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www.youtube.com/bestbuy - Musician and Best Buy employee, Keith Parsons, rocks his Best Buy holiday campaign audition.
104 Comments
- popsumer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+39More than just a tip, it's actually a copy of their new cancellation script.
- i440, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31I wouldn't use AOL even if it were free...
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26And AOL's value has slipped from 200 billion to 20 billion. I wonder why...
- theOster, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27WHOA! STOP THE PRESSES!!!
oh wait, AOL... nevermind. - pbaehr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23In other news, water is still wet.
- controlguy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22I just read the script and the article, and though they won't cancel your "account", the script clearly allows you to cancel your subscription (pay services). AOL offers free email and IM services to anyone already, and that's what they are not "canceling" (deleting). You can also still use your AOL software for free as long as you don't access any premium services.
Just don't log into AOL and try to access premium services at a later time. Heck, just uninstall the software and access your buddy list and free AOL email though the AOL website like the rest of us.
This one is hardly a great conspiracy. That youtube video is real news, not this script. AOL would like people to log back to AOL services because it makes it easy to get them back, but it's no "lock-in".
You know AOL won't delete you free AIM account even if you try, right? Is that a conspiracy as well? - chrono13, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22It is a complete copy of their new cancellation script complete with these three things:
"You must listen to verbal cues. If at any time Member declines offer with a verbal cue, provide Cancel Billing Close with no additional offers"
And this:
"If Paid Plan is Declined, read Cancel Billing Close: (read verbatim) Okay, I'm canceling billing on your account as of today. Keep in mind you can continue to use your AOL Mail and the AOL software free for as long as you'd like to use them. Since we're no longer providing your Internet connection, we still want you to be able to enjoy AOL. You'll no longer be charged a monthly membership fee for AOL. Does that take care of everything?"
And this:
"If Cancel Billing is Declined: Cancel account."
Where does it say that they are supposed to lie to the customer, refuse to cancel their account or refuse to stop billing them?
I know many people who won't quit using AOL because they fear that they can't continue to use their great AOL software (no, they aren't the brightest crayon in the box) and even more fearful to them is the loss of their precious spam-ridden AOL mail.
Sure, AOL would be doing them a favor in denying them access to these as a default "stop billing" action, but again - we aren't talking about the brightest here. Some of AOL's customers are only still customers because they *actually* use AOL's software and don't know anything else. Further, they pay out the nose every month for one of the worst web-mails in existence. This allows an easy transition (IMO).
They could, of course, ideally offer two choices:
1. Default recommend Cancel billing, leave account/mail open for easy transition.
2. And mention that at any time they can have their account/mail canceled as well.
And I can even see where that two-option offer would confuse the 70 year old Grandmother.
I hate AOL with a passion, but this is much better than their previous practices.
Before Gmail, how many of you successfully canceled your free web-mail accounts?
I know I still see dozens and dozens of sign-ups and when you sign up, you find that there is *no* way to cancel or close your forum, web-mail, or other free online account.
It isn't great, but at least they *have* an option to cancel it. A lot of web-mails, forums, and such don't offer any cancel option at all.
Digg won't let you cancel. - n64man987, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Where is the crime here? AOL canceled billing the customer, they just retain billing information. Name one online store that doesn't practice this. You bought something fro me them, they just don't bother deleting all the information in hopes that you might decide you want a premium service or something like that.
Marked inaccurate.
Go ahead and bury me. - molecool, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Yeah, I remember the posting a few months ago. Here's what I would suggest to AOL: if find yourself in the hole, stop digging! Honestly, the only thing that's going to stop these kind of practices would be a nationwide TV report - thus far I haven't seen any takers... no surprise there.... greed and utter disregard of customers seems to be the motto of today.
I have greatly reduced my service contracts and am thinking twice now before I sign up for anything. My immediate thought always is: how are they going to try to rip me off in the future? If they would play this game with me I would immediately contact the FTC AND tell them that I am recording this conversation as of now. That should get your account cancelled in due time. - dognose, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15FYI, their "free" software is considered Badware:
http://www.stopbadware.org/reports/reportdisplay?reportname=aol082706 - milomilomilo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17What you say?
Fire is hot?!!
Water is wet?!!
Aol are scam artists!!
Stop the presses! - pbaehr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Has your friend tried a telephone?
- blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Only a retard would give their CC# not expecting it to be charged. If it were free forever why would they ask for a CC#?
- Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11It's that "never say die" attitude that keeps AOL from juuuuust barely staying afloat.
- Protonz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15I'm still not clear on what the crime is. AOL stops billing the customer on demand, but keeps the account open. Is the implication that AOL could suddenly send the customer a bill?
- blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13There is no crime here.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"And AOL's value has slipped from 200 billion to 20 billion. I wonder why..."
That's almost entirely due to the fact that they're a dial-up service provider, and dial-up is rapidly being phased out for broadband. To counteract this, AOL has signed deals with many broadband providers such as Verizon DSL, but most people don't want to pay extra AOL fees on top of their broadband fees, so that's not much of a revenue stream either.
Their customer service problems are horrible for PR and amusing to report on and talk about, but most average people don't care. The main thing for them is: why pay $20 for AOL's dial-up service when I can pay slightly more for broadband, which AOL does not offer? - rfunches, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"Only a retard would give their CC# not expecting it to be charged. If it were free forever why would they ask for a CC#?"
To prove that you are:
1) 18+ years of age, or
2) Capable of stealing CC#s, or
3) Capable of persuading someone to let you us their CC#.
Obviously the intended purpose is #1, but the other two are possibilities. - bntphoretwunny, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9aol needs to die already
- Ascus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I am not sure what the issue is here. AOL is stopping all billing and allowing them to keep the account for free. They can use it if they like, but they have to provide their own access.
Have you ever tried to cancel a free hotmail account? This is now the same thing. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9And it costs more per gallon than gasoline.
- iet2004, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I used to think no one still used AOL, so why is it still around? Now I know that no one is USING it, they're just married to it.
- bluedefender8, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8The problem is people who don't read the fine print, which is exactly what AOL is going for. They see "90 days free" or whatever, and think it's a good deal. Little do they realize that when they put in their CC# for "verification purposes" that it is going to get charged in 3 months, for the next month/year of so-called service.
- LiquidPenguin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@ilyag
Because not all areas offer such cheap broadband. It's a little bit misleading to believe that those deals you see on TV for $25 broadband applies to all areas of the country. They don't. Where I live, it costs me $45/m to get cable broadband (DSL is not an option and other services are even more expensive for even more imbalanced bandwidth) and that's _including_ the so-called discount I receive for having cable TV service (which bring the total bill to just over $100/m). Without the "discount", my provider would fleece me for $60/m but they're willing to "only" charge me a total of $55/m if I also pay for "basic" cable TV.
On the other hand, my girlfriend pays only $15 a month to AOL for their ***** 56k dial-up.
To her, "slightly more" means $5 or even $10 above what she pays now. She's not very willing to pay almost double what she pays now for what she believes is the limits of AOL.
(Don't worry, I'll take her to the Dark Side, I've introduced her to the wonders of P2P :) ) - roadkillrampage, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Simple solution....call up the credit card company or bank and say your credit card or debit card was stolen. They will cancel that card number and issue you a new card. Any future charge attempts by AOL will be declined.
I don't use AOL, but when all my re-occuring charges start to get out of control between all the folks that I have reoccuring charges with (such as TiVo, XM, Sirius, etc.) I cancel my card and get a new card number. - Raian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7boon /bun/
–noun
1. something to be thankful for; blessing; benefit.
2. something that is asked; a favor sought.
bane /beɪn/
–noun
1. a person or thing that ruins or spoils: Gambling was the bane of his existence.
2. a deadly poison (often used in combination, as in the names of poisonous plants): wolfsbane; henbane.
3. death; destruction; ruin.
4. Obsolete. that which causes death or destroys life: entrapped and drowned beneath the watery bane. - Blisshead, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14We need better punishments for crimes like this. I think it's no different than any other scam or fraud, and that the "people" responsible need something amputated.
- chrono13, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"I signed up for a trial account months ago"
You should have known better.
"I get a charge for $25"
No sympathy for you there buddy. - Guye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Not so different from MMORPG's. You cancel your account, but they still keep your character around for ages in the hopes that you have a relapse at some point.
- jobo5432, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7AOL is the boon of my existence. I had AOL in the mid 90's, strictly for a game called MetaSquares. They decided that it should become a premium game, so I cancelled; I wasn't paying $24.95 for dialup + $xx.xx for a simple board game. Since that time, I've done more home PC installations/Broadband installations than I can count. My biggest problem with AOL is that it hijacks the computer, and takes over every aspect of internet/networking configurations. It basically assumes that you're an idiot, and starts to do stuff without asking.
If I had it my way, I'd choke the AOL CEO, burn the HQ, and send out a worm to remove AOL from every known computer running it. AOL sucks! - jefbob, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Exactly, they stop charging you, inform you that AOL now offers their services for free and are there if you decide to still use them, and then make sure you don't need dial-up access, that's all, it does not say anything about any deceptive practices. Why does this have so many diggs?
Marked Inaccurate as well.... - kitf0x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I used this script to cancel today, it motivated me enough to stop being lazy about it and risk losing my aim screen name sometime down the road. The rep was very shocked when I asked him to skip to the end read me the eSource disclosure and give me the cancel number. But he did right away skipping all of the rebuttals and dialog.
- Kemo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I was a little let down when I cancelled mine and didn't get anyone trying to stop me. I was in a mood for an arguement, and my friend wanted me to record it to post on the net, but as much as I tried arguing with with lady, she was cool about everything. I was hoping to get that ***** who kept asking stupid questions so I could just yell at someone at AOL, but I didn't have problems.
Damn..I feel cheated! - carve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I hate aol as much as the next guy, but what is the problem here. You're not using them anymore just like a "real" cancellation, but you still have your email account if you ever need it.
- mcbarron, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8Uh - that's a strange way to "fix" re-occuring charges. Another would be to not start them in the first place... it would do wonders for your credit report and the revolving credit card collection in your wallet.
- MikeWilson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"You know AOL won't delete you free AIM account even if you try, right? Is that a conspiracy as well?"
That's how they get a perminant record of your information. - AcilletaM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The difference is this:
Canceled billing: Your account is still open, still active, still able to be billed against. OPEN account, they are not just retaining your info. Maybe you use the free service, wander across something AOL charges for, it works for you, and you get billed.
Canceled account: Your account is still closed, not active, not able to be billed against. Maybe you use the free service, wander across something AOL charges for, it doesn't work for you, and you don't get billed. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It appears that most businesses lean toward that sort of model now a days...
for example, if you dial your phone company, and select the 'sales' department, you will immediatly get someone, while if you choose something else... well, you may end up with cobwebs before someone answers... - Kittyflipping, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@chrono13
"They could, of course, ideally offer two choices:
1. Default recommend Cancel billing, leave account/mail open for easy transition.
2. And mention that at any time they can have their account/mail canceled as well."
According to the email, the only difference between cancelling completely and the 'free' account is with the 'free' account they keep your billing information.
"Even if the member completely cancels their account, they can go online to AOL.com and log in with their old/existing user name and password and their account will work just as the free account does, except they don't have an active billing account just a free unattached email service." - atmablue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@marahmarie
"Canceled accounts don't originate billing or marketing and their emails and other services can still be used."
That's from the article and what I was going with. Undoubtedly your experience says otherwise. - Raian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4How do the executives at this company keep their jobs? It's amazing that they are able to get away with so much-- driving this company right into the ground at the speed of sound.
- natebmiller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If these are services that you continue to use why would you cancel your card number just to have to resign up for all those services. Sure it might be fine for something that you can't seem to get cancelled, but I don't think NetFlix, TiVo, etc. have any of those troubles. Anyone see the logic there?
- jo42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's not just AOL. I'm trying to cancel ADSL service with a local ISP. I called. They said to send email. I sent email. No response. I send fax. No response. One month later, still getting billed for it. Arsewipes.
- saisumimen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@roadkillrampage:
That "solution" doesn't always work. AOL has been known in some cases to leave your account open (sometimes for years) and then have the creditors contact you for your outstanding balance. -
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