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Posted: 6/12/2001 12:22:24 PM EDT
Got AOL?  Got Gateway?  Got DELL?  Thought you got rid of them?

Guess again!

I got AOL with my Gateway over a year ago and got rid of it ASAP, including deleting as much of it as possible from the start up program.
I even called and told them at AOL that we were cancelling and did not want anything to do with them.

Now, over a year later, we balanced the checkbook and discovered two deducutions by AOL
at $26.95 each.
After contacting the bank to put a stop payment in place to guard against future unauthorized withdrawls, I contacted AOL to find that they had no record of my cancellation!
Not only that, but, if you are a Gateway or DELL computer owner, you get the AOL whether you like it or not, and, YOU must call to cancel or end up with "automatic withdrawl" after the FREE year of AOL.
As you can see, even calling to cancel isn't a guarantee that you won't be invaded by these overbearing and rude people...

BE CAREFUL AND VERIFY THAT AOL IS NOT TAKING YOUR $$$ WITHOUT YOUR AUTHORIZATION.

Anyone else out there with a similar story?
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 12:40:57 PM EDT
[#1]
Happened to me several years ago, when I first got one of them floppy disks attached to a PC Magazine (Must've been '93, '94...)  Tried their 'free month of service', cancelled after 2 weeks and sure enough they were charging the credit card the next month.  From what I understand they never balk about giving the money back, but they get the interest from having that money from a large # of people...
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 2:33:34 PM EDT
[#2]
Our Dell came with a free year of MSN. Not aohell.
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 2:42:12 PM EDT
[#3]
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 3:01:20 PM EDT
[#4]
Same deal here: Free month...charged me again...took 4 calls to eventually get it corrected. They tried to get me to reconsider another "membership option" the first three times. The fourth guy must have been warned. He was strictly, "Yes sir. No Sir. I'll refund it immediatley, Sir." I was refunded.[-!-] <---AOL
CS
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 3:06:18 PM EDT
[#5]
[url]http://pub.alxnet.com/poll?id=2057132&pop=y[/url]
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 3:14:44 PM EDT
[#6]
[img]http://www.homestead.com/chasingman/files/ninemillion.gif[/img]
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 3:25:45 PM EDT
[#7]
[img]http://www.homestead.com/chasingman/files/aolsucks.GIF [/img]
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 3:39:15 PM EDT
[#8]
How did they get your checking acct number? Did you give it to Gateway or were you actually using the aol for a while?

I had a similar experience many years ago - the "free" trial wasn't really free and it kept kicking me off if I was gone from the keyboard for a minute. Was at a friends recently and it seemed to be better than it used to be, but that's not saying much.
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 8:05:34 PM EDT
[#9]
They always get some sort of Visa or such to screw you later.  Then when you cancel it's like pulling teeth.
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 10:34:25 PM EDT
[#10]
I changed my line to DSL and have a hit and miss situation since. I'd say 90% good but need to logoff and sometimes reboot to get back online.
I'm paying $19.95 plus $21.95 for the DSL. Their are many other deals out there and am still looking for a faster hookup. Who do you guys use? Good shooting - Popeye
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 10:45:18 PM EDT
[#11]
I pay something like $32 for DSL, but don't tell Verizon cause they screwed up on my account. I think it should really be $39, but Im not sure so I ain't asking.

I was once using the free AOL that came with my new computer until I decided on another provider. The day after I called to cancel the AOL someone from there called me back. They were trying to sell me some kind of package where you take pictures and mail them to Kodak and then you get them emailed to you later instead or getting hard copies. Anyways, this stuff cost like $40 and I told the guy no way, and I was even having AOL cut off at the end of the month. However this guy would not give up and kept hounding me on the phone. So finally I asked if the call was being recorded and he told me it was, then I told him that he could send me the package if he wanted but I was not, under any circumstances, going to pay for it. (Since I didn't input my credit card when I signed up they couldn't charge anything at all to me) I didn't think there was any way in hell anything would show up, but about 5 days later I get a package from AOL with all of their stupid stuff in it and a bill for $40 something bucks. I just wrote them a nasty letter explaining the story and how I had told the operator that I was not willing to pay for anything and it was shipped anyways and they sent me another letter apologizing and that was it. Stupid ba****ds

Michael
Link Posted: 6/12/2001 10:55:08 PM EDT
[#12]
I have AOL, and I often am dumped for some reason, but here in Australia there is not too many carriers. So, I pay 25.00 Australian dollars a month (about $13.US) and get the exact same thing US subscribers get. So if you are paying over $20US/month for AOL, you are really getting ripped off. Dont blame you for being pissed off.
Link Posted: 6/13/2001 6:53:41 AM EDT
[#13]
Link Posted: 6/13/2001 7:02:30 AM EDT
[#14]
You know this is about the 20th time Ive heard this story. You should contact a lawyer a go after a class action lawsuit. Seriously. This is BS. Take a look at Blockbuster. They just got slammed for essentially the same practice with late fees.
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