AOL Reviews

Please give my money back.

It is an unauthorized service.

Thanks,

Elenice ****

I have ordered these Desk Planners for the past few years and have not had any problems.

I am real disappointed in the way they are handling this matter.

I didn't order the planner as stated on the invoice with an order date of 10/31/2003 and an order number of 153936469 nor do I want it. Please sent me a return address or call me at 813-***-****.

received planner january.

He stated that I would receive 2 free months of aol that I just received today only because I called reguarding another matter and happened to remember that I never received the planner. The address that I had on my acct. was **** ave, cinti. oh.45223. I would still like the planner and the overlimit fees credited to my acct. I just moved a few days ago,12-20-03 the planner Did not come. Mail it to my new address above. Contact me Via E-mail reguarding this matter. I am not on the computer too often so please mail response to address listed above also.

Thank You Timothy ****.

Being that this happened a month before christmas it took money away from gifts that i by for the family. it also made me very angry to know that they are able to debit my account without any authorization. Something needs to be done before next year comes around. I already cancelled my aol account because of this and will no longer deal with aol on any level!

As I have never been billed for an item until it was shipped, where were they? I went on line and had an email conversation with AOL billing. She told me they had not been shipped yet! She also said that she couldn't stop the shipment, but if I called the 800 Planner number back, those people could. Wrong. The planner people told me that they are not AOL, just a service who reports to AOL, and they are not authorized to stop shipments. What a scam! They billed early to inflate their assets! I will not pay for this unwanted, unordered, and unreceived garbage.

In October 2003 (over 1 year after my father passed away) I got a bill on my credit card for $34.95 for AOL planner. I called aol immediately and was transferred to 3 different numbers (the telephone number of the charge was not on the billing information provided to the credit card company). I was told that I had to return the planner (which I had not even received) and that I ordered it. I did not order the planner. About 1 1/2 weeks later, the planner arrives at my father's old address in his name.

I marked it return to sender - deceased and gave it to the postman. I have since called aol's customer service number 5 times without a response...the last time I called I was informed that the phone number is just an answering service and they email aol and it would be better if I just emailed them directly. I had emailed them previously 4 times. I sent another email after my last conversation with the "answering service". I got a reply addressed to my dead father (the email stated that he had passed away and I was charged for the planner) indicating that they sent him an email (which his email account was closed, along with mine in October when they charged my account without my authorization) with any information that they could provide him concerning his refund.

I can't check email on a closed account and he's dead so I can't ask him to repay me for the planner. It was returned and aol will not read my email or read the email from the answering service to assist me. The planner was returned and I still have not received my credit.

i 'did not' order one for 2004. i'm not sure exactly when it arrived because i have been in & out of town. i 'never ordered or authorized anyone to charge my credit card, [especially for that amount]. when i finally received it, i hadn't opened it right away,i realized the price was not $12.47 but $33.65.

i want to return it. please let me know where to do this. it is still in the box & perfect condition.

lucy ***

they told me if i could provide a bank statement proving money had been taken out they would credit my acct. i did 12-12 and when i talked to gerome on sun 12-14 he said i fax it to wrong # this was # i was given and i think it's a brushoff 1-405-***-**** and i have faxed it three times how can this company get away with what they are doing i can get a stop put on a automatic withdrawal all i have do is call my bank and do it.. i told them in my letter i can't afford for this to keep happening my money didn't grow on trees.

I discovered that AOL was charging my credit card since August 2003 for broadband service. I contacted AOL and spoke with Tae Lee who identified himself as a manager. I told him that I cancelled my service and wanted to know why AOL was charging my account. He explained that I had "used" the service in September 2003 at 4:30 am. He said that their records show that I did not cancel my membership. I attempted to reason with him and asked him if it made any sense that I would call and change service but not cancel service and neither service was entered into my recoreds.

His response was whether or not it made any difference did not matter. He would not refund my money and was not concerned when I told him I was going to complain to the appropriate federal and state agencies and consider suing. I asked to speak with his supervisor and/or get the address where I could voice my concerns. He responded that he was the final authority and that he would not provide me with that information. I beleive that the agent I spoke with in July deliberately failed to cancel my service and initiated the broadband service. I believe that this action is sanctioned by AOL and refuse to accept this behavior and will contact a lawyer to discuss legal means to recoup what was stolen from me.

On Dec. 4,2003, after checking my bank account online, I noticed 43.65 was taken from account for the 2004 Planner. The entry said AOL Planner Renewal. NOW, I'M PISSED! I called the 800# listed on my bank account info., 1-800-810-8238. I was told by the lady (Mary, I think) that the planner had already been mailed to me, in November, and that I would have to return it before I could be issued a refund. She gave me all the return info. and advised me to wait. She said she was placing a note on my account stating that the subscription was cancelled. She said that they have a new system now, so the notes could not be erased. She said, in the old system, anyone could erase the notes/memo's that were written and that is probably what happened.

Well, it is now Dec. 13th and I still have no planner, nor do I have my refund. I called again last week to let them know the planner still has not arrived and was advised that there is nothing they can do until they get the planner back. I requested to speak with higher authority and was basically told that they did not have phone numbers because they do not want to deal with angry customers like me. I would just have to wait for the planner to come to me, so I could mail it back to them and be issued a credit. I called AOL customer service (1-888-346-3704) and was basically told by Jennifer #52123 in Billing that these desk planners come from a company that AOL has allowed to use their name. They are NOT associated with AOL. She basically told me the same line: "There is nothing she can do. I would have to call 1-800-810-8238 to get my refund because she does not have the authority to issue me a refund."

This is a very unscrupulous company from what I can see. I found this website by accident while searching for aolplanner.com. I did not know there were others out there like me. Even the aolplanners.com website is vague. I don't what else to do to get my money back. Luckily, I did not bounce any checks, but never the less, it's still my money and I want it back. Now, I am stuck with waiting for a planner that I may never receive. I do not feel I should have to wait for a planner that I did not order. They did not wait to take my money!

I REFUSE TO SEND IT BACK, I DID NOT ORDER THIS PLANNER, ORDER WAS CANCELLED TWO YRS PRIOR, they wrote back and stated, they could NOT even find my order in the database, ha ha well how do you fill an order if you do not even have one??? UGH-- I am at a standstill with aol direct co, for they want me to ship them the book back, which I do not even have--besides, I DID NOT ORDER IT, and should NOt have to pay for an item I DID NOT EVEN ORDER. I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO HAVE THIS ISSUE RESVOLVED ASAP AND MY MONEY BACK!!!!!! ALL OF IT THAT WAS CHARGED ON MY CARD!!!!

Many thanks for your time,

Enterprise, Alabama

I called them and they told me to ship back and issue me credit. I returned, but credit was not given.

Paul ****

Also these planners were billed without auth to my aol account. I have refused any further orders and would like a full refund.Also attitude from Drew was unacceptable. If he had poken nicely and not been as abrubt. it may have been beter also I asked to speak with a supervisor and was told they were al in a meeting,I asked for a call back and was told "THATS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN" WELL WITH CUSTOMER SEVICE LIKE THIS I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVE ANY CUSTOMERS. I am not happy and have been withaol for 6 yrs. Well you and aol shp direct have lost my buisness. Also anyone else i can diswade I will. I wuld like to hear from someone there.

Howard ****,LDO.

Please respond immediately.....MY BANK DID....

The offices were closed for the weekend, so I went to the form to cancel the calendar. There was an explanation that the calendar automatically billed to my account because I ordered a calendar in 2002 and I should have received either a pop-up or e-mail giving me the option to cancel. I don't recall receiving anything of the sort. Also, I had ordered a calendar in 2001 and was not automatically billed in 2002, so I really thought something fishy had happened. I was offered the oppurtunity to be refunded $20.00 and only pay $9.99 for the calendar. Since I thought that a good deal (don't know what I was thinking!), I chose that option.

Two weeks later, I have received neither calendar nor refund. I called the calendar dept. two days ago to find out why I have received neither and was told that the calendar should be here that day or the next. I got really upset again and decided to cancel altogether. I was told that I have to wait until I receive the calendar and return it to get my refund. I complained that I was also charged an overdraft fee of $25.00 and was informed that I could send record of this and be re-imbursed for that. Two days after the call, I have still received neither. I will be calling again tomorrow. This was really ridiculus. I question the whole transaction further, because I did not pay $29.99 for the calendar in 2002. I am very upset at this point and disappointed in AOL.

Thanks

suzanne ****

Consequences? I'm wasting my time writing this to you. Also I'll probably have to make a special trip to the post office--I have no car-- to return the planner. AND with my luck I'll wind up paying for it anyway after fighting with you and the credit card company. Once headache after another. All year I've been looking to finally being finished with the AOL Planner for 2003 and getting something cheaper and much more suitable for my needs. Now this thing appears in my mail. NO THANKS!!!

I sent emails, requesting refunds, I spoke with them over the phone, they responded that I have to return the planner, I explained that I was mailed to an address where I cant get it. Nobody seems to care, and most important, because of the unexpected charges,

When I called them I was told that they didn't have a record of my order. Because of this they aren't able to reimburse my money immediately. They took down my information and said they would e-mail to AOL and that it was AOL's problem. I called AOL again and they directed me to the 800-810-8238. And the cycle begins again.

I did not authorize this charge, and from reading the complaints on your site, it seems that people are being charged different prices for the same thing, for something they didn't order, nor did they authorize them to charge their account. They are taking advantage of their consumers, and give no way to contact them to correct their misdoings

Sincerely, Ann ****

AGAIN this year I recived 2004 planner. WHY? when I asked to cancel it then why i recived another one??????? .... I DONT WANT IT. PLEASEEEEEEEEE JUST CANCEL IT.

The consequences that AOL faces, is losing this account and me choosing another internet company. How dare AOL put charges my account without my authorization. Furhtermore if an item is sent without a requst, it is considered a GIFT, not an ORDER!!!!

AOL isn't very popular... and I am getting to the point that I will not be a customer much longer... I have trouble getting on line.. and after I get on .. I get kicked off.. .so why bother... and now you are assuming that I want to pay for something like this planner .. do you think people are made of money just because we use the AOL service... you had better get your heads out of the sand... and provide a service that is reliable and what we want.. and not a bunch of problems for us to deal with...

Sincerely.. Marcella ****

I Talked with Diane who seemed so very unconcerned that I asked to speak to someone else or a supervisor, but she kept talking and I kept insisting to speak to someone else. This lady went totaly off! She just started crying and babbling about a migrane is all I could understand. Finally, she put Tai on the line I had to explain everything again. You know the sound like they are reading from a script and act as if they are robots without any care about your problem. Anyway, Tai referred me to 800- 810-8238 to talk speak with because he said the planners are put out by a different company, not aol. I told him aol name was on the 43.65 charge and I should not have to go chasing around from one number to another to have this cleared up. I should be abel to call AOL and talk to one person and have this cleared right away. Of course my complaint fell on deaf ears! I called the toll free number and did not write down the name of the lady I spoke with. She was the first one to tel me that there was a certain time for me to call and opt out of receiving the planner, otherwise they would continue to send me a planner!

This lady said she would make note on my account to cancel the planners, but I need to email helpdesk@aolplanners.com and request to cancel so they will send me a confirmation number right away. She said she could not issue me a confirmation number! Also, they cannot credit my account until they receive the planner back! When I typed in the e-mail address, guess what? The address could not be found, but I saw your link and that's why I'm writing you. They really seem to deliberatly make it difficult for the customer when it comes to getting refunds and canceling. This absolutely sounds like an illegal rackett! Help,Help, Help,Help. Something needs to be done to stop companies from doing this.

Mrs. ****

Six days later I STILL have no credit.This is a horrible sham and AOL should not get away w/this.They asked me in July if I wanted to renew the planner and I said no.I wrote in an email no.The business that galls me is that they had NO access or business to my credit iformation since I discontinued my service w/them over 6 weeks earlier.Yet they kept my info and used it against my approval.I will gladly testify or send proof to any agency that can use this against AOL.I quit using them because of the bad CS and tactics such as this.

They seem to do whatever they can take advantage of clients. They changed the service ( in my husband's name ) to broadband with no problem per my request, but can't tell me anything to service the accnt and are still going to charge me fees. If my husband could have called in the first place, why would I ever have to call. My complaint is that they manipulate situations with clients, they are more than happy to take money or add service to any accnt, not verifying any information on the accnt holder and see if that is per their decision, but when it comes to making sure that you are not getting charged for anything they are very protective to the accnt holder on the accnt. They also trick customers to charge them for a service; I thought that companies would rather charge a client for a great service being delivered rather than tricking people so they can make money.

They don't mind taking the money out for a planner I have not yet received but I have to suffer for their incompetence. My wife and I cancelled AOL 3 months ago because of all their Pop Up menus and then when I called to complain about the planner, they had the audacity to tell me about a promotion they were offering. Like I would be interested. I feel that my privacy has been violated and I think something needs to be done.

On top of all this, the planner had my name misspelled on it when I ordered the first one. I had to take a black marker to change the "M" they put in my name to a "N".

she finally told me that she would put in a request for the charges to be reversed. meanwhile if i recieved the planner to please write return to sender and put back in the mail. as of nov. 11, 2003 no credit has been made to my account. nor have i recieved the planner in the mail. futhermore i was not notified of the purchase, did not agree to the shipment. on top of all that when i ordered the 2003 planner i only paid $8.95 for the planner shipping included. i called back on nov. 6 and after inquiring about the credit to my account i was told that their was no record of any purchase or charge to my account and was reffered back to aol billing.

aol billing reffered me back to aol planner. i have tried calling back the number i was previously given however the line is always busy wheather it's 1am or 1pm its still busy. i also posted a message to the aol planner website and recieved an email notification that my message had been recieved and that i would get a response within 48 hours. 5 days later and still no response. aol planner in my oppinion has some very shady practices going on. i am requesting that the credit of $29.90 be returned to my card. and request that i be taken off the list for future charges by aol planner. no thank but i dont want a planner.

melanie ****

Ann ****

I immediately went on line to cancel the order. Only I was directed that I had a "bad request". I got on line with a person who identified himself/herself as "Ricci" I explained that I was angry and wanted to have my money refunded. He/she referred me to go on line and go to AOL desk planner. I went on line to cancel the order, and it asked for my name and zip code which I entered. It came up with multiple orders. It asked for my order number, which I didn't have because my order doesn't exist!

I called my bank and they are issuing me a new debit card and I have to write them a letter telling them that I am disputing the charges and why. My customer service rep at TCF Bank advised me that I could file a Security E claim or something like that that will credit my account while they do a further investigation into the matter. I am so angry that a big company can keep getting away with this, and the little people with limited incomes suffer because of it. I consider myself lucky that my customer service person at the bank was so helpful.

Shawn said his supervisor is Mark Richardson, but he will not talk to a live person, nor take or give a message to him. Keith Jensen is over the entire Billing Dept, but he also will not take phone calls, nor messages. That's a great way to evade, hide, and correct issues. AOL Shop Direct does not have a phone number, stated by Shawn. Then, Shawn tells me that the agreement says once you buy a product through Shop Direct, they have the right to continually go into your account every year without consent. That's another problem, if that is so, our gov't and regulatory bodies are not doing a good job in protecting consumers.

Last year I called them to stop any charge but my internet access fee per month, nothing else. Well, it happened again yesterday for 2004. My bank again is disputing this charge and reversing the charge. Another problem, Shawn #58717 (won't tell his last name)said, even though you correct it with the bank (refund, it is never truly corrected with AOL). Truthfully, it was a accident find your webpage, I was trying to find the way to AOL Direct to cancell them going through my checking account any more. Quess what? I still have not figured it out yet. I wonder about all the others that is going through this mess!

I am disabled living on a social security income only; my checking account is very detailed. As a result of this withdrawal I was charged $20.00 because my account was overdrawn.

My time and my money has been wasted! First to figure out why I got this to begin with, what credit card was actually charged and then go online to find out how to return it. Second, repackage the planner and take to the post office, stand in line and spend MY money to return it; Third, to make the complaints. I never did find a number for AOL so I could complain directly to them!

back in august 2003 aol called me up and wanted to know if i would like to try aol broadband for 30 days so i said ok well this is where my problems started i have an ibm laptop thinkpad 390x with windows 98se before i got the broadband i nevered had a problem with my laptop untill i installed there broadband i only had the broadband for a week and it wouldnt work anymore so then i called aol broadband up and they sent me a new one well now my computer doesnt work right after i installed the second broadband and i called aol tech support up and they told me that there was nothing wrong with the broadband it must be my computer and i said it was funny i can do whatever i wanted before i got the broadband and now i cant do a thing my ibm laptop computer doenst work right and it freezes up on me i told the aol tech that i wanted my computer to be fixed and they told me that is not going to be happening in this life time i sm glad i do have a secound pc but that is not a laptop the laptop i use to travel with or if my family is on the other computer

i like to know what can i do cause aol said the broadband is software and it is not a hardware the only thing i want is my computer running right is that asking for much they then told me to contact the laptop manufactor or call microsoft i cant do either cause the laptop is out of warranty and i cant see why i have to pay ibm or microsoft to find out that the broadband did something to my computer

To avoid a return, I kept it but was told that the system would updated to state that I wanted the words, Michelle Wxxx, M.A., L.P.C. listed in gold on the front for the year 2004.

Here I am feeling good about my self until I went To my old house and recieved 2 thirty dollars overdraw bank statement. When I got home I called AOL to find out what happened. A young lady by the name of Renai said sorry a mistake was made and all our money would be credited back to my account with another promise of two months free THE Lies all lies ( when I heard all my money I taught the over drawn fee would of been included in this statement I taught wrong) She said that the money would be returned to our account in five days. ON september 8 Aol took out 31.00 for broadband on september 9 aol took out 28.00 from our account plus 2.18 in taxes all the other bills I had in their for other bills were taken out by aol who said it was free for august plus 2 months since then aol has repeatedly been going into my accout and trying to get their money out for months that they said is two month free. cause my overdrafe amount to be now 200. dollars.

I trusted them and they scewed me over royaly. I am not working and now I have to pay my bank back 200 dollars in 2 months. how and were I am going to get this is money is beyond me what I need is prays lots of it. One more think. on october 15 I spoke to a Jamie. I didn't tell him anything about what was going on he said that on numerous occasions they tried to get money out of our account and could'nt as a matter of fact the day after I spoke to renai they again tryed to take money out of my accout that is why they sent us a disconnection notice for non payment at that point I told him that I spoke to a Renai and she said she would reemburse us plus give us two months free he said he did not see any such think. All he saw was Everthing was taken care of.what was taken care of was not entered. When I contacted my bank the next day Renai did credit back 28.00 that is all.

I am a Senior and a caregiver for another Senior, my 84-yr old blind mother whom I love dearly, but who suffers when I become confused and irritated. I am on a VERY limited income, caring for mom, and they have taken approximately $300 out of my Visa account now. I really am not very good at knowing what to do when I get "scammed" like this and they seem to be very powerful, very busy, and not very helpful.

My account was charged the $110 to which I was rudely told by a person in billing it would not be credited. Recently (this month) another charge to my account was posted by AOL in the amount of 8.02. I have no idea what that is. After talking to some other people and reading some complaints in Consumer Affairs, I fear the consequences of supplying my credit information to the company is going to result in more unexplained, unauthorized and ridiculous charges. Their management needs to look into this in order to save the reputation of their company if they care. I consider them giagantic scam artists who have perfected some very unethical procedures to make money. And, they are making a lot of money off poor unsuspecting idiots, like me, who dared to trust them with financial information.

One gets the feeling of hopelessness when trying to deal with AOL's customer service representatives by phone, being put on hold and transferred around from here to there and confused by unwanted sales pitches and negative responses. I spent literally 6 hours one day trying to get this resolved by phone to no avail. I was told the charge of $110 was made by my phone company, my phone company said it was not. I did receive an e-mail saying the phone company had disconnected the Broadband service I had ordered (which I did not)and that my AOL account had been cancelled. Now when I ask about the charge of $110, plus the new recent charge of $8, I am told they cannot find an account in my name. By golly, they sure did not lose my financial information. The recent charge was dated October 14. I'm afraid of what's to come.

The word needs to be spread to consumers about the way they operate and their unethical billing procedures. This is very important.

Thank you.

He stated that the customer service rep did read me a disclosure for that stated I would have to call back. I never would have accepted the awards if I had know there was a catch. The customer service rep refused to let me speak with a supervisor and became extremely biligerent. I stated that I wanted a confirmation number now. This is how he gave me the number 02"you got that" 92 "you got that because I have to make sure you have the number right" 18 "you got that or do you want me to say in again" 91 "you got got that 27 "you got that because I have to make sure you get the number right." I told him angrily that I was going to file a complaint because he didn't know what customer service was.

He said" make sure you spell my name right" of course he never spelled his name for me. Instead he stated that the service was cancelled immediately and I could use AOL until Nov 5th the end of my billing cycle. Are you kidding me??? I am now seeing who all I need to file a complaint with because this was unnecessary and demeaning for me to have to speak to a "crappy" customer service rep just to cancel a service I had already cancelled.

Well, the following day when I go to install the software, it gives me an error message telling me it can't install the software. So I try logging on through dial up and I can't long on like that either. So I went ahead and called AOL and they told me I didn't have enough space on my hard drive to to install AOL 8.0 and so I ask them why can't I log on then. He tells me do to do a few things and then says just shut down your computer and when you turn it back on you will be able to log on. I think that was just a way to get me off the phone because when I turn my computer back on I still couldn't log on.

It's been over a week now and I still have no internet access at my house. I spoke to 5 different people, and after following their instructions, every single one of them told me the problem would be fixed to just shut down my computer and then turn it back on and everything would be fine. Don't we wish we could do everything in life like that. AOL doesn't provide the service that you need when you need it for the price you pay. I'm really disappointed with the service AOL has provided for someone who has given them business for 6 years and I'm going to cancel my internet service with them when I talk to them tonight.

This morning, I went online and added DSL/Broadband service to our account. Unfortunately, I typed in the wrong phone number (we have two lines - and I punched in our main phone, not my home office phone which is hooked to the computers).

In an effort to switch the phone numbers before the service was initiated, I tried calling AOL Customer Service was on hold for over 25 minutes. Being that I am at work, I was unwilling to risk my job by making personal calls for that length of time, so I had to hang up. I had my wife call Customer Service in my place. After she was on hold for over 20 minutes, a representative told her that she could not affect any changes to the account since she was not the contact person. My wife asked if they would call me directly, so I wouldn't have to be on hold again, and she was told that not even a supervisor could do that. She asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that it would be useless. In fact, she was told that absolutely no one in the company except Human Resources could make outgoing calls. My wife was also told that there was no way to affect any changes online. Only a phone call from me would fix anything.

So I have now risked my job by calling and remaining on hold for 20 minutes again and this time I attempted to simply cancel the dsl/broadband service request that I placed 2 hours ago. This time, I'm told that I can't cancel the service at this time. I have to wait for an email confirmation in a few days from AOL that the phone company has processed my request, then I have to call AOL Customer Service AGAIN and wait on hold. This is the most ridiculous process I've ever heard about. If I call to cancel an order I placed 2 hours ago, I expect the request to be honored right then.

Brian ****

On September 18th I called to cancel my account because I had found another company and hadnt used AOL in a month. I first spoke with Kevin, he told me he couldnt cancel my account cause the systems were down. I asked to be transferred to a supervisoranyway long story short, I was transferred back to Kevin after specking with a supervisor and WOW systems were back up and I was able to cancel that day (Sept 18). I was also told I would not be charged and Kevin gave me a cancellation number.

On Sept 22nd I was charge directly from my checking account $23.90. I called Sep, 24th and spoke with Tony who put me on hold only to hang up on me. I called back and spoke with Tara who tried to find her supervisor but he was busy so she also put me on hold to direct me to the billing department, and she hung up. I called back and talked with Sean, he put me on hold and I talked with Clara the supervisor. Clara informed me with MUCH ATTITUDE that I was not listening to her (she wouldnt let me speak). She said unless I had an email to prove I had 3 free months I was not getting my money back and she also told me if I slandered AOL I would be sued.

I cancelled the account in April and was still billed for services in May, June and July. I contacted my credit card company and disputed the charges. My credit card, in turn reimbursed me. Since then, I am getting all kinds of correspondence from AOL saying that if I do not repay what I owe, they will turn me over to a collection agency and smear my credit history.

After researching AOL billing problems on the internet, there were over 31,500 complaints of similar problems. Research "AOL double billing" there were over 13,250 sites that stated this very problem. Most complaints were generated in 2002, but it looks like it is still an ongoing problem and no one seems to be doing anything about it. How can a company get away with this?

This could possibly affect my credit. I refuse to give in to AOL's threats, though. I can explain to any creditors the situation with over 30,000 web sites that support my complaint. If, in the future there is a class-action law suit filed against AOL for billing fraud, harassment, non-compliance in cancelling their service, etc., count me in!

I also called umpteen times to change my address with them. I have been living in Georgia for at least three years now and they finally did change my address just last week. They also disconnected my service, due to credit card limit reached even though we do pay in full every month. Our check was sent for payment four days ago. I was given first a two-month award, then a four-month free award. However, yesterday, I received a message from them that I now owe $63. Two weeks ago, I saw on my account, on their screen account, a zero balance.

I have spoken to umpteen rude, very rude people, faxed two three-page letter complaints ~ all to receive no response. My husband (as I explained to them also) has been in a serious accident, needing eight surgeries and we have doctors in Virginia sending files down to us via internet. We cannot get them due to the account change they did us. I can't get through to these people. They tell me that I cannot be reimbursed for the two years they electronically debited from our credit account. Now we are being charged for $63-something and I have no idea what this is for. Nor do they.

So they leave me like this and I am still trying to rectify this situation, however, I very well know, due to my years upon years of history with them, that I will get nowhere. I get passed on and passed on and I hold for hours and hours, only to get rude people. I'm stunned that I am being treated like this and at the same time continue to be and have funds "stolen" from my account. I am at a loss as to what to do.

They continue to debit my account, I can't stop them, they won't stop, and they won't help me, they won't return the money they take from me. They have cost me $120.00 just in the past week for insufficient funds due to their wanting to take out more funds that were never and are not authorized. I'm at a point where for the first time, I am thinking about changing to another company, but somehow I know I will continue to be charged and they will not disconnect from me.

Damage Resulting: Bank charges of huge amounts. Not able to get serious medical records for my husband who literally has a broken neck. Our whole world is via internet due to both my husband and I being disabled.

They do not have record of my validating these charges! I checked my records and I did not receive an email. I asked him to tell me what the account was under and the validation process for usage on the account. There was none. The account has never been used. I kindly asked him to credit the invalid account amounts paid to them in the amount of $119.50. He offered me $50.00.

I asked him to explain to me how this occurred and he stated that it was a master screen name spinoff program and that I got a pop up in February 03 and selected YES to spin off a new account. I told him I did not and demanded to speak w/ a manager. None available. I told him I needed the name and address to write the manager of their service center. He stated he did not have that info. (I called back 1/2 hour later and was given an address and contact for another supervisor)

I asked him if he realizes that he was looking at a charge of credit card fraud and that I could prosecute. He told me to "go for it". I am FURIOUS!! AOL has NO RIGHT to charge for pop up errors! Shame on the Corporation AOL TIME WARNER for not accepting their error and crediting me.

We never received the camera and continually called AOL Shop Direct to tell them to refund my credit card. I also told them that they had no business using my credit card for such a purchase that I did not make. On Feb 24, 03 I spoke with Chantel and she stated she would credit my card and put in a claim & confirm with email. I heard nothing, nor did I recieve the credit. On 3/25/03 I called again and spoke with David. He stated that he would make sure he credited my card back. He too failed to do this.

On 3/31/03 I spoke with Celine and she stated that David did credit my Mastercard and that it would take 3-5 business days to go through. When I called my Mastercard to see if any credits went through, they had gone out of business. The name of the credit card Company was "First Consumers National Bank". When I received my final statement, I still had not received the credit. Then I moved and it took me till July 29, 2003 to pick up on researching what was going on. I called AOL Shop direct on this day and spoke with Carl. He stated the the computer showed that AOL had tried to credit my Mastercard but that Mastercard rejected it.

He stated he would manually send out a refund check and I made sure that he had my new address. He told me it would take up to 72 hours. I have never received the check. Then when I called AOL on Aug 2, 2003, some machine answered the phone stating that AOL Shop was no longer taking any orders and to use the internet to correspond with customer service. I did this and emailed back and fourth to a Desiree ****. She stated that AOL was never credited this amount from Mastercard and could not help and gave me another email address to write to complain.

She also gave me the phone number to AOL Billing and when I called this number, The customer service person I spoke with was Christina and she said she could not help me and that I had to go through the keyword "shopchat" to chat with someone else about this situation. I am clearly getting the run around, can't get ahold of anyone that wants to take responsiblity for this, and am cleary being ripped off. I would like to join the class action suit as this kind of negligence with AOL has got to stop. Please HELP!!

25 jul 23.9(billed date)

Apparently iam already having Broadband connection. Just on a postal mail AOL CD, i wanted to try AOL.

apparently i called on Jul 20 th 2003, to cancel AOL and then on 9th of Aug 2003 i can see a charge on credit card for 23.90. Again i caleld to cancel. This time i was told that, my account is still in trial perios (althoguth cancelleD). AND I WILL NIOT BE CHARGED ANYTHING SINCE ITS A TRIAL PERIOS ACCOUNT)

I really sad to know that, now AOL is refusing that i called on 20th Jul and also sorry about the wrong information provided.

I never used the service, after i created for soemtime...at all.

Its sad note that AOL operates in this way.

I will make sure that, this matter is known to all my friends....and make sure that AOL, doesn't do this with people anyway.

614-***-****

Got charged and never received anything. anyone wondering how they make so much money, here is a sample.

The equipment arrived and I happily attempted to install it. I followed all the directions but unfortunately, it wasn't working, so I called the technician's line and after he had me go through some further steps, he determined that something was actually wrong with the telephone line outside and our local telephone company would have to do something. He indicated that they called our company and I would be notified in a couple of days when the line was corrected. In fact, I received both a call and email indicating that the problem was corrected and attempted again to install the program. Again, it just wasn't working and so I called the technician. He attempted to walk me through it again, but again, it didn't work. He informed me that perhaps I needed to get some splitter for the line but when I asked him what that was, he simply directed me to the AOL broadband on-line store and told me that I should find it there although I stlll had no idea of what I was looking for. He also informed me that perhaps this wasn't going to be able to work on my telephone line currently. I do remember saying to him that I wanted to make sure that I didn't start getting billed until I could start using the service.

As a matter of fact, that was the last I heard from anyone regarding this DSL and hadn't realized that I was being billed for DSL usage because the amounts are drawn out separately, i.e., my regular AOL account is drawn out of my account separately from the DSL charge. Clearly, I wasn't happy about this because my DSL is not working, why was I paying for it. I called AOL billing and they agreed to allow me two months free of charge for the AOL service. I did want to see if I could, in fact, try to reinstall my DSL so once again, I gave it a try.Once again, it didn't work. I called the technician line again, they informed me that they needed to contact my telephone company again and after the telephone company cleared the line, an AOL technician needed to come out to my house and that it would be about three to five days. I agreed to that. The next day, I received phone calls from AOL requesting that I schedule appointment for a technician to come out to the house. I asked if the telephone company had moved that fast on whatever was wrong with the line and the woman who was setting the appointment told me she knew nothing about the telephone company, that she was calling from AOL. I told her that the line was to be corrected before a technician was to come out and that is why I asked. She told me about three more times that she wasn't the telephone company, she was calling from AOL broadband. I told her that I understood THE FIRST time she told me that but that it would be a waste of time for the technician to come out if the line hadn't been repaired. Anyhow, she told me to schedule the appointment for a Thursday which was two days from the date of this converation. I also received an e-mail on line that indicated that I should go ahead and made the appointment with the technician which was already done.

The next day we received a phone call from AOL telling us that the Thursday appointment had to be cancelled and rescheduled because the person setting the appointment had not put down a time and they weren't sure if the technician could come out. The appointment was rescheduled for Tuesday the following week.

On Tuesday, the follow week, a technician came out, attempted to set up the DSL and informed me that the telephone line was not corrected (AARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!! was anyone listening to me when I asked them in the first place!!!!!) We told the technician that he should just leave the dial-up modem for now and he would have to come back after the line was corrected. When I attempted to get on line later that day, I was unable to, even on my regular dial-up modem. When I again called the AOL technician to have them walk me through to get my regular dial-up modem working, it wouldn't work and the technician suggested I go out to a computer store and buy a new modem. I asked her why I should buy a new modem when it was working perfectly fine until the technician came out. Well, after several phone calls again, the technician came out, fixed up the regular dial-up modem and I have been able to use that now. However, to-date, I have not heard from anyone else regarding my DSL installation although that occurred in Mid-May and it is now early July. So,here I am again, in a void trying to figure out what to do.

For the record, my case number is #107664707, service ID # 338894. I would very much appreciate it if we could finally resolve this entire mess. I have been an AOL customer since 1997 or so, have been pleased with AOL services up until this point. Quite frankly, I feel this has been incredibly poor customer service and I am wondering if AOL has gotten so big now that the regular individual customer has become so unimportant that it really doesn't matter how they feel.

The bottom line here is that I want this resolved, and I would like it resolved soon. If I do not hear from someone and end up with an appropriate resolution, of course, there is no reason for me to keep my AOL account and secondly I will be very sure to share this experience with anyone I know who might think AOL is a great ISP just as I used to think before this major fiasco.

Sincerely,

Work number #612-***-****

I had told them expressly not to use my checking account anymore, after I had cancelled their service. They had also made extra deductions for the DSL service, which I never used.

I have gotten no where with these people. They won't even let me speak to a supervisor when I call.

I did all that and was given the run around. Sharon from AOL told me that they would give me two months free and credit me $8.00 dollars. She told me to call Time Warner and have them credit me the rest of the money. I called Time Warner and spoke to Katrina and was told that it was not their fault but that she would help me out. She called AOL and we were on conference call. The customer service rep; was rude and stated it was my fault and they proceded to argue over the matter. Katrina from Time Warner was very helpful but nothing was resolved. WHAT DO I DO???

I am asking to be reimbursed for all the extra charges AOL has collected from me through my Visa account WITHOUT MY APPROVAL.

While talking to the supposed customer service rep, George (he would not give his last name), he became somewhat less than customer friendly and told me I was "wrong." This infuriated me and I asked for his supervisor, who finally came on about 10 minutes later. Lee (****@aol.com)said that they would not reimburse me until the modem was returned. I had mailed the modem back to AOL April 30. During the conversation, I realized that the 30 day period was not up and mentioned this to Lee. He then realized something was wrong and put me on another lengthy hold session. When he came back, he said that there have been mistakes and people who were offered $1, 30 day trials were being billed inadvertantly. So, he said he would help me out and would take the $35.79 amount off my bill. I said "fine", but what about the fees and taxes of $7.94. He said that's not under their control, it was a government issue, and he would not reimburse. I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't buy and started holding the $35 reimbursement over my head. So, as it stands they are due to reimburse the $35 fee, but not the associated taxes.

I'm not really worried about the $8, but I believe AOL is falsely marketing their product. They offer the $1 trial, if someone cancels in 30 day time, they do not recognize the cancellation, start illegally charging fees, and don't fully reimburse the illegally charged fees. This all could be a mistake, but I belive that it is a policy on their part to nickel and dime the consumer. Also, how do I know that they have put the cancellation through this time, remember they denied the cancellation of the 27th, calling me a liar and saying I was wrong. Please let me know if you need additinal info. Obviously, the money amount for me is not large, but if a company of their size does this, it could affect a good amount of people and bring in illegal revenue for them.

i said i didnt want the other camera..they said it was "too late"..and said they had "found" the original camera that i ordered...and asked if i still wanted it. i answered that "yes" i still wanted the original webcam..and asked if they would please cancel the other camera.. again..they said it was "too late" that my credit card had already been charged.. they said for me to return the "unauthorized webcam" and they would credit my account...and to include the receipt for postage...

i asked how it was possible to send me something that i didnt order...and told them it sounded like a "bait and switch" to me!!!, especially after they told me they had the original webcam..and when i 1st contacted them..they said it was out of stock!!!

I was considering AOL Broadband, however due to the rude and terrible service I am thinking of another Internet service not only for myself, but for the company as well. I had not one, but at least two online chats for help and was talked to terribly. I had asked for the session to be checked out and never have heard anything.

I also couldn't get anywhere on the phone and was talked to like a dog. I will not and don't have to as a customer, put up with that kind of treatment. I also was very upset to find when I needed Tech support that my call was going over to another country and they couldn't even hardly speak English to help. Not only with everything that is going on in the world today, that is not only unsafe for a persons account and safety it is just totally unethical to have this going on when too many USA citizens need jobs and war(s) going on for me or any USA person and companies to be supporting AOL if this is what is all going on. I have planned to contact as many persons as possible to have this information fully investigated to where people that have service will know what is going on, so they may choose if this is what they also want to support!

~Very Upset Customer~

Dirty rotten unbusinesslike actions should put the company out of business!

my next step will be the state attorney general in tennessee and texas. also i will be contacting the better business bureau in both states. these people will not continue to ignore the consumer. i have not received something that i have paid for. i travel to remote locations and need this cell phone for vehicle breakdowns or medical emergencies.

I, as a parent, reported each of these inappropriate emails to AOL but received no response from them. Tonight (Jan 17, 2003) I finally made contact with an AOL rep, name Rhia, and was told that I need to "allow" addresses that I want to receive emails from and "block" emails from those that I don't. What good are AOL's "Parental Controls" if you have to block or allow individual senders, you have to do that on any screen name anyway. I don't believe that AOL's parental controls work at all.

My husband and I both got on AOL, searching where he could have found any my information that would open his own account, like checking account number or last 4 digits of credit card. We found nothing and called AOL billing again. This time they said he opened a separate account with a pop-up screen. I told AOL, those pop-up screens are so annoying, why on earth would you have pop-up screens for billings? Plus, trying to get out of them you can click yes, by just trying to get out of them.

I have e-mailed and written, stating that I want the $210.00 check written to me for the double billing. I told them I do not want free on-line months. So far AOL has not replied.

They charged my credit card $50.59 and want me to pay return postage.

****@aol.com

In speaking with AOL...I have been told that this is the FCC's regulation....and I have to question as a taxpayer and a consumer...why this could actually be a decision made by the FCC to unfairly treat the American consumers. The line is within MY home.....part of MY phone line, that I pay for...not the FCC, AOL or anyone else. I am outraged that this is a policy set forth for what...to help the organizations who provide these services by allowing them to put additional pressure on the consumer for deciding to leave their provider for another???????????// this is insane and I resent it. Please respond...this is what I have been told by AOL...I would hope it is not true. I work in a professional enviorment of licensed individuals....we are not governed by ANYTHING that could EVER hurt a consumer.....so how can this be for real?????????????????? Im amazed. But in the meantime, I am not ALLOWED to be free as an American and join another provider until AOL decides to get up off their butts and unplug me.

610-***-****

I want my 118.97 refunded to me that you took out of my checking account. Now I had been using AOL for a long time --However, I will not ever use your service again and I am going to tell other people to watch you, because you are a rip off. I want my money mailed to me personally--not put back in my checking account. Don't even go that way to try to get anything else from my checking account. I am going to check with the Better Business Beaure as well as seek an attorney if my money is not refunded to me personally.

The package arrived intact and was not opened until I opened it. I don't feel it's necessary to return the complete package but I would like for your company to send me the missing piece. My Order is #146920084 Document #123838039 Source Code 0057547N Thank you

If they bill our account it will cause checks to bounce resulting in check fees and late payments. I have called the number on the package and also I went to the web site to speak to a live customer service representative, I got a recorder at the phone number and the customer service on the web said there was no one available at this time.

I didn't install the scanner when I first received it due to a family emergency. When everything was back to normal I install everything and found out the product was defective. I tried to resolve the problem with aol and to no evail. I hope you can help in this matter, because I have a product I cannot use and the company will not take it back or replace it.

First of all I recently did order 2 scanners for him on seperate orders .The first one was placed on May 24, 2002. It was later cancelled so there should have been NO CHARGE. Second ;his order was to be paid by VISA so again, he should not have an outstanding bill. The scanner I ordered for him last month has been recieved and by now should have been taken care of by VISA. NEITHER of the scanners ordered was $90.The first (cancelled) one was for $43.94. The second one which he did recieve was for approx. $53 paid for with VISA. He would like to get this "collection" off his record and clear up this matter. IN SHORT; the first order was cancelled and the second was PAID by VISA

I told them i didnt feel it was right that i have to pay more for something they offered. But I went ahead and did it cause it was for a birthday present that they made it late for anyway and i needed it. I then got a confirmation that my order was shipped. then two days later got another confirmation that my order was shipped. So I called them again and sure enough the first scanner that was on special was shipped and the one that I was forced to upgrade to. I called them and told them I only wanted one and they confirmed on sending me two. I told them this was a bait and switch if i ever saw one. then i got charged for both on top of that. I asked them what do i get when i get them, I did not want both of them. They told me to go ahead and ship it back..

I said wait i have to pay to have it shipped back cause you screwed up? They told me to include the shipping recipt in the box and they would also credit me back for that... I looked at my account and low and behold they credited me back for only the scanner so I called and asked why i didnt get the credit for shipping as they indicated that i would? They said well we can credit you back for 10.00 if you fax us a copy of the shipping charges. I said thats crap, you told me to inclose them so i did, now you want me to go back to the post office and fax you a copy of what i already sent you and it cost me 15.66 and you will only credit me back for 10.00 of it? Thats crooked as ever if you ask me. I paid 15.66 and i expect to be credited back 15.66 as they indicated on the phone. I do not dicatate UPS charges across the country so I can not help what it cost me IN Oregon to ship it back.

June 27th 2002 NCO FINANCIAL SYSTEMS INC COLLECTORs sent me a collection notice. So now they are massing up my credit record. I contacted NCO, they looked up my account and it states AOL has the printer but still have me in collection for a $64.40 bill for the same printer.

On July 5th I went to my bank and put a stop pay on anything from AOL Shop Direct and cancelled my Debit Card, which is my regular payment method for my AOL account. On July 7th I received a confirmation email stating that my order had been cancelled because my credit card had denied the purchase. I called Shop Direct several times trying to find this order and was told no order had been placed. I had online chats with 2 customer service reps and was told no order had been placed. Had I not cancelled my debit card, I would have received the merchandise and the payment would have gone through my account, causing my account to over-draft.

My money has not been returned to me and no one has written or called acknowledging this neglect. It seems as though someone slipped up and no one is admitting it as long as I don't put up a fuss!!

I lost money that I feel like I'm never gonna get back. And I am angry that people feel like they can take advantage of us small people.

We had 6 checks bounce at $21.00 each for a total of $126.00 We were unable to go grocery shopping due to this and pay some bills. We are late on our PG&E; and our phone bill. I have two little boys still in diapers and I had to borrow some because we were unable to buy them. Talk about embarrassing. My husband and I are so worried because AOL shop direct still has not refunded our money for the sheets we returned. I am so upset and I feel angry that AOL shop direct is getting away with this.

i began packing because we are going to be moving soon and was checking over my bank statement because i couldn't figure out why my account was off and noticed that i was being charged for a camera that i never received. i no longer want the camera and would like to know how to get the money back that they have been deducting out of my account for it. i would appreciate if you could help me straighten out this situation.

I then spend another 25 minutes on hold with AOLS billing dept 888-265-8003 before I finally talk to a rep that told me, sorry I have nothing to do with AOL Direct, call them. I tried to explain what my problem was and that they could not find me in their system and she curtly told me it wasn't her problem, she doesn't handle AOL Direct, they are a separate entity. I asked her well then, where did AOL Direct get my credit card information in order to bill me? I sure as hell didn't give it to them - and she hung up on me!

Huntington Bank has refunded the money, but I had to fill out papers a third time because another deduction was taken out of my checking account by AOL Shop Direct. By that time, I had it. I cancelled my checking account with Huntington and cancelled the AOL internet service. Now I am being harassed by AOL Shop Direct to pay the remaining balance of the computer. I don't know where to turn.

Apparently my credit card company has not authorized my order. There is NO reason that I can think of which would make this so. Of course I will call my credit card comapany to find out the reason. However, AOL never contacted me to let me know that this was the case. Hopefully, no one has used my credit in the interum.

I've been robbed for months. And the DSL was never, I repeat NEVER, coming into my dwelling without VERISON running a dedicated line. The question beggs: What the Hell is AOL telling customers, WHAT LIES< to sell these worthless DSL packages???? I sent it right back to TENN or MISS, at my expense, and the SOB's still bill me. It's been months. I quit the AOL service completely for this rip-off, con...like we don't have enugh on the net already.

I told them I did not order it, please cancel it, the first time I called in, they told me the computer has problem, they cannot do anything, asked me to call back in an hour. After one hour I called in another person told me he cannot do anything, the only thing he can do to "HELP" is to give me instructions on how to return it, I told him it saves us both troubles dealing with return by just cancelling it right then, since the junk is not shipped yet. He said no way, I asked for a supervisor, and was told the same thing, he even went further by saying I could dispute with my credit card company, obviously lots of people had been trapped by their ill practice, I cannot imagine those crooks saying "AOL is so easy to use, no wonder it is #1", oh, yeah, it is easy to use, "you've got unwanted package"!!!

Approx. Feb 4th, I signed up for AOL and decided to look at the new AOL services (I had been an AOL subscriber several years ago, but not since then). Minutes after signing on, I received a 'confirmation e-mail' that I ordered two AOL books (which I did NOT). I contacted AOL & they shuffled me off to AOL Shop Direct (which they said they do not control/own).

I contacted AOL Shop Direct. They refused to cancel the order & said the books will be shipped. I asked for a supervisor and was REFUSED this request. I was told to enjoy the books, and keep them but had a 30 day 'money back' garantee.

I contacted my credit card company. They put the charge into dispute (I later signed and returned the required form from my credit card company). I also canceled my AOL service.

About a week later, I received the box and per UPS & the credit card company, I refused the package (did not open it) and it was sent BACK to AOL Shop Direct. Shortly later (middle of February) the charges were removed & all seemed to be resolved. However, as of April, I noticed another charge (identical to the one from February) on my credit card. AOL Shop Direct is once again charging me for these books.

I contacted the credit card company and they cannot put it into dispute (and I'm trying to find out why). AOL Shop Direct says they show the refund from February but don't see the April charge. I have to wait 3 weeks until I get my statement and AOL Shop Direct claims they'll refund my money if its an error.

Either way, I've spent more of my time, money, frustration dealing with these people!! I was only an AOL member for 3 or 4 days--cancelling back in February. I fully support the lawsuit against AOL Shop Direct. I absolutely REFUSE to pay for this as not only did I not request or order it--but they still keep charging me!!

Christopher ****

SUBJECT : Order Number 142384732

Towards the end of December 2001, I received a package from you. Enclosed I found a Phillips Portable CD/MP3 Player, a packing slip and some AOL promotional brochures. I nor anyone if our family ordered this product.

I called your (800) number (by the way, is nowhere on the packing slip or shipping label) and talked with one of your customer service agents. They said this product was ordered by screen-name "****89" and that confirmation e-mail was sent to that accounts' e-mail address on AOL other than that, she could not provide me any proof that we ordered your product.

"****89" is a sub-account linked to the master account "****1". To the best of my knowledge, no passwords on any of these accounts have been compromised.

I logged on to every screen-name and reviewed the current, deleted, old and sent mail folders and found NO confirmation e-mail. I also looked in the browser history and all the AOL files in the sub-directory "C:America Online 50Organize*.* " and found nothing regarding this order. I'm even searched everywhere to see if any screen-names were logged on to AOL this particular day, however the AOL software does not appear to provide any historical information regarding screen-name and when they logged in and logged out.

I called back today and talked to a different agent. He too, was not able to provide me proof we ordered this product. He said the packing slip is proof that I ordered it. A packing slip is only proof of shipping, not ordering. To the best of our knowledge, we did not order this product nor have been provided any proof by your company to that end.

Please consider this letter formal notice that we consider this to be a fraudulent transaction and request that you immediately reverse the $ 39.61 charge that occurred on 12/26/01 to our VISA credit card and to cancel any further financial transactions on this matter. This letter also serves as formal notice that if this dispute and fraudulent transaction reflects negatively on our credit rating, we will hold you Civilly Liable and will take immediate action to remedy. All correspondence on this matter needs to be in writing to the below address. A copy of this letter will be included in my written correspondence to VISA regarding this fraudulent charge.

In addition, I have cancelled our 5 year membership to AOL for fear of other future fraudulent transactions on this account.

Citi-Bank reversed the Credit Card Charges. I am getting past due notices from them and had demanded they consider this item in 'dispute status'. I've requested a copy of their Policies and Procedure regarding disputes and the refuse to answer, now they have turned this over to a collection agency, AFTER I have demanded that they provide me with some 'reasonable' proof that I ordered it. These people are ignorant, incompetent and refuse to believe that their computer systems are flawed. I have not responded to the collection letter.

Dave ****

The automatic program on the desktop did not allow me to activate my free year and recommended me to call the toll-free number. Only 30 minutes later I activated my account. Of course I had to give my checking account number for verification purposes, etc. Well, two months later a notice popped up when I signed on AOL saying my account was past due. During this call to AOL, I informed them that I was supposed to have a free year and they said they saw that on the account but it said they were waiting for authorization from Gateway and that he would resubmit the request. So I figured it would be ok now... WRONG!

Months went by and of course the pop-up never went away. By this point I didn't care anymore about the pop-up because apparently something worked out since I used the account forever. A sidenote: I stopped using this bank about the same time I signed up for service but did not close the account. Near the end of March 2002, I received a letter from the America Online Collections stating I owed them $162.00 for unpaid services for the past months. This made me check my bank account.

The bank account showed a $20 overdraft fee everytime AOL submitted the charge which they submitted twice a month. This leaves me with over $250 in charges in my bank account plus the $162 for AOL supposedly. So I called AOL and they looked at the account and it "says" waiting for Gateway authorization still. He told me that if I call Gateway and get them to authorize it then they would credit the $162 and reinstate my online account. I asked about the bank charges and was told they are not going to be responsible for those.

So, I called Gateway. The nice lady who for once actually sounded confident in what she said (unlike the AOL rep), informed me that she doesn't understand why AOL tells customers that the account says waiting for authorization because it is all automated and takes seconds... not months. She looked at my Gateway credit account and said that the free year account hadn't been requested for me yet. So she sent the information to AOL and told me to call them back in 15 days. The 15 days are not yet up but I have already been told I am now responsible for overdraft charges to my bank which were not supposed to be billed in the first place.

I have been very stressed out by this because I have just bought a home and have been building my credit for some time now and am very worried that I will have to start over. I have had to spend numerous hours speaking with police, my credit card company, and AOL shop direct. It's a real-life nightmare.

She then responded that my account is being researched and should receive a response within 48 hours, this was Jan. 7. I inquired about my response and was giving a customer service phone number to contact. From there, I was given two more phone numbers and an extension and manager Judith S to contact. I have left three voice mails for Judith, not one returned. I called on the 17th of Jan. and spoke with 3 different individuals, who responded they could not help me, but their "manager said I would not receive refund because they are not responsible for pop-up ads."

I have ordered lots of merchandise over the internet but have always been prompted to enter my credit card information before ordering. I only wanted to LOOK at this jacket, not purchase it. I then called American Express and they said that when I receive my bill from them with the charge on it to call them back and that they will "investigate" it and that the charge will be taken off of my credit card.

I actually got the UPS shipper number and all the tracking information and, as advised by UPS, put a big sign outside my door with the tracking number on it saying I refuse the package. AOL Shop Direct told me that if the package did not get back to them and undamaged, they would charge ME for it! Who ever heard of that? Why wouldn't they take insurance on it, they're certainly charging me enough money to ship it!

I have called the AOL Shop Direct 800-number (from my bank statement on line: Transaction Description: CHECKCARD 1030 AOL*SHOP DIRECT PU 888-265-7467 VA 1000000190002754) to inquire of this withdrawal, charge and for a complete refund. My call was forwarded to "Joe" (would not give me a last name, but indicated that his "badge number" was 1812). They have refused to credit me until they receive the "so-called" purchase I ordered. I have no purchase to return, and they have $33.45 from my account. I am NOT an AOL member, nor did I order anything from them. I do know that they have my personal profile information because of a "Free 45-day AOL trial" I had attempted, but cancelled after 3 or 4 days because I couldn't log on to AOL Internet. Thus, I did not receive their Free trial online, but they have collected my personal profile, card number information and made unauthorized purchase charges to my bank account.

Please let me know how I can STOP ANY FUTURE CHARGES FROM AOL SHOP DIRECT STORE on my Bank Card. I have emailed my bank regarding this complaint, as well, but have not heard from them. From my personal inquiry online and investigation on this, I am not the first or only one to have this complaint against AOL Shop Direct. (That's how I came accross this website.) I am the only user of this computer, and the only person who would have access to this card number. I would know if I had made a purchase, and I am CERTAIN that I DID NOT MAKE A PURCHASE NOR DID I ORDER ANYTHING FROM AOL.

Thank You!

I called and told them that I did not place any order and they said, well someone did from your screen name and we can not cancel the order it is in process. I asked how such a thing could happen and they said it was a pop-up on AOL and someone must have hit the buy button under your screen name. I asked how anyone could do this without my password to confirm the order and was told that it was for my convenience that this made the service faster.

He told me to return the item within 30 days and I would be refunded. Of course they are counting on the fact that people do not return these items. In the meantime they took $111.04 out of my account without my permission and will take three more payments of $77.49 out of my account for the next 3 months month. How do they get away with this?

I have been on the phone and online for four hours now and no one at AOL seems to know how to cancel the order. I can't wait for the order to come and send it back as it won't come to me, whatever IT is. As I said I don't know what I ordered, I just know a thank you popped up without further ado and an order was placed. I need to find out who has the authority to cancel this order. The user name the item was ordered on was ****. That account has now been cancelled as I was so upset with the AOL people on the phone, because they wouldn't/couldn't cancel the order. Can you please tell me who to contact to cancel this order?

They also would not give me any other numbers to call other than the 1-888 number mentioned above. Neither would they give me any real names or addresses I could contact to deal with this issue. The operator said he was not allowed to tell people the address of AOL Shop Direct. What kind of madness is this? They have all my personal info including my credit card details and I am not even allowed to know their address?? Or, the name of someone to contact during business hours tomorrow to get this sorted out?

I am horrified by the sneaky configuration of the buttons on the popup screens. Angry that they bombard a first time user with ads before the initial browser screen even opens. Livid that they told me it was their policy to not cancel any online orders under any circumstances. Cranky that they would not give me a real person and address to contact. And the hours that I have spent and have yet to spend on this have been a nightmare. You can believe I will not be helping people get onto AOL anymore. I would appreciate some contact on this and any assistance you can provide to ensure this order gets cancelled.

Jean ****

I had to personally pay to ship the merchandise back twice!! And would you believe they have a record of the refusal!!!!! Returning items purchased online should not be a nightmare. Nor should a customer have to deal with inept personnel when seeking assistance. The policies that are verbalized when calling shop direct should be made available to the consumers prior to buying, this will allow them (consumers) to decide if the headaches one have to go through for returns is worth the trouble. I will never again by from Shop direct and will advise anyone who will listen of the "crap" that I had to go through and is still going through to get my $349.78 credit. No it is not just the principal it is about the money!!!

I had numerous arguments with numerous supervisors over this promotion. Talk.com blamed AOL promotions and vice versa! After a year of struggle, I gave up! I was furious. If I had to hear, "Sorry, our computers are down and we can't access your account right now, call back in an hour" I knew I would go crazy. So, I finally called the Better Business Bureau with the complaint. I had made over sixty phone calls to Talk.com in over a three month period. Some days I called sixteen times! However, one small complaint to the BBB changed my anger to victory.

Within a month of my complaint I received my money and a useless appology from the company. To all customers with this same problem, don't keep wasting your time trying to get your money by calling Talk.com or AOL. You will not get anywhere. Let Consumer Affairs know of this incident and contact the BBB. The more complaints they receive, the greater the chance they will be reprimanded for their horrible service. P.S. I am currently looking for a new long distance carrier because I just called today for another reason and again they told me, "Sorry, we can not help you right now our computers are down. Call back in an hour."

By the way, I got one supervisor from Talk.com to admit that the customer relations department is instructed to say that whenever they don't know what is going on.

• Federal excise tax=.19
• USF/Other surcharge=.51
• National access fee=2.98
• Paper option=1.95
• Monthly billing fee=5.95
• Total taxes and other charges=11.58
• Previous balance=15.05
• Amount due=26.63.

I have tried to call them but I hold on forever. I have e-mailed them and have received no answer. I just received a new bill with the same total. Nothing new has been added.

I had to call and remind them several times at each interval befor receiving the 30 day and 6 month service, and the at the 12-month mark (6/2000) I have never received the free month valued at $21.95. I have made numerous calls, E-Mails and gotten a lot of promises to credit my account with no credit.

I have now become frustrated, angry, and feel that if they scam enough people, they are making out like a bandit. I suscribed to them in good faith based on their promises, which they did not live up to. I have now cancelled both my long distance and local service with them. I would like them to be stopped from offering promotions like this to the consumer and not fulfilling. It's not the amount of the money but the principle.

Well, it might be the principle to Ellen but it's also a lot of money. If this is happening to others, it should be investigated and prosecuted.

After two weeks of daily contact with Talk.com, AOL Rewards (promotions dept of AOL), and AOL customer service, two of the four months charges promised will be credited to my credit card account.

Talk.com has been the most difficult service, from long periods of time on hold with customer service, to misinformation and erroneous directions as to how I should proceed. I cannot believe these delays are not intentional and aimed toward preventing the customer from withdrawing from their programs. I hope no one else has to experience this problem, but I am afraid it is the intended direction of all those who complain.

So I had to use the contact form to send them a message, which said that I would receive a response in the next 24 hours, but it never came. So I then went back to the same area and filled out the contact for to cancel the order, but I never received a response. I filled out this form on August 1, 2000. I received email today stating that my order had been shipped. When I called them and spoke to Suzette to ask them why they shipped the order, instead of cancelling the order as I asked she said that they never received the notice. I then told her that I was going to refuse the order and that UPS could ship it back. Suzette tells me that it is up to me to make sure that they get it back and that by refusing the order UPS will trash it. I told Suzette that I could not understand how they received all other emails that I had sent except the cancellation notice.

Then she asked me if I wanted to order another special of the day. And I said "NO, I WOULDN'T RECEIVE IT ANYWAY. I'D BE PAYING FOR SOMETHING ELSE I WOULD NOT RECEIVE!!!!!!!"