AOL Gets Caught Trying to Badger Customer Into Retaining Account
Now we know why AOL still has so many users. Try as they might, canceling an AOL account is, apparently, a nightmare, a point proved by one Vincent Ferrari who recorded his exchange with an AOL customer service rep while canceling his account. It took Ferarri a total of 21 minutes to complete the cancellation and the five minute he spent with an actual human being are simply priceless. The CSR berated Ferrari, who is 30, to the point of asking to speak to his father because he thought Ferrari was making wrong decision in canceling the account. While, AOL did reply to the MSNBC report on the incident with an apology and a statement it had fired the CSR in question, there are, according to Ferrari, many others who have had similar experiences with the company. In the world of social media, consumer-generated media and YouTube, there's no hiding shady business practices any longer.
Comments
Saddly, this experience is not unique. Very similarly in 2000, I encountered the same frustrations with AOL in cancelling my account. Initially, I called and the CSR was pleasant and confirmed the account was cancelled. The following month when my bank account was debited for another month's service, I called back and that's when my call sounded a lot like Vincent's but more heated from the beginning. My requests to speak with a CS supervisor were flat out denied, even when I hung up and tried with another CSR. Ultimately, I gave up trying to get to a supervisor, having had the same experience again. Weighing the fact that I had accomplished the account cancellation against the added frustration and time I was wasting trying to get a supervisor, I chalked it up as a learning experience. It did take me more than two months to get the auto-debit issue resolved and reimbursed. AOL completely loses its integrity but not accepting the inevitable and dealing with it professionally. It's amazing in the 21st century that behavior like this in a service driven indusrty still exists.
And now... the inevitable video parody...
Cancel my Playboy account
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbjUnz64ywc
aol screwed me years ago i tried their service and couldnt get on to it and they told me my computer was bad so i had it checked out cost me $40. plus 7% sales tax but my computer was ok called aol and they offered mye 2 months service but refused to give me the money back i spent on their mistake is there any way i can collect from them???