AO-Hell

[LovesLife]

I stumbled across this from another site. This was almost my exact same experience except with compuserve.

http://media.putfile.com/AOL-Cancellation

[justin]

I've cancelled AOL a number of times and it is this same crap every time. Usually it takes about 5 minutes of replying "no" to the hard sell a dozen times. I've gotten 6 free months of service before by trying to cancel and them comping me for a free month 6 times. Being polite but firm is effective with these folks though (in general).

Getting belligerent doesn't seem as effective (see linked audio recording).

[lazygood4nothinbum]

540 hours a month? the guy must have retired early.

when i called to cancel aol they threatened to lower my bill rate. i suggested they should have offered that way before i called them.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I call most of my service providers regularly and tell them I want to be disconnected. They almost always give me something off the bill or something for free.

I havent paid more than $29 a month for my cable modem (list price $57). Coming up on the end of the one year @$29 they offered me last year...

The trick isnt just to fool around with the customer service rep. Call and say you want to schedule a disconnection, say you want it for about 10 days out (so you can cancel it if they take you up on the offer), and wait for the deal...

[maddythebeagle]

Went with my sister to get a new cable modem from Time Warner a few months ago and the guy was pushing phone service on her. She said that she didnt want and they asked why and kept on talking on how great it was? I thought she was going to snap. Poor guy

[AltaRed]

Re cable phones or VOIP. Had Time Warner try to push digital phone on me a year ago in Houston. I asked if they could guarantee the same reliability of service as land lines...to the nanosecond. And how they were going to ensure I had telephone service during power outages which happened frequently in Entergy's/Centerpoint's franchise area. That was a sure way to shut them up.

[justin]

Timewarner tried to sell me the cable/high speed internet/VOIP phone bundle. They claimed I would reduce my current bill by $20 if I added the VOIP. Unfortunately, they couldn't do math and it would ADD $20 to my bill. And they lied about it being a temporary 6 month deal.

[yelnad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin Timewarner tried to sell me the cable/high speed internet/VOIP phone bundle. They claimed I would reduce my current bill by $20 if I added the VOIP. Unfortunately, they couldn't do math and it would ADD $20 to my bill. And they lied about it being a temporary 6 month deal.

Sprint pulls that crap with us every 6 months or so. They SWEAR that adding caller ID and voicemail will lower our bill. We tell them it never does. They promise and say they've had some new offers released recently. We say, "That's what you said last time." They push and push. We give in. The bill comes and it goes up. We call and bitch and they credit us for the difference and something extra for our trouble. Repeat 6 months later. Idiots.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin Timewarner tried to sell me the cable/high speed internet/VOIP phone bundle.* They claimed I would reduce my current bill by $20 if I added the VOIP.* Unfortunately, they couldn't do math and it would ADD $20 to my bill.* And they lied about it being a temporary 6 month deal.*

coupon logic: buy this and save.

[Cool Dood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cute n Fuzzy Bun'ny I havent paid more than $29 a month for my cable modem (list price $57).

In my (limited) experience, it's a really good idea to buy the modem if they let you, and to look for a different provider if they don't. You usually make back the initial cost in under a year, and after that you're saving around half of the overall cost of service + rental. YMMV.

[OldAgePensioner]

LL, when I listened to that I thought of how many times it happens. It's sometimes fun to turn it around on them. Allow them to give you the spiel and then ask to hear it again. Considered it a bit, then ask if each part can be broken down seperately. Tell them you are nearly deaf can they shout it to you.

I'm usually the one who gets hung up on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

My RCN rep here called yesterday and he had fixed my CHicago billing issues.

He offered me a landline phone serve add-on.* Well with the $1067 bill from T-Mobile I was ripe to be taken.

But I mentioned I was happy with T-Mobile only, he offered 3 months free, no contract (month-month), unlimited local and long distance for 19.99.* I took it.

Now I'm wondering, was that really a deal?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin Timewarner tried to sell me the cable/high speed internet/VOIP phone bundle. They claimed I would reduce my current bill by $20 if I added the VOIP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yelnad Sprint pulls that crap with us every 6 months or so. They SWEAR that adding caller ID and voicemail will lower our bill. We tell them it never does.

Like Dennis Miller, we told our phone company to put us on their DO NOT CALL list.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cool Dood In my (limited) experience, it's a really good idea to buy the modem if they let you, and to look for a different provider if they don't. You usually make back the initial cost in under a year, and after that you're saving around half of the overall cost of service + rental. YMMV.

They do and I did buy one, but its six years old now. They're giving new customers a free modem, 6 months @19.99 and a hundred bucks in a gift card (or some such). This is the funny marketing conundrum...we'll give the works to someone that hasnt paid us a dime, but customers that have been with us for 5 years? Well, they can go somewhere else...

I'm sure as heck not buying another $75 cable modem when I can get a broadband wireless provider to install for less than that, and charge me half what comcast does...

Buy I'll call them and play the disconnection game, see what retention will offer me.

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldAgePensioner LL, when I listened to that I thought of how many times it happens. It's sometimes fun to turn it around on them. Allow them to give you the spiel and then ask to hear it again. Considered it a bit, then ask if each part can be broken down seperately. Tell them you are nearly deaf can they shout it to you. I'm usually the one who gets hung up on.

My MIL does this with telephone solicitors as a pseudo-hobby--her goal s to see hw long she can keep them on the phone.

"A new credit card--great!! Tell me about it!!
(5 minutes later)
"This is such a relief--we've had such a hard time gettting a new card since my husband lost his job. That won't be a problem, will it?"
(4 minutes later)
"Wow, great. Because, since they cancelled all the other cards, this would really be a great deal--we might even be able to save the living room set. If my son co-signs, you wouldn't need to check his credit, would you? He's been in the hospital a lot . . . ."