I'm SOOOOO ready to dump AOL

[malatesta1137]

Look at this:

Which do you blame for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks?
The Clinton administration 31%
Neither 26%
The Bush administration 24%
Both 18%

Will the report help make the nation safer?
Maybe 49%
No 34%
Yes 18%
Total Votes: 241,062

Please PLEASE DU this poll, I'm about to lose my mind.

No links, sorry, you have to sign on to AOL and go to "Bush to Weigh 9/11 Panel's Recommendations" on the News Page.

[GoneOffShore]

1. I dropped AOL

months ago.
Even the sex forums are full of repukes.
:silly:

[Warren DeMontague]

2. AOL=TURD

If I may be so vulgar. I posted in a diff. thread, I kept them for several years longer than I should have-- mostly because I didn't want to lose the email address that everyone knew. Their ineptness and crappy service finally drove me to try to cancel. When I called up to do so, the guy on the phone literally wouldn't let me. It was pathetic, I've had bad relationships with women that were easier to get out of than that crappy company's online service. Dump em. You'll never regret it.

[GoneOffShore]

7. Ah yes,

the scripted robot on the other end of the telephone.
He just wouldn't listen. And just the other day they sent me more crap in the mail.
I wouldn't mind if they sent rewritable disks, but the ones they sent are only good as coasters, and I've got plenty.
B-)

[shirlden]

8. Amen to that

The experience of getting out of AOL was so frustrating and irritating that when the guy offered me 6 months of free service, I told him six years of free would not make me stay, because at some time I would have to cancel again and no way would I ever want to speak to anyone at AOL ever. Don't think I have ever been so totally disgusted with any vendor.

:mad: :bounce:

[liberalhistorian]

17. Amen to that!

I'm STILL trying to get out from under them. I've called three fucking times now three months in a row and gotten the same shit. Each time I get a letter thanking me for agreeing to continue the service when I did no such fucking thing. Each person I've talked to just went on and on in their "look at all we can give you" spiel even though I said firmly and repeatedly I was not interested and to just cancel the fucking service already. Round and round we go, where it stops, I don't know but if I don't get out of AOL I'm going to end up smashing my computer on the floor one of these days. It takes forever to get on the internet then they keep kicking me out, then they won't let me cancel. ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Write Them A Letter, Cancelling In Writing.

Tell them you're keeping a copy, and you will tell your credit card company to refuse payment if they continue to bill you past next month or whatever. That's what I did, and it worked.

[Warren DeMontague]

29. Check This Out:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6536_7-726615-1.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/aol_cancel.html

Apparently, at Aol.Com they no longer list the address to cancel in writing (wonder why!) but I was able to find out the following:


The phone number to cancel AOL is 1-888-265-8008.
Or mail AOL at P.O. Box 1600 / Ogden, UT 84401 or FAX [phone]. Specify that you're cancelling, give your full name, phone number and address, and either the primary billing contact's AOL screenname or the last four digits of the current payment method.

[liberalhistorian]

33. THANK YOU!

I will definitely do that and send it out Monday CERTIFIED so the neanderthals in billing and customer service can't claim they didn't receive it. I've known people who've tried to cancel and who've been billed long after they cancelled. They finally told their bank/credit card company to refuse further payment and then got nasty calls from AOL demanding payment. They were able to prove they'd cancelled and AOL had continued to bill them.

[Tight_rope]

42. Thanks...I forwarded this to all of my AOL friends who haven't woken up!

I use to think I was crazy because of the problems I had with AOL...it's good to know that It wasn't me. It was those fucking bastards.

[Fatima]

47. I wrote, return receipt and all, and they still would not cancel!

and to add additional insult, they said I did not provide enough information (I gave them all the information requested on the website).

I am still stuck- bank draft payments. I'll have to got to the bank and pay to have them stopped.

[lanparty]

35. Call the credit card company ...

Reject all their charges, maybe they'll get the point.

[devinsgram]

20. I see I was not the only one treated that way.

That kind of treatment will get them no where.

[DrBB]

28. Their CDs make nice coasters

Especially now they're sending 'em out in those nifty tin boxes. I've been using one on my bedside table for a year or so. No more rings from my coffee mug in the a.m. Technology is a wonderful thing.

[liberalhistorian]

32. ROFLMAO!

eom

[Warren DeMontague]

34. Yeah. Tin Boxes...

Back in the day, we would even dare call that a "stash box".

They're obviously paying for these expensive promotional materials with the money from the people who are helplessly trapped in their billing cycles.

[Tight_rope]

43. LMBAO...thanks for the suggestion. I use to throw them away...

Now you've given me a great way to recylce them. Thanks alot!

[Cleita]

3. Do dump AOL. You will be much happier.

Be forewarned it takes herculean effort to get all their shit software off your computer. I finally got rid of all of it after I upgraded to a new computer.

[Zookeeper]

37. I answered an AOL poll...

like the one posted above, and the next time I was on-line my homepage was AOL and I had an AOL instant messenger prompt on my computer.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. People who use AOL have bought the lie that

the internet is a dangerous place without AOL to protect you so it's not surprising they buy the media and GOP lies, too. Set yourself free.

[lanparty]

38. The internet can be a dangerous place ...

... but there are MUCH better tools out there to protect you.

AOL is really big because teenage children learned AOL easy and pushed their parents to join. The bitch is that AOL really isn't much simpler than learning how to learn outlook AND a basic web browswer.

De-AOLing people is a systematic process of deprogramming. Those of us who learned on "RAW INTERNET" in college can never truly understand the dependency of people on such a suck-ass "service".

Hopefully, once everyone has switched over to broadband, they'll all realize what a useless extra expense "AOL for Broadband" is.

[LibertyorDeath]

5. AOL are Evil Corporate Fuckers!

AOL Oh How I Hate Thee Let Me Count The Ways!!

[Mr_Spock]

6. ALL the people I know who are too stupid to figure out how to do anything

"internet" use AOL (sorry Dad). My dad isn't a Red Neck, but I can tell you this, all the rest of the AOL'ers I know are knucklhead Repukes. Take my blanket statement for what it's worth - the polls seems to support my statement of bias though - don't they?

[ChocolateSaltyBalls]

9. Your blanket statement isn't worth that much............

I guess you've just met the wrong AOL users.

Personally, I keep it because I've had the same email address for six years, and I know a bunch of people (including my wife's family) who are all on it.

I guess I could say some fairly derogatory things about knuckle-dragging PC users, but I'll keep my blanket statements to myself.

[Mr_Spock]

12. Yes, I have known several who tried other services, but couldn't deal

and went back to AOL. They are low-level employees who have no teeth and couldn't even watch the JibJab thing because it had Kerry in it. I know lot's of folks have used it for years - heck, I saw the potential in it and owned the stock early on - my $3000 stock would have been worth $500,000 if I had held it 'till the present. I am quite familiar with the AOL phenomenon. Now the non-PC people won't get far with the knuckle-dragging argument since most scientist's (like myself) are almost forced to use a PC to do their sophistocated work. There is nothing sophisticated about AOL.

[ChocolateSaltyBalls]

15. I wouldn't know about scientist's (like yourself)........

sophisticated work on PC's, but for filmmakers and editors (like myself), Mac-based solutions work the best.



"low level employees with no teeth".....nice, I like that.

:eyes:

[Mr_Spock]

18. It's true.

I am aware of the fact that the more artistic professions do better with a MAC solution, it is just as true that more scientific software is available for, works exclusively on or performs best on PC based platforms. I am shocked that you are not aware of the limitations of the MAC for scientific work though the animator I know who is always pushing MAC's seems completely oblivious when I tell them that most of the software that I use is not available on a MAC. Perhaps I am not the only one living in a sheltered world of generalization.

Honestly, I really think AOL is more suited for beginners - take that any way you want, but I do not know a single trailer-park person (and I know about 20 of them) that uses anything but AOL. Call me a knucklehead if you wish - these are the people I know who use AOL (I didn't allow my dad to continue using AOL - though he is a novice too).

[malatesta1137]

25. the Pentagon uses Mac these days

so much for PCs being so fantastically superior. Total BS. Not to mention their incapability to fight the simplest viruses. Bill Gates has been trying HARD to copycat MAC OS for years now, each new Windows version is a sorry carbon copy of the latest Mac platform.

and FYI, AOL members are 90% PC users.

[Outward Bound]

24. Boy you sure are "sophistocated"

[lanparty]

39. www.netforward.com

Spin by www.netforward.com and set up a virtual email address. Basically you give everyone your "virtual address" and all your mail gets forwarded to whatever your "real address" is.

Their only failure as a company is that one of their domain choices is dittosrush.com ;-(

[Protected]

10. I used AOL a decade ago when there was nothing else available

Now do yourself a favor and find a DSL or cable internet provider. :)

[shraby]

11. A local internet provider is

much better because if you have problems you can go right into their office and tell them up front and personal. I even had my last computer built locally so I could complain in person and found I haven't needed to. Also by having it built locally I didn't have to get that miserable XP operating system. I kept my Window 98 which I am happy with.

[malatesta1137]

14. do you also have a cow

in your backyard for when you need fresh milk? (j/k)

I wish it were that simple, to just dump AOL, I can't really. I've had the same address for 7 years and my business depends on it. Not to mention all the data stored in my AOL software.

But I do hate them. I guess we liberals just have to stay and fight to change it. The poll above does give us so hope. At least 60% blame the Bush administration or both Bush's or Clinton's or neither.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. They're awful. They Really Are.

I had their "lightning fast" DSL, which wouldn't support VPN connections or a router. When my wife needed to work from home and use VPN, the folks at AOL "support" acted like I was speaking swahili. I had to explain to 4 different guys what a damn VPN connection was. When I finally got real DSL, imagine my surprise to find out it was easily 5 times faster than the crap AOL was peddlin' for the same price. No, man, get your data out, give everyone your forwarding address, and dump that turkey. That's my advice.

[shraby]

31. I have my own website

and if I change servers I just put my new email addy on the site.

[lanparty]

40. I recommend you start weaning yourself ...

Create a NEW email address and give it out for a year. Every time you get an email on your aol account, give them a pointer to the "new address".

Like others have pointed out, you really should have your own domain for a business email address. You really don't even need web hosting for that. Some companies will host your email domains for pretty small fees.

[NightOwwl]

46. I think they have to forward email for a year...

so that gives you plenty of time to get your new email address to clients/friends.

AOL is just a big clunky wrapper around the Internet. Get cable or DSL and don't look back!

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. They are still running that same tired administration poll. It took us

12 months to finally get them to stop charging us for a service we weren't using and didn't want. Then another two to get our money back. The idiot customer service rep's response to us?

"You'll be back"...my a$$ I'll be back. :hi:

[eaprez]

16. Gave em up years ago....

...never missed 'em

[devinsgram]

19. Just dumped them yesterday

Gave me the hardest time. Kept trying to get me to change my mind. I kept telling them I just installed DSL so I could stream Air America. The guy asked me what that was, I told him it was a liberal radio station. He didn't seem to want to know anymore. It took me over 20 minutes to dump them. I just could not believe how they kept trying to get me to stay. Finally, I told them just stop my service and let me off the phone. At that point the guy got really rude, but I finally am free of AOL. Never again.

[MODemocrat]

21. I'm also preparing to dump AOL

Today, they are asking "can Kerry catch up with Bush in Electoral votes?" I feel they are using that untrue catch question to brainwash people. Right now, I'm looking into changing over to another server.
They're too damned high anyway. To hell with them.

[AlCzervik]

22. I had aol for 7 years

and had 2 major problems, once my system got hacked and my email add was used to spam thousands of people and then i had a problem with the dial numbrs. Both times they were total assholes. I finally dumped them and got broadband from my cable company, no problems so far.

[Jose Diablo]

23. I dropped aol in 98.

Liked the chat rooms and it is easy to use, but we had a disagreement over me using a port scanner on their servers.<sigh>

Anyway, I get by just fine with a cheapo ISP for access and mail server.

[Disturbed]

27. Dumped AOL

I had to DL ADware and Spybot to get rid of all vistages of AOL. I told them on the phone that they were too Right Wing for me and I did not want to support them. the guy just said, "Uh". Guess I was lucky because I experienced no probs and no more AOL bills. I went with SBC because that is also my Ph. Co. Oh, yeah, only $10 per mo.

[Tight_rope]

36. I got rid of those theives AOL years ago....I had to close my account to

get rid of them...They just wouldn't take "NO, I no longer need your services", for an answer. Do yourself a great favor and get rid of the outsourcing theives before it's too late.

[lanparty]

41. Don't use JAVA!!!!!

Sun is the KING of software outsourcing.

[loudsue]

44. Sooooo glad to read these posts!!! I've had AOL since 1996......

Right wing spew, poor service, get thrown off the internet, they come in and take over your computer (!) now to fix problems THEY, themselves created....and it won't work if you don't let 'em! It's like the Patriot Act has control of my computer.

AOL is probably the WORST place to call home on the internet. They are characteristic of EVERYTHING that is going wrong with the world today...socially, spiritually, politically, intellectually, emotionally, financially and commercially.

Well....just a couple of more months, and I can finally liberate myself! I started with AOL because it was easy, and I was clueless!!! At the same time, I started a business, and all the clients I was trying to network with had my address, and then all my employees, then all my "agencies", and then all my long-lost friends, and on and on..... and it has turned into a monster.

The last time I DID find a contract in my industry, AOL wouldn't let me send files of the size I was sending....files I HAD to e-mail in order to get paid! The others on the project had NO PROBLEM sending in their files through other internet providers.

Well, w/ the bush-mafia economy, my business has dropped like a WorldCom stock price, and the only contacts left are people I can easily inform of a new screen name.

AOL is about to lose a customer of 8 LOOOOONNNGGG years.

The Kerry header on AOL tonite was one blow too many, that was referenced by another poster above: "CAN CARRY CATCH UP?...bush leads in the electoral college." Constant Fox-type spew, all the time.

Phuck 'em.

:kick::kick::kick::kick:

[KharmaTrain]

45. We Interupt This AOL Bashing For...

My AOL account is 10 years old and I used to have my share of run-ins with those nanderf*cks. Now I don't as AOL is strictly used here for a back-up email and an emergency ISP. It's come in handy when we travel as there's always an AOL to log onto to check mail and life...or my daughter used it when her computer server went down and it saved her butt for a final the next day. So there are some advantages.

That said, for many...and I dare say I'll bet there's a fair number on this board, AOL WAS the internet...the first way you connected and saw there was life in cyberspace. I don't see it don't it as much as it used to, but I felt for all the evils that system presented it was at least a gateway for people to get onto the internet and hopefully they could navigate their way outside of AOL shortly thereafter.

Another option, if you want to really stick it to AOL is transfering the credit card number...you can do it real simple to one that will be expiring in the near future or you plan to cancel. Then call AND write (I always cancel in writing...nothing covers one's ass better than a papertrail) and then when the card expires they're SOL.

Also, I always demand to speak with an administrator when I call that or any other customer service number. If they get indignant, I return the favor and I always will get a higher-up...and if they act like assholes, I'll keep going higher. Believe it or not, sooner-or-later you'll run into a humanoid who really will try to calm you down. I call this the "vent level" and where you should be able to make sure your cancellation sticks.

Yep, these people are desperate. AOL is like many other corporations that base their profitability or lack of it on stock prices and other non-performance factors that require them to keep subscribers by hook-or-crook and lure in new ones. As long as they show expanding subscriber numbers the stock price goes up and everyone goes home happy. AOL isn't the power it used to be and I can see it going the way of Compu$erve and Delphi and the other old online dinosaurs that debted their way into extinction.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

48. My first internet experience was with AOL in '98

I did as they suggested: try us for a month FREE.
Within two weeks, someone hijaked my screen name and gave me a trojan.
I canceled-never to go back.

[AP]

49. Switch to earthlink