Just wondering what the general opinion(s) are about AOL. Personally, I hate them. I've had 2 bad experiences with them. One where they refused to cancel an account that I had for only 2 hours, so I ended up canceling the credit card that they had on file. They kept bililng that card for 6 months, then mailed me a bill for an outrageous amount of money. I called them and they demanded payment from me, even though my account was only active for 2 hours then closed. I ended up threatening them with a lawyer....finally they dropped the "outsanding account balance".

Second time I switched from dial up to AOL broadband, and cancelled that in literally 20 minutes, as even though I was paying time warner cable, AOL still required a credit card in order for me to operate. They swore that they wouldn't double bill me. Even though I canceled the account in 20 minutes, they still managed to double bil me for a full month, then tried to hit me with an "early disconection fee" even though I wasn't under a contract with them....grrrrrrrr

About a month ago, I worked on someones computer, and they had AOL for dial up. I worked away on their machine, and then plugged in my ethernet cable to their comp and it woulnd't allow me to connect to the internet. After some checking, I noticed that the only way I could connect to the internet with that machine was via AOL, and that AOL had actually LOCKED the ethernet connection! OMG! AOL locked the ethernet connection to the net so that the computer couldn't connect to the internet except with AOL! There was actually a little picture of a lock on the symbol for "local or highspeed connections"!!!! Unbelievable! I uninstalled AOL from their machine completely, and then was able to connect via the ethernet (broadband).

Now, this isnt' a flame against AOL, it's just my humble opinion. Nor am I trying to "up" my posting count, as I figured that the part about the locking of the hispeed access might be a helpful tip for someone! I was wondering what others thought about AOL. I've had more bad experiences with AOL than good ones, not to mention I'm tired of recieving CD's in the mail for free internet from them! On the flipside, AOL has how many MILLIONS of members?!

2 words steve..

rooftop & rifle!!

Big companies tend to try and bully their way about...

Hate them with a passion! And am always happy to spread the word about AOLH**L ;)

what does ** stand for in AOLH**L

I'm guessin' HELL.
Never did like the results their CD installs yield.
Seen many a computer tangled up in their blues.

Hated them.....

Had the dial-up AOL for 4 years (parents loved it), and i was sick of not having a "real browser". I wasn't aware of firefox at the time, and i hated using IE, so i was stuck with the actual AOL program to surf the web with...... hated it......

I'm with you both!!! I have heard nothing but bad things about AOL, from unfortunate victims- I mean friends .

BTWI posted this on my blog a while ago, but since it fits this topic, its worth posting again:

http://www.rafidhasit.com/index2.html: Click on Flash, then click on the blond guy with the blue shirt...I think that says it all .

AOL agrees to customer reform

AOL, Compuserve Settle Federal Charges of Unfair Practices

Edit: LOL That a great flash rms4evr!

Haha---losers! They deserve to have to pay for that!

I love that flash...I've even had a "socket timed out" error...and still don't know what it means!

Dang skippy! In those aricles that were posted....it's what I went through the first time trying to cancel an account! Argured for 20 mins to cancel the account, spent 10 more minutes on hold, argued for another 10 mins then screamed for 5 mins, then finally had account canceled. Grrrr.....stupid AOL! I know that I've recomended against AOL at least 50 times to people who've asked me if they were a good ISP or not.....LOL!! Looks like I got the last laugh!


But seriously.....I live in NY and where's my cut of that 1.25 million?

I vote hate em. This is the only PC in my home that is totally free of all traces of them. It took a while to find everything. Yet I fear a lurker somewhere. AOL is like when you keep your live Christmas tree up too long. You still find a few needles for months and months.

Also, this is fairly interesting. I know this isn't TECHNICALLY aol's fault, but one of their ads seemed to be giving me the middle finger.....

See for yourself:



Now, what exactly is garfield doing with his right paw?

Right back at you AOL !!

its his index finger but i do see what it kinda looks like allrite...

Wait!.. do cats have index fingers?

LOL!!! More lasagna Jon!

AOL sucks.

That's my opinion.

Yes, i like the way u express yourself.

Honest and straight to the point!!

thanks.

I have had nothing but bad experience with AOL. So that's why I say that