horror stories about people trying to cancel. So when she called to cancel, the rep asked her why. She simply said that she had to sell her computer due to financial reasons and that she no longer had access to the internet. The rep cancelled her on the spot and she recieved a confirmation letter in the mail. It is sad that a 58 year old woman has to lie to cancel AOL.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Joe — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 04:52:31 -0000

As a person who builds computers part time I can tell you that I NEVER recommend AOL. Half of the repair work I do usually turns out to be some glitch caused by the AOL software or unwanted software that gets loaded on from there ads. When I sell a computer, I make it clear I will not support any problems if a customer loads on AOL. Same thing happened to my father in law. Except after agreeing to cancel the account he kept getting billed and spent even more time getting that staightened out. Thanks

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Karen — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 19:03:57 -0000

I also experienced the same time of treatment as Vincent. My rep's name was Greg and was as obnoxious as the last guy sitting in a bar at closing time. We went round and round about the software not working on my old Mac. After a good 15 minutes of flat out arguing with this jerk I finally got my request handled. A week later I received a letter from AOL showing my account had been closed PER THE RECORDED CONVERSATION WITH BARBARA. Two years later I'm still receiving their pleas to reinstate my service and the junk software CDs to go with it. Thanks for speaking for all of us!

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Carrie — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 17:10:22 -0000

same here, I had to beg them to close my account and plead with them, they didnt listen to me at all and they were trying ANYTHING for me to keep the account, I thought it was cancelled until I got my credit card bill they kept charging me, I called aol and my cc which removed the charges for a few days then put them back on siding with AOL!! This went on for about 4-5 months, each month aol charged me even though I stopped using them, I finally had to close that credit card and open a new one. I would rather never use the internet again if there were only AOL. Screw aol. I would NEVER go back to them, they are pure evil, they are the devil. They have no ethics. Screw them all.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Alison — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 16:38:13 -0000

I think its AOL policy, not the representative. I have the experience where they kept telling me, but what is the problem you're having, when I said none that I just wanted to cancel, they said let me give you another 30 days of free trial, I said NO, still the account was not cancelled, it took us more than 3 months of trys everytime we got the bill.... THANKS for bringing this to the media. There should be a class action against them for this.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

ToniRose — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 16:34:19 -0000

Well the words were practically the same. My guy was
John too. Only my John seemed more threatening.
I asked to speak to a supervisor and he said "NO".
As I remember I ended the call telling him that I considered my account closed. I also asked him if it made him happy using these tactics and his
response was yes.
I called back a little later knowing I'd get another agent, and asked for a supervisor and again the answer was "NO". I told him my account should have been canceled, he said it was. I got a letter that it was closed about a week later.
A lot uglier then this episode.

Re: Appearance #2 From Today

Joseph — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 16:29:37 -0000

I myself have had a lot of problems with canceling with aol. Except after i finally thought my cancelation was done it wasnt... They continued to bill me for three months without my knowledge and then i got a letter in the mail telling me that they are going to get a collection agency after me if i didnt pay. (which by the way i never did) just my thoughts. awsome work with recording the call.