aol little known fact and 0800 number

flufff

Thanks for contacting AOL. It's AOL's aim to help you get the best possible online experience, and you can get further assistance at any time from Live Help, and the dedicated Help channel.

AOL Broadband combines all the benefits of high-speed Internet access with the best features of the AOL service: ease-of-use and convenience, unbeatable content, community and customer care.

If you have a third party broadband connection, you can view unique AOL content at a great lower monthly rate of £3.00 per month.
To Connect through a third party

1.. First access the Internet through a local ISP or a LAN connection.
2. Open AOL to the sign on screen (Do not sign on at this stage).
3. Click Setup.
4. Select Add or change a modem or other connection device then click on Next.
5. AOL will search for a new way to connect, when searching has finished select TCP/IP.
6. Click Next, you will be asked if you want to sign on to AOL now, make sure 'Sign on to AOL' is ticked and select Next.
7. Congratulations. Now AOL will 'piggyback' on the connection with the other Internet Service Provider and sign you on to your AOL account.

In future when you wish to 'piggyback' on to AOL, sign on to the local Internet Service Provider and then sign on to AOL using the ISP/LAN Connection. To change it back to your original setting, simply change the selection in the location box on the sign onscreen back to your original location (i.e. home). To help you make the most of the service, here are some useful Keywords, hints and tips:

AOL Keyword: Broadband
Still have questions about broadband? Find out everything you need to know at our online information centre:
-- Check to see if you can get broadband in your area and if you have the right computer equipment
-- Your questions answered
-- Sign up in three easy steps

AOL Keyword: Broadband Film
Bring all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood to your PC:
-- Be the first to see sneak previews of brand new movies
-- Enjoy original trailers and clips from Golden Oldies in the exclusive Turner Classic Movies area
-- Get up close and personal to the world's biggest stars with exclusive interviews and live premiere Webcasts

AOL Keyword: Broadband Music
Indulge your passion for music and let AOL Broadband rock your world:
-- Enjoy music videos and album previews
-- Live your pop star fantasies with the help of your computer and our online karaoke machine
-- Download MP3s from the Internet up to ten times faster than over a standard dial-up connection

AOL Keyword: Broadband Cartoons
Entertain big kids of any age with our colourful collection of cartoons and games from the Cartoon Network:
-- Watch cartoon adventures with The Powerpuff Girls, The Cramp Twins, Johnny Bravo and more
-- Get interactive with games featuring classic characters like Dastardly and Muttley, Tom and Jerry and the Thunderbirds

AOL Keyword: Broadband News & Broadband Sport
Get the news you want, when you want it with 24-hour, on-demand video from the world's leading news providers:
-- Watch in-depth coverage and up-to-the-minute reports from BBC News
-- Get the international perspective with world news from CNN
-- Never miss any of the action with regular bulletins from BBC Sport

AOL Keyword: Broadband Members' Club
Exclusive news, tips and offers for AOL Broadband subscribers:
-- Information and advice about online security
-- Broadband community message board and chat room
-- Regular AOL Broadband Members' Club newsletter

Broadband for the family
AOL's Broadband service is the perfect choice for forward-looking families. Because you can use your phone at the same time as being online you can avoid those family arguments about tying up the phone line. And the great thing is, you don't need to install a second line or change your phone number.

But most importantly, AOL Broadband allows your family to explore what the Internet has to offer through this latest technology in safety. You can rest assured that your children can enjoy broadband safely with AOL, as we provide inbuilt Parental Controls to help you protect your children online. For more information about Parental Controls, go to AOL Keyword: Parental Controls.

All this, and free customer support too.


Tech Support Number : 0800-376-4410, 0800-376-4406

Also you can yes CAN connect to xbox live on silver without upgrading.

Madasafish_Customer_Care

"All this, and free customer support too."

I'm a bit bemused by this last statement as there was uproar last year when AOL decided to loose their 'free support'. I've had a look at their website and it does appear that they still charge for calls into support:

"Please note that the AOL Member Services 0870 helplines are charged for, as follows:

Daytime (Mon-Fri 6.00am to 6.00pm): 7.51p per minute
Off-Peak (Mon-Fri before 6.00am and after 6.00pm): 3.75p per minute
Weekend (all day Sat & Sun): 1.5p per minute

Prices are in pence per minute, including VAT, for BT landlines. A minimum call charge of 5p applies to all calls from BT lines. Charges and times via other providers may vary."

I searched on AOL for the reference on Live Help and found this: http://www.aol.co.uk/help/chat/livehelp.html

Apparently you can now "chat" online with AOL support team. Does 'free customer support' mean the ability to "chat" online with a support agent - isn't that like saying "emails to our staff are free"?

I rang the 0800 numbers listed at the bottom of the post and I got the following recording:

"Please note that AOL technical support is no longer available on this number. Please ring 0870...."

That's cheeky.

Kind regards,
Samara

electron_3

The best thing to do is leave out any AOL software if you really want AOL

Setting up a connection with AOL so you can remove their software:

1. Make sure you are disconnected from AOL via their software.

2. Start -> Connect To -> Show All Connections.

3. Double-Click "New Connection Wizard".

4. Hit "Next".

5. Make sure "Connect to the internet is selected" and hit "Next" again.

6. Select "Set up my connection manually" and hit "Next".

7. Select "Connect using a broadband connection that requires a user name and password" and hit "Next".

8. In the "ISP Name" box enter something to describe it to you. SOmething like "AOL Broadband" will do you.

9. Enter your User Name in the box - Something like "KeSmi747@aol.com" then enter the password you use to connect to AOL in each of the boxes below. Hit "Next".

*** IMPORTANT - you must get your username right and the standard format is the first two letters of your first name, the first three letters of your last name, then three random numbers, not forgetting that you also need to include "@aol.com". The example above is what Kevin Smith's AOL username might be. ***

10. Hit "Finish".

At this point you can stop and simply connect to AOL by going Start -> Connect To -> AOL Broadband, but I recommend taking the next few steps and having your connection always on.

11. In the box that comes up hit "Properties". (This box can also be brought up by going Start -> Connect To -> AOL Broadband)

12. Goto the "Options" tab and increase the "Redial attempts" to 100, then change the "Time between redial attempts" to 1 second.

13. On this same screen uncheck the box labelled "Promt for name and password, certificate, etc." Hit "OK".

14. Open Start -> Connect To -> then left-click and drag "AOL Broadband" to your desktop to create a shortcut.

15. Right-Click the new shortcut and select "Cut".

16. Right-Click the Start button and select "Open".

17. Open "Programs" then "Start Up".

18. Right-Click in the blank space and select "Paste".

That's it - now when you log into windows your AOL connection will automatically connect itself and stay conencted.

Taken from http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=155841 thanks to ali137 I posted the info here aswell to make life a littel easier.

Or best of all dont use AOL

KrazyFool

if youve got a modem/router then software aint required. so no worries there. Pay for customer support, who needs it anyway when its got a perfect connection. so no worries there. Only bad isps need customer support.

subtly saying whats bad about another isp thus self promotion - well "thats cheeky"

Madasafish_Customer_Care

KrazyFool,

Marketing a product in a way that leads the consumer into believing that they're getting a free service when they're not is irresponsible.

My criticism lies in the advertisement and NOT in their services. Providing an 0800 number and then redirecting it to an 0870 number...that's misleading.

The AOL text below is well written and would have been a very good advertisement for their services if they hadn't had made the claim to free customer support.

Kind regards,
Samara

flufff

I was sent the above info I cut and pasted from aol within last month.Apologies for 0800 number be out of date appears aol cs are still sending it out.
I want to change after 6 years but cannot find a more competitive rate or parental options.My daughter finds childrens pages great for her homework but their service is appalling.I had to downgrade frpm gold to silver as i'm 6 miles from a digital exchange so can only get 512.Aol said they couldnt upgrade my speed despite emailing me they were :-(

GeoThermal

KrazyFool wrote:

Only bad isps need customer support."

There is so much wrong with that statement!

KrazyFool

ok i'll rephase that non-IT literate people need them.

must have old info, has been advertised 0870 since theyve been 0870. Anyways with all their bad press it would have been hard to miss