AOL trouble (merged)

Hollieangel

espresso:

As I just posted on the other thread. Both AOL AND Wireless are indeed available in my area, yet the website you link to says they're not.

This is a warning to all others: Use that website with caution, as it can be misleading in its results. vbmenu_register("postmenu_9199993", true);

superscaper

Hollieangel wrote: »

espresso:

As I just posted on the other thread. Both AOL AND Wireless are indeed available in my area, yet the website you link to says they're not.

This is a warning to all others: Use that website with caution, as it can be misleading in its results. vbmenu_register("postmenu_9199993", true);

I've also posted there, I don't know about AOL for sure but you seem to have misunderstood the concept of wireless when referring to a wireless service (i.e. you're not connecting to the internet through the telephone line or cable).

Hollieangel

superscaper wrote: »

I've also posted there, I don't know about AOL for sure but you seem to have misunderstood the concept of wireless when referring to a wireless service (i.e. you're not connecting to the internet through the telephone line or cable).

Yes, Im quite aware of that fact.

I know several people within this town who do in fact have and use wireless internet. Unless of course they are lying, or "mistaken". (Have just read other thread, so replying there.)

lottyxxx

jammin wrote: »

Who also have call centres in India. :rolleyes:

i have been with aol since 2003 and the last year has been the worst,all since they were taken over,also my family members have had the same trouble,and lots of people on here.

do u work for aol????
i was not informed about aol ,and even if i was 0.5 speed for nearly a year now is not good enough,i am well aware sky also have indian call centres and thats not the only reason i am getting rid of aol.if you get connected to an indian call centre when you phone sky you simply ask to be transfered to the uk and they do so.

superscaper

Hollieangel wrote: »

Yes, Im quite aware of that fact.

I know several people within this town who do in fact have and use wireless internet. Unless of course they are lying, or "mistaken". (Have just read other thread, so replying there.)

You still don't get it, having a wireless router is different to using a wireless broadband service. I'm currently using a wireless connection to my router but there are no wireless broadband services in my area either. They are two different things which is what I'm trying to point out. A wireless service means the ISP itself broadcasts wirelessly and so you aren't connecting to your phone line, I actually don't know anyone personally who does that but there are plenty of people with wireless routers which enables them to connect their pcs wirelessly to the router which in turn is still connected to the phone line.

If it meant wireless routers then obviously that'd be nonsense because anyone in the country can buy one from a shop and plug it in. That's why it doesn't mean that at all. In fact there's very few companies that do it and there's very little coverage so I'm not surprised there aren't any services in your area.

kr15snw

Right basically me and my partner have had enough of our AOL being stupidly slow! It takes an age to download / upload anything, the connection is constantly dropping so that I cannot use thunderbird to read my emails as it cant keep a connection long enough!!

Firstly anyone know a number I can complain to?

Secondly I want to sound like I know what Im talking about (and I dont really...), can anyone help me show what speeds I should be capable of getting and what speeds we really are getting?

Thanks for your help guys!

jammin_2

kr15snw wrote: »

Right basically me and my partner have had enough of our AOL being stupidly slow! It takes an age to download / upload anything, the connection is constantly dropping so that I cannot use thunderbird to read my emails as it cant keep a connection long enough!!

Firstly anyone know a number I can complain to?

Secondly I want to sound like I know what Im talking about (and I dont really...), can anyone help me show what speeds I should be capable of getting and what speeds we really are getting?

Thanks for your help guys!

AOL Member Services: 0844 499 5555.

What speed do you pay for?

Somerset

I'm now at the point of researching an alternative ISP. I also have had problems, rang aol, had to delete my old aol settings and install new ones. Problem solved I thought - no !!

Now I have two sign on screens which I have to use, CPW and aol.
My dial-up automatically disconnects if unused for approx 2 mins eg cup of tea or loo break. So I e-mailed aol for solutions/resoltion. Copy of response below :

I appreciate that you've taken the time to allow us an opportunity to handle this for you and thanks for your patience waiting for us to reply to your email.

I understand your issue regarding the issue where your AOL email does not work until you activate your CPW broadband. I would like to mention that as per our records you have a dialup account with us hence you need to connect through CPW broadband only.

If you get get disconnected while using the broadband then you need to contact CPW broadband technical support.

For further quieries please write back to us.

Now my O/H can't understand why I'm bothered about this. I only got this response 30 mins ago. Ring CPW??? I have no relationship with them, no contract, no paperwork, no nothing. I appreciate aol have 'sold' me, but as long as my service is uninterrupted maybe that's not a problem - but since my service is problematic since the 'sale' then effectively saying '' we can't help you, go talk to a strange company you didn't sign up with '' is not acceptable. Note no telephone number or address or e-mail address was provided.

Incidentally I did actually read the earlier aol e-mail in Jan notifying me of 'changes' to their service - no CPW/server change mentioned. Not only did I read it, in response to their ''if you have any questions .......'' I e-mailed them with my questions and got this generic nonsense below :

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Dear Member,

Thank you for contacting AOL. It's our aim to help you get the best possible online experience.[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]

I appreciate that you have taken the time to allow us an opportunity to handle this for you and thank you for your patience waiting for us to reply to your email and please accept our sincere apologies for the delay. Rest assured that we are working very hard to answer every member query , and to ensure that our reply times reduce back to normal as soon as possible.
With reference to your email, I understand your concern that you wish to use AOL via dial up. If you want to use AOL via dial up then you need to contact our Member Services at 0844 499 5555 or +44 117 919 1100 (outside UK).

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]If you require any further help, please feel free to visit our online support at AOL Keyword: Help. This offers full information on all aspects of your AOL account, with answers to the most frequently asked questions and links to other helpful resources.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

opportunity_cost

Somerset, to avoid getting disconnected on dial-up due to inactivity, use a 'keep alive' tool like this one or this other one.

sinbin_72

Don't expect to get any sense out of the Indian call centres. At the beginning of the CPW network swtichover I was told by an Indian Lady at the call centre "Contact Microsoft or get an engineer out and everything will be lovely, Lee". She blamed my troubles on Microsoft as I could access websites using the aol browser but not IE. I phoned back a few days later and spoke to somebody different. They told me it was a line speed issue and all would be "lovely" again in a few days once the speed of the line could be estalished from BT. Again, I took this to be true and then had severe connection troubles to AOL using their own browser and IE. I also had connection drops and it was really getting bad. I phoned back and they told me something different again. This time round they told me it was an AOL rpoblem and they were working on it. I am now using open DNS settings and I still have pages freezing and the odd connection drop a few times daily. I have reported aol to watchdog several times and had an interview with the BBC ove rthe phone giving my whole story. I just don't know what to do as I am still in contract. Surely they are breaking their side of the contract by this awful service.