Does the BBB actually do anything? Years ago I had a crazy client file a complaint with the BBB over a situation where any impartial observer would have laughed. I had done nothing wrong, yet the BBB contacted me and was pretty insistent that I meet with the person to discuss his complaint.
I eventually lost it and asked the BBB rep to let the complainant know that after due consideration I determined that he could go fuck himself. The BBB never contacted me again.
I’m not saying they wouldn’t… but if AOL put a lien on someone’s house which somehow interfered with the sale of said house, and the basis of AOL’s lien was later ruled to be bullshit, they could potentially be held liable for millions. For $15, the liability ain’t worht it for AOL.
IANAL of course… I just hang around a bunch of them.
If AOL records your call, do you need to tell them that you are also recording it?
[evil]
No, I had that conversation too. I also used to call to cancel the service, knowing that they’d offer me a few free months, and then take it. My last two years of AOL I paid for only 3 months of service.
[/evil]
Been there done that…told them I was moving to Europe and had no need for AOL - lots fo going back and forth, being placed on hold, etc. Finally I told the rep (Keith) to listen to me and let me finish, and I told him the following;
me - Keith, I want to cancel my account and choose the extension to the department that handles cancelling accounts
Keith - yes, but…
me - Keith I told you to let me finish
Keith - OK
me - I want to cancel my account, I call the cancellation department which has one role and one role only; to cancel accounts when ask to. Now the next words out of your mouth are going to be “I cancelled your account” or hell will break lose.
Keith - (long pause, typing in the background) Your account has been cancelled.
me - thanks, have a good day
Ooh, goodie! I looove time-shares. I can even pay for it with the money I’ll be getting from the Bank of Nigeria thanks to my good friend and business associate, Dr. Clement Okon.
What?
They could have done like Compuserve used to do. “OK, your account is cancelled” and they kept billing you for months.
When I cancelled my AOL account, I simply kept telling the guy that I knew his job was to try and keep my account but I didn’t want it. He finally cancelled it. Our bank(a large nationwide bank) wants to make it this hard to close your account. I even asked in one training class, “So we want to be the AOL of banking?” and was told yes. When people ask to close their account, I simply ask them if we didn anything wrong. If they say yes I try to fix it but if they say no, they simply don’t want it, I never argue.
I don’t know, but I always do (whether I’m actually recording or not):
Them: “Thank you for calling Customer Assistance, my name is Stephen, how may I help you?”
Me: “Hello, Stephen. This call may be recorded for quality assurance or training purposes.”
Them: “Uh…what?”
Me: “I’m having a little trouble with my account. . .”
You’d be surprised how that one little line at the beginning of the conversation rattles some customer service reps.
Okay, this:
directly contradicts this:
How can you seriously expect people to be nice and polite to customer service reps when the general rule of thumb is that niceness gets you nowhere with these people?
I had the same experience with AOL. The guy was trying to be all charming and cool, like I wouldn’t be able to resist his AOL charms. :rolleyes: My tactic? I was just as sugary sweet as could be, flirtin’ and giggling and feeding to his ego…
Then I got serious as a heart attack and told him to cancel my fucking account. I think I scared him into complying. It was awesome.
The laws on phone call recording vary from state to state. Here, for example, it’s okay to record a conversation if one of the parties in the conversation is aware that it’s being recorded. Thus, you could record all your own calls and calls to AOL. But I’m not sure how those laws are affected by the other party announcing that the call is being recorded.
IANAL. Here’s your sequence:
Call to cancel. Record (if you like/if legal), take notes, get the person’s name or number.
At the end of the call, ask to speak to the supervisor. Confirm with the supervisor that you have cancelled, the rep’s name or number, and the supervisor’s name or number. Get a phone number where you can reach that supervisor again.
Watch your credit card bill. If another charge appears, call the supervisor with whom you spoke. You can’t always get the same person, but it’s worth a shot.
Call your credit card company. Tell them you have been billed for a service you have cancelled and that you are unable to resolve the situation with the company. They will send you a form.
Fill out and return the form. They will take it from there.
File a hard copy of everything.
This should take care of it, and provides adequate documentation that you have attempted to resolve the situation properly. It has always worked for me, even with the other evil empire (ATT/Cingular) that I have found astonishingly unresponsive to account problems.
I’m one of those lucky people who have been banned from AOL for life for some silly thing my then-teenaged son said in a chat room. Guess I shouldn’t complain about it anymore!
For those wondering why this call was recorded by the caller, here’s the caller’s posting
Darn. Forgot to preview. Scroll down to where it says: Update: this posting has been dugg-smashed, here’s a mirror. and click on that!
By the way, what does dugg-smashed mean?
I think dugg-smashed is just a “cute” term the owner of digg.com came up with, which is the website that supplied the mirror.
That mp3 is horrible, though. Just cancel the account! The only thing is, though, what happened at the end? The rep is reading his spiel and then the connection just stops… did the caller hang up?
My experience was similar but I was very direct right out of the gate.
Me: I need to cancel my AOL account.
Rep: Can I ask why?
Me: Your software fucked up my computer. It just took me an hour to get the mouse working again. Don’t get me started on the sound card.
Rep: (pause) Okay, your confirmation number is…
When some joe normal has a blog or something on which they make a post that becomes extremely popular or newsworthy, sites like Digg and Fark and SA and Slashdot often pick up on it and post links to that blog or that site. Since the joe normal’s internet connection, or more probably their hosting site’s allowances, can’t support the kind of bandwidth that their blog starts using after all the readers of Digg and Fark and SA and Slashdot start clicking the links back to their blog, the hosting provider or ISP will shut 'em off for going over bandwidth allowance.
Then usually one of the big dogs will mirror the posting on their sites, which can handle all of that major traffic, so that newshungry geeks can continue to read it.
‘Dugg-smashed’ means basically ‘We posted a link to this guy’s blog, but his poor tiny web server connection couldn’t handle all the traffic of all our readers going to his blog, so here’s a copy of what he said.’
It’s also known as the Slashdot effect.
When Dad died last October, Mom wanted to cancel AOL and go with Comcast highspeed. I had had experiences very similar to those in the OP and others that have recounted here. I told Mom that if she could wait till I was there, I’d make the call and fight the fight.
I called the proper number, and as SOON as the gal heard I was cancelling, she launched into her hyper-aggressive Retention Speech. I let her talk till she ran out of breath, then told her that I’d dealt with this before, and I had to talk to her supervisor immediately. She insisted that it was not necessary, that she had some offers to make to me so I wouldn’t cancel.
I said, very slowly and clearly, " This was my father’s AOL account. He’s DEAD NOW. My Mom does not WANT it. Give me to your supervisor right now. " That…gave her pause, and she did so. I got the Supervisor on the phone and didn’t even tell them I wanted to cancel, I just asked immediately for the street address and floor mail drop for AOL Legal in Reston, VA. That TRULY shook the Supervisor up. ( nobody is supposed to know that AOL actually has real offices… I guess. ). She asked why, and said that she didn’t know if she could tell me.
I patiently informed her that the contract my Dad had with AOL was voided by his death, and I was fully prepared to serve the Legal Department with a certified envelope containing his Death Certificate. That did it. She gave me her name, extension and informed me that within the hour the account would be terminated for good.
It took a letter from Mom’s attorney to AOL to get the pre-paid yearly payment back. THAT was a bitch. They insisted that they can only credit his credit card, and it was in Dad’s name, so would we be so kind as to give them a valid credit card number?? Jeeez. Assholes.
They did in fact cut Mom a check, on AOL’s account… for the unused balance.
They are without doubt the single worst example of Retention technique applicators I’ve ever encountered.’
Cartooniverse
No offense, but you are exactly wrong. When I bought my device at Radio Shack years ago that permits such technology, I was told VERY SPECIFICALLY that it was against the law to use in New York State unless there was an audio recording of BOTH parties acknowledging ( sp ? ) that the conversation was being recorded. Otherwise, not only was it not admissable in court but it was patently illegal…
And yeah, now I am trying to find the cite to prove this.
Cartooniverse
Do you get all your legal advice at Radio Shack?
Actually, according to this site, Marley23 is exactly right, as New York is one of the states that has one-party notification.
Also, this website, which is designed for reporters and journalists, says:
Most articles and websites i’ve found, however, also state the you need to be careful with interstate calls, and that in such cases you should assume that the stricter state law will apply. So, if i were in New York and making a call to Maryland, i should probably get permission from the recipient to ensure that i’m not violating any Maryland laws.