AOL members BEWARE!!!

[moosmom]

I just got back from my bank.

Back in September when my internet was on the fritz, I signed up for a TRIAL membership to AOL. It was a temporary 3 month trial period. In order not to be charged, I had to cancel by October 11th. I canceled on October 9th. I was ASSURED by two people, whose names I DID document, that my account would not be charged.

WRONG!!!

When I talked to someone at AOL (some idiot who spoke very little English) they said they had no record of me cancelling. :mad:

AOL CLAIMS you don't need a credit card, but they ask you for your checking account information.

A bell should've gone off in my head. I noticed that my account was charged $28.90 on the 14th of November. I went to the bank and filed papers to get my money back. I got a credit on my account for that amount.

My checking account for the last 2 months has been overdrawn. I've incurred a total of almost $200 in overdraft fees, all because AOL has had their hands in my pocket.

The bank manager said she has had NUMEROUS complaints about them. She said the way they get around the stop payment, is when you make a stop payment, you have to have the exact amount of the charge. So, what does AOL do?? They get around it by yanking out an amount OTHER than what the stop payment is for. To make matters worse, AOL will probably

I am so TOTALLY pissed of right now. $200 I could've paid bills with!!!!! :mad: :mad: So, I now have to close down my checking account and open a new one so that AOL will stop stealing money from me!!! :mad:

The bank manager was very helpful. She said she would try to get the credit back in my account (I have exactly $.99 in my account at this point) before they try and yank it out again. Once they do, she's going to shut down the account so they don't get the money and open up a brand new checking account.

Sorry this is so long, but I'm so frustrated. I just needed to vent, and to warn other AOL members about it.

Thanks for listening!

[petslover]

My dad had the same thing happen to him.. They said he didn't call to cancel it, but he did. Aol has major problems. I would never be a customer of theres anymore.

[ramanth]

Donna, that is aweful!!! From working at legal firms, can you think of anything you can do to get back at them?

[lute]

that's terrible! the same thing happend to my grandparents!:mad:

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by moosmom

The bank manager was very helpful.
She said she would try to get the credit back in my account
before they try and yank it out again.
Once they do, she's going to shut down the account
so they don't get the money

:confused:

Dunno if that Bank Manager did "ALL" she really could have!

I'd like to think that if I told the bank "Do *NOT* HONOR
*ANY* electronic transfers to XYZ Company"
that my bank would make DARN Sure XYZ never pulled another CENT!!

You have an argument/claim against AOL for sure...
but I think you ALSO have a claim against your BANK, too!!

Who's paying for the New Checks with the NEW account numbers??

I'd go back and ask the bank WHY they can't totally STOP
AOL from withdrawing funds from YOUR account!!

/s/ Phred
.

[NoahsMommy]

That's horrible, Donna!! :mad:

David loathes AOL...always has and I'm not sure why, he's just always hated them. Now I can give him another reason.

[Corinna]

My bank will let me do as Phred says . I had a problem with a company they had no phone# or address we could find .(market drop products for a shopwe had) So they stopped payment by name. I would talk to the bank president not a teller or manager .

[moosmom]

Phred,

The reason why they can't put a "flag" on the account is because they need an amount (say $29.95/month). AOL, in order to get around that, yanks out $28.90, $26.95, etc.

I was also told by the bank manager that while I WILL get free checking, I will no longer NOT be charged for checks, because that promotion is no long available.

I'm going to think about taking AOL to small claims court to recoup my overdraft fees of almost $200. Not sure if I'll succeed, but it might be worth the $37 filing fee!

[dukedogsmom]

That's why they're called AOHell. I can't stand them. If you have any computer experience at all, I'd get another ISP provider. Just look at all of the complaints at Planet Feedback: http://www.planetfeedback.com/sharedLettersList/0,2941,165372-4-0-0-20-0-fb_date-desc,00.html

[Cookiebaker]

That's sounds AWFUL! What a nightmare.

I'm so paranoid about my checking account that I reconcile it once a week with the automated phone line that lists all the transactions. That way if there ARE strange withdrawels, I know about them right away.

Good Luck with the small claims court! I hope you get your fees back!!


:mad: Some companies! Uggh!

[Vette]

This is why my brother and i call AOL - A$$holes On Line.

[CalliesMom]

My husband used to work for AOL and the customer service reps actually get paid for keeping members who try to cancel. If they keep a member for 90 days without them calling back to cancel, they get a huge commission...I wonder if that is what happened with you. :mad:

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by moosmom
Phred,

The reason why they can't put a "flag" on the account is because they need an amount (say $29.95/month).

I was also told by the bank manager that while I WILL get free checking,
I will no longer NOT be charged for checks,
because that promotion is no long available.


Sorry, but I don't think you're getting the correct story
from that "Manager" - talk to a Senior Officer at the Main Office.

You need to demand that they STOP "accepting" Any and ALL
transactions from AOL... a "dollar amount" shouldn't be
required to keep AOL out of your account.

Good Luck!

/s/ Phred

[moosmom]

Val,

Thanks for the complaint link. I'm going to call the CEO of the company tomorrow and put up a stink. Don't know if I'll get anywhere, but it's worth a shot.

[Uabassoon]

This same thing happened to my roommate.


My husband used to work for AOL and the customer service reps actually get paid for keeping members who try to cancel.

It's true, I applied for AOL once. If a person calls to cancell and they manage to convince them not too then they get a small bonus. After 90 days if the person still hasn't cancelled then they get a much larger second bonus. Sometimes I wonder if they just click that people didn't cancel so they can get the bonus.

[sirrahved]

Same thing happened to us a while back. AOL needs to die.

[KYS]

I heard stories about AOL so I was prepared.
I received 6 months free AOL when I got my PC.
2 weeks before the 6 months was up I went on
the PC to cancel. After clicking the buttons to
cancel It stated I must talk to a AOL rep.

I Called AOL to cancel and pushed more bottons
to cancel, only to hear a message said I must wait for a customer service rep.
The customer service rep. tried to talk me in to staying
for another 30 days and went so far as to stretch the truth in stating I could have AOL for free by putting in this code when I sign in since I had DSL with another server.
I kept stating "will it be free after the 30 days."
He made it sound like the answer was yes with this
special code.
I finally pinned him down, he admitted after the
30 days it would not be free. I told him to cancel it.

I than received a letter via mail that stated
thankyou for renewing your AOL and if you wanted
to cancel you must call a Toll free number.
I called the number and I got a different AOL Rep
who stated the other AOL Rep. did not cancel me.
This AOL rep did and I received a cancellation conformation
number.

Some people love AOL and I had no complaints
for the time that I used it.
Just be aware when you are ready to cancel
give yourself plenty of time and make sure you
have proof that it was actually canceled. :(

[Laura's Babies]

Have I got a story for you about AOL.. Called to set up an account.. the name we picked, they told us had been picked so we had to pick another.. We did, set up out account and things were fine.. Then I noticed on a bamk statement one month, TWO withdrawls by AOL but one at the beginning of the month, one at the end.. So, I figured one was withdrawn late, one early.. Keep in mind that I work on a boat and am gone for a month, home a month, gone a month, home a month.. Months go by.....(and I am watching my account)

Everytime I called, they said the BANK was taking my money, NOT them... Eighteen months go by when I got FED up and took my statements and went to the bank.. The bank manager heard me telling one of the tellers why I was there and he took me away from her and told he he has had many, MANY problems with AOL and he wanted to personally handle this so we went into his office..

He called on a speakerphone and they told him the bank was taking my money. He said "Mam! I don't think you understand WHO I am! I am the BANK MANAGER and we are NOT taking this ladies money.... YOU ARE!" and then he proceeded to get really ugly with her. She immediately switched us to her manager.. Guess what! Within a minute... the AOL MANAGER said, "Well, she has TWO accounts with us, THAT is why we take her money TWICE a month!" ( I saw it was a scam on AOL's part then)

That was like someone had lit a fire under me and I can say HELL flew in me!!!... I asked her WHY would ANYONE have TWO accounts, opened the SAME day, within minutes of each, with basically the SAME screen name, on the SAME computer at the SAME address when a person with AOL can have up to SEVEN screen names on AOL at the same address??? BUT.... one was taken out of the account at the beginning of the month and one at the END of the month! grrrrrr.....

And this is just the beginning of the story.. She quickly told me that AOL does NOT refund money.. I will spare you that long story but I did get my money back in a refund check, issued to me BY AOL and a years free service. No, I no longer have AOL and never will again... To bad too, because I liked it..

[Denyce]

My mom just got a letter from AOL about a week or so ago saying "Thank you for choosing AOL". We have Adelphia broadband and would never use AOL. The letter said that they would charge the account with the last four numbers...blah blah blah blah. Those numbers didn't match to any credit card or bank account my mom had. However, she called and complained anyway. Three years ago she had used them for 3 months free. THREE YEARS AGO!!! She had cancelled it and never used it again. They claimed they had been billing her since then but this was the first letter she had ever received from them. Since they don't have ANY of her current financial information she isn't too worried. The only thing we can figure is they had the information on her old bank account. But she closed that one and changed banks about 2 years ago. :rolleyes:

Denyce

[catnapper]

I've heard this before. Thats why when I did sign up for the trial version for a whole 2 days, I had them personally email me a confirmation number AND snail mail me the same info. It was the most frustrating HOUR of my life trying to convince their customer service people that I did not love AOL and wanted to cancel. :mad: I HATED AOL the days I had it too.. I was going nuts with all the little window pop-ups and every new site brought up a new window. At the end of a session I was closing out a dozen windows. I cannot for the life of me see what is so great about it!

Can't the manager reverse those fees? My bank usually does.

[moosmom]

I called the bank this afternoon when I got home from work. She said that it is in the hands of the investigation department. She said I SHOULD get the overdraft fees credited back to my account. I documented my conversation with her just in case. I also put a call into the CEO of AOL and explained the story on voicemail. I told him if I did not hear from him, I would assume that he plans on NOT refunding my money and I will seek legal action. I'll keep you posted. This has been one HUGE nightmare!!! :mad: :mad:

Val,

I signed up for Planetfeedback and posted my complaint. I read some of the complaints from other former AOL members and it's the same old story as mine. I also got the name and number of the CEO on the website. Why the FCC or the BBB doesn't go after them for fraudulent business practices is beyond me.

[catnapper]

Donna, you know their soimmerical where all AOL custoemrs are outside the guy's office to say thatnk you? Well, I think they got it wrong... they are out there to curse him out! :D

[moosmom]

Catnapper,

LOL!!! You're probably right.

[dukedogsmom]

I'm so sick of that one stupid woman and her baby. She's saying how she wants all of her photos of her child to just disappear. Meanwhile, the rest of us are wishing she would disappear! I hate AOL and their commercials!

[shutterbug0303]

We were LONG TIME members of AOL. For years we paid for there "stinky" service, but I enjoyed the features, so we kept it. Even after we got DSL locally, we continued our services with them, at a lower rate since we weren't dialing directly to them. We tried to cancel, and of course got a few months free. Then tried again, and the same story. Finally, we convinced them we didn't want any more months free...BUT we had to submit in WRITING that we wanted to cancel. The service rep said it HAD to be done that way. So we waited for a form to come in the mail, filled it out, and faxed it in. No charges/no problems afterward. I wonder why no one else had to submit in writing??? :confused: :rolleyes:

[MaryJae]

We canceled our account a long time and were charged months later. :rolleyes:

Hate's a strong word, but I hate AOL. When you call them, you get put on hold for the longest time. Every time we would call in to cancel our account, they keep giving us like an extra 2-3 months of free service so with that we had AOL for FREE for like a year. Even though it was free, I still didn't like it.

I've heard that AOL is full of adware/spyware so they're not the "best" internet service that they claim to be. We now have Cox High Speed Internet and have been using it for over a year with no problems whatsoever. The first time we called them to activate our account, they didn't put us on a long hold like AOL always does so that's a big plus. CHSI is way better than AOL...service and all. :)

[moosmom]

The bank called me this morning. They opened up a new checking account and closed the old one down, so AOL can't steal anymore money from me.

I got my $29.95 PLUS $166.00 in overdraft fees!!! I called AOL yesterday again and asked to speak with the CEO. I spoke with some guy (have his name, but don't remember) who told me they'd credit my account for $59.99. I told them not to bother as the account was closed. He said they'd send me a paper check and it'll take 6-8 weeks. I believe it when I see it. So, all in all, I got most of my money back.

End of story.