AOL Reviews

AOL lowered their price plan for high speed basic service to $11.99. God knows how long ago, yet they continue to charge me $14.95 a month. I asked them for refund and to give me lower price and they said they cannot refund me for past months, but can switch me to the cheaper rate now. When I asked why they didn't notify me or automatically give me the lower price, they said, “Our policy is not to change members’ accounts without their permission.” But if they raised their rates would they need our permission?

Every time I log in and click on my email to read, I get this message that it's an error, and they are encountering a technical issue, and that's it. So, I turn off my computer, log in, and my email comes on. I click on it, and I might be able to read one or two of my emails, and then it does the same thing. When I try to read another one, it will do the same thing. It's really frustrating to turn it off and on, just to read one or two emails. Can you help? It's resulting in me wanting to throw this computer out of the window. I am mad that AOL is not giving more information as to what's causing this problem.

I'm mailing my final AOL payment to the address their customer service gave me and I'm getting the heck out of AOL!. I tried to cancel our AOL subscription because it's a waste of money! We were members for 8 years and I can count on 1 hand the times I actually needed to call someone. I made 10 calls trying to upgrade the AOL software on Vista. Every time I tried to download, it shut my computer down.

My connection was lousy. The person I spoke with couldn't answer my questions because he didn't understand what I was asking. I repeated to him what I needed and he became extremely impolite. I did nothing to him but try to explain again and again what I needed. I hung up and went to the online AOL "help" line. What a joke. The person took forever to respond and only with what appeared to be information that was off a boiler plate document. Problem not solved. It is enlightening to me what companies want to assist and what companies don't. This is a hard day for me, as my husband has died. Most are good people. I keep looking for a real contact number or address or email. No luck.

I was billed multiple times by AOL and there were times where $200 was taken out of my account for AOL monthly service. When I contacted AOL, they said they would refund me, but they never did.

I have 2 unexplained AOL charges on my bank statement, both in the amount of $26.90. I am not a member of AOL, I have "Cox" for the internet. I called the 800-827-6364 and was given an address to mail a grievance letter. She asked for my credit card number, I thought that was odd. Consequences are a total of $53.80 AOL. $180.00 in overdraft charges to my debit card. $78.41 and $78.41 both cosmetic orders with a free sample in one, along with an order. They were to give me a 7-10 day trial period. The other, a complete order to try and return if not satisfied. These orders were delivered by USPS, not requiring a signature. The packagings were left laying in a common entry way, used by 9 other residents. The USPS is investigating too.

I have been charged $25.90 several times a month for dial up internet which I do not use. This has been going on for several years. When I realized that this charge was unjustified I called and supposedly canceled what I was paying for but they continue to bill me. In fact, there have been two additional $77.20 charges. When I ask Amex to dispute these charges, my account gets credited for one charge. However, it continues to go on.

I was double billed for 18 months for membership in AOL. They did it in a way that sometimes only one appeared in my statement! When I finally tracked down the issue, I called and they said I signed up for two accounts (I never did). I asked about the one the supposedly "made up" and how much activity was on that account. I was told it was never used. They told me I had signed up (lie) and I am responsible.

We have continually been billed by AOL for years even though we had cancelled our service with them. We cancelled our AmEx cards so eventually they sent us bills directly and ultimately threatened to turn us over to a collection agency. Weary of their constant phone calls, I agreed to pay the amount they then showed owing of $99.80 and sent them a check in early July of 2010 (No. **) and sent it with their bill. That check was cashed on July 15, 2010. We continue to get phone calls (today is October 29, 2010) and they insist we still owe that money. We have received several phone calls in recent weeks.

I subscribe to Daily Consumer Affairs. But lately when I click on one of the topics to read more, I get a message that says, "Error-can't find web site news 04. Web address could not be found." This has just happened as of yesterday (10/27/2010). Do you know how I can correct this? I will be checking my email to see if you have a solution. Thanks!

I used to be a paid customer of America Online and was so for a number of years. I now, according to AOL, do not know my place of birth when I try to access my account; hence, I cannot access my account and the only way to access my account is to provide the last four digits of my payment method though I have a free account. I am going to report this, because apparently, this is a deliberate attempt to coerce me to pay again.

When I switched from dial-up service to high-speed I called and wanted to switch my price plan with AOL. I wanted to keep their service only for e-mail and that was it. I was informed today that e-mail has been free with AOL since 2001. I don't know if that is true or not. I don't know the exact date that I switched to high-speed internet but it was at least in early 2008

I received a free AOL trial when I bought my HP computer in 2005. I had my AOL services billed to my home phone at the time which was **. About six months after, I had dial-up service on my computer. I began getting calls from the AOL service department and letters that I was 3 months behind on payment when the payments were clearly being billed to my phone. I called customer service and was told that billing problems had to be handled online which was impossible.

Saturday, September 25, 2010, we received a bill from AOL for $25.90. I thought it odd, the real AOL. If so, what business did we have with them? Or was this really just a thinly disguised rip-off attempt by someone portraying themselves as the true AOL?

This AOL internet service was billed to our phone bill for under Gary **** through AT&T, which was SBC back then. The service was canceled May 13, 2005 (this has been confirmed by AOL). I recently checked my father's phone bill and it showed an AOL charge for $32.90. He has not had any service through AOL since 2005. He has been paying $32.90 every month since 2005 and has not had any service. I contacted AOL and confirmed the cancellation and was instructed to write everything down and mail or fax to billing services along with a copy of the phone bill showing AOL and "ebillit" (the company collecting the money for AOL) which I did on 9/1/10, then again on 9/27/10, after calling into AOL and finding they didn't receive it.They owe my father around $2,039 for charges that they collected for no service. I have called in and all I get is the run around and now I am very angry. I don't understand how companies can get away with collecting money for accounts that do not exist.

Several months ago, I changed internet service to Comcast. I would like to get AOL free service off my screen. They use my old email address **. The cancellation process is almost impossible. Then, a flag pops up saying try back in 24 hours. Friends have been receiving emails from my AOL number that I never sent. I have been unable to find a mailing address. And the phone numbers that I have say that the phone service is not available to customers with free accounts. Any help that you can give would be appreciated.

I have dealt with at least 14 people ranging from American speaking to those working in the Philippines over the past week. I have been hung up on numerous occasions and have spent over 8 hours of my precious time attempting to "fix" my internet service. They have had me install and reinstall AOL 9.0, which I later found out needed to be the 9.5 version. They have checked my modem, inputs, and everything else, except my blood type. Now my internet service does not work at all! The funny thing is that as soon as I submitted my credit card number to pay for the month, my services were inoperable.

I have been tracking down this spam situation and have been tortured by spyware and have contacted the website I believe has caused this. Why am I being accused for doing this for applying for **, an actor and model website? I have contacted them and sent them examples of the spyware from my various friends and colleagues. I do not appreciate being threatened for something that is clearly spyware that I have been subjected to especially since I have even tried to tell all my friends via, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo and AOL.

I attempted to cancel AOL by phone. The man could not understand English and told me that we did not have an account at AOL on either my husband’s name or my name. I tried to tell him that I did in fact have an account and supplied account number. The AOL man insisted that we did not have an account. Four months later, I get a collection call and now owe $70.00 plus fees. I had to pay it. What could I have done? I was told that all I had to do was email AOL to cancel and that I couldn’t have cancelled it by phone anyway! What? AOL is a scam! I had to pay $70 plus fees when I had not used the product in over 6months.

On July 29, 2010, I received an email from the billing manager for AOL. This email states that my annual payment for my membership would be debited in ten days for $246. It states that I could change my billing method, change my plan of service or cancel within that 10-day period. I received this email at 5:30PM. I immediately called their customer care number provided in this email. When the woman answered, she verified my account and asked what she could do for me. I told her I wanted to cancel my active membership. She informed me that she could not do that because my account was already in the process of having the money removed. When I read her the email, she said I would have to wait for them to get the money then I could request a refund.

My old account has been hacked into and sending a barrage of emails to people. I have tried on numerous accounts to get this settled. I no longer have this account but the emails keep happening and I can't get AOL to respond. Either they are sending me to other departments or I have gotten a lot of recordings. I have everyone calling me at all hours of the night complaining.

My problem is that AOL is not allowing me to get into my Billing vis-a-vis Invoice.

Since June 2010, I have had difficulty logging on to AOL. I have a dial up connection. When I do get them and my email comes up, I can't close the email for 5 or l0 minutes. It always says ‘not responding’. Anytime I want a web site, I either get those words or it freezes up. I have gotten a one-month credit but there are times I can't even log on. The technicians always try to help but it's always the same and it never turns out successful. I believe the phone lines provided to access AOL are too few and they won't do anything about it. I'm so sick of them. Thanks.

I received a call from a collection agency (LI Interstate- phone # 1-866-) telling me that I did not pay a bill for AOL, for the amount of $77.70. I told them that I had canceled my service of AOL in may 2010, and that I paid my final payment in June 2010. They would not listen to me only telling me that it must have been for another account since they saw two accounts under my name for AOL. I asked what 2 accounts they had listed because I only had 1 that I knew of. (They could only list one)They gave me the same account number I had. I told them I wanted to check my bank records before paying again. They told me since it was the end of the month 8/31/10, I should pay this "Owed amount" because it would go to a different credit collection agency and I should save my credit rating. I asked them what I needed to do to get my money back once I found the bank record, and she gave me a number to call AOL to see about a refund. I then went and found my bank records and saw that on June 18th I had mailed the payment of $77.70 to AOL for the same account # they had told me I owed on. It was put through the bank on June 23rd 2010. I called back to them and they insisted this was still an owed amount and I was responsible for payment.

I, like so many others out there, have been getting robbed by AOL for years. I have cancelled numerous times with them (never spoken with a real person, by the way) and I continue to get charged $25.90 every month on my debit card. I have never even had service with them, only a trial like 8-9 years ago! I have contacted my local news station and my state Attorney General to get something done. The way I figure it, AOL owes me close to $2,400 in back charges! If you have the same problems, contact your state Attorney General today!

I have been a member for 14 years. I decided to cancel 5 months ago. I still get bills. They have not cancelled the account. As of today, it still works.

I canceled my AOL account in August 2007. I am continuously being charged for this canceled account. Since I no longer use checks, I don't "balance" my checking account like I used to. This $25.90 comes out of my account inconspicuously. I want my money back! Because one of my business check did not go through, I noticed rejected payment to my bank account. Also, I will be billed NSF fee all because AOL took money out of my account without authorization.

On 17 August 2010 after a long and hard day of work, I stopped by the post office to pick up mail and found a letter from AOL stating my payment method was out of date and I needed to contact them to update my account information. I began to do some research into this with the bank where I had this account and found they had continued to withdraw $18.99 from my account even after I cancelled it well over two years ago.

AOL will not stop charging me. I have been trying to get this stopped for over a year. I've had several overdraft charges on my bank account at $35.00 each because of this. They told me to talk to my bank! It's not my banks fault! AOL is robbing me! I just want my money back!

I discovered that I was being billed 2 times each month for my AOL service at $25.90 each. I called the phone number on my credit card statement for AOL. I got a computer recording asking certain questions which took about 20 minutes to only at the end tell me to go online for further information. I tried both www.bill.aol.com and myaccount.aol.com. At one point, I was able to connect and have a "live chat" with a person (e-mail back and forth). The person's name was "Pinky". I explained my problem and they asked for the billing account person. I gave my name and they said it was incorrect. Thinking perhaps I had originally (10 years ago) given my full name when opening the account, I gave that. It was also incorrect. So, I gave all the options, including maiden name, and it was also incorrect. Then, I gave my husband's name. It’s also incorrect.

We switched our service from AOL to Charter in 12/07. My husband passed away in 8/08. He always took care of our finances. Now that he is gone, it is my job. I never did any of the bill paying. It has been brought to my attention that AOL has been billing me for almost three years of service I did not have. They have taken almost a thousand dollars from my account. I contacted them and they want to pay me back two months of service. When we switched our service, Charter told us that there was no need for us to contact AOL that they would let them know of the service change. This has caused me financial problems. It has caused over draft problems and emotional stress as well.

I canceled service as of 6-14-2008. I kept on getting billed on my Barclaycard until 7-22-10 for free service. Cost is $99.80.

My husband noticed a recurring charge on our AmEx bill and brought it to my attention. It was an AOL charge for $25.90. I called the 800 number listed and was told that our account was canceled in January of 2006. When I explained we were still being billed, the AOL representative asked for the credit card number being billed and then told me they had no record of that card in their system and no account associated with it. She could not provide me with a cancellation number when asked. When I first begin my query, I was told they had no account associated with either my or my husband's name even though they had been billing us for 5 1/2 years. It was only after I attempted using an old area code with our phone number that I was able to get any information from them at all. Previous attempts giving our screen name, full names, credit card number, billing zip code and current phone numbers got me nowhere!

When we first started using the internet years ago, we started with AOL dial up service. It has been about 10 years since we moved on to our local cable company and then Verizon Fios. Recently when having a problem with what I thought was my free AOL email I found my "account" and realized they had been charging a credit card that my husband uses.

I have been paying for AOL for over 30 years. I understand that it is now free. In thirty years, I had the nerve to grow old and I am on Social Security. I need free AOL. Signing up for free AOL doesn't seem to work smoothly. Is that on purpose? Please give me free AOL.

I have called them several times over the past several years and keep getting the same old "what is your password."

AOL has double billed me on many occasions. I have been with them over 6 years. They never give me my money back. They credit me the difference or swear I enlisted for a separate account, so it is my responsibility. I have never gotten a refund. They bill 2 times per month, the first part and towards the end. When I threatened to quit them, they gave me a discounted rate of $5.00 then raised it to $11.99 without my permission. If you don't study your checking account religiously, they'll scam you.

When I lived with my daughters, I started AOL for Internet. I tried to cancel when I moved out, but could not remember all the info they asked and would not close my account. I had quit using the service and had to change credit card info to stop charges. They then took my daughter to collections. I have yet been able to stop all this. They still refuse to help me or my daughter and it is 4 years later, and AOL is ruining our credit, they are so horrible. We can’t solve these unfair charges. AOL has taken us to collection agency for this bogus charge 4 years ago.

Recently AOL put a fraud alert on my file after someone claimed that they were being billed for my services. Called to rectify the situation and was informed that I needed to send a copy of my license, bank statement and credit card that AOL is billing. Sent requested documents and was promised that someone will contact me after reviewing. I called 24 hours later to be told that the card was too dark and they could not read the numbers. (It's a blue card...not much I can do about the color) Was also told that the bank statesmen did not have the credit card number on it. It's a debit card and no bank statement will ever list all of the card/account numbers on the account.

I cancelled my account with AOL on 8-25-09 and was done online. A pop up appeared and I confirmed the account would be cancelled on the next billing date. There was no confirmation number given. I am checking my bank account closely this month and a charge for $11.99 from AOL is there. I have been charged since 8/25/09 to today 5/28/10 for a cancelled account.

For years, AT&T has carried an e-BilI charge of 32.90 on my phone bill. Each time I called to have it cancelled, they said there was no way for them to cancel it. I had AOL in 2001, but thought I had cancelled it. When I called AOL, they told me that regardless of whether I had used their service or not, I had not cancelled and therefore would not be due a refund for the months charged in error. Basically, each side is pointing a finger at the other. I've been charged $32.90 a month for over nine years for a service I did not use.

I was offered a free trail from AOL on an anti-spyware program called Better Guard. After downloading the free trial for my Windows 98 operating system and after running the Better Guard Program, my computer screen went black and my computer was no longer useable. I took the computer for repair and I had to get and buy a new computer. The computer was damaged to such an extent it was no longer usable.

AOL has been billing my account $25.90 for over 4 years, well after I requested for cancellation. What can I do? They have "stolen" more than $2000.00 for me.

Back when AOL was a subscription only service, I was charged for 2 accounts (one I never signed up for). Even though they were able to see one was never used, they refused to refund the overcharge of over $700. They did it in a way that it would not be seen together on a bank statement!

I received an offer to try an AOL anti-spyware program called something like Spy Guard on my Windows 98 computer. After running the program, my computer failed; all my files were destroyed and I could not use my computer. I just had my computer fixed and am now using Windows XP, but many of my important personal files could not be recovered.

They have been double billing me for a long time. I thought that an earlier complaint resolved this. It is difficult to make satisfactory contact with them and when I get through to someone, they are useless. I see online that there have been many complaints like this. My overbilling is in the hundreds of dollars range. Would going to AOL personally, which would be a hardship for me, make any difference? They make it hard to lodge timely complaints and I suspect many people give up and keep paying. I just retired and can't afford to take a loss like this. I'll have to give up online service and other things to recoup the difference.

My account has been doubled billed for seven years totaling $2800. I am still a user of AOL. I reported the duplicate billing and got a runaround. I was asked to provide proof. As recently as last month, duplicate billing continues.

March 2009, I had high speed internet service installed by my local phone company and emailed AOL to cancel my dial up service. They still billed me so I called and ask to cancel my service. Over the months, they continued to bill my credit card account for $23.31 each month. In Feb 2010, I told my credit card company to stop paying them. They continued to charge me $23.31 a month, but could not collect so they began to run a past account on me.

I cancelled my AOL account on March 21st, 2010. My billing isn't until the 5th of each month, however, I noticed in my account that AOL had sent a payment request around the 19th of March. So even though I had cancelled the account, the bank account maintains a pending payment status. So I can see where it seems like they are billing after you requested but it seems they are practicing dishonesty by sending in a payment request weeks in advance of the true billing date. A 11.95 debit was carried out on my account. After reading how difficult it is to get the reimbursement, I am undecided if I want to pursue the issue with the time and energy it will require.

All I want to do is change my password on AIM. Somehow it has been hacked and is sending my friends all kinds of weird links even though I haven't really used it in a long time. I signed onto it for the first time in a few months the other day. There is nowhere on the app. to do it. Go to the website, there is nowhere there to do it. They tell me to say I forgot my password, they say they are sending an email to my "alternate" email, which is kind of a problem since it doesn’t exist anymore. It then asks me to create an ASQ question and answer. This does not work either. It just keeps telling me over and over and over again error, error, error.

Today, I got message informing me to switch to a different account. I have only one account associated with my name since I live alone. By getting this message, I feel like I am being double-billed even though I have closed all previous accounts with this crooked company. In late February, it took out $9.99 on a closed account, and ten days later, it took out another $9.99 for the same closed account. On March 26, AOL cancelled my current account which I reopened the following day. I was told by its automatic telephone system my next billing date would not be until April 27. I was doing research on my checking account for another situation when I noticed AOL immediately took $11.99 out of my account on the approximate or same day I reopened my current AOL account.

In December 2009, I called and canceled my AOL on March 24, 2010. I was charged $103.56. I never received any mail where they were going to charge me. They just went into my account and took my money. I have not used this e-mail since November 2009. I used it on March 28, 2010 to close this account with AOL once again since their office was closed. Money is too hard to come by for them to do people like that. Something has to be done about companies that take advantage of people who are trying to make it the best they can getting unemployment like me. When they took this money out of my unemployment account, this made me have to put food back at the grocery store today, because that money is gone. Not to mention, I have no gas money to go to my part time job.

Until recently I had a bookkeeper who paid all my invoices with QuickBooks. I am now having to do this and started noticing that I had a regular monthly charge from a company called Cavalier. When I called, I learned they took over the long distance account from AOL some time ago. I thought that I was paying for the phone with the $25.90 monthly charge from AOL.

You would not recognize my password. I tried everything suggested.

AOL has deducted an unauthorized amount from my husband's checking account since October 2008. The fee changed from $11.95 to $25.90 and my husband has not noticed. The increase was never authorized or explained. Calling customer service gets you someone who is reading scripted instructions and those instructions indicate that the only way the situation can be rectified is to write to the address above and maybe a refund can be given. I have cancelled paid membership effective 04/2010 because all we've ever used AOL for is email. Supposedly there is no way you can talk to Billing via telephone.

AOL is awful! It is hard to log in and check email on a regular basis. Sometimes, I will try to log on only to get an error screen. I will try several times then a few days later when I do log on, I get spam from myself! AOL is such a scam! Can I hire a lawyer to file a class action lawsuit? I just want to be able to check my mail hassle-free. I am stationed overseas so this becomes extremely stressful and annoying. I would love for an attorney to contact me. I know several people that are also having trouble and then get the spam from their very own emails!

They do not supply consistent internet availability service and will not credit you back.

Since 2005 AOL has been double billing me for a single account. They have charged my American Express account $25.90 per month and my personal checking account $ 14.95 per month. I recently cancelled AOL and was told I still owe them $ 59.80 to close my account. If I did not send them a check for this amount, they would be "forced to assign the account to a collection agency.” Reluctantly, I sent them a check for the amount which they promptly cashed on January 26th of this year.

A couple months after cancelling a trial of AOL Internet service, my account was somehow reactivated and I was charged monthly for and email address and Internet service that I never used for three years. When I called, the rep looked at my activity and confirmed that I did not use their service during this time frame and yet, all he could do was credit my account for a couple months worth of payments.

I cancelled AOL in October of 2009. Prior to that, I had tried to download 9.5 through the help of AOL Technical Department. They had told me to sign in under another name so I could access my 9.5. I did, but long story short, 0.5 tried more than 5 times to get it to work and would not down load. So I cancelled my AOL. Now because of the new screen name, they are trying to collect a pass bill. By the way, I did have AOL for over 9 years. Also, when they looked at the second screen name, there was no any access to that account. Also, billing for the account was only $11.95 and they now want over $110.00 for 3 months. Thank you and I hope you can help, or at least let this one out like all the others canceling AOL accounts.

I called on behalf of 85-year old father in law to cancel account. After waiting 25 minutes to speak to a rep, I was told to call AOL Canada. I called AOL Canada and after waiting 20 minutes, I was told to call AOL United States. After waiting 25 minutes, I was cut off and had to start all over again. After waiting another 20 minutes (20-minute waits are honest and accurate), he/we provided AOL with credit card numbers and pertinent information. AOL insisted they speak with my 83-year old mother-in-law. I advised AOL that it would be impossible for her to call as the whole process of getting to a living, breathing customer rep would be too confusing and exhausting.

I have been receiving harassing telephone calls from an AOL Customer Service Telephone Number over the past few months. The rude, disrespectful, uneducated and extremely misinformed representative states that I am currently in collections status. He states that this is due to an outstanding balance owed to AOL, for usage dating from February 2008 to October 6, 2009. This is absolutely absurd. I demanded a usage report, and to this day, I have not been given one. I used AOLs internet services a handful of times within my free trial period. When my free trial period ended with AOL, I cancelled my services. I was still charged over $50 thereafter.

I have filed a lawsuit with the State of Minnesota for my double billing. I have been double-billed for over four years without my knowledge. They do not put the AOL service on your account.

AOL is famous for the difficulty it gives customers trying to cancel service. We were with them since 1995 and tried canceling online on January 2009 before our billing date. We filled out their form and submitted it. We were still charged our yearly fee of $240.00 for all of 2009. They are nearly impossible to get through to over the phone, but we were able to some time in July 2009. We wanted to once again try to make sure we canceled the account. Apparently, we did because we just called to make sure and they told us it was closed last July, so we better not be charged again. The billing date is in 2 days so we'll find out.

I had free trial on AOL ending on 01/27/2010. I cancelled on 01/19/2010. They charged my credit card on 01/21/2010 for services. They over-charged my account and there’s an over draft of additional $33 because of their charges plus the $9.98 that they charged also.

I received a call that stated I owed money on a past due account. They stated they were "Liberty Collections" but later admitted was AOL. The rep stated that the account was closed but was closed too soon during a billing cycle to count and their policy stated can only cancel within 24 hours before charging the card. I cancelled this account and with my bank they reversed the charges. I thought this was closed. Now 3 years later, they want more money or they are threatening me to ruin my credit. The rep cursed at me and yelled at me to pay now or else. I stated this account is closed. They agreed but have this policy to state that although I closed it, I should have sent something in writing too. I think they are just trying to get more money. I want the calls to stop. I cancelled this account years ago, paid the balance and I am not going to keep paying them. This is ridiculous.

AOL has gone into my bank account and helped themselves to a great deal of my money. I finally figured out what was going on after internet banking. I closed my account with them in 2002 and also closed the credit card they were billing. I guess they got my bank account number from PayPal. Anyways, I would love to cancel my membership, without being hung up on.

One day, two weeks ago, I tried to open my AOL icon on my computer and the computer shut down (which has been on my computer for over a year and I have had no issues opening it previously). I restarted my computer and opened the icon. Once again my computer shut down. So I went under Internet Explorer and had no issues with getting online. Previously I was told if there was an issue with opening AOL, to delete it out of my computer and reinstall it. So that's what I did, but only this time my computer kept shutting down during the download. AOL did not even fully load and my computer went to a fatal error screen and froze. At that point I took my computer into a computer tech.

I cancelled AOL in July 2009 when I got Satellite. I could never talk to a live person, so I had to cancel by email to AOL. All of a sudden, I have been charged $74.70 on my bank account. I called the number listed on the bank charge. I was told I had two accounts, and they have not been able to bill me since July but they kept trying and it finally went through. What a bunch of bull. They said they could not refund me the money, that I had to file a complaint and that had to be by letter. They said they would cancel as of today, and by the way, I will get charged for 14 days for Dec. Can't believe a company like AOL operates like that. I tried to cancel a couple of years ago (which took me forever to get to anyone), and then they offered me a cheaper rate of $9.99 for the same thing I had been paying $25 forever. How can they get away with this? I want a refund of $74.70.

I had a paid AOL act for past 15+ years. I recently requested change to free AOL account and received confirmation from AOL in regards. I am still being charged for monthly paid account despite my attempts to clear this via AOL customer service reps several times via phone, email and online live chat, to no avail! I'm being charged for a free service?

Although I have a free AOL account, I have been charged $11.95 a month since April. I have talked to my credit card company and they are trying to have the charges reversed but they say they can only do that for the past three months. How do I get AOL to stop, other than changing my credit card? I would cancel it completely but I can't get my addresses off of AOL and I've used this email address for my business for many years. Do you have a phone number that would connect me to a live person? I realize that may not help either.

My credit card was double billed and I couldn't keep up with it. I incurred many late fees. I think someone needs to go to prison.

Reset access phone numbers on my computer, One city - Oneida which two towns over is considered long distance. AOL reuses to help rectifying to Verizon bill. Verizon charged me by the minute when the Oneida number was used. Consequences: total cost is $1,132.00.

When I bought my Dell computer, it came with a risk free 6 month trial. Two days later on Aug. 17th, AOL charged me for $25.95. I called them and told them to cancel. I thought this was a risk free trial. The lady told me I would be credited in 2-3 billing cycles, but if I cancelled my account totally, I would not get my refund. So, next I went to the free AOL but you can't actually get online with that so I went to the $9.99 plan.

I signed in a free (unlimited) AOL account, and my webmail was empty?! I called them, and they said that I have to pay in order to have my e-mail back. Nobody mentioned while I opened for the first time the account that I need to pay after a period of time. Is this blackmail, extortion, or legal theft?! I had important personal information. If something will happen with my personal important information, I will sue them. Thanks.

They double billed me for one month and would not correct the billing error. I was not under a contract for a specific plan, rather on a bill by month. I canceled the debit card they were accessing and my service from them was shut off on the first day of the month, they could not draw their fee. They have continued to send collection letters and threatening to turn my account over to a collection agency and report my account to credit reporting agencies. I wrote on two occasions to stop the harassment, but it continued. I have since filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General's office outlining their business practices and groundless threats.

I order AOL as Internet Provider on April 2, 2009. I was told it was a "get free month, when you pay for one month." After the account was opened, I was told that that deal ended, and that I was not getting a free month of AOL. I purchased a prepaid Visa card for May 09 payment and the rep at AOL did not know how to enter the Visa number to receive payment. I called the bank that issued the card and AOL three times. The bank offered to help AOL with the billing but AOL would not contact the bank. The account was suspended on May 6, 2009.

For quite a few years, I had AOL service $9.94. All of a sudden, I got another service. I thought the price of AOL went up, it did not. They added another service that I knew nothing about and that service is also $9.94. I called AOL and they told me that they could not do it. They said I would have to do it on line. (1) There is no website; and (2) there is no phone number. I made my bank aware of it. I want to cancel it. They keep billing me. Can you please help me? I don't know what else to do.

I had set up my boyfriend an AOL account (**). A few years later (last year), I tried to cancel it because we got broadband and they wouldn't let me because I wasn't him. Well, not only did he not have the time to mess with it, he didn't know any of the information they kept asking. I did, but he was working 200 miles away from me. Anyway, so we decided to ride it out until the credit card expired. A month before it expired, I got online and switched from a paying account to a free account. Yet, after it expired, they still kept billing us and telling us to update our account information. So, again, we both called and canceled it.

I called AOL to change my address and my phone number, and they told me that my monthly charge of $9.99 went up to $11.99 a month. I told them that without notice, I would not pay for that. I said I wanted to cancel my paying account after 15 years paying them and 90% are getting it free. I wanted to cancel, and they were trying to sell me all different plans. I kept saying cancel, but they kept on going, not hearing what I had to say. I hung up and called back, and they said, "Keep what you have, I will give it to you for $4.99." I said no and that I wanted to cancel and wanted free AOL mail. They finally said yes. I had to call them back four times.

I called AOL to cancel my internet account with them as I had another internet provider. I had been paying AOL $25.00 a month for the last ten years. The rep told me I could keep AOL for $11.00 a month. I told them I did want it. At this point, I was offered the service for $4.00 per month. Again, I turned them down. Finally, I was told that I could have the internet service free of charge. I was quite shocked at this. The rep told me that if I had gone to the account management page I would have seen that these options were available and have been since 2006. When I asked them why I was not informed that I could obtain a lower rate, I was told it was my responsibility to go and find this information. I asked for a refund of money but was denied. I pointed out that I never received a letter or an email regarding this. I feel that AOL has deliberately ripped me off and that I was paying what turns out to be an exorbitant fee for something that I could have had for much less for the past 3 years.

Despite cancellation of my internet service with Compuserve, they continued to deduct $21.95 per month from my MasterCard for twenty-three months. Phone calls and letters were ignored. I can produce my bills, letter, and confirmation number. They claimed that they do not have the cancellation number that I gave them. This is a lie. The person, who took my cancellation info, gave me the info I have. I am out $504.85 for services that I did receive. Hopefully, you can help me. Thanks.

On 7/20/09, AOL illegally charged my H&R Block Debit Account $77.70 for an unknown reason. I called AOL to find out why I was charged and how they got my debit account number, but I was told that someone possibly used my debit account number to open an account with AOL. I asked them for the name of the person that opened the account, but they would not tell me, for "personal" reasons, etc...

I tried to cancel AOL by use of their online service. When I looked up my credit card invoice online, I noticed that it had charged me anyway. I canceled online again. When the invoice arrived, I tried to dispute the charge. They conveniently had no record of either of my online attempts. I wrote a letter canceling for February 2010. They canceled me as of July 2009. When I contacted someone through live help (I was hung up on when I tried to call), I was told that they can't cancel ahead. When I asked why I was not notified and advised, the question was ignored. I was also told that they could not reinstate me - I would have to begin paying again as though I was a new customer. The upshot is that I have paid AOL for services for the next five months that I'm not getting.

I had America Online service for almost five years. The last year we had their service, it was extremely slow and had problems getting Web pages to come up. It timed out and couldn't access email most of the time either. I made several calls to AOL tech support and they would say it was my computer. Then, I would call Dell and they would run through stuff with me - in the end, it was the dial-up service.

In May of 2007, I tried to sign in and use my computer. I was denied access. Prior to this, I had to change my debit card because the number was compromised. My bank contacted me so I cancelled the card. I have not used AOL since then. Now, in July 2009, I received a bill from AOL for $103.60. I called them to say what happened and they told me that I should have called to cancel. I said I was cancelled by AOL so I did not think I had to cancel. I then asked them why they are sending me a bill now instead of sending a monthly bill. I did not get an answer. I told them that I would make a payment for a month, but do not feel like I owe for a service that I have not used in over 2 years.

AOL continues to bill our checking account after I have called and canceled the AOL account a number of times. We haven't used AOL internet service in probably 5 years. Our account keeps becoming negative. AOL will keep billing until they have their money. Sometimes they charge twice in one week. When I call, they want info like our checking and routing numbers and SS number. We have paid them hundreds if not over a thousand dollars for services we do not have.

I received a bill from AOL for $103.60. I have an AOL free email address, but have not had an account with them since I was in grade school. I called the number on the bill and the rep told me I had to pay the full amount or my name would be sent to the credit bureau. The invoice was marked as past due. The rep told me that they didn't have my address so the account went into late status and once they found my address, they sent the invoice. I have lived at my current address my entire life. If I had an account with AOL, they should have had my information. I plan to send a certified letter disputing the claim, but don't want AOL to ruin my credit score. This billing seems very wrong to me.

Beware of AOL billing, they like to double bill you and if you cancel your account, watch your billing information because they will bill you again after you have cancelled. AOL offers free email since 2006 I found out today, so why are they charging anyone at all?

Following several years of poor AOL internet service, the company's retention department in 2005 (then based in Albuquerque, NM) promised that if I remained with AOL, they would lower my monthly charge to $9.95 per month, and that it would never go up in return for my loyalty. This was reneged on by AOL about a year ago, but corrected when I called customer service in Virginia. However, on 6/23/09, AOL emailed to announce a rate hike to $11.99 per month effective 7/23/09 - with absolutely no acknowledgment of the prior agreement. When I tried calling the American customer service number, 703-265-1000, I was called back by a Mr. ** who could not have been more rude or threatening.

American Online (AOL) will not allow a user to delete their master screen name. AOL's refusal to delete an account allows them to mislead any advertiser or business partner. If AOL never deletes screen names (email addresses), then they could essentially command advertising dollars based on millions of non-users. I no longer use AOL but they use my old screen name.

I waited on support chat for over an hour and never did get a response to my question. This is exactly why I will never recommend or support the use of AOL to any of my customers. In my 35 years in the computer business, I have never seen a bigger or stranger acceptance of a product by individuals who use this piece of bug-ridden, advertisement-laden, and unnecessary sorry excuse for software. Anyone who would pay good money, especially during this economic crisis, for this outdated excuse for software should be denied the privilege of using a computer. It is no wonder you are losing market share. So much for your chat!

I canceled my account with AOL over the phone in 2004. After canceling the account, charges of $25.90 continued to show up on my credit card statement each month. I called back again and canceled the account and was told it was canceled. I also canceled that credit card to prevent any similar issues from occurring again. Now today, July 11, 2009 I received a letter in the mail from AOL saying I owe them payment for the last 2 months. I called and talked with several people asking why I was still being charged and why it had not been canceled. The person I talked to had apparently never canceled the account, despite telling me the total opposite.

I cancelled AOL 2-1/2 years ago. I even had gone so far as paying the bank $36 to block them after cancelling. Now they are charging me again. This account was not mine but, for my father who hasn't had a computer for 3 years now. I am very frustrated and have spent so much time on this in the past that I thought I would contact to you to see if you have any ideas on how to go about cancelling this.

After reading about all those complaints about aol.com, I am so glad they closed my e-mail service in March of 2009. They have not responded to any of the three letters I sent to get the service re-opened. That is what I get for fifteen years of customer loyalty. Since then, I have gotten better deals from their competitors. I lost about ten days of business before I had another system up and running. I am so glad that aol.com made the MSN list of the worst company responding to consumer complaints in America.

AOL switched my services to dial up from broadband; it went from $11.99 to $25.90 back on August 2007. I was away on vacation and I know for a fact that we never switched to this higher service. We never changed to a dial-up service so no need for this higher-priced service. Because we pay by credit card, we did not notice the big increase in cost until now. AOL gave me the date they changed the service plan - a date that we were away, so it was easy to catch their abuse!

I received "Try one month of AOL, Free" with three steps to follow: 1) Pop in AOL free offer. CD 2) Enter the registration # and password (given in the offer). 3) Enjoy the free trial. I followed these directions and during the set up, they asked for my credit card information, although in the mail-in offer, it says "No credit card required". I tried their services for two weeks and then I called to cancel, because I didn't like the speed compared to Cable. They canceled me and they gave me a confirmation number and said that I will not be charged on my credit card.

I cannot get aol to work with McAfee. Every time I try log on, AOL hangs. No other program on my system does this and I cannot find any help to solve this. It is vital to me to have access to AOL since some of my more urgent issues are through them. There is no damage, just a lack of support on this one issue.

I had cancelled AOL service back in September of 2008. A payment had been made to keep service for one month only. An email was sent by AOL confirming the cancellation and when the account would close. I had signed up for another ISP, Comcast cable, during that month to take the place of AOL's service. I continued with free AOL Mail even though the account should have ended by the end of September 2008.

I received an email from the Office of the President of the United States which was totally unsolicited. I never authorized AOL to release my email to anyone, including the president of the U.S.

We switched from a paid account (that we had for many years) to a free account, but now, we can't access our email! We have been getting messages for over a week on all the email addresses that said we can't access due to "temporary maintenance" which was undefined. We have sent emails to no avail, and you can't reach a live person when you call their customer service number. This seems like advertising fraud to me. How can "temporary maintenance" go on for over a week?

I signed up for a free 3-month trial but cancelled it in 1 month (back in March). In May, they deducted money from my bank and said I never cancelled. What a joke. So I am out the money after I argued with them and caught them in several lies. I did get them to admit there has been no activity whatsoever since March. Hmm, figure it out. It's terrible customer service. That is, if you get to talk to someone and not left on hold!

They keep charging me for things that I do not want. They said it is I who charged them. Well, I did not do it. Ever since I put a stop to AOL service, it's the same thing over and over again. I am a handicap person and by my self, and they have got me going crazy. I have been sick for a whole week this last time. So finally, my bank told me to put a stop to my debit card, which I did. Do you people understand that we cannot get ahold of them by phone! We have to converse by email only.

I signed up for a three-month free trial. The AOL Company took money out of my account and charged me for a service fee for using the checks. I never received any bills or other information from them. I talked to Mr. ** and he told me he could refund some of my money but then, taking this money out without my knowledge overdrew my account a $30 fee.

My situation is that AOL double billed me on my account. I have one computer and this has been going on for over a year. My service is $26.95. About three days later, I got a debit from my bank for $32.90. What can I do about this and what is my possibility of reimbursement? I also need phone numbers so I can call this and let them know how I feel about this. Thank you.

I was charged $51.80 on May 1, 2009 and I called in and they sent me a form to fill out and mail back in. I did that 3 weeks ago and still no refund to my debit card. I did not order AOL due to the fact that I have had either Cox or Qwest internet for over 3 years now. I told AOL that it was and is fraud and they say they have not received this form I sent 3 weeks ago. They will not refund my money. I did not eat for 2 weeks in May and got severely ill. Plus I borrowed money to feed my dogs for the month of May and I owe it back and cannot pay it back because they refused to refund my $51.80 back.

I closed my AOL account in January, and they continued to bill me. So far, they claim I owe $75.96, and they keep telling me they are going to go to a collection agency to ‘resolve the matter’, if I do not pay immediately. I was very surprised to read similar horror stories about AOL on this consumer affairs website, how people are pissed off, or afraid that AOL is putting bad marks on their credit reports. I am afraid they will do the same to me.

I joined AOL in late September 2008. I needed dial-up for access while traveling. Because the service/connectivity/speed was so appalling (even for dial-up), I called up within ten days and canceled. I have never used the account since. Why would I? I thought it was canceled. On 5/28/09, I started getting repeated calls as shown on the caller ID from a number I did not recognize. They did not leave messages (nine calls in 2 days). I called that number back and got a heavily accented male (outsourced customer service, go AOL). I managed to figure out that he was trying to tell me that I owed AOL over $100 for 4 months of service. I promptly hung up and called AOL.

Well about 9 years ago, we got our first computer so we tried the AOL 90-day free trial online deal and we were assured that no long distance charges would accrue. Well, there was & AOL took care of it, but gave us a lot of problems. Well around the 5th Jan., 2009, my children, knowing I am disabled, bought me a computer and told me to get online and have fun. So, ok, they got me the 30-day AOL free trial disc. I remembered what happened the last time we tried the online experience trial. So before I even thought about going online, I read the fine print and called AOL to make sure I would not be charged any charges whatsoever because I am disabled and only get a $687.00 social security check. So I asked the rep. 3 times, “Are you sure with these access numbers you helped me put in? Am I going to be charged?” 3 times he told me, no, so I said, “Are you sure?” He said, “If,” and I was to call 1-800-827-6364. So I said, “No, I want to make sure I am not going to be charged.” He said, “No, Mr. **, you won’t be charged.”

I recently discovered that AOL was triple billing me (quadruple billed me in Feb. 09). They had initially declined my method of payment - a debit card. So I tried again. That, too, was turned down. As I was exiting the site, it allowed me to put the billing method on my phone, which I did. It later authorized the debit cards and began taking money out, twice. I was unaware I was being billed, because I received the bill on my phone bill. I opened a new account, had my billing transferred over, and just happened to catch the double charge on the account they had initially declined (and billing me on my phone). I tried to bring that to their attention and was told by Billing to call Frauds who told me to have my bank contact them, and my bank tried to recover the illegal withdrawals. But AOL refused any attempts to make it right.

AOL sent me a letter stating they had overcharged me $200 and soon I would receive a check. They never did since my plan is only $9.99 per month. On 3/09 they charged my account (Feb. & March) $31.28, then in May they charged my account a total of $44.57. When speaking with the rep, he stated that I had not paid for 4 months, yet it is drafted from my checking and I have bank statements to prove I canceled my account on 5/14/09 after being an outstanding member for 7 yrs. Because of the illegal account drafting which was not authorized except for the $9.99, it caused my account to be overdrawn and I suffered fees in the amount of over $100.

AOL has charged us random monthly fees from 9/2006 to 8/2008. AOL is over billing for free email account! In Aug. 2006, it was announced that AOL email would be free. My husband, Mitch, called to cancel his $9.99 AOL monthly charge for email. The rep told him that the free email would not allow him to keep his existing email address. Mitch did not want to change that email address so he agreed to pay the small $2/month charge that the rep said it would cost to keep the same email address. My husband blindly paid monthly but the amount began to change each month going up to $14.95. Every month was different and we could not get a straight answer when we called customer service.

I do not have and never have had or even tried AOL. Somehow they got my credit card information and have been charging my credit card for $9.95 - $11.99 per month for the last 1 1/2 years. It was a small amount and thought it was connected to something else perhaps, but then I finally looked back through my statements and noticed a pattern of unauthorized charges by AOL on the same date every single month. I worked with my credit card company to get the charges reimbursed. Hopefully, the credit card company will get it back from AOL.

For two and a half years, I paid AOL monthly on my US MasterCard credit card. I had a fraud alert on my card and had it cancelled. In Feb '09, AOL shut off my service because the credit card was cancelled. I contacted AOL customer service help desk at 0844 499 5555 to inform them of the changed card and to provide them with my new credit card information. The AOL helpdesk person informed me that the new credit card was in the system and my service would be restored within three days. I called back a week later in early March '09 because the service was still not working. I was then told by the AOL helpdesk person that they could not accept my United States Credit card (MasterCard from bank USAA). Neither the helpdesk person nor the helpdesk manager could make a US credit card work in their system.

I have been charged as being late with my AOL account that I have lost count. I have checked with my bank and they have been paid every time. When I have tried to explain this to them, they just want the money. They think I owed so I have been paying them double for close to a year.

I'm a customer of AOL for 10 years. AOL charges me $31.95 a month for service. AOL has been deducting my checking account during this time. I learned today, 4/29, through a friend that AOL Service is free with DSL or cable connection. I have had cable connection for over 5 years. Therefore, I contacted AOL directly to resolve matters with my account regarding the fact that I am paying for a service that is technically free.

My girlfriend bought a computer in November and tried to set up an America Online account for me. For some reason, we were not successful to set up an ID so deleted the free trial offer from the AOL program. We did not need it for further purchase since we were getting free MSN online. Now they are billing me for a program that was never used. I did not register with AOL and I'm not interested. They are telling me that AOL account access has been suspended for non-payment. I never had even an access to AOL which was deleted in the first place. I protested the charge of $65.80 for an AOL account that I never had. My girlfriend and I have fairly good credit history and such a collection described above is not fair and correct. If I had access to use AOL in the first place, I would be willing to pay but my girlfriend and I have no AOL access at all. Please help me solve this problem because they have an account number assigned to my name to pay for a service that does not and never existed.

I am a member of AOL for almost 12 years with five email addresses, 3 for business and 2 for personal use. I have an estate liquidation business in Las Vegas, NV and have used ** for most of those 12 years, sending out 2-4 emails a month with newsletter with announcements of where the estate sale will be and what is going up for sale. A few years ago, AOL began enforcing a limit of 100 emails but if you called and got on their mass email list, you would be cleared to send out newsletters and such. Several times in the past, I have sent out my email and gone online thereafter and not been able to sign on to my account. I would call AOL, remind them I have permission to send them and they would update their data.

Account was opened in May 2003 for free 45 days. They billed $28.90 a month from July to December on the phone bill. This account was closed on October 13, ‘03. Another account was opened on Oct. 4 for 1,175 hours free which they claim was up on Oct. 7 (impossible, that totals 72 hours if I stayed on non-stop). They started billing my checking account on Nov. 2. Also, I received a lock out for non-payment of an old sub account from my friend’s account from 2001. I mailed a check received on Oct. 8, ‘03 for $23.80 after finding out what that was billed for.

Why has my McAfee security service expired when it is supposed to be included in my AOL service?

AOL suddenly blocked today, 17.04.2009, without any prior notice. My screen name is **. I tried many times with correct password but every time getting a reply that password was not correct. I telephoned AOL & also sent a number of emails but without any response. I have hundreds of business & private emails stored at AOL, which are to be attended urgently. I normally get 200 business emails on the average.

I cancelled online internet service with this co. about 8 or so months ago. They ignored my 2 email attempts to cancel service. Finally, I had to stop payment to the co. which cost me a bank fee. A few months ago, they decided to help themselves to my bank account again, and I would not have known they were helping themselves to my account until a non-sufficient funds notice arrived, which cost me another bank fee.

I cancelled AOL in December and the service was cancelled. The problem is, they still charged me another year of service. I am being charged for something I do not have. I contacted what they call customer service? They stated I had to cancel in Sept. to not be charged, 4 months before my agreement was up. They have no interest in solving this problem.

I had unauthorized amounts taken out of my account. AOL stated that they went back to 2008 and realized that I had been charged incorrectly (which is not correct!). It was on 4-11-09 that this occurred. AOL refused to credit back my account. I cancelled my AOL service with them immediately after speaking to a supervisor (in Europe), Adrainne at 1-800-827-6364. I received no communication from AOL that this transaction was to be taken out of my account, no confirmation # and no notification prior to this transaction (to avoid this - robbing me), because they have my credit card info.

In 2006, AOL refused to cancel my service and continued to bill my credit card without permission. I cancelled the credit card after numerous attempts to get them to stop billing me for services I was not using. AOL is now (2009) trying to collect $47.95 for unpaid service that occurred after I cancelled the credit card. I have requested a paper bill because I will not give AOL my credit card information again. They refuse to send me a bill and threaten to ruin my credit if I don't pay them using a credit card immediately.

I contacted America Online in 2001 and canceled my internet provider services with them via their 1 800 number. I had switched to broadband services with Verizon. The gentleman on the phone said I could keep my email accounts even if I did not use their dial up services. He made no mention of charges. Since AOL offers free email accounts like Hotmail does, that is exactly what I was led to believe I was doing. My wife informed me today that we have been getting charged $20.95 per month since 2001 for AOL services we have not used. When I notified AOL, they said the charges were normal and were charged whether we used their dial up services or not since they have no record of us ever canceling with them. They do, however, have records showing we have not used their dial up services since 2001 but cannot refund our money because it is not their policy. To add salt to the wound, he goes into a 20-min. sales pitch trying to sell me more products I do not need.

We have been on yearly billing with AOL, which was costing $20/month. We have broadband through Frontier. When I called to cancel, they told me they'd sent an email in September saying that unless I cancelled by December 26 (I think) I would be billed for another year. I didn't get this email to the best of my recollection. Now they're billing me for a whole year. I've spent the past few weeks trying to resolve this. I've been overbilled by them for quite some time (a member since 1979). My daughter only pays $9.99/month. I was told by an AOL rep that extra was for more antivirus protection. I hadn't signed up for this and wasn't told I was paying for extra protection. Obviously I didn't have any because in spite of having Norton and AOL over the years, two computers became corrupted. I am willing to pay for usage from January-April, but not for a whole year.

AOL has been debiting my Direct Express card since January 2009 for unauthorized charges. I don't even have an account with them. My service with them was cancelled July 11, 2008. They said they would take care of it, but they didn't. They claim they would send out a claim form for me to fill out and send back, but they didn't. I am disabled and receive social security disability. All my bills are accounted for each month, and AOL is not included. Please advise or help. Thank you.

I signed up for AOL three years ago and have been paying the $25.90 a month. I even paid it when it became free. I went from dial-up service to DSL in November. Today, they had the audacity to send me an email informing me that I will now be switched to free AOL, but I owe them $103.60. If the service is free to everyone else, why am I being penalized (and has been for some time)? Why am I being asked to pay the $103.60? I find that insulting.

I have been trying to cancel AOL for a month. You can't fire these people. I have tried looking online to cancel and there is no way to do that. I tried calling AOL and no one will answer the phone. They are charging me for some voice service that I did not order, nor do I need. I have DSL, I don't use the phone line. What do you have to do to fire these **? Please help.