Even dead people can't escape AOL

By David Sheets

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/04/2006

Maxine Gauthier doesn't own a computer. She doesn't know the first thing about Web browsing or sending e-mail. She's not even sure where to find a computer's "on" button, as she describes it.

Yet for the past nine months, she has been fighting one of the most persistent and some say irritating institutions in cyberspace: AOL, formerly known as America Online.

"They just haven't wanted to let go," the 55-year-old St. Louisan said. "I don't think they'll ever really let go."

Her struggle has involved about a dozen phone calls often ending with an AOL customer service representative or manager hanging up on her. She even tried impersonating someone else in a couple of the calls. The giant online service provider wouldn't budge. Advertisement

The problem? An AOL account once held by Gauthier's late father still showed billing charges accumulating against it. The account had been dormant for months; the credit card he used for it was inactive at least as long.

Nevertheless, AOL kept charging $25.90 each month for dial-up online access. Late fees for non-payment accumulated on the credit card, too.

Gauthier even offered to send a copy of her father's obituary as proof he truly was dead. AOL was unmoved.

"An AOL service guy told me to stop complaining and learn to use a computer," she said. "Then he hung up."

Customer service hell

Gauthier's experience with AOL mirrors that of millions who have tried to discontinue their dial-up or other service, only to encounter stonewalling or outright verbal abuse from the company's customer service agents.

The Dulles, Va.-based company, with more than 17 million customers, was once the leading online service provider. But it has bled customers in recent years -- it lost almost 1 million customers between May and June alone -- as more people have moved away from dial-up service toward faster, more dependable broadband Internet connections.

Most of AOL's $1 billion in profits continues to come from subscriptions to dial-up service, a market it still dominates.

Another factor in AOL's decline has been the increase in free services elsewhere online, such as e-mail and ad blocking, that AOL provided at a cost. The company announced Wednesday that it was dropping many of these charges but would continue charging fees for dial-up service.

Yet, neither the Internet's transition to broadband nor the increase in Web-based freebies has damaged AOL's bottom line in recent weeks quite as much as its lamentable customer service, now a punch line on late-night television and in cyberspace.

Thank Vincent Ferrari for that.

The New York blogger and former AOL loyalist used to spend his time online exclusively at AOL's Web portal. He even met his wife there. But broadband beckoned and Ferrari's AOL usage declined to nearly zero. He decided to end the relationship.

Ferrari had heard that breaking up with AOL was difficult to do -- customer service agents allegedly employed every trick short of threats to keep people from dropping out -- so he recorded his call to customer service and posted it on his Web site.

The acrimonious result made huge news online and on television, and inspired a flood of responses. Immediately, AOL clients everywhere recounted their own bad experiences on blogs, TV and radio.

Gauthier saw all this and was inspired. She nearly had given up her own fight.

"I saw that I wasn't the only one with trouble. So, that's why I called you," she told Tech Talk.

"Shut up and listen"

When Gauthier's father, Melvin Berkowitz, died last summer, he was living in Florida and had one credit card. Its only charges were to AOL. Gauthier's mother, Marion Berkowitz, now 80, and still living in Florida, had her name on the account but never used it.

Gauthier discovered the continuing dial-up service charge as she was settling her father's estate. She first called to cancel the AOL account last November.

"They told me I didn't have the answer to his 'security question'," a query many shopping Web sites once employed to assure themselves they were talking to the account holder, "so they said 'Thank you' and hung up," Gauthier said.

She turned to the credit card company and asked that it stop accepting the charges.

"They told me they needed a letter first from AOL saying the account was inactive," Gauthier said.

Another call to AOL, which promised Gauthier it would send the letter immediately. That was in December.

"But I never heard any word," she said. "And these charges kept appearing on the credit card statement."

She kept calling AOL, trying to find out more about the letter. AOL countered by saying it never received a request to send it.

With each subsequent call, AOL became more curt with Gauthier. During one exchange, "the guy - I think it was a manager - just told me to 'shut up and listen to what I have to say or don't bother calling.'

Then he hung up on me," she said.

Gauthier even resorted to pretending she was her mother, because her mother's name also was on the credit card statement. "No luck. They just kept asking me for the answer to the security question," Gauthier said.

A nice guy named Ben

Through the spring and early summer, Gauthier made no progress. The charges -- and now, credit card late fees -- kept mounting, totaling at least $200. After Ferrari's experience with AOL became public, she pressed harder, thinking the bad publicity might loosen AOL's grip.

In June, she called again. This time, AOL insisted that her father's account had not been active since January, and AOL had not charged Melvin Berkowitz's credit card since.

The credit card statements since January, however, said otherwise.

Gauthier again called the credit card company. In early July, she received two letters from it. The first said the charges were fraudulent. The second said they weren't.

"That's when I gave up and called your Tech Talk column," she said.

We tried contacting AOL using all the customer service numbers Gauthier had used. Initially, AOL's headquarters in Virginia didn't answer our messages, so we tried the general customer service number. Within seven minutes, Tech Talk was speaking to Ben, based at an AOL customer service center in Albuquerque, N.M.

Ben, in fact, was very nice.

"A few bad apples"

"If (a customer calls) and gets an AOL rep such as myself, we have to cancel that account at their request," Ben said, explaining procedure. "We have to honor that request. So, there is no ulterior motive or agenda on us to not cancel, really.

"It changed recently where, you know, we have to cancel immediately,"

Ben continued. "We can offer them a better price; that's our job. But if they're adamant, then you cancel the account."

Gauthier had given Tech Talk her father's account information, and we in turn passed it along to Ben, who couldn't give his last name because AOL disallowed it.

"I see here that on May 28, there was a form filled out that this person was deceased. ... That account is cancelled out, right now," Ben said.

He explained that, for whatever reason, the form didn't get back to Melvin Berkowitz's file until mid-June, "so that month was our last bill. There won't be any more bills; I can assure you of that."

Not long after Tech Talk spoke to Ben, we received a call from Sarah Matin, AOL corporate communications manager, in Dulles, Va. She denied that AOL condoned hard selling among its customer service workers.

"We have a huge volume of customer service, millions of customers, so within that scale, of course, there are going to be a few bad apples," Matin said. "Obviously, we have to do much better."

Resolution, or not?

Finally, this month, Gauthier was able to cancel her father's credit card. The AOL charges, going back to last summer, were wiped away, and she was reimbursed for both the charges and late fees.

But the story apparently isn't over. It turns out that Gauthier also has an AOL account, established more than a decade ago when her two daughters were pre-teens first learning to surf the Internet. She has no idea what has become of the account; it has been dormant for years.

She never used it. She's hesitant to find out its status.

"After going through all that trouble over my father, I'm not sure I could handle that again," she said.

Plus, there's this: A few days ago, Gauthier obtained a letter from AOL that was sent to her mother in Florida. The letter was addressed to Melvin Berkowitz.

"Dear Mr. Berkowitz," it said. "We hope you'll come back to AOL."

Once an AOL customer, always an AOL customer.

[email protected] | 314-340-8389

Oh my gosh. As an AOL customer (broadband), that MORTIFIED me to read. And it's so true, too. You can NOT cancel from them. This story broke my heart. I really feel for that lady. What an awful thing to deal with it.

The horror stories I can tell dealing with AOL customer service... they are some of the rudest and meanest people I have ever encountered. They also don't know the meaning of no and don't listen. They allowed my younger sister (who was 13 at the time) to sign up for an AOL account and charged it to my mother's phone bill... and then hasseled my mother for their mistake when she blocked them from doing it and told her that she had to pay an almost $150 bill (they kept charging her after it was discontinued). They finally stopped when she threatened to sue, because my sister was underage and figured out that she only had to pay one month (which is an outrageous price anyways).

That's awful.

AOL is pathetic. We used to have it when we used dial-up a few years ago, and we still pay for it! My family uses Comcast, but my mom pays for 4 hours a month of AOL. It's ridiculous. We should just cut all ties w/ them. They charge way too much and are not any better than most internet providers.

AOL is horrendous! When I went to cancel from them last year, to switch to DSL, the guy was nice, but at the same time, really trying to stone-wall me, etc... He told me they have to do all they can to keep subscribers, and he even apologized after I screamed at him. It was just horrendous. I'm glad he apologized because I was getting livid. Ugh. I'm getting mad all over again just thinking about it! And thankfully, I'm not being charged for it, so... they did cancel it.

Yuck! Thank goodness I never had to deal with that!

So glad I've never had to deal with AOL.

Oh my gosh. As an AOL customer (broadband),

you're really a Verizon customer. You just don't know it, and you're much better off ending affiliation to aol. If you encounter problems with the service, AOL refers you to us, but we can't help you very much because most of the time you're not in our systems.

Now, on to this woman's situation. I take escalations for Verizon DSL. From what she's describing, and what was done to her - she mustn't have been talking to any of the reps in a calm or professional mannor. The one thing I'd love to say to customers but can't because the calls are recorded by corporate (due to the nature of the calls we take): I can be either your best friend, or you're worst enemy depending on the attitude you give me - make a choice.

you're really a Verizon customer. You just don't know it, and you're much better off ending affiliation to aol. If you encounter problems with the service, AOL refers you to us, but we can't help you very much because most of the time you're not in our systems.

What is this about Verizon?

I'm completely and utterly shocked and stunned!

I do intend to cut off AOL service...although I want to not to do that, and stick wtih them until they switch over to completely free (they're doing that you know). FYI: I'm an AOL broadband customer so I'll never need technical service. I don't dial up or any of that crap. I just let Bellsouth Ultra-high speed DSL do ALL the work for me. Life. Is. Sweet. So if AOL ever conks out, why should I care? I certainly won't have to deal with their crappy customer service anymore. After all, I'm ONLY an AOL broadband customer. $4.95 a month just to get their crappy broadband content. L-A-M-E.

I never had AOL but my brother did and he hated it. Luckily, he was able to end service before it became a soap opera.

I have Comcast broadband and despite it's monthly price of $49.95, it's the best. It's worth the money. I did have Verizon DSL but it sucked. When I told them I was dropping my account because I was switching to Comcast, they offered to lower my monthly rate to $13.95 a month. I said no dice. They were that bad.

Free AOL For Anyone With Own Internet Connection

Frequently Asked Questions About the New aol

1. Why Is aol Doing This?

2. What Is Included for Free?

3. What Don't I Get for Free?

4. I'm Thinking About Switching to Broadband: What Should I Do?

5. Does aol Work With Any Broadband or Dial-Up Provider?

6. Where's the Catch?

7. When Can I Get aol for Free?

8. Does This Mean I Can Stop Paying for aol?

9. Will There Be a Service Disruption if I Choose the Free aol Option?

10. Will I Be Bombarded With Advertising if I Choose the Free aol Option?

11. What if I Still Need Internet Access?

12. Can I Keep Using aol in Spanish or English?

1. Why Is aol Doing This?

To give members more choice and flexibility so they can get the online experience that's right for them. As aol changes, other sources of revenue (such as advertising) will allow us to offer many of our services free of charge.

2. What Is Included for Free?

Regardless of how you choose to get online, here's what you'll get for free from aol: An email account with up to seven screen names, the Buddy List® feature, Address Book, aol software, comprehensive safety and security protection, Parental Controls, access to millions of online videos, aol® Radio with XM and more.

3. What Don't I Get for Free?

There will still be a monthly charge to use aol to connect to the Internet, and we will offer several reliable and affordable options, on both dial-up and broadband. These options will include access to our 24/7 Live (telephone) Customer Support, which is not available with our free services. Additionally, we will offer various a la carte products and services, many of which we will announce this fall.

4. I'm Thinking About Switching to Broadband: What Should I Do?

aol offers several reliable and affordable options for switching to a high-speed (cable or DSL) Internet connection. Call us at 1-800-984-7134 to find out if the service is available at your home address. If you purchase your high-speed Internet connection separately, you can still use aol's free services -- including email, video, radio, online security and more.

5. Does aol Work With Any Broadband or Dial-Up Provider?

Yes, aol works with any dial-up or broadband provider. You do not need to change your email address or do anything differently. Once you connect to the Internet with your dial-up, cable, DSL, satellite or wi-fi provider, you simply go to aol.com or start your existing aol software. For information on how to set up your aol software to work with another provider, please go to http://help.aol.com and search for "Connection" or click here.

aol will continue to provide several reliable and affordable options for connecting to the Internet, on both dial-up and high-speed (cable or DSL) plans. Please call 1-866-280-0618 to find out more about the connectivity plans aol provides.

6. Where's the Catch?

There is no catch. Choose to connect to the Internet however you want, and enjoy the benefits of aol's software, email, and features at no extra cost. We'll still have pay plans for people who need an Internet connection and full customer support, as well as certain a la carte services, but anyone can use aol's free features regardless of how they get online.

7. When Can I Get aol for Free?

If you already have an alternative way to connect to the Internet, either by dial-up or broadband, you can move to the free aol plan and continue to access your aol e-mail, software, and security features. To change your current aol plan, simply call Member Services at 1-800-984-6207.

8. Does This Mean I Can Stop Paying for aol?

That depends. You can choose the free aol option and stop paying for Internet access and customer support from aol if you have another way to get online. Once you're online, you can continue to use aol's software, email and security features at no charge. We will, however, continue to offer dial-up and high-speed (cable or DSL) plans for those who need a connection to the Internet and customer support.

9. Will There Be a Service Disruption if I Choose the Free aol Option?

No -- you should be able to continue accessing the aol software, your email account and additional aol features, as long as you have a connection to the Internet. Make sure you first start up your Internet connection before you open your aol software.

10. Will I Be Bombarded With Advertising if I Choose the Free aol Option?

We do not anticipate significant changes to the advertising and pop-up policies in place on the aol.com Web site and throughout the aol service.

11. What if I Still Need Internet Access?

aol will continue to offer several reliable and affordable options for connecting to the Internet, on both dial-up and high-speed (cable or DSL) plans.

12. Can I Keep Using aol in Spanish or English?

Yes, you can continue to use aol in the language that you prefer -- Spanish or English.