Name And Shame! Aol

MSE_Martin

After years of advertising, call us for technical or other support for free. Today AOL announced its ditching this, and not for a normal number, but for an 0870 number - so that's 8p a minute to call it during the day. This completely goes against its advertising stance for years and is an expensive smack in the face for its customers. If you can ditch it! There's much cheaper out there anyway.

Related Articles:

Say No To 0870
Cheaper Internet Access
Cheapest Broadband

Update

I've just spoken to AOL about this and it has confirmed

i. It will generate revenue from this service. So if you call to complain it will make money!
ii. It will not promise that people won't be kept on hold

Dispicable!

Ticklemouse

I freely admit to being an AOL user (I know, but then I'm still a bit of a technophobe and AOL make life easy for me) One of the major pluses AOL had was it's freephone number. I have in the past spent many an hour on the phone to them and have always found them to be really helpful (except the time I got through to India).

However, I don't use 0870 numbers now, thanks to the website, but even paying a bit when it was free is annoying, given I pay more than most for my connection anyway. Don't think I'll persuade Mr TM to change - we both like our e mail addresses and have friends and family on AOL too.

Shrimp_Stu

Funny that when I called AOL last week to say that I was thinking of moving my ISP the customer service adviser stressed that one of the advantages was the free helpline - ha! they cant use that one now.

narol

i'm [stupidly] on AOL too.

does anyone know the number to call to bypass this new proposed 0870 number?

must say i had problems this week & their CS in scotland & india is terrible.

only good thing was the free bit!

BUT, how does one change from AOL if u need the @aol.com email adress you own

pricefighter

narol wrote:

i'm [stupidly] on AOL too.

does anyone know the number to call to bypass this new proposed 0870 number?

The existing geographical access no is 0117 919 1100 but this of course may change.The new 0870 does not come into play for another month.

April2

meheraltaf wrote:

About email Narol,you would need to have a different id always seperate from your ISP or when you leave your ISP you lose all that you saved,so I never give away my aol id or use it either.You could create a hotmail,yahoo or even gmail if you could receive an invite.

PM me your first name, surname and e-mail address and I'll be happy to recommend you for a gmail account.

loopy_lass

ok... er... wots g mail..... sorry! im also on aol & hate it, is this new no. a way of me getting out of my years contract with them?

loops

Poppy9

Had this email today from AOL:

Dear AOL member,
We are writing to tell you about some important changes to the AOL service in the UK. To ensure we can continue to provide the highest quality member services, on 1 August 2005 we are moving from our existing 0800 customer and technical support numbers to a new charged-for number: 0870 3 20 20 20. A table of call charges is provided below.


This change will enable us to invest in further significant enhancements to our customer services, and ensure we continue to provide market-leading support for the wide range of features and content AOL delivers to our members now, and in the future.



However, subscribers to AOL's new telephone service, AOL Talk, including those who sign up before 31 October 2005, will continue to get customer and technical support services at no extra charge on the phone line on which AOL Talk is activated, because AOL is the phone service provider. The new customer and technical support number still represents one of the best value customer service options on the market, as many other Internet providers charge premium rates for support. The table below shows a summary of call charges for AOL support from 1 August 2005.

Telephone number

Mon-Fri 6am to 6pm 7.51p

Mon-Fri before 6am and after 6pm 3.75p

Weekend - all day Sat & Sun 1.5p

0870 3 20 20 20



Prices are in pence per minute, including VAT, for BT lines. A minimum call charge of 5p applies to all calls from BT lines; charges and times via other providers may vary. Calls made from mobiles usually cost more than landlines and will vary by provider.
To make it even simpler to get support from AOL, on 1 August we will also launch Discover AOL (AOL Keyword: Discover AOL). This will provide a single area on the AOL service to get in-depth help and advice on a wide range of subjects, allowing you to resolve issues without needing to contact us and disrupt your time online. (AOL members on the Light Usage Plan should note that use of this area will be charged at the standard rate applicable to those price plans. This replaces the current free Help area for Light Usage Plan members. See AOL Keyword: Pricing for details of charges).
In addition, we continue to offer online Live Help (AOL Keyword: Live Help), where AOL customer service representatives are available at no additional charge to answer your questions every day from 8am to midnight, via a one-to-one tech chat.
We remain committed to delivering high-quality customer services and believe this change will ensure that you continue to make the most of being online with AOL.


Any comments or questions about this change can be sent to [email="UKSupportMe@aol.com"]UKSupportMe@aol.com[/email], or you can call the current support number 0800 376 5432 until 31 July 2005. Alternatively, you can visit AOL Keyword: Contact AOL for more information on getting in touch.

The new number represents a change to the AOL Conditions of Service (COS) and AOL Member Agreement, and if you are an AOL Broadband customer, the AOL Broadband Terms and Conditions. All other rights and responsibilities as an AOL Member remain the same. For more information, please go to AOL Keyword: COS.


I had a few comments to send them - mainly that their call centre is crap and that they have a nerve charging for it!

Edinburghlass_2

There is a thread here about gmail, can you place any requests there please and read all about it.

Poppy9

I emailed AOL back after receiving their IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT to tell them what I thought of them introducing charging for calling an Indian call centre that's useless.

At the bottom of the email it mentions that its represents a change to the AOL Conditions of Service (COS) and AOL Member Agreement, and if you are an AOL Broadband customer, the AOL Broadband Terms and Conditions. All other rights and responsibilities as an AOL Member remain the same. For more information, please go to AOL Keyword: COS.

Does this mean that you now have a right to immediate cancellation because they have changed the conditions of your contract (like the T Mobile contract before)?

djblamire

Poppy9 wrote:

At the bottom of the email it mentions that its represents a change to the AOL Conditions of Service (COS) and AOL Member Agreement, and if you are an AOL Broadband customer, the AOL Broadband Terms and Conditions. All other rights and responsibilities as an AOL Member remain the same. For more information, please go to AOL Keyword: COS.

Does this mean that you now have a right to immediate cancellation because they have changed the conditions of your contract (like the T Mobile contract before)?

I have just had confirmation from AOL that this is the case. Apparantely it doesn't matter if you are no where near the end of your contract. They said:

"The new number represents a change to the current AOL Member Agreement, so you have the right to cancel your contract with AOL within 30 days of the email notifying you of this change."

Thanks
Daniel