AO-hell Incompetence - advice appreciated

RuthnJasper

Evening all!

Hope someone might be able to offer a bit of advice or solidarity .

After being an AOL customer for some sixteen years with no problems whatsoever, I have experienced such a catalogue of sheer incompetence and mishandling by AOL as has utterly wiped out all of the previous years' good service.

Scene setting: I moved into my own house after leaving my parents' last year and changed my account details with AOL so that my parents continued to have their AOL account at that address and I had a new AOL account in my new home. For 12 months, all was fine.

In March 2010, I received a call on my work landline 'phone from AOL saying that it was time to renew my contract with AOL and, as I was such a good customer, I could have my next twelve months' net access at a slightly reduced rate. I accepted this and all details were agreed and confirmed.

There then began a series of problems with my monthly payment being seemingly "declined" by my bank according to AOL, despite it having gone through according to my bank statements, which led to my internet (which I use for occasional but important freelance writing work) being cut off, having to repeatedly set up new direct debits, etc. Finally becoming exasperated after a while of this and no-one at the Indian call-centre (no disrespect to them - they genuinely did their best to help and I fully blame AOL, not a hapless and innocent call-centre worker) being able to adequately explain or solve the problems, I reached someone in England who claimed to be able to help.

She identified the fact that there were TWO active direct debits from my bank to AOL (despite the fact that one had seemed to be inactive since my leaving my parents' home) and it transpired that I had been not only paying for my own AOL access, but also for my parents' access at the family home, which AOL had failed to properly amend when I moved out, ever since I accepted the new reduced, renewed, monthly rate back in March 2010. This was confirmed when I got my mum (who struggles with figures, technology, etc.) to look at her bank statements and she found that her last direct debit payment to AOL had been in February 2010. I managed to get through to someone who was senior enough to be able to help me and cancelled the account still in my name, which was associated with the family home.

The next thing that happened was a 'phone call from my mum and dad saying that their internet access had been cut off with no warning. It transpired that this had happened due to my cancellation of the active-but-no-longer-"active" direct debit which was associated with my name, my new 'phone number and new address, but which was actually paying for the connection at my former address (I think there may be a DPA issue here somewhere also, as they were allowing me to meddle with the account that was registered to a different address to the one associated with my name and bank details...)


I helped my mum to re-establish her AOL connection with a separate account code, allied to their home address, so that it would not be associated with me any longer, and mum repaid me for the few months in which I had paid her AOL bill as well as my own. I thought that would be the end of the matter. This was two months ago.

AOL did not take the payment from me for MY internet access this month OR last month, but did not cut me off. I have just realised this and was going to contact them - however, AOL managed to get through to me before I got to them! After my debit card was declined for a small amount this afternoon, I checked my bank account online. :mad:

With NO notice, NO warning, not even a reason as to how they arrived at this amount - AOL have, today, taken £148.91 from my account (despite my only having a balance of £29.19 and no permission for an overdraft because of my IVA).

I rang AOL straight away. The unfortunate Indian call-centre lady who encountered by utter despair looked into my account and denied all knowledge of AOL having taken any money, my account is in good standing, "nothing on my screen madam, ring us back in 24 hrs". This is despite the fact that the amount appears on both my bank statement and my AOL Broadband online account statement - and I gave her the payment reference number. She repeated that nothing was showing on my account. When I demand to speak with someone more senior, I was put on hold. (The "hold music" being The Nolans' and "I'm in the Mood for Dancing". Oh, the irony... I was NOT amused. I'm sure I will be, one day, probably).

After five minutes of being on hold, I was cut off.

I am going to contact the CAB tomorrow, but I am just at my wits' end.

I apologise for the lengthy entry - which is more than AOL has ever offered me.

Please - anybody - do you have any advice or suggestions (beyond telling AOL where to go...)? Or do I at least get a prize for persistence in the face of ineptitude...?

I've been through SO much in the last few years and all of this AOL business has just about crushed my will to live.:(

Any advice would be most sincerely appreciated. Thank you.

shammyjack

Don't mess about any more, go straight to the top with a detailed email to AOLs CEO.

All major companies have a CS dept attached to Chief Officers and Chairmans offices. Problems are usually sorted asap and butts get kicked!

tim.armstrong@corp.aol.com


Good luck !


shammy

RuthnJasper

shammyjack wrote: »

Don't mess about any more, go straight to the top with a detailed email to AOLs CEO.

All major companies have a CS dept attached to Chief Officers and Chairmans offices. Problems are usually sorted asap and butts get kicked!

tim.armstrong@corp.aol.com


Good luck !


shammy

ShammyJ,

Thank you ever so much for your reply. I really do appreciate it.

Of course, if the butt-whipping boot came with spike affixed, well...:D.

The bl**dy Nolans, !!!!!!. That was almost the worst insult of all...;)

Thanks again.

Roo xx

coolsteel

I had a problem with a insurance DD, my original Insurance company was taken over by a rival company, so a new DD was created. The old one was still in my list of DD but inactive. After a couple of years i decided to get rid of the old original DD. This also somehow stopped the new DD!!! My bank had to reinstate the old DD even though it was inactive to solve the problem.

tajk321

I feel your pain. I was contacted bY AOL last month telling me I had to update my payment details or incur charges for late payments. The card they were asking me to update was one that had expired in 2005. I have of course been paying them for the past five years but due to them changing the system they only had my old details on file. I phoned the call centre several times and experienced being cut off and given the wrong advice and even having the phone put down on me because I was getting so annoyed with the situation. I could not get any proper response by email either. I also tried to make payment over the phone by debit card which they told me my bank had declined. this was not true as my bank later confirmed. It was infuriating :mad: I have now recived my MAC and am in the process of going elsewhere. Good luck.