August 30th, 2005
Even the Dead Cannot Cancel Their AOL Accounts
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
I actually tried to cancel my AOL account and it took three hours only to find out that I had a free account from my days at CNET. The woman on the phone said “now why would you want to cancel something that’s free?” She had a point and so I still have my account. (How much do you want to bet the goons at AOL will yank it now - oh the irony!) Here’s an interesting piece from the NY Times on how even the dead cannot cancel their accounts:
‘”THREE years ago my brother died (officially missing, presumed dead - no death certificate),” wrote an anonymous contributor last week at gripe2ed.com, a consumer complaint Web log. “At that time I was able to cancel his credit card, gas, insurance - everything except his AOL account.”
“It seems that America Online, not entirely irrationally, needed a screen name and other account information to properly cancel the subscription - something this consumer, under the circumstances, did not have handy. Collection notices for payments past due soon followed. The consumer was not amused. “Maybe other people have resorted to faking death in order to get out of their AOL accounts?”‘ Source: NY Times
David Johnston says:
My grandfather tried to cancel his AOL account after getting SBC Yahoo DSL this summer (much faster AND cheaper!). They offered him 3 months free to stay and basically wouldn’t take no for an answer, so now he’s got 3 months free. He’s going to cancel (or at least try to) in September though. I think it’s horrible how they try to take advantage of people who just want to cancel their AOL accounts.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:10 am
Kathy Mac Donald says:
My mother (age seventy-two, NOT mentally compromised)recently decided to join the computer age.
Since the family is spread throughout the country, we all looked forward to mom getting on line.
She purchased a SCREAMIN’ new laptop on a GREAT deal from a reputable company.
Her “package” came with an AOL account “pre-established” on her new computer.
Despite NUMEROUS attempts to get shed of AOL, establishing accounts with other providers, and even abandoning her cable-modem for dial-up - AOL INSISTS on being her connection, over-riding all attempts to circumvent connecting through them.
Despite coming with the AOL pre-installed, there is apparently NO UN-INSTALL for AOL offered anywhere in her system.
If one DELETES ALL AOL FILES, they mystically reappear and again seem to over-ride all other attempts to connect to an alternate ISP…
OF COURSE, they continue to bill her, as she “still has their service”…
She’s totally disgusted and frustrated, and ready to throw her fancy, expensive new computer over the hill…
If this is not a CRIME, it certainly should be…
August 30th, 2005 at 4:24 pm
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Even the Dead Cannot Cancel Their AOL Accounts
I actually tried to cancel my AOL account and it took three hours only to find out that I had a free account from my days at CNET. The woman on the phone said “now why would you want to cancel something that’s free?” She had a point and so I still h…
August 30th, 2005 at 4:48 pm
Vic Pelletier says:
I have a lifetime membership with AOL and I get 5 hours a month free. I never use AOL because I have a broadband ISP and a more direct web connection. I only use AOL for my email address, because it is free, and I never have to worry about losing it. The only downside I can see is that people might think I’m a ‘newbie’ because they think I’m paying > $20 per month for email, when in reality I’m not paying a dime.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
Bill Neubert says:
If I had a new computer with AOL on it, I would reformat the hard drive and then reinstall the OS. If I found I could not do this, I would take the HD out and install a new one, purchase a new OS and install it. If I wasn’t capable of doing it myself, I would take it to a good computer store and pay them to do it. NO WAY would I ever pay AOL anything. I would rather pay a tech to do what I suggested above.
August 31st, 2005 at 6:49 am
Diane T says:
AOL is not dubbed AOHell for naught ! Folks need to understand that the ONLY way to get thru to AOL is to put their cancellation request IN WRITING. Further, you need to send all correspondence to AOL certified, return, receipt requested so that you have proof you sent it and proof that AOL received it. Phone calls will get you nowhere and you’ll only be confronted with their ‘customer service’ people who will wheedle and cajole you into keeping their stinking service.
I had a Compuserve account for many years. In the early days, Compuserve was a good service - until AOL took over. With greater availablity of everything on the internet, I finally called AOL to cancel my Compuserve account (this was around 1997). As others have noted, the rep just would not shut up and just do as I asked, he had to keep arguing and cajoling to get to me keep a completely worthless account ! I finally had to get nasty and told him that Compuserve was outdated and useless to me, it contained NOTHING that could not be found in a thousand places on the web for free (my account was a pay as you use it type). I had to tell him to just stop arguing with me and cancel the freakin’ account - permanently. He finally capitulated and did as I asked (I thought). I hate being rude, but sometimes you have to plow thru them to get your point across.
Unfortunately, that was NOT then end of it. Surprise, surprise - they did NOT cancel the account that day. I had to call them yet again. I refused to speak with a phone drone rep and demanded to speak to a supervisor, which I finally got. I repeated my request for cancellation and told the guy up front that I was NOT going to put up with any of their sales nonsense, I had no use for their ’service’ and I wanted it permanently cancelled and I wanted it immediately. This time it worked, but I made sure that I also followed up this last call with a WRITTEN request/demand for cancellation. It was finally GONE.
You can’t give up, go up the chain of command if you have to and get an address to send a written cancellation notice.
To remove AOL from a machine it has to be literally ripped out at its roots in the registry and the AOL networking entries removed manually. This process is not for the pc newbie, mucking with the registry can be dicey, so make sure you get a knowlegeable tech to do the ’surgery’.
August 31st, 2005 at 6:58 am
Elie Yehuda says:
Send a certified letter to the company you bought the laptop from demanding they send someone out to remove the offending AOL operating system. Advise them tha if they fail to do this, you will file a criminal trespass complaint against them. Send AOL a registered letter advising that their program is trespassing on your laptop and that you are going to charge them $100 a month rental for your hard disk space until they can remove it.
Hopefully one or the other will respond. Keep us posted by issuing press releases on your programm thru the PR Newswire.
Good Luck!
August 31st, 2005 at 10:35 am
R. Vail says:
MR Tech AOL Cleaner 1.1
http://www.mrtech.com/news/messages/4617.html
August 31st, 2005 at 10:49 am
Mikey says:
There you go. Pose a decent question, get a decent answer.
And never trust Steve Jobs, Alice. He only wants your soul,
for obvious reasons.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:57 pm
nathan says:
simple refuse to pay them. after u told them to cancel i like the 100 $$ rrental fee. 1 up file the commpliant with yr states attorney at law that should put u on even footing with them “assholes of hell”. i didrefuse to pay them after awhile they did send an envolope of a bill with the option cancelling.
August 31st, 2005 at 2:06 pm
sean says:
i found aol not to terribly difuicult to deal with as i moved soon around the same time, but it still did take several months, even after i was already paying for a new isp. but simply the easiest way is to unleach a pmsing woman on them thats what i did and brain dead losers one the phone actually cancelled it
August 31st, 2005 at 2:46 pm
CP says:
I am a computer tech and yes I see this stupid thing on almost all new computers I help set up for people.
It’s a B!ic4 to get rid of and you have to reboot for one of the removals… and to date I have not yet seen one person that actually even uses AOL. 2 nights ago on a 5 day old Dell… there it was 3 different instances of the same or similar program, and one or two of them running on a fresh reboot. Looked more like virus activity than an ISP! I see a CD marked AOL… I grab it, I bend it over a garbage can until it snaps and little pieces fly everywhere… it’s a great feeling.
August 31st, 2005 at 8:16 pm
gutierrez says:
when you take the time to play with the customize computer function on the dell website, you at one time, had the choice of earthlink or AOL. now i’m not so sure you have that choice anymore. i would choose no ISP, if earthlink wasn’t available. (i liked earthlink, and it was cheaper if you have USAA insurance) so… yeah, that’s my take on it.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:15 pm
Druhm says:
I worked on a Help Desk for a year providing updates for the public at large. AOL frequently prevented folks from even being able to access the site to get the updates. The only recourse was to wipe the disk because of registry and system files that could be gotten rid of no other way.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:53 pm
Dale says:
I think the best way to discontinue is to notify your credit card company (after you’ve told AOL you wish to discontinue) that you do not wish to make any more payments after a certain date. Any charges after that would be fraudulent. AOL may continue service for awhile, but after they realize they cannot collect payment, they will drop the service. If they send threatening letters, ignore them.
September 3rd, 2005 at 7:13 am
andy says:
after reading all of your comments it’s made me realize you have to wonder what kind of people are submitting these comments? Maybe things can be done and taken care of if you realize the reality of canceling an acct. with a providing company that if you truley feel like that particular service will not benefit you in having it then you should be able to set aside the time and really convince the provider that you don’t want the service. With facts and making the consultants realize that you have done your research and find that their service is not what you want rather that just telling them..”CANCEL MY FREAKING ACCT!” Maybe the fact that your respecting another human being you’ll get respect back and they will acknowledge your request for cancelation. Nothing gets done with disrespect or in one minutes time! Realize the reality and deal with it!
September 8th, 2005 at 12:05 pm
heretic says:
First of all, aol is not an OS (operating system), but rather it is a “program”. AOL comes pre-installed on many of the new computers out there, but this doesn’t mean it’s “tresspassing” on your computer… As for aol highjacking peoples computer and taking over their connection… I hate to tell you this folks, but that isn’t an issue with aol, it’s a USER problem.
At some point or another, you were given a windows popup asking “would you like aol to be your default connection?” and YOU accepted that. It’s quite simple to prevent this… A child could do it. Just go into add/remove programs and delete ALL copies of aol from the computer… Yes I know… It’s amazing, but you are actually the one that is ultimately in control of your computer… I guess for most of you tho, it’s easier to feel helpless and paranoid and go on believing that aol has taken over your computer. So much easier to make someone/something else responsible for your problems instead of using your brain.
September 13th, 2005 at 1:36 am
heretic says:
You know it’s pretty sad when so many people are so fearful and paranoid over an ISP because of *their own* ignorance.
YOU are repsonsible for your computer and what programs are on it and how they are used… and YOU are responsible for keeping track of what is being billed to your bank account/credit cards.
As far as cancelling accts goes… Aol requires certain acct information to verify that you have authority to cancel said acct. It’s really not that hard… usually it’s the name and address on the acct…they may need a screen name as well. It would STUPID beyond belief if aol just took “your word for it” when you say your cancelling the acct on behalf of a deceased loved one. If they were that trusting, then how easy would it be for jilted lovers to call in and cancel their ex’s accts using that story? Or what about angry students wanting to get back a teacher? Or the frustrated employee getting even with their boss?
And as for these living people who claim that aol wont cancel their accts… BULL! Call the cancellations department, write them at their cancellations PO box, or send them a fax… They will cancel your acct if you can verify the information… If they say something to you about you having free months on your acct, or offer you free months, just stand your ground and refuse and ask for your cancellation confirmation number. But just because you decided to stop using it doesn’t mean your acct is cancelled.
September 13th, 2005 at 1:56 am
csv says:
When will people learn to just stop using AOL? Even if it’s free. Why involve yourself with someone you know doesn’t handle customer service nicely?
November 4th, 2005 at 11:36 am
Jerry G. says:
It Took me a year and a half months and numerous tries to get an aol account cancelled for my poor mother,after aol bled her for a year and a half, I finally found the one thing that aol is afraid of.. and.. I swear it works in an instant! so to save yourself lots of money, from aol’s on-going billing charges that they deduct from your bank account, email me and I’ll let you in on something that works really fast.
My Email address is… jg21x@msn.com
November 28th, 2005 at 8:38 pm
phentermine says:
phentermine
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May 18th, 2006 at 9:53 am
Rajiv Kumaran says:
Follow the link below to delete/transfer material from AOL
http://www.trueswitch.com/help.htm
September 18th, 2007 at 8:45 am
jacob koontz says:
I wanted a free 90 day trial
and had to give my credit
card number. I haven’t been
able to use the AOL always
get cut off or something goes
wrong. I was having a problem
with my present server and
they have resolved it. I can’t
get aol service so I don’t want
it but friends say I will be
billed anyway after the 90 days
I have no one to write to or
phone. We are retired and up
in years 76 and I don’t need
to hassel with the card company. Is there anyway
out of this mess?
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:48 pm