The Juggle Zone: Bargain Blog

It's pretty well known that it's hard to cancel AOL. They tend to try to string you along by offering extended free trials or less expensive plans. Some people like that ... they take advantage of this to extend their free trials for long periods of time. I don't like AOL, never have, and probably never will. I was actually kind of excited to call and cancel, to see just how hard they'd try to keep me.

The first time I called (on 9/23), I somehow got connected to Billing instead of Cancellation. Chad (ID #62774) tried to transfer me to Cancellation, but disconnected me instead. He gave me what he claimed was a direct number for Cancellation (888-265-8008), but it took me to the same annoying automated voice answering system. I found that by saying "Agent" I could skip the menu, after it tried to bargain with me one more time.

I placed the second call at 2:25 pm, but did not reach a human until 2:29. 4 minutes wait time isn't great, but it's not too terrible either. This time I had the opportunity to speak to JR in the Oklahoma City call center, a "Customer Care Specialist". I told him I wanted to cancel, he asked for my screen name (along with some other pieces of identity confirming information). When I told him "freeipods4david" he chuckled. He then proceeded to start down a long series of questions. "Why do you want to cancel?" "I see you have a high speed connection. Do you have cable or DSL?" "Don't you like music or movies? Most people do!" I refused to answer any of the questions except why I wanted to cancel, which I answered by saying, "I don't like it." Funny thing was, he wouldn't accept that answer. He claimed it was the system he was using that wouldn't accept it. Right. Regardless, after the third time he asked it, I told him I needed to speak to his supervisor. He asked why, and I told him that he wasn't providing me with the "customer care" I expect from a "Customer Care Specialist."

A few minutes later I got to speak to Jeanette. She proceeded along a similar path of questions, which I continued to avoid answering. We argued a lot about whether I had any obligation to follow their "procedure for canceling" (e.g. answering a bunch of marketing questions), and eventually she seemed to proceed. Then she said, "I notice your screen name mentions freeipods. Did you sign up for AOL through that offer? It's a great deal, I would participate if I could." She then proceeded to claim that if I didn't remain an AOL member for 90 days, I would not receive credit for signing up. 'Gee, that's odd,' I thought to myself, 'because I've already gotten credit.' She suggested I stick with AOL if for no other reason than to get the iPod. She then informed me of their low cost plans (which they don't seem to publicize anywhere) that include a $9.95 plan and a $4.95 plan (3 hours/month).

After I turned down all of the discount plans that she offered, we finally got through cancellation. I was provided a cancellation number, and was informed that the cancellation would be effective immediately, but as a "courtesy" I would have access to my account through the end of the billing cycle, which in this case was 10/11. At 2:42, 17 minutes after I called, Jeanette transferred me to a prerecorded message with the "fine print" of the cancellation. Basically it informed me that I would get a confirmation of cancellation letter in 7-10 days, and that other charges (like online purchases) would still be my responsibility. (Duh?!)

Though I got through the process, it may be easier for others to use the road less traveled, e.g. canceling by fax (904-232-4879) or mail:
America Online
PO BOX 17100
Jacksonville, FL 32245-7100

You must include the following:

1) Request to cancel
2) Full Name
3) Phone Number
4) Address
5) Signature
6) One of the following:

A) screen-name
B) last 4 digits of credit card
C) answer to the Account Security Question

Oddly, AOL says "If you cancel near the end of your billing period, you may be inadvertently charged for the next month's fee. In that event, contact AOL billing at 888-265-8003 to have the charges reversed." Hearing this only made me enjoy the fact that I had signed up with a temporary credit card number (with a spending limit of $1) all the more so.

As a follow-up to the cancellation, AOL sent me two letters that both came in early October. One was a cancellation confirmation letter that reiterated the points brought up during the call such as the availability of low cost plans. The second letter was a "Priority Upgrade Authorization" for AOL for Broadband, one of the largest scams, second only to AOL itself. For $1.05 (on top of the regular $23.90 monthly fee), AOL gives you access to all kinds of software features (firewall, spam filters, pop-up controls, e-mail anti-virus, a "professional" email program, etc. that should be there in the first place, plus various bandwidth hogging options like Radio and Video. Yay ... not!