A friendly warning

I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
was no credit card number they used the phone number to
charge for the service.
As soon as I got this bill I called the phone company.
They said I would have to call the 800 number of AOL and
straighten it out with them.
I call AOL. They said Since I was not the one that
started the account I would have to call the fraud
line.This about 2pm central time. Call the fraud line. Get
some international phone system that says I will have to
dial this new number 10-15-15-800. The number sounded like
some foriegn rip off line so I hang up and call AOL
Customer service number again. They said the first person
gave me the wrong number. I call the new number. It
says "Welcome to AOL fraud line" Push the numbers that
suppose to get me to a real person in the fraud department.
End up back to Customer sevice.
Now, when you get to customer service you have to explain
everthing all over again. Like from the start. I get the
same answers. I have to call Fraud Department. I do. Three
more times with the same results. Back to Customer service.
Explaining everything all over each time. Now it is 6pm
central time. I give this number one more try. I don't get
Fraud. I get Customer service. Now I'm mad. I tell this
poor guy I will get ahold of my state's Attorney General
and see if this is some type of scam and if I can sue them
because of the run around I am getting. This guy, which I
might add barely spoke english, told me the fraud
department closed at 5pm. I would have to call tomorrow.
I ask what 5pm. Is it 5pm in euroupe? Or asia or in the
USA and what time zone. He confirmed it would be 5pm
eastren time in the USA. I could feel the blood vessals
poping in my head. He could hear them. So he transfered me
to Security Department. I have another poor english
speaking person. I screem all the info to him. Pounding on
my desk. Threatening to go out and shoot something.
He calmly told me that with the info he had he was going
to refund the money back to my phone company. And then I
would have to call the Cancellation Department.
So I call them to cancel the account. They said I
couldn't cancel it because I was not the person who
started it. There was a loud bang in my head. I yelled a
string of something out. I don't remember all what I said.
I do know I said due to all the BS I had to go through I
would never use AOL. Even if it was the only ISP available.
If that was the case I would throw away my PC and never
use one again. After I stoped ranting. There was a brief
silence. Then the person said the account was canceled and
gave me a confirmation number.BUT, that I would get a
letter in the mail in 4 to 5 days comfirming the
cancelation and I would have to answer the letter or they
would start it all over again. This was after 5 1/2 hours
of runn around.
So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
from the mail box and throw it away.
And when I see the "Free,Take One" AOL diplays at the
store. I'm going to take all of them and chunk'em in the
dumpster outside.
No one should have to go through the run around I got
today.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor and get blood pressure
medicine.

How does this company stay in business? A lousy product, high prices and
lousy support. I hope people read and heed your post.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

wrote in message
...
I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
was no credit card number they used the phone number to
charge for the service.
As soon as I got this bill I called the phone company.
They said I would have to call the 800 number of AOL and
straighten it out with them.
I call AOL. They said Since I was not the one that
started the account I would have to call the fraud
line.This about 2pm central time. Call the fraud line. Get
some international phone system that says I will have to
dial this new number 10-15-15-800. The number sounded like
some foriegn rip off line so I hang up and call AOL
Customer service number again. They said the first person
gave me the wrong number. I call the new number. It
says "Welcome to AOL fraud line" Push the numbers that
suppose to get me to a real person in the fraud department.
End up back to Customer sevice.
Now, when you get to customer service you have to explain
everthing all over again. Like from the start. I get the
same answers. I have to call Fraud Department. I do. Three
more times with the same results. Back to Customer service.
Explaining everything all over each time. Now it is 6pm
central time. I give this number one more try. I don't get
Fraud. I get Customer service. Now I'm mad. I tell this
poor guy I will get ahold of my state's Attorney General
and see if this is some type of scam and if I can sue them
because of the run around I am getting. This guy, which I
might add barely spoke english, told me the fraud
department closed at 5pm. I would have to call tomorrow.
I ask what 5pm. Is it 5pm in euroupe? Or asia or in the
USA and what time zone. He confirmed it would be 5pm
eastren time in the USA. I could feel the blood vessals
poping in my head. He could hear them. So he transfered me
to Security Department. I have another poor english
speaking person. I screem all the info to him. Pounding on
my desk. Threatening to go out and shoot something.
He calmly told me that with the info he had he was going
to refund the money back to my phone company. And then I
would have to call the Cancellation Department.
So I call them to cancel the account. They said I
couldn't cancel it because I was not the person who
started it. There was a loud bang in my head. I yelled a
string of something out. I don't remember all what I said.
I do know I said due to all the BS I had to go through I
would never use AOL. Even if it was the only ISP available.
If that was the case I would throw away my PC and never
use one again. After I stoped ranting. There was a brief
silence. Then the person said the account was canceled and
gave me a confirmation number.BUT, that I would get a
letter in the mail in 4 to 5 days comfirming the
cancelation and I would have to answer the letter or they
would start it all over again. This was after 5 1/2 hours
of runn around.
So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
from the mail box and throw it away.
And when I see the "Free,Take One" AOL diplays at the
store. I'm going to take all of them and chunk'em in the
dumpster outside.
No one should have to go through the run around I got
today.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor and get blood pressure
medicine.

I find they make good frisbees if you use them once and aim at a very close brick
wall. Someone needs to modify a skeet-shooting machine to launch them.....
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

wrote in message
...
snip
So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
from the mail box and throw it away.

This is a fairly common scenario with AOL. Once they get their hooks into
your computer, getting rid of them is a real chore. You did better than
most. You got your money back and are free of them. Your advice is spot
on. NEVER let one of those AOL "free trial"
CDs in your house.

OTOH, MSN, vilified as a part of the MS evil empire, was a snap to drop when
I changed from dial-up to cable. I talked to a human being who gave me a
soft sell on the MSN version of broadband but graciously backed off when I
said I was going with my existing TV cable company. They even told me they
would reserve by MSN address for 6 months in case I decided to return to
MSN. Quite a difference from AOL. So who's the evil empire??

wrote in message
...
I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
was no credit card number they used the phone number to
charge for the service.
As soon as I got this bill I called the phone company.
They said I would have to call the 800 number of AOL and
straighten it out with them.
I call AOL. They said Since I was not the one that
started the account I would have to call the fraud
line.This about 2pm central time. Call the fraud line. Get
some international phone system that says I will have to
dial this new number 10-15-15-800. The number sounded like
some foriegn rip off line so I hang up and call AOL
Customer service number again. They said the first person
gave me the wrong number. I call the new number. It
says "Welcome to AOL fraud line" Push the numbers that
suppose to get me to a real person in the fraud department.
End up back to Customer sevice.
Now, when you get to customer service you have to explain
everthing all over again. Like from the start. I get the
same answers. I have to call Fraud Department. I do. Three
more times with the same results. Back to Customer service.
Explaining everything all over each time. Now it is 6pm
central time. I give this number one more try. I don't get
Fraud. I get Customer service. Now I'm mad. I tell this
poor guy I will get ahold of my state's Attorney General
and see if this is some type of scam and if I can sue them
because of the run around I am getting. This guy, which I
might add barely spoke english, told me the fraud
department closed at 5pm. I would have to call tomorrow.
I ask what 5pm. Is it 5pm in euroupe? Or asia or in the
USA and what time zone. He confirmed it would be 5pm
eastren time in the USA. I could feel the blood vessals
poping in my head. He could hear them. So he transfered me
to Security Department. I have another poor english
speaking person. I screem all the info to him. Pounding on
my desk. Threatening to go out and shoot something.
He calmly told me that with the info he had he was going
to refund the money back to my phone company. And then I
would have to call the Cancellation Department.
So I call them to cancel the account. They said I
couldn't cancel it because I was not the person who
started it. There was a loud bang in my head. I yelled a
string of something out. I don't remember all what I said.
I do know I said due to all the BS I had to go through I
would never use AOL. Even if it was the only ISP available.
If that was the case I would throw away my PC and never
use one again. After I stoped ranting. There was a brief
silence. Then the person said the account was canceled and
gave me a confirmation number.BUT, that I would get a
letter in the mail in 4 to 5 days comfirming the
cancelation and I would have to answer the letter or they
would start it all over again. This was after 5 1/2 hours
of runn around.
So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
from the mail box and throw it away.
And when I see the "Free,Take One" AOL diplays at the
store. I'm going to take all of them and chunk'em in the
dumpster outside.
No one should have to go through the run around I got
today.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor and get blood pressure
medicine.

I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
was no credit card number they used the phone number to
charge for the service.


snip

even though i've always known better than to try one of those AOL cd's...
one day i was working on a machine that i was going to re-format anyway...
so just to see what would happen i stuck in an AOL cd...
but decided to cancel when it got to the credit card part...
at that point it simply asked for my checking account info...
and when i tried to cancel ...it simply said it would just add the fees to
the phone bill... and there was NO option to cancel.

at that point it shut off the machine and formatted the drive...

a few weeks later i got a postcard in the mail from AOL thanking
me for joining!
i called them and once and canceled before that had a chance to add the fee
to my phone bill!!!


Not sure how they can get away with that!

even though i've always known better than to try one of those AOL cd's...
one day i was working on a machine that i was going to re-format anyway...
so just to see what would happen i stuck in an AOL cd...
but decided to cancel when it got to the credit card part...
at that point it simply asked for my checking account info...
and when i tried to cancel ...it simply said it would just add the fees to
the phone bill... and there was NO option to cancel.

Not sure how they can get away with that!

You ought a try mailing friends and relatives on Aol,
When using another isp. 90% of my email does not reach them.

Also, You should report this scam to Federal Trade Commission &
Federal Communication Commission.

Greg R

Your problem isn't AOL or their policies, it's...

I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC....One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time.

Supervise your children's use of their PC and you won't have such problems.
In fact, you're lucky this incident only cost you $14.95 and some aggro.
Your kids could get into much more serious trouble very, very soon.
Consider this a lesson well-learned.
--
~PA Bear

wrote:
I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
was no credit card number they used the phone number to
charge for the service.
As soon as I got this bill I called the phone company.
They said I would have to call the 800 number of AOL and
straighten it out with them.
I call AOL. They said Since I was not the one that
started the account I would have to call the fraud
line.This about 2pm central time. Call the fraud line. Get
some international phone system that says I will have to
dial this new number 10-15-15-800. The number sounded like
some foriegn rip off line so I hang up and call AOL
Customer service number again. They said the first person
gave me the wrong number. I call the new number. It
says "Welcome to AOL fraud line" Push the numbers that
suppose to get me to a real person in the fraud department.
End up back to Customer sevice.
Now, when you get to customer service you have to explain
everthing all over again. Like from the start. I get the
same answers. I have to call Fraud Department. I do. Three
more times with the same results. Back to Customer service.
Explaining everything all over each time. Now it is 6pm
central time. I give this number one more try. I don't get
Fraud. I get Customer service. Now I'm mad. I tell this
poor guy I will get ahold of my state's Attorney General
and see if this is some type of scam and if I can sue them
because of the run around I am getting. This guy, which I
might add barely spoke english, told me the fraud
department closed at 5pm. I would have to call tomorrow.
I ask what 5pm. Is it 5pm in euroupe? Or asia or in the
USA and what time zone. He confirmed it would be 5pm
eastren time in the USA. I could feel the blood vessals
poping in my head. He could hear them. So he transfered me
to Security Department. I have another poor english
speaking person. I screem all the info to him. Pounding on
my desk. Threatening to go out and shoot something.
He calmly told me that with the info he had he was going
to refund the money back to my phone company. And then I
would have to call the Cancellation Department.
So I call them to cancel the account. They said I
couldn't cancel it because I was not the person who
started it. There was a loud bang in my head. I yelled a
string of something out. I don't remember all what I said.
I do know I said due to all the BS I had to go through I
would never use AOL. Even if it was the only ISP available.
If that was the case I would throw away my PC and never
use one again. After I stoped ranting. There was a brief
silence. Then the person said the account was canceled and
gave me a confirmation number.BUT, that I would get a
letter in the mail in 4 to 5 days comfirming the
cancelation and I would have to answer the letter or they
would start it all over again. This was after 5 1/2 hours
of runn around.
So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
from the mail box and throw it away.
And when I see the "Free,Take One" AOL diplays at the
store. I'm going to take all of them and chunk'em in the
dumpster outside.
No one should have to go through the run around I got
today.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor and get blood pressure
medicine.

Well, while I agree with your sentiments, I also think AOL goes too far if there
isn't an easy way to cancel out when you realize what you've gotten yourself
into. Only the worst scams like XXX dialware, etc., use this tactic, and even
when I've played with those to see what happens, getting out of them was no big
deal.

Hell, we signed a deal to buy a *house* last week, and we *still* have another
10 days to cancel out of that one, with hardly any penalty at all.

I don't think I've ever seen any *legitimate* software installation or service
sign-up that does what people in this thread say AOL does. I wasn't even aware
of this nefarious scheme, and I'm even thinking that *everyone* should grab one
of those disks, run the installation, try to cancel out, and then report the
scam to their respective state's Attorney General. I'm betting that there is
some point early on where the fine print warns you what will happen, but that's
not good enough. There should *always* be a point in any online transaction
where you say, "I'll pay" or "I'm outta here!"

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"PA Bear" wrote in message
...
Your problem isn't AOL or their policies, it's...

I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC....One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time.

Supervise your children's use of their PC and you won't have such problems.
In fact, you're lucky this incident only cost you $14.95 and some aggro.
Your kids could get into much more serious trouble very, very soon.
Consider this a lesson well-learned.
--
~PA Bear

wrote:
I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
was no credit card number they used the phone number to
charge for the service.
As soon as I got this bill I called the phone company.
They said I would have to call the 800 number of AOL and
straighten it out with them.
I call AOL. They said Since I was not the one that
started the account I would have to call the fraud
line.This about 2pm central time. Call the fraud line. Get
some international phone system that says I will have to
dial this new number 10-15-15-800. The number sounded like
some foriegn rip off line so I hang up and call AOL
Customer service number again. They said the first person
gave me the wrong number. I call the new number. It
says "Welcome to AOL fraud line" Push the numbers that
suppose to get me to a real person in the fraud department.
End up back to Customer sevice.
Now, when you get to customer service you have to explain
everthing all over again. Like from the start. I get the
same answers. I have to call Fraud Department. I do. Three
more times with the same results. Back to Customer service.
Explaining everything all over each time. Now it is 6pm
central time. I give this number one more try. I don't get
Fraud. I get Customer service. Now I'm mad. I tell this
poor guy I will get ahold of my state's Attorney General
and see if this is some type of scam and if I can sue them
because of the run around I am getting. This guy, which I
might add barely spoke english, told me the fraud
department closed at 5pm. I would have to call tomorrow.
I ask what 5pm. Is it 5pm in euroupe? Or asia or in the
USA and what time zone. He confirmed it would be 5pm
eastren time in the USA. I could feel the blood vessals
poping in my head. He could hear them. So he transfered me
to Security Department. I have another poor english
speaking person. I screem all the info to him. Pounding on
my desk. Threatening to go out and shoot something.
He calmly told me that with the info he had he was going
to refund the money back to my phone company. And then I
would have to call the Cancellation Department.
So I call them to cancel the account. They said I
couldn't cancel it because I was not the person who
started it. There was a loud bang in my head. I yelled a
string of something out. I don't remember all what I said.
I do know I said due to all the BS I had to go through I
would never use AOL. Even if it was the only ISP available.
If that was the case I would throw away my PC and never
use one again. After I stoped ranting. There was a brief
silence. Then the person said the account was canceled and
gave me a confirmation number.BUT, that I would get a
letter in the mail in 4 to 5 days comfirming the
cancelation and I would have to answer the letter or they
would start it all over again. This was after 5 1/2 hours
of runn around.
So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
from the mail box and throw it away.
And when I see the "Free,Take One" AOL diplays at the
store. I'm going to take all of them and chunk'em in the
dumpster outside.
No one should have to go through the run around I got
today.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor and get blood pressure
medicine.

I'm with Gary on this one, Robear. While the kids got OP into the mess, it
is AOL's fault for not having an ejection seat so the kids could have
punched when they realized they were heading for trouble.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"PA Bear" wrote in message
...
Your problem isn't AOL or their policies, it's...

I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC....One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time.

Supervise your children's use of their PC and you won't have such
problems.
In fact, you're lucky this incident only cost you $14.95 and some aggro.
Your kids could get into much more serious trouble very, very soon.
Consider this a lesson well-learned.
--
~PA Bear

wrote:
I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
was no credit card number they used the phone number to
charge for the service.
As soon as I got this bill I called the phone company.
They said I would have to call the 800 number of AOL and
straighten it out with them.
I call AOL. They said Since I was not the one that
started the account I would have to call the fraud
line.This about 2pm central time. Call the fraud line. Get
some international phone system that says I will have to
dial this new number 10-15-15-800. The number sounded like
some foriegn rip off line so I hang up and call AOL
Customer service number again. They said the first person
gave me the wrong number. I call the new number. It
says "Welcome to AOL fraud line" Push the numbers that
suppose to get me to a real person in the fraud department.
End up back to Customer sevice.
Now, when you get to customer service you have to explain
everthing all over again. Like from the start. I get the
same answers. I have to call Fraud Department. I do. Three
more times with the same results. Back to Customer service.
Explaining everything all over each time. Now it is 6pm
central time. I give this number one more try. I don't get
Fraud. I get Customer service. Now I'm mad. I tell this
poor guy I will get ahold of my state's Attorney General
and see if this is some type of scam and if I can sue them
because of the run around I am getting. This guy, which I
might add barely spoke english, told me the fraud
department closed at 5pm. I would have to call tomorrow.
I ask what 5pm. Is it 5pm in euroupe? Or asia or in the
USA and what time zone. He confirmed it would be 5pm
eastren time in the USA. I could feel the blood vessals
poping in my head. He could hear them. So he transfered me
to Security Department. I have another poor english
speaking person. I screem all the info to him. Pounding on
my desk. Threatening to go out and shoot something.
He calmly told me that with the info he had he was going
to refund the money back to my phone company. And then I
would have to call the Cancellation Department.
So I call them to cancel the account. They said I
couldn't cancel it because I was not the person who
started it. There was a loud bang in my head. I yelled a
string of something out. I don't remember all what I said.
I do know I said due to all the BS I had to go through I
would never use AOL. Even if it was the only ISP available.
If that was the case I would throw away my PC and never
use one again. After I stoped ranting. There was a brief
silence. Then the person said the account was canceled and
gave me a confirmation number.BUT, that I would get a
letter in the mail in 4 to 5 days comfirming the
cancelation and I would have to answer the letter or they
would start it all over again. This was after 5 1/2 hours
of runn around.
So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
from the mail box and throw it away.
And when I see the "Free,Take One" AOL diplays at the
store. I'm going to take all of them and chunk'em in the
dumpster outside.
No one should have to go through the run around I got
today.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor and get blood pressure
medicine.

Have your cubs climbed a tree & got a swarm after you?

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"PA Bear" wrote in message
...
| Your problem isn't AOL or their policies, it's...
|
| I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC....One of
| my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
| the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
| to ues the FREE time.
|
| Supervise your children's use of their PC and you won't have such
problems.
| In fact, you're lucky this incident only cost you $14.95 and some
aggro.
| Your kids could get into much more serious trouble very, very soon.
| Consider this a lesson well-learned.
| --
| ~PA Bear
|
| wrote:
| I have a PC. My kids have thier own PC. I have an ISP I
| like. Have a dedicated phone line just for the PCs. One of
| my kids stuck in one of those free AOL IP CDs you get in
| the mail. He logged into it. Started to set up an account
| to ues the FREE time. It came to a point where it asked
| for a credit card number. He said,at that point,he X-ed
| out of it. Thinking it was over and there would be no more
| to do with it. Today I get my phone bills. On the PC line
| bill is a charge for $14.95 for AOL service. For the
| service that was set up by useing the AOL CD. Since there
| was no credit card number they used the phone number to
| charge for the service.
| As soon as I got this bill I called the phone company.
| They said I would have to call the 800 number of AOL and
| straighten it out with them.
| I call AOL. They said Since I was not the one that
| started the account I would have to call the fraud
| line.This about 2pm central time. Call the fraud line. Get
| some international phone system that says I will have to
| dial this new number 10-15-15-800. The number sounded like
| some foriegn rip off line so I hang up and call AOL
| Customer service number again. They said the first person
| gave me the wrong number. I call the new number. It
| says "Welcome to AOL fraud line" Push the numbers that
| suppose to get me to a real person in the fraud department.
| End up back to Customer sevice.
| Now, when you get to customer service you have to explain
| everthing all over again. Like from the start. I get the
| same answers. I have to call Fraud Department. I do. Three
| more times with the same results. Back to Customer service.
| Explaining everything all over each time. Now it is 6pm
| central time. I give this number one more try. I don't get
| Fraud. I get Customer service. Now I'm mad. I tell this
| poor guy I will get ahold of my state's Attorney General
| and see if this is some type of scam and if I can sue them
| because of the run around I am getting. This guy, which I
| might add barely spoke english, told me the fraud
| department closed at 5pm. I would have to call tomorrow.
| I ask what 5pm. Is it 5pm in euroupe? Or asia or in the
| USA and what time zone. He confirmed it would be 5pm
| eastren time in the USA. I could feel the blood vessals
| poping in my head. He could hear them. So he transfered me
| to Security Department. I have another poor english
| speaking person. I screem all the info to him. Pounding on
| my desk. Threatening to go out and shoot something.
| He calmly told me that with the info he had he was going
| to refund the money back to my phone company. And then I
| would have to call the Cancellation Department.
| So I call them to cancel the account. They said I
| couldn't cancel it because I was not the person who
| started it. There was a loud bang in my head. I yelled a
| string of something out. I don't remember all what I said.
| I do know I said due to all the BS I had to go through I
| would never use AOL. Even if it was the only ISP available.
| If that was the case I would throw away my PC and never
| use one again. After I stoped ranting. There was a brief
| silence. Then the person said the account was canceled and
| gave me a confirmation number.BUT, that I would get a
| letter in the mail in 4 to 5 days comfirming the
| cancelation and I would have to answer the letter or they
| would start it all over again. This was after 5 1/2 hours
| of runn around.
| So if you get one of those AOL FREE Cds in the mail?
| Don't let it in your house. Go straight to the trash can
| from the mail box and throw it away.
| And when I see the "Free,Take One" AOL diplays at the
| store. I'm going to take all of them and chunk'em in the
| dumpster outside.
| No one should have to go through the run around I got
| today.
| Tomorrow I am going to the doctor and get blood pressure
| medicine.
|