AOL complaints in Florida

See AOL's retention policy for yourself!

This site contains the detailed training manual for AOL customer service reps who work to retain customers. You will note that it's very sanitized, but that does not disguise their strategy of persistence and of beating the customer down.

In addition, in the very beginning they provide statistics for positive outcomes on several measures. However, for "customer satisfaction" they have no numbers but CLAIM great susccess.

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http://cache.consumerist.com/assets/resources/consumerist.comaolmanual.pdf

EASY AOL solution, I think!

Florida has been pursuing AOL fraud on behalf of Florida residents for a while now...

http://metroland.net/back_issues/vol28_no04/features.html

However, it's a cumbersome process. I filed online with the Attorney General's office and was mailed a HUGE, detailed form to fill out. It asked for things like my agreement with them (from 15 years ago -- I don't have it) and any advertising that drew me to AOL (from 15 years ago -- I don't have it!)

So I went to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) -- on Wed. (June 21, 2006). Yesterday (June 22) I had email from them.

TODAY when I signed on to AOL I got a window announcing that "my account had been cancelled" -- odd, since they told me on June 20 that it was cancelled on Dec. 24, 2005!

Go to this website, which is the FTC complaint page, and fill the complaint out. It's quick and very easy.

https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

Attempted petty theft -- AOL in Florida

I am outraged.

A couple of days ago I found out, by accident, that instead of canceling my account, AOL has made an extended effort to steal that money from me, first by attempting to bill my old, canceled card, and then by sending this attempted theft to a third party collection agency as if I actually owed you the money.

In September of 2005 I attempted, multiple times, to cancel my AOL account. I made this choice because an AOL employee informed me that that AOL no longer intended to support Macintosh computers, and I use a Macintosh computer. Why should I stay with a service that ignored my type of computer?

Each time I called to cancel, I was kept on line, one time for over 45 minutes, while an AOL representative attempted to persuade me to not cancel. I was alternatively given logical reasons or treated with condescension, but no conversation ended with AOL’s representative agreeing to cancel my account. Finally one representative said that he would cancel the account but was giving me two free months more of usage. I told him I did not want two free months, but that was the only way he would agree to cancel it. Meanwhile I had gotten online and found the many actions various states have taken against AOL for making it very difficult for customers to cancel, so I did not trust him. I went to my bank and changed my back card to a new account number.

Why does AOL claim I owe them $59.40?

Because after the free months were up -- September and October -- they tried to bill the old card! The last time they tried to bill the card was December 24, 2005, according to them.

Thus when I talked to AOL a couple of days ago, they told me that my account had been cancelled -- by THEM -- in DECEMBER. They had no record of me cancelling it in September, which served their attempt to steal money from me quite well.

They've turned it over to a collection agency.

It's sheer extortion: "Give us the money we demand, or we'll put a black mark on your credit history! Don't pay any attention to the fact that you don't owe us any money!"

These issues are fought in each state separately, and I live in Florida. So, I am looking for other AOL customers who have experienced AOL's extortion.

AOL's billing-theft practices

AOL has a LONG history of illegal fiscal practices.

My complaint with AOL is that they refuse to cancel accounts, something they have been blocked from doing after class action lawsuits in several other states. I want to see that happen in Florida. However, they have done a lot of other things that demonstrates a megalomanaical drive to earn more profits by any means available.

AOL's behavior over a span of ten years demonstrates its determination to get money from customers by any means they can devise. That means that the $59.40 AOL keeps trying to steal from me is a very small part of a much larger pattern of unsavory fiscal behavior.

In August of 2005, AOL had to pay $1.25 million in the state of New York for its "stealth retention programs." See: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5842727.html

In June of 2005, a class action suit in Ohio was successful for the same reason. In that suit, most of the customers settled out of court, but 12 chose to continue the fight with the state of Ohio, so Ohio isn't done with AOL yet. See: http://www.ag.state.oh.us/press/05/06/pr20050608.asp

In May of this year they had to pay $23 million for defrauding investment and pension funds in Pennsylvania. See: http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/25/news/companies/twx_fraud.reut/

and

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=1255

In 2004, the state of New Hampshire helped a couple fight a one-month, $3,400+ bill from Verizon after they took AOL's "great" offer for faster intentet access. See: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-04-19-aol-vs-customers_x.htm

In September of 2003, two former officials of AOL pled guilty to fraud. Time-Warner was so embarassed that it dropped AOL from its corporate name. See: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NTQ/is_2003_Sept_24/ai_108098681

In 2001, AOL was busted for improper credit card charges and "slamming" -- changing a person's long distance phone carrier without the customer's knowledge or permission. See: http://news.com.com/2010-1071-281460.html

As far back as 1996 AOL got slapped down by the state of Washington for their marketing practices. See: http://www.atg.wa.gov/releases/rel_aol_112296.html