The Nightmare of AOL
hairyferry
21-06-2006 03:07:05
We've all been there done that when it comes to this phone call. I hate AOL Customer Service, specially most of the time I can't understand a word they say. I thought it was funny when I came across this tonight.
http//www.break.com/index/aolhell.html
to be honest i have never had a problem calling and cancelling in the past
hairyferry
21-06-2006 04:18:19
ah man, I've had the worst time, my fiance gets soo frustrated with them.
if they give u flack be firm and tell them to cancel you now. u have to go and u will not call back later to cancel. tell them u are leaving the country on vacation. it all works usually.
PsychoAU
21-06-2006 04:42:43
Why is calling them so hard for you? You just have to give them a reason that they can't say anything in response to. Just say you sold your computer or that it is broken. How can they possibly come back from that? I don't see the reason people hate Customer Service numbers so much. I know it is an old joke for people to hate them, but come on, these are regular people too. They can be manipulated just the same as everyone else. Get some balls and call back when you're man enough to deal with it.
burritopunk
21-06-2006 04:50:13
I tell them I'm moving out of the country for 6 months.
But aparently they have a package for $4.95 a month they can let me use ;-)
hairyferry
21-06-2006 04:52:38
[quotea4f7fc6c3a="PsychoAU"]Why is calling them so hard for you? You just have to give them a reason that they can't say anything in response to. Just say you sold your computer or that it is broken. How can they possibly come back from that? I don't see the reason people hate Customer Service numbers so much. I know it is an old joke for people to hate them, but come on, these are regular people too. They can be manipulated just the same as everyone else. Get some balls and call back when you're man enough to deal with it.[/quotea4f7fc6c3a]
Woo, settle down hot dog..... The point of the thread was because this guy had a hard time with AOL CS. Not to doubt my manhood, maybe you should watch what you say and stop thread crapping.
johnjimjones
21-06-2006 06:24:20
Yeah this story was on CNN this morning. Sometime AOL takes it too far.
CollidgeGraduit
21-06-2006 06:44:09
[quote8e355b0fe3="PsychoAU"]Why is calling them so hard for you? You just have to give them a reason that they can't say anything in response to. Just say you sold your computer or that it is broken. How can they possibly come back from that? I don't see the reason people hate Customer Service numbers so much. I know it is an old joke for people to hate them, but come on, these are regular people too. They can be manipulated just the same as everyone else. Get some balls and call back when you're man enough to deal with it.[/quote8e355b0fe3]
PyschoAU, seriously knock the constant rudeness off and start treating everyone with respect. You could have easily said "Why is calling them such an issue? They can be manipulated just as easily as regular people so give them a reason they can't refute. Good luck, hope it works for you."
Godrockdj
21-06-2006 07:25:51
[quote3cb6f5d76d="johnjimjones"]Yeah this story was on CNN this morning. Sometime AOL takes it too far.[/quote3cb6f5d76d]
Really? Wow then this customer rep is definitely screwed. I was thinking when listening to that that this rep is behaving really snarky and sarcastic, moreso towards the end. I know the reps there must go through a lot of crap from callers (of course in response to their inability to cancel) but they are trained /not/ to act like that. Anyone who has any experience in call centers of any kind would be able to tell that he was not acting professionally. He was probably 20 years old, new on the job, and fired now. No matter how much the customer irks you, stuff like he said and the tone of his voice is not acceptable.
dmorris68
21-06-2006 07:40:28
FWIW I just called them a couple days ago. Aside from the long hold time, having to be transferred to a different agent which meant another long hold time, and having to call back to confirm something and hold yet some more, they were all nice and helpful, and I got no hard-sell from any of them either.
bullseye4u
21-06-2006 08:14:22
I just fax them and no problem
amir89630
21-06-2006 08:20:40
i tried the "im moving to an amish village" excuse, as well as the "im moving to antarctica excuse". They still tried to convince me to stay.
cyberpunk243
21-06-2006 08:41:57
I just hate when you cancel and then they call back at different times throughout the year asking if I changed my mind or not. Get the point AOL!
Gooogler
21-06-2006 09:04:13
[quotea4faae096f="hairyferry"]http//www.break.com/index/aolhell.html[/quotea4faae096f]
lol I remember that, it probably look my an hour to get through the whole process x
schf0ol3d
21-06-2006 10:38:48
I called to cancel my membership, and the lady just talked and talked and talked, and I said a bunch of no thank yous. As the conversation was coming to and end, she told me that the final gist of the whole conversation was that I wanted to keep my AOL subscription for a couple more weeks.
[b3d8abc383a]No, lady, no.[/b3d8abc383a] I wanted to cancel it.
JKirk
21-06-2006 10:49:22
[quote9062ee4c79="schf0ol3d"]I called to cancel my membership, and the lady just talked and talked and talked, and I said a bunch of no thank yous. As the conversation was coming to and end, she told me that the final gist of the whole conversation was that I wanted to keep my AOL subscription for a couple more weeks.
[b9062ee4c79]No, lady, no.[/b9062ee4c79] I wanted to cancel it.[/quote9062ee4c79]
The key is to just flat out interrupt them. I mean yeah, I know that's rude and I learned my manners just like most of the people here but usually interrupting them just gets the point across that you won't accept their pitch because you won't even listen to it. Let them get to talking about the initial deal but when they start saying, "Well, I'm going to go ahead and sign you up...", then you interrupt them or when they go into details that you don't want to hear. I mean yeah, there's always going to be that one guy who does what the guy in the recording does but generally, rudeness will work because that gets the point across that you aren't going to be a pushover for them.
freedesktoppc
21-06-2006 11:26:39
Ok, while I agree the rep and the callers were both schmucks, what I took out of it was that the rep was saying that someone was signed on and that he couldnt cancel while the guy was signed on, and the guy just kept interrupting him. I could have missed something tho.
Wolfeman
21-06-2006 12:46:50
[quote58a9aaa0f1="PsychoAU"]Why is calling them so hard for you? You just have to give them a reason that they can't say anything in response to. Just say you sold your computer or that it is broken. How can they possibly come back from that? I don't see the reason people hate Customer Service numbers so much. I know it is an old joke for people to hate them, but come on, these are regular people too. They can be manipulated just the same as everyone else. Get some balls and call back when you're man enough to deal with it.[/quote58a9aaa0f1]
Its just annoying when you are in a rush and make it painfully obvious you DO NOT want their service AT ALL and they keep trying to whore it to you...
theysayjump
21-06-2006 12:52:26
[quoteb0330faceb="freedesktoppc"]Ok, while I agree the rep and the callers were both schmucks, what I took out of it was that the rep was saying that someone was signed on and that he couldnt cancel while the guy was signed on, and the guy just kept interrupting him. I could have missed something tho.[/quoteb0330faceb]
No what the CS Rep was saying that someone had still been using the account in the previous month and this kid was saying that nobody was using it which is why he wanted to cancel.
Whether this was true or not, you can cancel for any reason you want.
freedesktoppc
21-06-2006 13:26:03
At some point, I am pretty sure the rep said something to the extent of "you are not understanding me, someone has been signed on for the past 72 hrs."
hairyferry
21-06-2006 14:13:56
If the guy wants his account canceled then he should have just canceled it. As long as all his info was right and it was his account. We have enough stress now adays, the last think we need is a hassle from the AOL CS.
xyclonez
21-06-2006 14:52:47
[quote0afc2fe50a="freedesktoppc"]At some point, I am pretty sure the rep said something to the extent of "you are not understanding me, someone has been signed on for the past 72 hrs."[/quote0afc2fe50a]
he wanted to convince him he needed the service since its active and its being used.. he was just trying to get him to stay.. nothing more
Daggoth
21-06-2006 17:45:30
umm, check the video thread, I posted this.
PostPosted Wed Jun 14, 2006 1110 pm Post subject No Icon Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Report Post
Nightmare of Cancelling AOL
http//break.com/index/aolhell.html
Tholek
21-06-2006 19:19:10
Yeah, I heard this on O&A a few days ago. I guess they got it from here. )
I had the opposite problem with my rep. He said I hadn't logged in at all, when I had. It took at least 20 minutes to cancel.
I don't care if you have to repeat yourself 200 times saying "No, just cancel the account", they have NO right to hang up on you.
Sadly, and stupidly on [i7681b1f57e]my[/i7681b1f57e] part, I used my AIM screenname when I signed up, and never knew it would be permanently tied to the AOL account. Lesson learned. Never use your AIM screenname when signing up for AOL. (
Wolfeman
21-06-2006 20:31:43
hairyferry
22-06-2006 06:07:14
I heard about this on Rovers Morning Glory while I was at work this morning. I was gonna call in but at the time I didn't know thier number and I didn't have access to a computer. It was a great discussion. Anyone catch it?
Godrockdj
22-06-2006 07:05:09
"The employee in question is no longer with the company" Duh /
See, the only reason AOL is apologizing for all of this is because of the huge national attention the report is getting. They tacitly let their employees work like this every day. Anything to keep the customer.
J4320
22-06-2006 10:47:36
[quote023c1382ec="Godrockdj"]"The employee in question is no longer with the company" Duh /
See, the only reason AOL is apologizing for all of this is because of the huge national attention the report is getting. They tacitly let their employees work like this every day. Anything to keep the customer.[/quote023c1382ec]
Yeah I agree. They probably wouldn't fire him if this didn't get so much attention.
phoebe7
22-06-2006 12:05:41
I had a similar experience. The rep. guy was giving me a very hard time. I told him I just got a free account for a year when we signed up for Road Runner cable internet (which is through Time Warner). He kept repeatedly asking me why I'd sign up for a free trial if I got one from Road Runner. I said, well I signed up for that first before we got cable. So why should I pay for an account when I now have a free one? He was a dick. It was to the point where my boyfriend was standing by about to take the phone from me and tell the guy to cancel my account already. I was on the phone with the rep for close to 5 minutes.
amir89630
22-06-2006 12:36:13
when im talking w/ the aol rep. and he continues being insistent, i will make sure to bring up that instance w/ the ferrari guy who got all the publicity and shit. and be liek" you remember what happened to the rep in that story".
etc.
UniPrize Media
22-06-2006 16:31:01
Wow, AOL fired the guy! Then they should fire every single cancelling rep they have. They used that poor guy as a scape goat. I believe AOL teaches their reps to be as hard as possible and it is not that guy's fault.
egyptianruin
22-06-2006 18:00:04
LOL My husband canceled his AOL way back, took him 45 minutes of saying no to get it done. Then on top of it we got a letter saying AOL wants to keep you, we have extended your plan for this price. THEY STILL HAD HIM SIGNED UP! In order to cancel we had to flip the letter over and in real fine print it said we had to write a letter. AOL is a joke, I bought another computer just to get AOL off of his computer, for good!
Tell them you are moving to Iceland. AOL or Nutscrape is not available there in any shape or form.
Daggoth
22-06-2006 19:19:48
I though AOL switched to automatic cancel machine?
schf0ol3d
23-06-2006 12:09:26
[quote4ccca85369="Daggoth"]I though AOL switched to automatic cancel machine?[/quote4ccca85369]
See your custom title for further detail.
Daggoth
23-06-2006 19:12:40
[quote5eb5e26a27="schf0ol3d"][quote5eb5e26a27="Daggoth"]I though AOL switched to automatic cancel machine?[/quote5eb5e26a27]
See your custom title for further detail.[/quote5eb5e26a27]
Well, when after four years of using it, when I quit, it had an automatic machine.
chillywilly
24-06-2006 07:10:03
When I had AOL and went to cancel it, they ended up charging me an extra month and then on top of that, the form they sent me said I was still a member and that they were happy I decided to stay.
On that back of that form was the details to cancel, that I had to fax in. I spent well over an hour of multiple phone calls to cancel, including the last call to verify they received my fax, which even during that call, they tried a couple of times to see if I wanted to change my mind.
Horrible business practices.
For those that haven't had problems, consider yourself lucky.
Brok3n_Sword
24-06-2006 07:52:27
You guys should just try faxing, it's so much easier.
Excel
24-06-2006 18:05:30
That caller was pretty damn rude. I never had any trouble when I canceled my AOL account(my computer got fried in a thunder strom). Hes gotta understand that its their job to get as much money as possible from them... Just hear them out and be nice and you won't have any problems. If the caller hadn't been so rude in the first place, I don't think it would have escalated so much.
Its pretty rediculous that the guy lost his job over that, too.
Wolfeman
24-06-2006 19:15:47
The caller was frustrated, he said like 1000 times he doesn't use it and wants to cancel and the AOL guy was being an ass...