Complain about a product or service

AOL - "Free" Hours

Loraine of Leavenworth, WA December 1, 2008

On 11/21/2008 I received a CD in the mail advertising Try one month of AOL FREE! On the bottom of the wrapper it said No catch, no commitment, Great low price. AOL dial-up now only 11.99/mo. No credit card required. I used the CD and AOL immediately asked for a credit card. I entered it thinking they needed it if I stayed with them AFTER the 30-day free trial. 2 days later they charged my credit card the charged my card 25.90.

I called and said to cancel immediately because of unethical practices and asked that they immediately credit back my credit card for the 25.90. The lady I talked to said it would cancel my internet service but that it would take a few days to credit back the money. I was very nice about all this but did tell her that I understood that she only works for AOL but that I would be filing a complaint with the appropriate federal agency. I also reminded her that AOL had already been in trouble because of unethical business practices as I had seen it on major news stations some month past.

The person I talked to said AOL would be sending a letter of some sort to WAMU, my credit card, and I was unsure if it would be detrimental to my credit score. Eventually, the money will be put back as I have alerted WAMU to the scam by AOL, therefore have no reason to join a class-action suit.

Maria of Garfield, NJ November 16, 2008

I am many other individuals found out that AOL has offered free services for almost two years and I have been paying 11.99 per month for that free service. AOL never informed me of this change and gave me an opportunity to choose the free service. I asked for a refund for the time that it has been free and was told that I could not be given a refund because I recieved the service I had paid for. They did not address misrepresenting themselves and lying to their paying customers.

I got nowhere and believe it is unfair and everyone should be refunded their money. How can they charge for something that is free just because the consumer is not aware of it, that is fraud.

Kristine of Auburn, NY September 11, 2008

On September 11, 2008, I was informed by a relative that they had had AOL e-mail as a free service. I have been a long standing, loyal customer with AOL for 9 years and 8 months, paying 25.90 a month. When I spoke to a consultant at the AOL call center (Michael) explaining the situation, he simply replied that AOL does not send a courtesy letter or email disclosing this free option to their loyal customers or to any of their customers for that matter. Making me completely unaware of this free service. He also did not have a good enough reason as to why AOL conducts business in this sort of ill manner. When I pressed Michael on how long AOL has been offering this free service for, he stated maybe 1 year and then replied he was not sure.

At this point, I asked for a refund up to the time when AOL started offering free email. As a customer I was not given an opportunity to choose from 1 or the other option. AOL made the decision for me. I would have been delighted to know that AOL has a free email service and that it would have saved me a little over 300.00 a year. I currently have wireless at my home and only wanted to check my mail on a daily basis. Other than that, I do not use AOL for anything else.

When I said this, Michael flipantley expressed that he nor anyone else in his building could authorize a refund or help me. He placed no urgency on my situation what so ever. I then asked for the number to AOL Corporate. Micheal replied that he did not know the number and refused to provide it to me. I asked Michael to put a supervisor on the phone and Michael said the floor manager would not be able to help me, but would gladly get them. Michael hung up on me. I quickly found the AOL Corporate number and found no luck speaking with anyone. When I was transferred to an operator, they were just as insensitive to my needs transferring me as fast as they could without listening to whom I needed to speak with. I was even cut off before I could briefly explain the situation.

As a longstanding customer with AOL Incorporated paying on time every month for the last 9 years and 8 months at 25.90 a month, 3,004.40 all together. I merely asked for a simple refund for the monies owed to me since the time AOL brought out this free service. I was not asking for much. As a great, loyal customer I can not believe how poorly I have been treated with no consideration for the simple fact that I have paid all these years for a service I could now get for free. As a business professional and someone who has to uphold to a clean and honest reputation, I'm appauled by the behavior of this organization. This to me is just bad business. They have lost me as a customer for life.

Aaron of Oak Creek, WI July 28, 2008

I tried to cancel my free trail with aol in january05. After noticing aol payments still on my bank statements I called them back to get a refund. They claimed I never cancelled the free trial, only some free acount that I supposedly had. I asked for a full refund of 350, but they only gave me 40 in september07.

I have been lied to and getting the run around ever since. Now, they claim they have no information. After reading the countless claims on websites like this about aol's shady business, I am sure it was no mistake.

They took 310.

Rosemary of Independence, LA July 22, 2008

i was up able to connect to dial up service with aol. calls toll-free number for cancellation, matter was support to be solve. 32 was taken from my bank twice. please help me with this rupt off

Marla of Jacksonville, IL July 8, 2008

I was running an older puter at the time and Earthlink was my providor. I was looking for a providor that my puter could run. So I tried the AOL free trial. After 3 days I realized that it wouldn't work on my puter either so I canceled it.

They would not allow me to cancel and charded my credit card 50. They continue to charge me an aditional 50 a month. It took forever to finally get them off my back. My free trial ended up costing me 100.

Marla of Jacksonville, IL July 8, 2008

I was running an older puter at the time and Earthlink was my providor. I was looking for a providor that my puter could run. So I tried the AOL free trial. After 3 days I realized that it wouldn't work on my puter either so I canceled it.

They would not allow me to cancel and charded my credit card 50. They continue to charge me an aditional 50 a month. It took forever to finally get them off my back. My free trial ended up costing me 100.

Charles of Middleburg, FL June 28, 2008

I signed up for a 90 day risk free trial on May 18 2008. I had trouble signing up for it and had to do it again. Come to find out AOL signed me up twice, and began charging me immediately. I was billed for 2 months, twice before I caught it. I called them on Jun 28 2008 to cancel and they refused any credit.

Although I havent had a large economic impact yet, I was advised from AMEX that AOL is infamous for these tactics. They will try to keep billing me if I dont keep on them. Also, after I cancelled I found out that AOL has litterally hundreds of thousands of complaints against them for their schemes.

Mark of Bakersfield, CA June 26, 2008

American Online charged me for internet service that I didn't use. I signed up for a Free trial offer to test my new laptop's online capability and used the service once. Since the speed was so slow I signed up for an online account with my local cable provider. AOL then proceeded to charge my credit card for three charges after the Free trial period expired.

I put a stop on the charges and AOL filed my account with a collection agency-Allied Interstate-and a representative named Scott Murphy harrassed me over the phone for payment. I was unaware of the Free trial conditions that he stated that I was responsible for whether I used AOL or not. I finally had to pay the charges just to alleviate the harrassament from Allied Interstate and AOL. If these conditions were made clear upon registration, I never would have signed up for AOL.

Even though I used their service one tine only, I still had to pay three charges that amounted to about 80.

Lisa of Jeffersonville, IN June 18, 2008

I was in the process of going through my checking account online when I noticed (2) withdrawls from my checking account for 32.90. One was made on 5-27-08 and one made on 6-16-08. I purchased a new computer in approx Oct 2007 and downloaded an AOL Free Download Trial. I attempted to use their service, but it was very slow, so I cancelled it shortly after and signed up with Insight to have Broadband, which I still currently have.

However, apparently my Free 6 month trial was up in May and they never cancelled my service as requested and have no record of my call. What a surprise? However, they refuse to refund these draft fees b/c they say I never cancelled. The only thing they would do was to give me the address and fax number to complain to. What can I do about this?

Time wasted on the phone to get nowhere, and 65.80 worth of fees for a service which I am sure they can verify if they wanted to that I never used.

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