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Someone needs to think carefully about the diference between ATM hacker John Dillinger and AOL retainer. Both exploit people. Both warp their own sense of morality. Both steal from people.
Which one is capable of more evil?
Someone needs to think carefully about the diference between ATM hacker John Dillinger and AOL retainer. Both exploit people. Both warp their own sense of morality. Both steal from people.
Which one is capable of more evil?
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The ATM hacker is using your money to buy things you might want...
Much as I'm enjoying this bloodbath, it occurs to me that the publicity may be doing AOL a favor by making it so intimidating to call and cancel that people just don't bother. $20/month isn't bad protection money against a vicious anal raping. So instead of taking them down, we might be inadvertently propping them up. But the question is, what to do differently? Bringing the critters out into the light seems like the best choice, still. I just worry.
I doubt that. Lots of commenters on my site havae told me they love the publicity this has generated because their cancellations were a breeze.
Now a third party has to verify an AOL member wants to stay after an AOL rep finishes the pitch. They transfer the caller to a third party which double checks the member wants to stay a member and knows they will get billed. No games to play anymore, and no big fat bonuses for the saves reps. Lots of AOL reps losing their nice cars and houses.
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Nathan writes:
\"Thanks for your excellent work on the AOL story.
I have seen comments (mainly on the Slashdot discussion) to the effect that, \"well, if you have trouble canceling AOL by phone, they offer options to cancel via fax or US Mail.\"
I doubt if anyone who had tried to do this would mention those avenues as viable options. AOL requires various information to be included on the cancellation request (information that the customer retention people don't collect on the phone, so its necessity is suspect), and even if you include all of it correctly, they will send you a postcard in the mail claiming that you didn't, and asking you to call their customer retention line. Pathetic.\"
Nathan is correct, it is possible to cancel AOL by mail and by fax. However, you have to make sure that every single instruction they give you is followed and not a single digit or letter is off on your form. Otherwise they will not process your cancellation request.
Honestly, the fact that people trust a company who can't honor a direct request when you're speaking to them to be honest with such an indirect method as a fax or a letter is laughable.
I wouldn't trust AOL, at this point, to mop my floors let alone let me go as a customer.
I seriously considered suicide when I worked in the cancellation department at AOL, I quit after trying it out for 2 months. I felt dirty everyday when i got home and had nightmares about the job a year after I left.
that was awesome.