AOL helpline can be patronising

Hello - I am desperately in need of help with AOL. I cancelled my broadband with them to move to another provider and am finding it impossible to actually cancel my payment. Needless to say they have stopped my broadband and on-line account so I can't access any cancellation tools that way. Each time I phone the call centre I am either put on hold for 40 minutes or just not spoken to at all. I rather lost the plot a few days ago and got very heated on the phone and actually got a call back from a supervisor at AOL who assured me that my account was now inactive and I would not be billed further. Two days later, they took my monthly subscription. Another call to the call centre resulted in a further heated exchanged as they claimed the only payment they could see was at the beginning of August. I was told to email a copy of my statement to them and they would come back to confirm that the charges would be reversed - and that the credit back to me could take up to 30 days (!). I frankly don't have the energy to keep fighting them - is there a regulatory body I can talk to or anyone who can actually help me extricate myself from the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Many thanks

It may be of interest for you to know that AOL as it was no longer exist. AOL is now just a brand name owned and used by TalkTalk so when you think you are speaking to an AOL team you are actually speaking to a TT callcentre in Mumbai. The only remaining AOL staff within the company are the cancellations team based in Dublin

If you don't do anything else in life. Stay well clear of AOL.

Writing via experience, they are nothing more than a corporate shower of mafia gangsters.

Having cancelled their shoddy service, monies to due myself were in excess of £400 for services unused.

They assigned a debt recovery agency for £69, namely Avantis Credit (another bunch of hoods), posting out threatening letters of court action with gignatic costs.

Be aware and avoid them if you know what is good for you.

just unbelievable incompetence at the aol mumbai call centre. i've literally spent hundreds on the phone to them trying to get my problem fixed. I regret signing up to aol so much. I need a new provider but I don't have time.

Hi Phil
My experience with AOL was far more traumatic! When we moved house we had no internet for nearly 1 month and obviously the 'Live Help' was useless without the connection,
Having spent a small fortune calling their helpline in Mumbai and as you said repeating my woes to about 4 different call cantre employees that to be honest I found difficult to understand.I felt so frustrated was an understatement!
Now fortunately for me and many others there is a plc company based here in the uk that I now use www.bestbillsaver.co.uk where the pride themselves in customer care,value for money and talk to you with integrity and knowledge.
Have a look and make the move I am sure you will be pleasently surprised.
Hope you will find this both informative and helpful if you need any help you can email me at david@bestbillsaver.co.uk
bestbillsaver.co.uk

Everything GixerUK says below mirrors my own personal experience with AOL I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy!

I've had enough of AOL too!!!

I was recently unable to connect to the internet so I called AOL and spoke to an unhelpful half-wit from 'Customer Services' in India. I was informed there was a 'technical problem' and duly transfered to another numpty in the appropriate department.

From here I was put through to one their unhelpful 'Technical' people (also in India) but promptly refered back to the 'Billing' dept. Due to reasons unknown, it wasn't a technical problem, my account had been barred. Very strange, my subscription payments weren't late and always up to date!!!

However. I was insistantly informed that this was not the case by the Billing Dept and refered back to their Tech Dept and ping-ponged between the two for over two frustrating weeks with no logical explanation and no internet access.

I don't think I've ever dealt with so many incompetent, ignorant and at times, rude people.

The assurance of a call back from a manager never emerged and the compensation offered never recieved. It's funny how they're repeatedly managed to find time to call me when it's 'subscription renewal' time though.

Whatever you do, please don't sign on with AOL, AOL is a lot of crap and customer services are based in India and they are just like cowboys. Have been with AOL nearly 4 years and my contract is coming to an end by October 2009. Am very glad to get off AOL. Rubbish and you are better off with other prviders even though there are problems but still better than AOL.

My router keeps disconnecting me and I can't even get to Live Help. They suck.

Try AOL level2 telphone help- if you can get through to them!!

Is AOL closing? We cant find message boards and they dont respond. We need to know this before cancelling. So please answer Is AOL closing please? If AOL is closing then we must find out what is happening and not keep paying the bills for a very poor service.

Today I tried for the third time to get AOL to discontinue my service and billing me $25.90 monthly for dial up service. AOL has billed me for two months for services that I cancelled two months ago. They refuse to reimburse me. I spoke to 4 agents and managers. They state they will stop billing me but will not reimburse me. I have found through the Internet that this is a common practice after you cancel services with AOL. I had to resort to calling my bank to stop AOL from taking funds from me that they should have stopped after the first Email and phone call. I have told everyone I know as well as sent out several Emails letting them know how AOL treats their customers.