topic Re: AOL in Community Chat

AOL

Kachina624 — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 22:59:31 GMT

This is a rant...I'm so mad at AOL, I can't hardly see straight. I've used them as my ISP since I got my first computer almost 20 years ago. I've always dreaded having to call India and speak to one of their barely-English-speaking CSRs. Last night I was on the phone with a guy for over an hour as he tried to fix my problem. When he was unsucessful, he just hung up on me. I've had this happen several times before.

My problem? They decided I had too large a backlog of undeleted old emails so they locked me out. They could have saved us both a lot of grief if they'd just told me to delete a bunch.

I've washed my hands of them, although at great inconvenience.

Rant over.

Re: AOL

tansy — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:02:41 GMT

Yikes. What a pain that's going to be to change out your email addy to family, friends and businesses. Maybe you can call back and speak to a supervisor?

Re: AOL

chickenbutt — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:05:47 GMT

Gadzooks! I'd be mad too. Seems like, if there were a limit, they would send out some kind of auto-email when you were getting close to that limit - in the very least. To just lock you out without notice doesn't seem right to me, at all.

Don't even get me started on the 'they hung up on me when they couldn't fix my problem' part. That's pretty effed up.

Re: AOL

CelticCrafter — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:08:21 GMT

I didn't think anyone paid for AOL anymore.

That's the only way you get customer service.

Re: AOL

missy1 — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:29:57 GMT

You have to pay 4.99/month to talk to them. I cancelled. Been a member since the dinosaur age. I still have their mail, just not paid.

Re: AOL

Mz iMac — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:30:35 GMT

@CelticCrafter wrote:
I didn't think anyone paid for AOL anymore.

Actually it is. I was shocked to read the OP is still paying for something that is FREE!!!! Then I read this OLD article which states in part:

"AOL has just 4 million subscribers. But here is the kicker—those people are still paying."

"AOL.com, of course, is free. It used to be a pay service, but has been free for years. You can access the AOL.com, read all of its content, and check your aol.com e-mail without paying a dime. If you already pay for an account, however, AOL will continue to bill you. And evidently, that makes AOL a LOT of money."

"'[M]any of [AOL's subscribers] are older people who have cable or DSL service but don't realize that they need not pay an additional twenty-five dollars a month to get online and check their e-mail. "The dirty little secret," a former AOL executive says, "is that seventy-five per cent of the people who subscribe to AOL's dial-up service don't need it"

FULL STORY

OP IS GETTING RIPPED OFF!!!!!!

Re: AOL

momtochloe — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:37:19 GMT

@Mz iMac wrote:
@CelticCrafter wrote:
I didn't think anyone paid for AOL anymore.

Actually it is. I was shocked to read the OP is still paying for something that is FREE!!!! Then I read this OLD article which states in part:
"AOL has just 4 million subscribers. But here is the kicker—those people are still paying."

"AOL.com, of course, is free. It used to be a pay service, but has been free for years. You can access the AOL.com, read all of its content, and check your aol.com e-mail without paying a dime. If you already pay for an account, however, AOL will continue to bill you. And evidently, that makes AOL a LOT of money."

"'[M]any of [AOL's subscribers] are older people who have cable or DSL service but don't realize that they need not pay an additional twenty-five dollars a month to get online and check their e-mail. "The dirty little secret," a former AOL executive says, "is that seventy-five per cent of the people who subscribe to AOL's dial-up service don't need it"

FULL STORY

OP IS GETTING RIPPED OFF!!!!!!

They made it extremely difficult to switch to their free service and made it equally as confusing. I think they actually got sued in the UK for fraud. I am not surprised to hear there are still people paying for something that is free.

Re: AOL

Beth-QVC — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:49:29 GMT

This post has been removed by QVC because it is inappropriate

Re: AOL

AliJoi5 — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:57:29 GMT

@Kachina624 I must tell you, I feel your pain. How frustrating! So sorry for your aggravation, but I'm glad the issue is resolved.

I had a similar problem with Paypal last year. When they first started offering their speed check out, it kept turning on without my changing my settings. And when it's on, it uses Paypal credit by default. I kept turning it off in my settings because I didn't want to use the line of credit. I wanted to use my cc. This happened over and over. I'd turn it off; it would turn back on without notification during checkout. So I kept accruing these charges on the line of credit. argh! I called several times to have them resolve the issue, but I kept getting foreign reps, and it was clear they had no idea how to handle the situation. They were reading off of a manual and searching keywords, but there must not have been a protocol for this particular issue at that time, and they clearly didn't understand my dilemma. Of course, after a half hour of back and forth, I would be disconnected and have to start all over again. I don't want it to sound like I'm coming down on these folks for their language skills. Hey, they can speak English better that I can speak Hindi! lol It's not their fault... just trying to make a living. What ticked me off was that Paypal was outsourcing their CS because they're greedy. Anyway, I eventually spoke with a manager here in the US who told me that Paypal kept turning that feature on because they want you to use the line of credit. Naturally, it benefits them if you do. Nice huh?! She fixed the problem and it never happened again. I have noticed lately though that whenever I call, the rep is domestic. Must have been lots of complaints!!

Anyway, back to you! I just had to piggyback on your rant.

Re: AOL

moto — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:17:40 GMT

Note that the original comment was this is her ISP (Internet Service Provider). That service is not free - it is how she connects her computer to the internet. The AOL email service is free, however, and you can keep the email address even when you discontinue the ISP service. I kept mine and have it auto forwarded to my gmail address.

Pro-tip, try to use an email that is not connected to your internet service provider. That way you can change providers and not have the hassel of trying to decide what to do about changing email addresses.

Re: AOL

chickenbutt — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:16:56 GMT

Moto wrote:
Note that the original comment was this is her ISP (Internet Service Provider). That service is not free - it is how she connects her computer to the internet. The AOL email service is free, however.

That's how I saw it but I figured I must have been confused, since everybody else thought that the ISP was free, as well as having free type email.

Re: AOL

sunshine45 — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:24:21 GMT

when aol became free i quickly cancelled my service but still continued to use aol for my email and homepage. i also have a few other emails that are not attached to aol at all. i do believe it is much better to use an isp/internet provider that has a physical office to go to in case of problems, especially if there are equipment and service problems.

Re: AOL

foundinlv — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:29:43 GMT

Alijoi5....my husband has had the same problems with paypal. Whenever he buys something from an auction site now, he sends in a money order.

Re: AOL

Kachina624 — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 01:50:33 GMT

@AliJoi5 Ali, I think a lot of people had a similar problem with PayPal because the got their hand slapped pretty hard by some federal agency.

I had signed up for a Gmail account some time ago but never used it. I rolled it out last night. Whenever someone sends me an email to my AOL addy, it's returned to them as undeliverable. Maybe I'll get rid of some spam.

Re: AOL

AliJoi5 — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 02:21:27 GMT

Wow, really?? I did not know that. GOOD!!!

Re: AOL

missy1 — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 13:55:05 GMT

I just looked it up. Aol does not provide high speed internet services, and only limited dial up.

Is the op talking about her aol mail?

Re: AOL

Havarti — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 17:51:12 GMT

Oh dear...I am probably guilty of the same offense. How many messages did they consider to be too many messages saved? Is there a magic number of messages that suddenly make you a message hoarder?