Decrease in their level of service.

[spud47]

I have been an AOL customes for 7+ years and till recently was very content with their product and service. How times change, I will explain:

1. AOL in their infinate wisdom have moved their caller support centre to Asia (as have many other companies) which although saves them money it costs us, the consumer more. For one, like it or not, the language barrier ie: difficulty in understanding the representative at the other end, means that:

a. I, as a customer, have to spend longer on the telephone sorting out my concerns.
b. I end up paying more for my call (currently 5p per minute from a BT landline) than before due to this longer time I am on the phone.
c. I dont feel that my needs or wants have been fully understood plus from experience, they were not acted upon and/or wrongly done.
d. When I actually complained the staff were always apologetic to a patronising manner but the results were the same, little or no action and the problem still there. Helpful but not really helpful at all.
f. I have on three consecutive phone calls and one live online talk, been given conflicting information which only made matters worse for me.
g. I had the feeling that I was a number and not a person.


2. AOL have this nasty new contract of 18 months even for something so small as supplying a 35 Pound modem/router, or upgrading a line to faster access. What happened to the old 12 month deals?

3. Having an account on AOL I requested a speed increase to 8mb from 2mb three weeks ago and was told it would be active in 24/48 hours. After these 3 calls and one online chat, I am told today that I was given an average 8mb speed although my line was still 2mb as they didnt realise that I wanted the full 8mb deal! Now I have to wait a further 10-14 days for this service to be activated! Disgusting.

4. There is a poor complaints procedure in force. You have to talk to a service rep before you can speak to a supervisor. In this process you will hear umpteen times "I am sorry.... I understand your concerns....we apologise" etc., etc., but it goes in one ear and out the other. Only when you have followed this avenue can you then write to Jackie O'Leary (Head of AOL Customer Support, AOL, Bristol) to air your complaint further. There is no online facility to contact her or telephone number. This has to be done through 'Snail mail' !! It seems that AOL do not like to know that some customers are not happy, thus shy away from the problem.

5. AOL software can also be very tempermental and difficult for the less experiences users to set up, especially when using a router which will not play ball. Little documentation accompanies their user packs as it's all contained online. The only option a user is left with is to call customer support for assistance.

6. Be expected to wait a considerable time to be conected to a representative by phone, I have waited 15+ minutes listening to music before I got through. This is appauling.

7. AOL are not forthcoming with information when discussing their packages or those with whom act for them (ie: carphone warehouse deal). I could have gone for the laptop deal had they been honest with me, instead I was palmed off with a router and 18 month contract for the same price as the Laptop deal with carphone warehouse.

8. I have had quite a few customer sales calls from POLAND! trying to sell me services in the UK. Even after I specifically told them I did not want the service or their calls, this was ignored.

9. AOL software can and does clash with some other programs, be expected to suffer the occasional system crash or system repair.

10. Final bad point, AOL have imposed a 10 gig upload/download limit per month on new contracts. If exceeded could lead you to having your line speed capped, which means dropped by half its speed if you exceed this limit. Also users can and do experience lag on the line and dispupted or slow connections during peak hours.


Now the good points:

Some of the online features which come as standard are quite nice. The software has built in:

1. Parental controls
2. Spyware checking software (although it is primitive and best avoided)
3. E-mail spam and virus checking
4. AOL instant messaging software (like Yahoo or MSN)
5. Live technical help facility through the AOL browser.
6. Ability to see if other screen names contain mail without having to switch users.
7. And many more benefits also contained within Internet Explorer.


Overall, I would rate them a poor 4/10 based on my past experiences which severly knocked my faith in AOL and their customer commitment. Such a pity as prior to this, I was a strong supporter of AOL. Personally, I would cancel my contract and switch, given half a chance BUT I can not afford to pay 18 months connection to do it.

[spud47]

I called AOL today to cancel my contract due to their failure to honour their contractual agreement as my line had still not been upgraded etc. This time I actually spoke with someone in the UK ! They declined to allow this and kept insisting that i re-rolled back to my old contract (last August) which still has 15 months to fulfil.

The sales representative did a line check at the time and told me that my exchange had not been upgraded and that my maximum connection can only be 2mb! She agreed that I was wrongly advised that I could have 8mb in previous calls. Strange as my neighbour across the road is also with AOL on an 8mb connection (confirmed on a download speed checker) plus he is on the same exchange as me!

Now this leaves me totally disgusted as I feel that AOL wilfully gave me misleading information to conclude a sale as had I not enquired further, I would be paying another £5 per month for a connection I theoretically cant have.

I have told AOL that I will be writing to their CEO in Bristol airing my discontent and requesting my contract is null and void. That they supply me with a MAC code to enable me to move supplier. I have logged all previous calls etc with them over this matter which, if required, will be forwarded to the relevent bodies to hopefully get an investigation into their sales activities which can be construed as deceptive and fraudulent which could constitute a criminal offence.

I will post here their reply etc.

Originally Posted by spud47

I have been an AOL customes for 7+ years and till recently was very content with their product and service. How times change, I will explain:

1. AOL in their infinate wisdom have moved their caller support centre to Asia (as have many other companies) which although saves them money it costs us, the consumer more. For one, like it or not, the language barrier ie: difficulty in understanding the representative at the other end, means that:

a. I, as a customer, have to spend longer on the telephone sorting out my concerns.
b. I end up paying more for my call (currently 5p per minute from a BT landline) than before due to this longer time I am on the phone.
c. I dont feel that my needs or wants have been fully understood plus from experience, they were not acted upon and/or wrongly done.
d. When I actually complained the staff were always apologetic to a patronising manner but the results were the same, little or no action and the problem still there. Helpful but not really helpful at all.
f. I have on three consecutive phone calls and one live online talk, been given conflicting information which only made matters worse for me.
g. I had the feeling that I was a number and not a person.


2. AOL have this nasty new contract of 18 months even for something so small as supplying a 35 Pound modem/router, or upgrading a line to faster access. What happened to the old 12 month deals?

3. Having an account on AOL I requested a speed increase to 8mb from 2mb three weeks ago and was told it would be active in 24/48 hours. After these 3 calls and one online chat, I am told today that I was given an average 8mb speed although my line was still 2mb as they didnt realise that I wanted the full 8mb deal! Now I have to wait a further 10-14 days for this service to be activated! Disgusting.

4. There is a poor complaints procedure in force. You have to talk to a service rep before you can speak to a supervisor. In this process you will hear umpteen times "I am sorry.... I understand your concerns....we apologise" etc., etc., but it goes in one ear and out the other. Only when you have followed this avenue can you then write to Jackie O'Leary (Head of AOL Customer Support, AOL, Bristol) to air your complaint further. There is no online facility to contact her or telephone number. This has to be done through 'Snail mail' !! It seems that AOL do not like to know that some customers are not happy, thus shy away from the problem.

5. AOL software can also be very tempermental and difficult for the less experiences users to set up, especially when using a router which will not play ball. Little documentation accompanies their user packs as it's all contained online. The only option a user is left with is to call customer support for assistance.

6. Be expected to wait a considerable time to be conected to a representative by phone, I have waited 15+ minutes listening to music before I got through. This is appauling.

7. AOL are not forthcoming with information when discussing their packages or those with whom act for them (ie: carphone warehouse deal). I could have gone for the laptop deal had they been honest with me, instead I was palmed off with a router and 18 month contract for the same price as the Laptop deal with carphone warehouse.

8. I have had quite a few customer sales calls from POLAND! trying to sell me services in the UK. Even after I specifically told them I did not want the service or their calls, this was ignored.

9. AOL software can and does clash with some other programs, be expected to suffer the occasional system crash or system repair.

10. Final bad point, AOL have imposed a 10 gig upload/download limit per month on new contracts. If exceeded could lead you to having your line speed capped, which means dropped by half its speed if you exceed this limit. Also users can and do experience lag on the line and dispupted or slow connections during peak hours.


Now the good points:

Some of the online features which come as standard are quite nice. The software has built in:

1. Parental controls
2. Spyware checking software (although it is primitive and best avoided)
3. E-mail spam and virus checking
4. AOL instant messaging software (like Yahoo or MSN)
5. Live technical help facility through the AOL browser.
6. Ability to see if other screen names contain mail without having to switch users.
7. And many more benefits also contained within Internet Explorer.


Overall, I would rate them a poor 4/10 based on my past experiences which severly knocked my faith in AOL and their customer commitment. Such a pity as prior to this, I was a strong supporter of AOL. Personally, I would cancel my contract and switch, given half a chance BUT I can not afford to pay 18 months connection to do it.

We can expect AOL to become as bad as the infamous TalkTalk now that they're owned by Carphone Warehouse, perhaps the worst telephone bucket shop in the world. The pace of science and technology is such that the speed doubles every 12-18 months due to exponential growth. 12-18 month contract and punishment, instead of reward for, migrating from BT are a sure sign of weak regulation. So write to your MPs, and brief them when they come canvassing soon!

I have still had no communication from the people at the top in AOL. Seems it's easier to just ignore complaints rather than deal with them.

I have also been back in touch several times with customer services and they refuse to negociate on this matter. I also requested a MAC code twice now in the last 2 months, and still I have not received one! They have made every attempt in which to sort out my problems as listed above BUT each one requested my signing up to another contract term. Yeah, I am sure I will increase my contract just to get them to do what they should have done in the first place.

I am told now that my contract expires in January 2009, they have likewise been told that I will be leaving them in a cloud of dust WITH a MAC code and they can swivel for any future contract with me.

No doubt come january I expect they will come up with some new date I am contracted to, or clause in which to keep me paying them. We will have to wait and see.

[matthew]

If I Was You I Would Contact Trading Standers.

They Shouldn't Extend Your Contract When It Runs Out, They Will Problely Offer You Another One Though.

Indeed I agree but Trading Standards operate the same as the data protection in that they will not take action against a company unless extreme measures warrant it. Such a pity that they handle these companies with kid gloves till all else fails. I have dealt with Trading Standards and the Data Protection services before and my experiance was not very encouraging. Like anythink in the UK, it all takes ages and is drawn out to the point that you often wonder if they manage to get anything ever done.

Yes I know they cant do this but I wouldnt put it past them in falsely extending my contract especially when I believe their customer support/sales worlk on a comission basis. Often the high pressure to sell and meet targets, leads to some employees doing the dirty. I have seen this happen in companies I previously worked for, and on a rather large scale it was too.

[matthew]

Originally Posted by Spud 47

Indeed I agree but Trading Standards operate the same as the data protection in that they will not take action against a company unless extreme measures warrant it. Such a pity that they handle these companies with kid gloves till all else fails. I have dealt with Trading Standards and the Data Protection services before and my experiance was not very encouraging. Like anythink in the UK, it all takes ages and is drawn out to the point that you often wonder if they manage to get anything ever done.

Yes I know they cant do this but I wouldnt put it past them in falsely extending my contract especially when I believe their customer support/sales worlk on a comission basis. Often the high pressure to sell and meet targets, leads to some employees doing the dirty. I have seen this happen in companies I previously worked for, and on a rather large scale it was too.

Most Of What You Say Is True, But I Have Found, That Things Are Done Evently. Well You Could Always Cancel You Payment, So They Cant Take Any Money Off You, Then If They Insist, You Tell Them You Want To Speak To There Manager, Or Face To Face. And Tell Them. One Thing Which Sometimes Works Is Reporting It To A Newspaper, Or Even Better To A Tv Channel, Like GMTV.