Advice needed about trying to get best AOL deal

herman2811

I have been with AOL with a few years now (but am not in contract), and I'm still paying £14.99 per month.

Have read lots of threads on here lately about phoning up and threatening to cancel, in the hope they would offer their latest £6.99 deal.

My question is: If I did indeed phone up to request a MAC, and for the sake of argument they DON'T offer a better deal and indeed send me a MAC, am I then committed to leave?

I ask because I don't actually want to leave... just want to pay less! I can actually only get 2MB in my area and that's what I get with AOL, and touchwood haven't had too many connection issues, so I'm happy where I am, especially considered I'm on an unlimited download (which is what I want).

It is my understanding that I'm only committed to leaving AOL if/when I pass the MAC onto another provider... is that correct?

I should also point out that I'm not in an area that is unbundled for AOL, and that last April I took out BT's offer of 12 months free evening/weekend calls(ie a contract), so it looks like I wouldn't be able to take out AOL's free calls offer.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

del1001

herman2811 wrote: »

It is my understanding that I'm only committed to leaving AOL if/when I pass the MAC onto another provider... is that correct?

I think I'm correct in saying that AOL don't consider the request for a mac code as final that you are going to leave them.

You have to phone them and actually say that you are leaving them and wish to cancel your contract, idealy after you've sorted yourself out another isp.

OohSoHolly

Yeh, if you just request the MAC Code you arnt committing to leave.
It will just expire in 30 days if you actually get to the point where they give it to you.
They will most likely offer you £6.99 broadband & phone before this point though.

herman2811

del1001 wrote: »

I think I'm correct in saying that AOL don't consider the request for a mac code as final that you are going to leave them.

You have to phone them and actually say that you are leaving them and wish to cancel your contract, idealy after you've sorted yourself out another isp.

I'm actually out of contract, so I would assume they wouldn't cancel my service until I pass the MAC onto another provider?

And if I don't pass on the MAC, it will expire?

del1001

herman2811 wrote: »

I'm actually out of contract, so I would assume they wouldn't cancel my service until I pass the MAC onto another provider?

And if I don't pass on the MAC, it will expire?

You're out of minimum contract with them, which means that you could now leave at a time of your choosing with no penalty, but a contract still exsists between you & aol for as long as you use their service.

If and when you decide to leave them you would have to phone them (or write) and cancel, they do not regard the issuing and using of a mac code as notice of you leaving them, which seems a bit strange but it is in their T&C.

If you obtain a mac code from them but do not use it then nothing changes, you remain with aol.

Del.

walmergreen

I read a while ago on this website about people who were threatening to leave AOL when paying £14.99, and they were then offered the same service at £9.99. I tried this and found that you actually have to go all the way. If you get the Indian call centre then you are wasting your time. Ask for Cancellations (the Irish lot) and then tell them that you are leaving as you can get the same deal elsewhere. Tell them that the latest BT offer is attractive etc even though it is dearer. There will be the usual discussion, but stick with it as they will push you to the limit........and then at the very last moment they will relent. They need to know that you are serious and that you mean it. However, it does work. I didn't know that the £6.99 service existed but guess what I'll be doing tomorrow

One word of caution though, since CPW have taken over, myself and a few friends who are also on the £9.99 deal have noticed that our download speeds which are supposed to be 2MB, have occasionally reduced to less that 1MB. You have to hassle them, and tell them that you are operating video chat and need the bandwith etc and they will eventually do something. However, it is an issue and something that needs watching. I too have been with AOL for some time but the CPW changes, including the loss of Live Help (supposed to be getting upgraded) mean that the service offered is not as good as it was. Equally, they traffic manage and also have introduced a download limit. Tiscali (yes I know their customer help is dire) offer a reasonable service with no download limits.....but they can't touch £6.99 though!
Alex

walmergreen

One thing more.......the download limits only apply to actual; 'downloads'. ie AOL have told me that if it's music or video .....iPlayer, or Classic FM, Virgin etc......as long as it is delivered via a website then this isn't included in your download limit. So you can watch or listen all day long. AOL said the limit is in place so that they can control P2P and the movie downloaders. However, they told me to just leave Skype running as even though this is P2P, it isn't included.

I pay £5 per month for 24x7 national calls, but the evenings and weekends is free as part of the contract anyway. I'd just request that AOL connect it up when your BT call contract terminates. I'm sure that they will oblige as they want to keep their customer base.
Cheers
Alex

herman2811

Just called them....

Because i'm not in an AOL unbundled area, the best they could offer me was 12.99 including their phone package. I refused in the hope they might at least go down to 9.99, but they didn't :mad:

Looks like i'll be getting a MAC by email soon... oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained

zaccy

If you aren't in an unbundled area then the best deals are £9.99 2mb silver or £12.99 for up to 8mb, which are both unlimited for present customers.

When I recently requested a MAC (Considering the Talk Talk £100 Quidco cashback). They nearly convinced me to upgrade my £9.99 2mb up to the 8mb service at £12.99 plus free AOL talk, plus free router, plus 12 month contract. I then found out that AOL talk is free to all "old" members at the moment, no fee, no contract, so I promptly cancelled the "upgrade". When I had confirmation that the orders were cancelled and I was back on the £9.99 sevice, I contacted AOL again and asked for the no fee AOL talk offer. No hassle at all, phone calls free 24/7, no fee, no contract.

As the line rental is still with BT, it is possible to keep the free caller display and 1571 services by making two chargeable calls on the BT network/month by dialling the 1280 override code when making the calls.

So all, in BT line rental @ £10.50 and AOL broadband plus free phone calls @ £9.99. This is cheaper than talk talk who charge quite a bit for the add ons, plus no set up fee, no contract and the line stays with BT.

herman2811

zaccy wrote: »

If you aren't in an unbundled area then the best deals are £9.99 2mb silver or £12.99 for up to 8mb, which are both unlimited for present customers.

When I recently requested a MAC (Considering the Talk Talk £100 Quidco cashback). They nearly convinced me to upgrade my £9.99 2mb up to the 8mb service at £12.99 plus free AOL talk, plus free router, plus 12 month contract. I then found out that AOL talk is free to all "old" members at the moment, no fee, no contract, so I promptly cancelled the "upgrade". When I had confirmation that the orders were cancelled and I was back on the £9.99 sevice, I contacted AOL again and asked for the no fee AOL talk offer. No hassle at all, phone calls free 24/7, no fee, no contract.

As the line rental is still with BT, it is possible to keep the free caller display and 1571 services by making two chargeable calls on the BT network/month by dialling the 1280 override code when making the calls.

So all, in BT line rental @ £10.50 and AOL broadband plus free phone calls @ £9.99. This is cheaper than talk talk who charge quite a bit for the add ons, plus no set up fee, no contract and the line stays with BT.

Just seen their latest offers... it says it is in selected areas, so I guess I would have been offered it if I was in the right area? Also, are you sure there's no download limit as I couldn't find that anywhere??

Strangely, (after getting a MAC emailed yesterday), I got another email today from AOL saying that my line has been upgraded! I called them up but they seem to have no knowledge of this and they say that everything is still as it was! Bizarre....

Anyway, I might give them another call sometime after seeing the latest offers... see what they say this time.

Ruud

walmergreen wrote: »

including the loss of Live Help (supposed to be getting upgraded

if you logon using your master screen name live help is working