AOL Fined for Making it Hard to Cancel Service

andy1307 writes "CNET is carrying an article about a settlement between AOL and New York State that includes AOL paying a $1.25 million fine and agreeing to reform its customer service procedures. The agreement stems from consumers' complaints that AOL customer service representatives would either ignore requests, or make it unduly difficult, to cancel their service, according to a statement from Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The policy probaby had something to do with rapidly declining customer numbers at AOL as more Americans switch to broadband."

Comments

I can't imagine...

[Anonymous Coward]

why anyone would want to cancel AOL.

Re:I can't imagine...

[DurendalMac]

I'm just wondering when they can fine AOL for sucking all-around. They can do that to hookers, why not AOHELL?

Re:I can't imagine...

[nolife]

me too!!!!

CDs

[GXFragger]

Now, if they could just do something about those CDs...

Re:CDs

[TheOtherAgentM]

I think this has been covered before. Make a throne.

Re:CDs

[RumpledElf]

They also make good coasters, and if you hang them in fruit trees they scare birds away.

I found it VERY easy to cancel service

[Anonymous Coward]

All I had to do was move to a different state, change my name and get a new social security number. After that, no more bills.

Re:I found it VERY easy to cancel service

[Guppy06]

"Sometimes the FCC works !"

Oh, it always works. It's just that sometimes that's the problem.

It's not AOL's fault

[HungWeiLo]

The software that AOL runs on keeps throwing a divide-by-zero exception, just as the following:

try {
      int i = iRevenue / iNumExistingCustomers;
} catch (...) {}

I can't believe AOL got fined for this

[Anonymous Coward]

When I wanted to cancel my AOL service, all I had to do will fill out a form. The form was conveniently located in the basement at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, in a dis-used lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the leopard.'

RIP, Doug Adams

Re:I can't believe AOL got fined for this

[Hott of the World]

If I was dead, I'd harass the living..

Eat their brains, and the like. Maybe even sign them up for AOL, just so they know what I'm going through.

NO! MY AMMO!

[Fuzzlekits]

Actually, I would hate for AOL to stop giving/sending/forcing out their CDs... I mean, they are pretty much the #1 source of ammo for my home made spinfusor. I might as well have unlimited ammo hacks...

Re:Got off today

[XMyth]

I had to cancel 3 AOL accounts while trying to get (and succeeding at!) getting a free 40gig iPod a while back (1 acct for AOL service, 1 for music service and 1 for my wife who was trying the same thing). The second and third time I did the same thing as you mentioned above. Last time I told them we were in a bad financial situation and had to pawn all of our expensive electronics...the rep said "well, you may want to use our service at a friends house?" HAH! My friends would shoot me for putting AOL on their computers.... :)

Re:AOL analysis

[sparkz]

It must be something to do with Unicode, and international keyboards. Possibly keyboard rates. Maybe the letter "o" shows a greater disposition towards repetition (maybe their browser interpets "o" as "0" and decides "oh, zero's are cheap, let's send two, that'll make them happy") On second thoughts, no, I think most people are too damn stupid.

Re:Got off today

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand that Europe is a little odd, but to say that moving there is a "terminal condition" is a bit harsh...

Re:The Tragic History of "me too!!!!"

[AvitarX]

Those were the good old days.

Now it's the whole internet.