Complain about a product or service

AOL - Hard to Cancel

AOL/America Online • AOL Pays $3 Million, Promises to Clean Up Cancellation Process • AOL Settles Florida Fraud Charges • AntiSpyware Group Targets AOL Release As Dangerous • AOL Heads Roll Over Data Leak • AOL Now Free ... Sort Of • AOL Takes More Hits In Press, On Internet • AOL's Problems Worsen as Consumer Complaints Mount • AOL Embarrassed by CNBC Report On Its Business Practices • E-Mail Taxation Without Representation • AOL, Yahoo Planning Postage Charges for Email • AOL Settles With NY, Agrees to Clean Up Cancellation Process • Ohio Settles Lawsuit With AOL • AOL Abandons Broadband • Ohio Latest to Sue AOL • AOL Loses 2 Million Clients, Faces Subpoenas • Class Action Accuses AOL of Double-Billing Scheme • AOL Offers to Settle Federal Charges --- Consumer Complaints • Cancellation Difficulties • Double-billing • "Free" Hours • Unauthorized Charges • Shop-Direct Complaints • Tech Support

It's been said that canceling AOL is harder than eradicating the common cold. It seems that AOL wants to be your Internet-service-for-life.

Ronald of New York, NY November 3, 2009

I and others in my former office have had free email accounts for years. This week service was terminated by AOL without notice. These accounts are used for a variety of purposes and are registered with vendors for biull paying etc. None if us knows the original security questions and AOL refuses to provide any means for us to reactivate the accounts. Several of us have placed calls and wind up with completely unhelpful agents in the Phillipines.

Pattie of Chesapeake, OH October 24, 2009

I have tried to cancel my service since July 2008 when I went with wildblue satelite. In July 2008 I called the 800# and thought I had cancelled service thru the automated line, however I did not discover until Feb 2009 that my service had not been cancelled and I had been billed monthly on my credit card. I realized that this may be my fault because I had not looked closely at my billing so I tried again in Mar 2009. The number is an automated line, it will not put you thru to a live person, the message I got on the phone was that my service would cancel on the 7th.

Again I was billed on my credit card,I called again same message,service had been canceled on the 7th, I did this five consecutive months. April 17,2009, May 11,2009, June 17,2009, July 7,2009, each time I got the message that my service had been canceled as of the 7th. (Feel free to call the number, I tried again tonight, Oct 23, 2009 and got the same message )Still I was being billed. I could not for whatever reason seem to cancel the service.

In July my credit card that they had on file expired, so I thought ok I will just eat these charges, its not worth the hassel, they won't be able to charge anymore on my credit card since it had expired. Boy, was I wrong they charged me again.By that time I had been paying them for over a year for service I did not have. I called the company my Credit card was with and explained to them what was going on and filed a dispute on the charges. To be fair I asked them to dispute the last four months of charges because I had written down on my calender when I called and I was sure of these dates. My credit card company credited me for four months.

On Oct.9, 2009 I received a delinquency letter that I owed them 47.96 and if I did not submit within 10 days they would send to collection agency. Which I did not send, by this time I'm thinking what the heck does it take to cancel service with this company. I then received a nasty phone call from aol collector, I advised them of my efforts to cancel and he was adament I was going to pay this. I advised him I was not going to pay something I did not owe and hung up, since he was being so nasty to me.

I then called my credit card company and advised them no charges were to be put on my credit card from AOL. My credit card company representative recommended I cancel my current card that the charges have been put on since AOL had my card number,so that no further charges can be made.

I received another collection call today, Oct, 23, 2009 from AOL stating that this was my last chance to pay this bill before being turned over for collection. I again went thru the whole thing and he tells me that my account has never been cancelled that it had only been suspended for nonpayment due to me changing the method of payment. (This was the 4 months that the credit card company disputed for me) and charged it back to AOL. I could not believe it when he said my account was only suspended and when it was paid I could use AOL again. I advised him I had not used AOL for over a year, I had no intentions of ever using AOL again. He then said he would offer me a 50% reduction on my past due bill if I would pay it now (with a credit card) I again advised him I did not owe this and was not going to pay and was definetly not giving my credit card number to him.

My account is still not cancelled per Aol representative , only suspended, it can not be cancelled until my outstanding bill is paid then they could re-activate. I don't think this representative heard a word I said and AOL has no intentions of canceling my service. So I am assuming that if I had agreed to pay and done so with a credit card over the phone my charges would have started up again.

I have a very good credit history and I would hate for 47.96 to cause me problems in the future but these charges would continue forever if I had paid. Something needs to be done, I have never experienced anything like this before, however I have read many reports over the internet about the same problem. Hopefully if enough people send in complaints something will be done.

Anne of By Bunessan, Isle of Mull, United Kingdom October 16, 2009

I called to cancel my AOL service and the person at AOL would not let me do it until I got very rude and finally had to hang up on him. He just wouldn't quit trying to convince me to stay with AOL. I was told that I would have internet coverage for 5 days until the Mac code was sent to me allowing me to switch to BT internet. But the next day my internet service was cut off. After a lot of aggravation I finally got back online. Something needs to be done about the way AOL treats its customers.

Melissa of Nashville, TN October 5, 2009

Beginning in 2005 I have tried numerous times to cancel an AOL account for which I was being billed through my checking account. I made phone calls,wrote letters, and sent a fax. Each time I tried to stop the charges I was put on hold, transferred told my account did not exist and multiple other stalling techniques. I have not used the account since about June 2000. Today I finally reached an account representative on the telephone who agreed to cancel the billing. He agreed that the account did show my attempt at least once (in 2007) to end the account, but could not explain why it continued. When I asked for a refund, I was told I could only have a 3 month refund. I think I should receive a refund for at least the total paid from 2007 to present, but was told that was impossible.

rebecca of jonesborough, TN September 28, 2009

I had canceled aol through e-mail and phone and they are still billing. they have actually billed me twice in August. It it so frustrating to not get them to cancel.

Marcia of Long Beach , CA September 24, 2009

I called and cancelled my account, they said fine effective that day, over a year ago,a year later, my account was overdrawn and I couldn't figure out why, then I got a billing notice from them! They had been charging me the whole time!

Susan of Lawrenceville, NJ September 18, 2009

I have cancelled my account with AOL on February 15, 2009. They continued to take money out of my account. I have called the company several times. Their voicemail is conveniently set up to "not work, I do not understand your request" when you request to cancel or question your bill. When I called back and said I wanted to upgrade my service or ask about a new account,it miraculously found my account information. I have sent letters and nothing. I finalled called my credit card company and had them cancel the card and issue a new number. I am also faxing my cancellation form, again. I am quite sure reading about all of the credit collection efforts on the part of AOL that they will soon be pursuing me to get more money. I really think the president needs to step in and shut this company down, because obviously AOL could care less about any rulings the court has.

Jason of New Iberia, LA September 8, 2009

So today I received an overdue payment notification 103.60 from AOL. The payment was overdue 130 days claims AOL, yet the also claim the account hadn't been used since February of 2008. And that they had tried to notify me via the account's email address. We canceled the account, yet they claim we didn't. I've done some research and found that Im not the only one to have this problem. What I find odd is, if the account hadn't been used since early last year, and we certainly hadn't made any payment's since then, at least to my knowledge. And if payment's had been made, since my "successful attempt" at cancellation, then AOL has alot to deal with from me.

Lia of Wichita Falls, TX August 19, 2009

I had set up my boyfriend an AOL account. A few years later (last year)I tried to cancel it because we got broadband and they wouldn't let me because I wasn't him. Well not only did he not have the time to mess with it , he didn't know any of the information they kept asking. I did but he was working 200 miles away from me. Anyway so we decided to ride it out until the credit card expired.

A month before it expired I got online and switched from a paying account to a free account. Yet after it expired they still kept billing us and telling us to update our account information. So again we both called and canceled it. For three months they kept billing us 44.00. Yesterday they billed us 59.80. I called today to try to pay the bill off to keep his credit good. Not only did they tell me it was 68.00 but the guy said the account was still active. I explained to him it should not be and all we been through. Then he would not just except payment he wanted to put my card on the account so they could bill it monthly. I finally had to refuse to give him my account number and I hung up.

Called my boyfriend and he called them. After hours o painstaking calls for him too and 8 people later. He finally told them we would mail a check for 59.80 and he wanted the account canceled. They offered him a free account and he said that is what they told us months ago so he didn't want anything cancel it all. I just checked and they still have not canceled it.

frances of franklin, TN August 15, 2009

I called Aol to cancel my internet account with them as I had another internet provider. I had been paying aol 25.00 a month for the last ten years. The rep. told me I could keep AOL for 11.00 a month. I told them I did want it. At this point, I was offered the service for 4.00 per month. Again, I turned them down. Finally, I was told that I could have the internet service free of charge. I was quite shocked at this.

The rep told me that if I had gone to the account management page I would have seen that these options were available and have been since 2006. When I asked them why I was not informed that I could obtain a lower rate I was told it was my responsibility to go and find this information. I asked for a refund of money but was denied.

I pointed out that I never received a letter or an email regarding this. I feel that AOL has deliberatly ripped me off and that I was paying what turns out to be an exorbitant fee for something that I could have had for much less for the past 3 years.

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