AOL to stop incentivising CS reps re cancellations.

[quoteedbb86ab7f]August 25, 2005
AOL Settles Case Accusing It of Thwarting Cancellations
By JENNIFER BAYOT
For exasperated customers who have tried to cancel a service to no avail, an explanation may be at hand. A settlement reached yesterday with America Online established that some sales representatives receive bonuses to keep consumers from leaving.

AOL, the country's largest Internet service, agreed to pay $1.25 million in penalties and to refund some customers' subscription fees after the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, accused the company of making it unduly difficult for customers to drop the service.

AOL admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement but said it would no longer tie bonuses to success in deflecting cancellation requests. According to Mr. Spitzer's office, internal office brochures promoted how employees could earn a bonus as high as $3,115 a month by recording 975 "saves."

In New York State, where Mr. Spitzer is running for governor, AOL's customers and former customers can receive refunds for as much as four months of charges if they tried unsuccessfully to cancel their service. Customers may file a claim at www.oag.state.ny.us/internet/internet.html to request repayment.

"This agreement helps ensure that AOL will strive to keep its customers through quality service, not stealth retention programs," Mr. Spitzer said in a statement, adding that his office had received 300 complaints.

The penalties will barely put a dent in AOL's earnings, which were $550 million in the second quarter alone. But AOL will have to sacrifice a bonus program aimed at keeping its 21 million subscribers, who typically pay $14.95 or $23.90 a month. A subsidiary of Time Warner, AOL has steadily been losing customers to faster and cheaper Internet service providers and is restyling itself as a Web portal like Yahoo.

Nicholas J. Graham, an AOL spokesman, said the company was "pleased to have reached agreement" with Mr. Spitzer's office on its retention bonuses. But he otherwise defended the company's retention program, saying it made customers aware of features they might have overlooked.

"It is designed to address members' frustrations, their questions, their concerns about the service," he said. "The retention effort is a very important part of what we do at AOL and is a standard practice in the industry."

And so it seems in other industries. Companies that offer all types of products and services - credit cards, health clubs, magazines and newspapers, to name a few - are often aggressive about fending off cancellations. But are their incentives also pushing the line?

"This sends a message that we are aware of these business practices and will take action where appropriate," said Brad Maione, a spokesman for Mr. Spitzer's office.[/quoteedbb86ab7f]

It's not really new that their CS agents get bonus's, but it's interesting to see the truth come out in Court.

http//forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=20446

That's great!

[quote318a9cf7b1="tonydanza92"]http//forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=20446[/quote318a9cf7b1]

Next time I'll try to use a less descriptive title so fewer people see my threads.

Please be as vague as possible from here on out. Thanks!

[quote3469373ba2="CollidgeGraduit"]Please be as vague as possible from here on out. Thanks![/quote3469373ba2]
Aye Aye Cap'n.

yeah i figured that's why you didnt see it, i was just pointing it out though

Sorry, I changed the topic name wink

Thats so awesome! I remember talking to an aol rep trying to cancel and he actually talked to me for 10 minutes about how one of his more distant relatives lived in CA i was like omgwtf.

Rofl wink

Yeah, I called and after awhile they finally told me that I was canceled. Then I got charged for it. I called back and they told me that there was no record of me calling to cancel. BS. After telling the guy all that he [u12e8e97050]still[/u12e8e97050] tried to get me to stay on.

when i tried to cancel, the woman kept me on the phone for 20 minutes, insisted i stay on for another free month, told me the reason i understood what she was trying to say was because of my accent, and if i have any problems to call back and they will help.

so i called back a week later and the woman insisted on telling me that aol's mcafee anti-virus was the best, my computer wasnt secure cos i have no protection and that i should use aol because my computer really isnt safe.

i told her that i have kaspersky anti-virus, microsoft anti-spyware, spybot, spysweeper, ad-aware pro and my wireless router has a firewall and my XP firewall.....she still insisted my computer wasnt safe and i probably had loads of viruses (which they could take care of), also she insisted my anti-virus was out of date and it only updated every month, then when i told her it updates every hour she told me that there is no such thing as an anti-virus that updates every hour.

15 minutes later after going round and round in circles she told me to hold and shed cancel it, then i was put on hold for another 5 minutes and was sped-read my cancellation number.

then i had to send away a cancellation letter yesterday otherwise they wouldnt cancel my account.

The easiest way to cancel aol if they dont wanna behave is to threaten them. The way i got my account canceled after only having to call twice was by saying "Look I Don't want to try another month of your service
ive had all the time i need to see your features and im ready to move on
if you don't cancel my account i will Contact My Credit Card Company and complain of fraud!!!!! " The stupid bitch was quite ready to cancel my account and send me a confirmation letter after that D

btw if you're wondering why I had to call twice its because the first time i called to cancel my account. I must have gotten a new Employee or something because The guy who answered Hung up on me the second i said i wanted to cancel my account. lol

My last call was the best

"Hi, i would like to cancel my AOL trial offer"

"Oh sure, let me pull up your account"

Pause

"your canceled"

"wow thats it?"

"Yup"

"awsome thanks bye"

D