Thread: On Tape: Rep Won't Let Customer Quit AOL

Everyone needs to get rid of AOL! Do you know Dick Cheneys daughter is working for them? Also I believe former AOL CEO,s are on the member list of the Council for Foreign Relations (the common north american union)! When I got rid of them the tech told me it is hard to get rid of everything that AOL puts on your computer.


http://www.nbc10.com/news/9406462/detail.html



On Tape: Rep Won't Let Customer Quit AOL
POSTED: 4:11 pm EDT June 21, 2006
UPDATED: 5:53 pm EDT June 21, 2006


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Watch Video: AOL Rep Won't Let Man Cancel Account | Slideshow: Blow-By-Blow Slideshow
E-mail: Send Video To A Friend

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An incredible video from CNBC shows an AOL customer trying to cancel his account, but a phone rep won't let him do it. What customer Vincent Ferrari got when he tried to cancel his account was a lot of frustration.

It took him 15 minutes waiting on the phone just to reach a real, live person.

And, what happened next was recorded by Ferrari on audio and lasted about four minutes:


CLOCK READOUT - 00:00

AOL REPRESENTATIVE: Hi this is John at AOL... how may I help you today?

VINCENT FERRARI: I wanted to cancel my account.

AOL: Sorry to hear that. Let's pull your account up here real quick. Can I have your name please?

VINCENT: Vincent Ferrari.

CLOCK READOUT - 00:30

AOL: You've had this account for a long time.

VINCENT: Yup.

AOL: Use this quite a bit. What was the cause of wanting to turn this off today?

VINCENT: I just don't use it anymore.

AOL: Do you have a high speed connection, like the DSL or cable?

VINCENT: Yup.

AOL: How long have you had that...

VINCENT: Years...

AOL: ...the high speed?

VINCENT: ...years.

AOL: Well, actually I'm showing a lot of usage on this account.

VINCENT: Yeah, a long time, a long time ago, not recently...

CLOCK READOUT - 01:47

AOL: Okay, I mean is there a problem with the software itself?

VINCENT: No. I just don't use it, I don't need it, I don't want it. I just don't need it anymore.

AOL: Okay. So when you use this... I mean, use the computer, I'm saying, is that for business or for... for school?

VINCENT: Dude, what difference does it make. I don't want the AOL account anymore. Can we please cancel it?

CLOCK READOUT - 02:21

AOL: Last year was 545, last month was 545 hours of usage...

VINCENT: I don't know how to make this any clearer, so I'm just gonna say it one last time. Cancel the account.

AOL: Well explain to me what's, why...

VINCENT: I'm not explaining anything to you. Cancel the account.

AOL: Well, what's the matter man? We're just, I'm just trying to help here.

VINCENT: You're not helping me. You're helping me...

AOL: I am trying to help.

VINCENT: Helping... listen, I called to cancel the account. Helping me would be canceling the account. Please help me and cancel the account.

AOL: No, it wouldn't actually...

VINCENT: Cancel my account...

AOL: Turning off your account...

VINCENT: ...cancel the account...

AOL: ...would be the worst thing that...

VINCENT: ...cancel the account.

CLOCK READOUT - 03:02

AOL: Okay, cause I'm just trying to figure out...

VINCENT: Cancel the account. I don't know how to make this any clearer for you. Cancel the account. When I say cancel the account, I don't mean help me figure out how to keep it, I mean cancel the account.

AOL: Well, I'm sorry, I don't know what anybody's done to you Vincent because all I'm...

VINCENT: Will you please cancel the account.

CLOCK READOUT - 03:32

AOL: Alright, some day when you calmed down you're gonna realize that all I was trying to do was help you... and it was actually in your best interest to listen to me.

VINCENT: Wonderful, Okay.

CLOCK READOUT - 03:39

"I've never ever experienced anything like that," Ferrari told CNBC.

He recounts how the AOL representative - as a last resort even asked if his dad was home.

"I think I could've put up with everything, but at the point when he asked to speak to my father, I came very close to losing it at that point," said the 30-year-old Ferrari.

Ferrari then posted the call online, and the response was tremendous.

AOL sent him an apology and said the customer service rep was no longer with the company.

I bet that rep did EXACTLY what AOL had told him to do. I've been them for years and you wouldn't believe the garbage you have to go through to make a complaint, or when your service is messed up. You can tell their LIVE HELP chat feature is manned by people in India or somewhere, who are responding by typing prearranged messages that don't really answer your question. When you really push them, you can tell their English isn't great, and they just don't know the answer! The guys on the phone are usually better, but I guarantee this rep did exactly what he'd been told to do when someone wants to cancel! The only reason we stay is it's the cheapest high speed we can get, and I have a business that depends on email and I've had my address for years. What you gonna do? I gotta make a living Anyway, all ISPs are probably about the same that way.

I went through this nightmare myself. I was screaming at them. They tried to give a months free service ect. on down the line. Finally they said ok. But then they kept doing pop-ups and I had pop-up blockers on. Finally I was listing to Kim Komando I think and someone was having the same issue. You have to erase any and everything having to do with them off your computer. Then they kept calling trying to get me back. I said leave me alone!!! They wanted to continue to batter me with questions and they said what can we do to get you back? I said I didn't give a s... what they did I would never have service with them if they were the LAST place to connect to the internet. They said well then what about your computer then, what will you do? I said I'll chuck it before I ever do business with you again and I will have my lawyer contact you if you ever call my home harassing me again!!!!! I still get the discs in the mail. I again made a mistake and tried to use the MSN messenger. Somehow they are hooked in with AOL and I got the pop-ups again and had to erase that from the computer in order to get it to stop. They are relentless.

On the other side, my daughter has it on her computer and she just always calls and complains and they keep giving her free months of service and she hasn't paid a thing in a couple of years. She said what inconvience they are is worth the free service.

Funny my former ISP SBC had no trouble dumping me last month when I didn't even want to stop my service. I've never used AOL and refuse to use their service or put their scumware on my computer.

From a posting on another site:

I used to have to AOL "Save the Sales"
customer service through a comany contracted
by AOL.

There is a lot of presure put on you at this
position to "Save the sale".

Sure they give you training in finding the
customers issues with the service, also
finding the customers wants-intrests and needs.
Then to go and give the customer "key words" to
content in aol to lure them on to keep service
and possibly value in giving them a temporary
special rate for limited time plans or give free
time if offered that week.

In the end to keep your job one week you needed to
have a 50% save rate, and it would go up as your
saves rate would go up, sue to the bonus incentives
given that cotracted company due to saved sales, as
they would want to keep these as compay profits.

The technical rule was if the customer said " I want
to cancel" three time during this discussion, you were
to cancel the account. Many "savers" would either say
they canceled your account or gave free time so you
wouldn't be billed for x amount of months to maintain
their save rates-bonuses or even just to keep the job,
due to lack in an area.
There would ba an occasional "witch hunt" to see who
was falsely saving accounts about every 3-6 months.
I acctually survived 2 at this horrid job due to one
thing, personal integrity. On my phone it was one way,
proper save or I would cancel. I very rarely if ever
made any bonus due to when my saves went up to a point
to make bonus, my company would raise my save rate to
keep the money for company profits.But there were very
few other jobs in my location.
When the time arived I was required to keep 70-75%
saves I left.

Remember, 3 times" I want to cancel" then I want
your supervisor, if they dont hang up for the save,
if no go, look for the most local help you can find,
some one may be more ready to help you than you
think.

There's no doubt they have alot of pressure put on them just in order to keep their job. It certainly wouldn't be my business practice but it's become that way.

I did a brief training stint at a call center. I heard some hysterical calls during that time. One guy did the no abla english (or what ever) except he spoke perfect English and the call was in Alaska. Another demanded the girls personal home phone so he could call her when he felt like it.... It would be tough to take all day long I'm sure.

I certainly don't blame the people I'm screaming at. But I know their calls are monitored and I hope some higher up hears exactly what I'm saying. They are going to put themselves out of business if they don't straighten up.

just another way for AOL to make the workers so miserable they quit or they make the goals impossible to meet. THen they can say they could not find American workers to do the job and go hire cheap foreign labor our outsource the jobs.

AOL SUCKS!!!

I had a similar experience to this guy when I tried to cancel my account with AOL, although mine was nowhere near that bad, but the tone of the customer service rep in my situation was slightly more menacing than his. It was like trying to get out of a gang or something! I thought they were going come to my house to, "make me an offer I couldn't refuse."