Complaint Review: AOL

In November I contacted AOL to cancel my subscription. The person I spoke with assured me that the account subscription would be cancelled, but tried to sell me a limited type AOL service.

I declined, telling her I no longer required AOL internet access, as I now subscribed to a cable internet access company that did not require a service such as AOL. She then told me she would give one month of AOL service for free.

I replied to her that it wasn't necessary, but she explained she would do so regardless, as I would not be billed for the service. I agreed.

I believe I was told I needed to do nothing else, the subscription would expire at the end of the free month, and that if I wished to re-activate my account, I would have to contact AOL.

I did not contact AOL to re-activate my account. In the time since this conversation, I have accessed the AOL email account from Internet Explorer and Netscape, expecting to see that my account was cancelled.

I did notice that my email account was still active, thinking that AOL would eventually de-activate it. When I received my credit card bill on 1/26/02 I discovered AOL is still billing me.

I phoned them immediately, and was told by accepting the "free" month I was basically telling them I was re-activating my account. This IS NOT what the AOL rep told me in November, and I believe it is misleading and fraudulent. AOL even acknowledges that I requested a cancellation order in November.

Why would I do so, only to "re-activate" it the following month? I spoke to a supervisor who was very indignant and adamant in insisting I was responsible.

I asked to speak to her supervisor and was told that her supervisor does not take calls. I then asked for her name, she identified herself as Dianna. I asked for her last name and she replied Smith. Sounds evasive, eh? I asked for a phone number in order to reach her again and she declined to give it to me.

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