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Increasingly Poor Dialup Service.
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VERO BEACH, FLORIDA -- I've had AOL for almost 9 years. I've been fairly pleased with their 'idiot proof' type of interface and, until they farmed out their tech support, with their help service. I stopped upgrading at 8.0 plus because I got too many complaints about 9.0 and the guys who built my computer warned me not to run it if I wanted a fast system. However, increasingly my internet surfing is slow, I keep getting dropped, the browser will mysteriously not browse, causing me to close and restart and my video players load much slower and often will not work right.

I understand that AOL has stopped pushing the dialup service, but now I'm beginning to wonder if they're deliberately slowing it down to force customers to get DSL or cable. I've examined their assorted offerings for DSL and cable - but all mention the 'special starting price' which goes up to the 'current price' after 6 months, but never list what it will be. On the cable, it is unclear if AOL will be charged along with the cable fee or separately. If separately, it's more costly.

I'm on a fixed income. I don't like being jerked around. I dumped the AOL provided McAfee virus scan, which clogged up my system and installed a cheaper, better one recommended by my computer guys. As I was searching for different providers, I discovered that AOL's personal filing cabinet and Favorite Places are on priority software - meaning you can't copy them to your desktop and use another browser. (I managed to download a bookmark manager which allows me to store and open them, but I have to copy and paste each one into the browser because it will not connect with the AOL version of IE6.)

Plus, for some reason, it now takes forever for AOL to close when I want to shut my system down. I remember when it used to be quite fast. I like all of the bells and whistles AOL has, but if I'm going to have to switch to DSL or cable, chances are I'll select another ISP. Besides, I don't like the idea of paying almost $100 a month for cable service. That price is a prime example of fleecing the public because they can (the cable provider, that is).

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A Serious Security Breach at AOL resolved
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KINGSTON, PENNSYLVANIA -- I had an account with AOL and I cancelled it. A short time after that a friend of mine noticed that someone was on AOL using my screen name and account with my personal pictures and all at different times of the day and night. I called AOL customer service and got the call this number, call that number, talk to this person. What was sort of amusing but yet was not funny, was when I would call their customer service number and talk to their agent, he or she would argue with me and say, "No sir, your account has been cancelled. It is not possible for you to be online with your AOL account." I would then instruct them to go online and see for themselves.

After a brief period of time, they would come back on the line and tell me that indeed someone was online with my account. I was told that the problem would be resolved within 24 hours. I went through this scenario a couple of times and after that I had had enough so I contacted the CEO's office at AOL, spoke with someone in his office, faxed and emailed them my information and informed them that if my problem was not resolved within 72 hours I would contact people I know at every level of the federal and state government.

Also I would have to contact an attorney to protect my interests if anything happened to me as a result of this person being on line with my screen name and account. Needless to say whoever was using my screen name and account was no longer on AOL within 12 hours after my contact with the CEO's office. My complaint was resolved to my satisfaction as a result of my contact with the CEO's office.

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AOL Refuse to cancel services and then puts fraudulent information on your credit report
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BLUEMONT -- I have been trying to cancel my AOL service for almost a year now. I finally had to close my bank account and open a new one because AOL would not stop taking money out of my account. Now I have an AOL rep calling me 5 times a day at work, on my cell phone before during and after work. The total amount of calls I received a day from AOL is about 15-20 calls. They call my phone constantly. I even received a call at my home last Saturday morning at 8:30. This woke my entire house including my children. THIS HAS TO STOP. I advised AOL that they could put whatever they want on my credit report because I will dispute it. Still the phone calls have not stopped.

What do I do? These people are rude and nasty. They interrupt you when you are speaking and half the time, they don't even speak English! I will make it my life's mission to make sure that no one else goes through this with this company! AOL should be shut down and its executives lock in prison for life for Fraud.

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Only Solution to AOL Billing Scam - Terminate Credit Card
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I complained about AOL a few days ago. This is the follow-up. Everyone was right. The only way to stop the crazy AOL billing is to terminate the credit card and get a new card with a different number. After I thought AOL truly understood that my account was terminated months ago, they bill me AGAIN. I cut my losses and called my bank to have a new debit card issued. The bank rep asked why I was requesting a new card. When I told her it was due to AOL charges she replied that she gets lots of calls from customers terminating credit cards/debit cards to escape AOL.

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AOL billing services
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Beware of AOL billing services. Internet services is OK but watch out when you terminate services. My computer broke so I had no way to connect to the internet. I called AOL to terminate services. The AOL rep gave me the hard sell... Offering all kinds of options to keep me as a customer. I kept explaining, "I have no computer". About three months after I had terminated services a $23.90 charge appeared on my checking account.

It took 30 minutes with two AOL reps (apparently located in India) to clear up the situation. One of the agents kept implying that the $23.90 charge appeared because I had asked for a temporary suspension of my account, not a permanent one. I got my $$ back but will not use AOL again. It's not worth the aggravation.

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Poor Service, Slow Speed
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For the past few months I've been using Netscape ISP. None of the telephone numbers they provided me are V92 modem capable. Many times the connect speed is 33 kbps and sometimes even lower than that. About one time in ten I am able to connect at 40 kbps (which is still slower than Walmart Connect). Now for the bad news. When I tried to cancel my service on Oct 3rd, 2005 the operator I spoke with told me that a confirmation letter would be mailed to me. Instead of cancelling the service I received a confirmation of continued service.

I called back in only to have a wait time of over 20 minutes. Netscape's web page comments on the possibility of being charged after the cancellation date. If that happens then a person only has to call Billing for a refund - IF YOU CAN GET THROUGH TO BILLING. I don't recommend this service and whatever you do, don't sign up for their 30-day free trial. You will need 30 days to cancel it.

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Auto Updater and Long Distance Charges
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GRIFFITH, INDIANA -- AOL is quickly moving up on my "Garbage Companies" list. Here's my problem... I have AOL 9.0 Optimized. Last month, AOL did an Auto Updated to my system and forced me into AOL SE. Now. After the auto update was complete, I had to pick a new access number (dial-up). So I entered my area code. Lo and behold my old local number was not listed. I tried it again. Still nothing. My boyfriend called and asked what the deal was and was told by Tech Support that those were the only numbers to choose from.

Okay. Thinking that these are now my new local numbers, I picked the one that was closest to my home. Bravo, it worked. So we went on using AOL and dialing up for the entire month of June. Here comes July. I get my phone bill and nearly had a heart attack!!! My long distance (AT&T) bill is over $2000!!! Right away I called AT&T up and asked what the deal was. I never call anyone long distance (my bill is usually less than $10 bucks). They looked it up and said that they were valid calls.

Now I'm even more upset, and even go so far as to accuse my boyfriend of calling some chick long distance. He looked over the number and instantly recognized it as the number AOL uses to dial-up. I then call AOL (in New Delhi, India) and after navigating the menu I finally get someone in billing. She tells me that they are only charging me $23.90 for the service. Then she transfers me to Tech. Support. "Armando" hears my complaint and pretty much tells me it's my fault and that I'll have to pay the bill. I demand to speak to his supervisor/manager. "Armando" hung up on me.

What do I do now? I've called AOL's corporate office and got no answer. My next step is the BBB and from there a lawyer. I don't think I should have to pay for AOL's auto update screw up. Any suggestions? Help? Has this happened to anyone else???

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Cancellation of AOL service
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GEORGIA -- I do not believe what I just went through while trying to cancel my account by phone at AOL. The person I was talking to ended up being unbelievably rude. At first things were OK. She asked my why and to which ISP I was switching. She kept giving me reasons to stay with AOL and I kept telling her that I had studied the situation and decided to go with another company. She kept hassling me to stay with AOL and I told her I did not want to discuss it anymore because I had made up my mind but she started talking back to me.

I am shaking so badly that I can hardly type this letter. She kept bringing up stuff and trying to make me feel stupid. This went on for several minutes and she would not acknowledge that my account was cancelled so I hung up and ended up canceling by letter. This is totally unacceptable. I wrote a letter to management about this but they never apologized for the bad experience.

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Unauthorized Charges on my Bank Account
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I used to think that AOL was a great ISP until about a year ago. I have put numerous Corporate Blocks against this company with my bank and they still seem to get through to put false charges on my account. According to my bank, even if I put a block on, all AOL has to do is resubmit the charge again and change just 1 number in their billing code. 1 NUMBER is all it takes and they are able to bypass the block!

In the last 6 months alone I have contacted AOL directly regarding charges on my mom's credit card and my bank account and to no avail have I been able to change this. They just charged me again on my bank account for their regular service yet when I try to log in I'm told that it is an unknown account or no longer active. They receive payment against my wishes and they block me from utilizing their online services. I tried to cancel my service with them and they never did it and now that I want to get into it, they block me from having access yet they have my money.

They charged us for AOL Voicemail that we cancelled almost 10 months ago, every month, and I have to file disputes with the credit card company and my bank. I thought changing the credit card on our account for billing of basic AOL would help my mom so it wouldn't show up on her credit card since that company is having problems with the dispute. Now I am constantly calling and emailing my bank to dispute these charges. They also charge me every month for AOL Netmarket. I've never even been to that site!

When I call to speak to their billing dept I end up getting someone who doesn't speak very good English because they're in INDIA! So AOL not only likes to screw people because they think (or maybe they just are) invincible, but they outsource too so you can't even get an AMERICAN to help you with the problems you're having with AMERICA online. My next step, I am currently looking for an attorney to file a lawsuit against this company. They want to take my money against my wishes then I'm going to attempt to take theirs through court.

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1.0 out of 5, based on 4 ratings and
114 reviews & complaints.
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