AOL's Future

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I just saw a spot on the news about AOL Time Warner, it was mostly Stock news and about that companies long rang outlook.

 

It brought up some questions in my mind though. I believe AOL has out lived it's usefullness and unless they mutate into something along the lines of the Cable modem business they will no longer be around in the next few years. I know that not everyone can afford Highspeed access, and not all areas have highspeed access but I think the day is coming that the cost and availability will kill AOL.

 

What is AOL now, $23.95? for another $10 to $15 you can have a Cable Modem (If it is available in your area). And with DSL added to the mix I just see AOL falling to the side of the road.

 

On the news they called AOL "Training wheels for the internet" and that's a great analogy, I have always said the same thing just with different words.

 

Once you learn the internet you don't need training wheels, and about 1.6 million people quit AOL last year alone and weren't replaced with new users. I see a trend...

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I use AOL. What do you mean by "training wheels for the internet"?

[JTKirk1 0]

I see AOL going under in a few years if not sooner, they like to take thier customer's for a ride when they call in to ask a question or to cancel thier service. I know that not everyone has had a problem with AOL but I have and I will never again use any of thier services. There are many people that feel the same way that I do. I discovered a site the other day when I was at work where you can go and complain about a company or a product. I typed in AOL just to see what kind of complaints there were and there wher alot of people tat had the same problem that I had well without further adu here's the site. Complaints.com All you need to do is type in AOL or whatever else you would like to see if someone has complained about.

[LadyNarana 0]

My best friend just called AOL and tried to cancel her service, and they talked her into staying on. HOWEVER, she has never paid one red cent to them for anything - they keep extending her free trial. They're trying to hook her - there's no doubt of that. But she's too sensible - as soon as the free ride ends, she's outta there!

 

I got extremely fed up with AOL, just using their services. (They don't have a local dialup number for my area, so I had to switch to a different service - I only had email, news, and buddy list.) It was more of a pain than it was worth, so I cancelled completely. That many people quit with no new customers? I'm not surprised!

 

"Training wheels for the internet." That's hilarious!

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I use AOL.  What do you mean by "training wheels for the internet"?

AOL is a very simplistic way of accessing the internet. Nothing wrong with that at all. What they (Fox news) meant by "Training Wheels for the Internet" is that when someone that knows nothing about the internet first signs on, AOL is the best and fastest way for them to learn how to navigate. Once they have learned how the Internet works they can "graduate" to something better.

 

Don't take it an an insult that they (Fox News) called it "Training Wheels For The Internet" though, they were just pointing out the fact that a lot of people leave AOL after they have "learned the ropes".

 

If the Broadband (DSL and Cable) companies wanted to they could put AOL out of business very quickly. All they have to do is lower their prices to to the same, or about the same as AOL and their customer base would probably triple overnight. AOL's would decrease by that same amount lol.

 

AOL as a company is a dishonest company anyway, working in Credit Card fraud I got so many complaints from BOA card holders claiming fraud by AOL. AOL will continue to charge credit cards for months after someone has canceled their account and in some cases about a year ago AOL was billing people's credit cards for products they never ordered.

 

It's time for them to be replaced, AOL served it's purpose and now everyone should be ready to lose the training wheels.

[cptwright 1]

I HATE AOHELL, i only have it right now, because of the free trial, im hoping that i can keep extending the free ride, till i go back to work and can have my ROADRUNNER BACK. 45.00 compared to 25.00 but soooooooooo worth it. i cant stand anything about aol, at first when i went to roadrunner, i wasnt sure about the IE, OR OE, but now i still use the IE, instead of aols, it just connects through aol. so training wheels be gone, i hate aol. so as soon as the freebie runs out, aol's history for me.

 

ps

aol does have a broadband, i could've used that through my roadrunner instead, because my roadrunner is through time warner cable, but i couldnt stand the idea of using anyform of aol. aol=

[xenexian 2]

I hate AOL. They tried three times to bill me for service that I never asked for and even had the gall to bill my daughter, who is still a minor, for opening an account with them that none in my family ever asked for or ordered. A completely illegal move on their part. It took me 5 phone calls and the threat of legal action if they didn't stop before they removed my name from their list. My bank also sent me a letter that AOL tried to access my bank accounts to take money for service they said they provided me. Thankfully my bank called me first to confirm access codes before they let them do that. I personally consider AOL a complete waste of money for the bells and whistles that I would never use and just because I tried a free 1000 hours and then rejected their service, they considered me a customer and keep telling me that I was a subscriber. The threat of my lawyer calling them was the only thing that convinced them I was not.

[cyphrx 0]

I hate AOL.  They tried three times to bill me for service that I never asked for and even had the gall to bill my daughter, who is still a minor, for opening an account with them that none in my family ever asked for or ordered.  A completely illegal move on their part.  It took me 5 phone calls and the threat of legal action if they didn't stop before they removed my name from their list.  My bank also sent me a letter that AOL tried to access my bank accounts to take money for service they said they provided me.  Thankfully my bank called me first to confirm access codes before they let them do that.  I personally consider AOL a complete waste of money for the bells and whistles that I would never use and just because I tried a free 1000 hours and then rejected their service, they considered me a customer and keep telling me that I was a subscriber.  The threat of my lawyer calling them was the only thing that convinced them I was not.

My dad had a similiar experience. He called in and canceled his subscription, but they kept charging him the monthly fee. Finally he got everything sorted out (three months after he canceled) and got his card to refuse any charges made by AOL. For a time I did think AOL was a great intro to the web, but now I just see it as the company that can't take NO for an answer.

[RikerChick 5]

My dad had a similiar experience.  He called in and canceled his subscription, but they kept charging him the monthly fee.  Finally he got everything sorted out (three months after he canceled) and got his card to refuse any charges made by AOL.  For a time I did think AOL was a great intro to the web, but now I just see it as the company that can't take NO for an answer.

Same thing here. They charged us for 5 months after we canceled. It took countless phone calls and getting our card to refuse them before it stoped. I have 2 other friends who had the same experience. I hate them! I hope they go under.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

My dad had a similiar experience.  He called in and canceled his subscription, but they kept charging him the monthly fee.  Finally he got everything sorted out (three months after he canceled) and got his card to refuse any charges made by AOL.  For a time I did think AOL was a great intro to the web, but now I just see it as the company that can't take NO for an answer.

Same thing here. They charged us for 5 months after we canceled. It took countless phone calls and getting our card to refuse them before it stoped. I have 2 other friends who had the same experience. I hate them! I hope they go under.

They do that to everyone, they did it to me with my checking account back in the mid to late 90's and even caused things to bounce. They replaced the money and even paid me $25 per bounced check they caused but the point is, how many people do they continue to charge that don't realize it? They (AOL) are thieves.

[JTKirk1 0]

Everyone that I know hates AOL and will never use it again. AOL are just a bunch of crooks more interested in getting thier customer's money than the customer. I hope that the company goes under soon.

[ensign_beedrill 0]

We used AOL with our first computer, but that thing was so slow that we couldn't use the Internet. We only used the e-mail. ^-^;; Whenever we tried to cancel, they'd give us another month free. So we got a lot of free... e-mail.

 

When we got a new computer, I don't think we ever installed AOL. I would never use AOL, now. The only good feature about it is the Instant Messenger, and you can download that free without ever getting AOL. *shrugs*

 

I think I saw a commercial for AOL Broadband, once, though.

 

After hearing all of these bad stories about AOL, I'm not so sure I like it, either. I'm pretty indifferent.

 

I do use AOL for one thing though... They send me CDs in the mail for free trials and sometimes I can pick them up from stores like Target. I tape them to my walls shiny side up. It looks pretty neat, I think, to have CDs all over my walls. I probably couldn't get a job in interior designing, though. 0o

[Goose 0]

I hate AOL.  They tried three times to bill me for service that I never asked for and even had the gall to bill my daughter, who is still a minor, for opening an account with them that none in my family ever asked for or ordered.  A completely illegal move on their part.  It took me 5 phone calls and the threat of legal action if they didn't stop before they removed my name from their list.  My bank also sent me a letter that AOL tried to access my bank accounts to take money for service they said they provided me.  Thankfully my bank called me first to confirm access codes before they let them do that.  I personally consider AOL a complete waste of money for the bells and whistles that I would never use and just because I tried a free 1000 hours and then rejected their service, they considered me a customer and keep telling me that I was a subscriber.  The threat of my lawyer calling them was the only thing that convinced them I was not.

Stardate:213614.9

 

 

They did the same thing to me and my grandpa!!!!!He used Aol for the longest time and i finally talked him out of it last month.2 weeks ago I(and keep in mind that im 17)got a bill from aol about an account they claimed i created.I did no such thing!they sent us a letter saying something about that they couldnt find a credit card or anything to bill me for.I was like "well duh you dumbf**ks im 17!!!!!!!!!!!"So i wrote them back explaining this and saying if i heard anything else that i had the best laywer in Washington and we were ready to take them on anytime.I havent heard from them since!

 

I now use a service called No Charge.Its a free internet service(before you say yeh right,seriously i have like 10 friends who have been using it for like 3 years and they havent had to pay a dime!)the only downside is that sometimes it takes a while to connect because their server is busy.Well the other downside is for the rest of you its only availible to people in Western Washington(at least that i know of)but hey its free so i dont complain!LONG LIVE NO CHARGE!!!!!!

 

AOHELL

LOL

[mrskirk 0]

It brought up some questions in my mind though. I believe AOL has out lived it's usefullness and unless they mutate into something along the lines of the Cable modem business they will no longer be around in the next few years. I know that not everyone can afford Highspeed access, and not all areas have highspeed access but I think the day is coming that the cost and availability will kill AOL.

As most of you already know, I work for Time Warner Cable, a division of AOL Time Warner. AOL does offer high-speed access, called AOL broadband. The cost is $54.95 a month, and it utilized a cable modem. I, too hate AOL. I can't stand all the pop up advertisements you get when you log on, and their outright refusal to let you cancel your account. A couple of years ago, I purchased a computer from Gateway which came with one year of AOL for free. After the one year trial expired, they started debiting my checking account for $21.95 a month. Then, one day, I decided to sell the computer because I needed some extra cash. I called AOL to cancel my account. I got transferred at least three times, and finally spoke to a woman who tried to talk me into keeping a limited account which would allow me to continue using AOL e-mail for the following four months free of charge--as long as I remembered to call back four months from that day and cancel. I told this woman that I had sold my computer, and her response was "Well, you can go to the library or something and check your e-mail!" I said forget it, cancel my account. She said OK, and I thought that would be that. Wrong. The next month, my bank statement came and and lo and behold, there was a debit from AOL for $21.95. I got back on the phone. This time, I got a lame excuse that I had cancelled my account less that 7 days before the billing cycle so it was too late to stop the debit. I asked them if they were going to refund the money they took for a service I wasn't using, and they actually said NO, like this crap was MY fault!! I hung up the phone angrily, hoping that would be the last time I had to deal with these idiots. Nope. The next month, another $21.95. Back on the phone. Do you have your cancellation authorization number? My what? We have no record of you cancelling your account. YOU DON'T? If you can't provide me with your cancellation authorization number, we can't refund the money. I WASN'T GIVEN A CANCELLATION AUTHORIZATION NUMBER!!! Sorry, ma'am, there is no record of a request to cancel this account. I'll place the order now..your cancellation authorization number is blah, blah, blah, blah. WHAT ABOUT THE FIFTY BUCKS YOU OWE ME?? Ma'am, you never notified us. YES I DID YOU.....oh the hell with it. I hung up the phone and immediately called my bank to tell them NOT to allow any further debits from AOL. I have RoadRunner now and I am completely happy with the service. Oh, and ever since Time Warner merged with AOL, our stock prices have dropped by at least 50%. There goes my pension. Thanks AOL!

[roguedawg 0]

I bought my first computer this past June(prior to that my most recent experience with computers had been in Jr High back in the mid-80's working with the old Apple 2e's).So I knew nothing,and am still learning.Since my computer came with AOL already included i started out on the internet with them,and it was great for about a week....after I got my sea legs,so to speak,I started becoming annoyed with AOL.The download time was horrible.I was being disconnected from my server twice or more a night.Sometimes it took more than a dozen attempts just to get me on-line.So when I found out about SBC Yahoo and DSL I jumped at it.I don't regret leaving AOL.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I bought my first computer this past June(prior to that my most recent experience with computers had been in Jr High back in the mid-80's working with the old Apple 2e's).So I knew nothing,and am still learning.Since my computer came with AOL already included i started out on the internet with them,and it was great for about a week....after I got my sea legs,so to speak,I started becoming annoyed with AOL.The download time was horrible.I was being disconnected from my server twice or more a night.Sometimes it took more than a dozen attempts just to get me on-line.So when I found out about SBC Yahoo and DSL I jumped at it.I don't regret leaving AOL.

Good example of "Training Wheels for the internet"

[nik 0]

I have a hard time imagining actually paying personally for internet use.

[cptwright 1]

As most of you already know, I work for Time Warner Cable, a division of AOL Time Warner.    I have RoadRunner now and I am completely happy with the service.  Oh, and ever since Time Warner merged with AOL, our stock prices have dropped by at least 50%.  There goes my pension.  Thanks AOL!

I MISS MY ROADRUNNER

:) :) :( :( :( :( :( :( BUT timewarner is a little expensive. i found out about COX COMMUNICATION in VA from my uncle. now what they offer sounds like the cats a$$. he told me they offer phone service, cable, and broadband, all for only 126.00 a month. i pay 120.00 just for my phone, and cable. then add internet and its way up there. i cant wait to move to VA. pls pls pls pls pls pls :)

[Kyalia 0]

There's a reason it's called AOHell.

[NCC-12345 0]

I think you all are right. I've never has AOL but have used it at the libary. RIght now We have Nauticom ANd your right about cable and DSL most cable services have 2 speeds high end speed ranges form 40-50 bucks. Our cable compony is low speed only about 128k but it's onlu 26 dollers and a lot better than AOL could ever dream of being.

Then There Netzero form ppl who don't want,need,can't get,or afford high speed. Theres net Zero High SPeed Which uses a program than compersses web sites and downloads before you recove them which makes it up to 5 times faster than normol 56k. ANd at only 15 bucks a month. It's a great deal