Who's the theif?

lolababy

Id close my account and move bank. Get some legal advice about recouping your money.

olly300

lolababy wrote: »

Id close my account and move bank. Get some legal advice about recouping your money.

No need to do that.

With credit and debit card continuous payments unfortunately the bank cannot stop the company taking them out.

AOL are a member of CISAS the dispute resolution service.

You need to write a letter or email AOL and state that you require them to provide you with a copy of any agreement you have with them for service otherwise you will have no choice but to take action to recover the sums they have taken out of your account.

Give them 28 working days* in which to reply to you. After those 28 days contact OFCOM and make a complaint ( 0 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333 during office hours ) then chase AOL up again if they don't answer you properly and give them your OFCOM reference number.

If they do answer you and state they can't find your account give them the OFCOM reference number and tell them that you would like a deadlock letter from them so you can take them to the dispute resolution service.

If you get the deadlock letter then you can immediately contact CISAS. If they refuse to do this after 3 months from your first complaint to AOL contact CISAS (http://www.cisas.org.uk/) and make a complaint.

The only reason to complain to OFCOM is that if enough people complain about bad treatment from poorly operating regulated companies, the company concerned can get fined.

*The long time delay is because you have to wait 3 months to contact CISAS anyway so there is no point stressing yourself out writing endless communications to AOL.

BTW AOL have their registered office in Luxembourg so taking them to court would be a hassle.

elaina79

I would give up phoning them. The only way to get through to them is to start writing letters. Find the most senior person in the company and start writing to them as well as the despute resolution service. I know they say wait 3 months but if it has not been that long they will refer it back to aol possibly someone high up, and just keep bugging them.
They get fed up eventually and do something about it. Make sure you keep a record of everything you send though as proof.

rl290

Same problem - AOL was showing on my Amex card bill. I called amex, who swiftly gave me the number for AOL. Called AOL who confirmed it must be fraud. Rang Amex back and they debitted my card with the money paid, and said they'd take it up with AOL! I love that company!

cheap_charlie

I am amazed AOL are still pulling this stunt.

I remember, back in 1995 or 1996, getting AOL on a free trial period - but the trial period required my late husband giving them credit card details.

We decided not to use AOL after using the "free" trial for a month or so and DH informed AOL - but after the "free" trial period was over, they took the money from DH's credit card. He didn't notice at first but once he did he phoned them and had a hard time cancelling at AOL's end but the bank did cancel the card payment for him.

We had even removed the software from the computer so there was no way we were using their service but they don't care - they just want money.

As a result I have never used AOL again and never will - especially if they are continuing with this outrageous practice all these years later.

olly300

elaina79 wrote: »

I would give up phoning them. The only way to get through to them is to start writing letters. Find the most senior person in the company and start writing to them as well as the despute resolution service. I know they say wait 3 months but if it has not been that long they will refer it back to aol possibly someone high up, and just keep bugging them.
They get fed up eventually and do something about it. Make sure you keep a record of everything you send though as proof.

Another trick you can use to get a copy of the contract or any records proving there is a contract between you and a company is doing a Data Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 1998. This method may not get your money back but will stop them taking money off you as they will not be able to provide this information.

A company that has you as a customer has to keep records and you are allowed to obtain them under the Data Protection Act.

If the company does not have records about you having a contract with them then you can report them to the Information Commissioner for not complying with the Act.

In the case of AOL they clearly state on their entry they keep customer records for accounting and recording purposes.

The Data Controllers Address is:
AOL (UK) Limited
68 HAMMERSMITH ROAD
LONDON
W14 8YW

Registration number: Z5298132

I have had previous problems with Tiscali and 3 and when I telephoned the Information Commissioner's helpline they had not heard of anyone reporting Telecommunications companies to them for not keeping accurate records. I managed to sort my intial issues out with both companies before I resorted to using the Data Protection Act to show that they didn't have a accurate records on me. However with 3 I had to use the DPA to remove incorrect credit searches they had on me.

What you do is:
1. Write a letter with the title "Subject Access Requset under The Data Protection Act 1998". In the letter state "I am writing to you under section 7 of The Data Protection Act 1998. I would like all information you have on me including all documents, emails, copies of contract agreements and computer records. I am aware the maximum fee for this is £10 and I have included a cheque, cheque number [state the cheque number] for this amount payable to AOL Limited. So that you can identify me I have included all the details I can below: [ insert your name, full address, daytime telephone number or mobile phone number, any reference number AOL have given you if you have one, the telephone number the account would have operated from, details of the bank account/card they are debiting]. I am aware under the Act that you have 40 days to respond to my request before I can make a complaint to the Information Comissioner."

2. Staple the cheque to the letter, send the letter by recorded delivery and keep the receipts.

3. After 40 days (6 weeks exactly) if they have not contacted you, send another letter again by recorded delivery giving them 14 days to respond to you. In this letter refer them to your previous letter by date.

4. After 2 weeks if they haven't responded to you go online ot the Information Commissioners website and fill in a complaint form. If you have a scanner you can scan all the information in otherwise you have to photocopy all your recorded delivery slips and send it into them by post.

5. The company will then contact you once the Information Commissioner writes to them.

Normally companies will contact you by telephone as it is a hassle and costs more than £10 in effort for the Data Controller to photocopy and post all the information they have on you, this is why you must include a daytime telephone number on your letters. Make sure if they telephone you, you get the full details of who you are speaking to. Once they contact you you can demand that they:
1. Correct all the information they hold on you i.e. you are not a customer
2. Stop taking payments out of your card because you are not a customer
3. Refund you.

None of the companies I have done a data suject request on have actually banked the £10 cheque I have sent to them.

You need to give as much detail as possible in your first letter so your records can be found. If AOL write back and state they can't find your records then put in a complaint online to both the Information Commissioner for breaching the Data Protection Act 1998 by not having accurate records on a customer, and CISAS for billing you when you have no contract with them.

Also put in a complaint to OFCOM.

LALON1983

SAR the data controller address for AOL is


Data Protection Officer
The Carphone Warehouse
1 Portal Way
London W3 6RS


P/O or cheque for 10 has to be made
The Carphone Warehouse ltd

i had my request returned for statING AOL

olly300

LALON1983 wrote: »

SAR the data controller address for AOL is


Data Protection Officer
The Carphone Warehouse
1 Portal Way
London W3 6RS


P/O or cheque for 10 has to be made
The Carphone Warehouse ltd

i had my request returned for statING AOL

I got the address of the Information Commissioner's register of Data Controllers. Looks like they have not kept their record up to date.

LALON1983

Oggie_Will wrote: »

Its 18 months now and still no further forward my current account keeps getting debited £35 by AOL I do not have an AOL account AOL say its not them my statement says it is the box say they cant do anything about it but do continue to charge me £50 for going over my overdraft I have been to the police they say they cant do anything about it my only way to stop it is to close my account but the bank says i cant as long as there are debits and i need to clear the overdraft somebody is at it but who?
Can anyone help or know the answer or what i can do to stop this?

Its AOL, when i noticed i was still be charged after cancelling - they said it was fraud and to go to my bank. Then they said I have a active account with them but can't find the account details. Then they did a detailed search and found a account which I believe I have never used. I just did a SAR and am waiting for there response.

I do want to get all that money bank - I think AOL has gotten away with this billing scheme far to long. In america they were several law suits against AOL for the exact same thing.

aichqu

geordie_joe wrote: »

I have an HSBC bank account, and my debit card has had the same 3 digit security cards since I opened the account in Feb 1998.

Just phone them up tell them you have lost all your cards, they dont ask where or when or how they just cancel them and you will get new ones with 7 days with new pin numbers nothing will come out of your account once they hit the cancel button. Hope this helps