am i being scammed by aol

xma55 · 22 Jun 2006 at 13:46

I have left aol a month now ( at long last ) have gone on there £2.95 a month to get any stray emails that contacts my send to the old address. i have just got a credit card bill for £88 phoned aol they tell me i have opted to use the aol sofware and they charge 1p per mintute for this hence the bill. needless to say i am furious and feel i am being scammed. has anyone else experienced this, they aol address i have is in ireland so i cannot even pursue a small claim in the county court. :mad:

Berserker · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:41

You'll have to read the terms of your package. Try keyword pricing.

I have an aversion to AOL. Just about managed to find that out without having to bury my head in lava.

ste_bla · 22 Jun 2006 at 15:20

I never got charged more than the £3 for BYOB service, did you use their PAYGo dialup to check for emails?

I dont get why/how they charged the extra?

LoadsaMoney · 22 Jun 2006 at 16:09

Why didn't you just set up Outlook Express on Windows to get the e-mails. :confused:

xma55 · 22 Jun 2006 at 16:42

i did not realise that i was being charged, otherwise i would have used outlook or similar, i will take it up with the credit card compnay and tell them its unautorised

Freakish_05 · 22 Jun 2006 at 20:20

xma55 said:
I have left aol a month now ( at long last ) have gone on there £2.95 a month to get any stray emails that contacts my send to the old address. i have just got a credit card bill for £88 phoned aol they tell me i have opted to use the aol sofware and they charge 1p per mintute for this hence the bill. needless to say i am furious and feel i am being scammed. has anyone else experienced this, they aol address i have is in ireland so i cannot even pursue a small claim in the county court.

TBH I think anyone who goes with AOL is going to have a rough ride, especially when they try and disconnect. There are now plenty of good providers out there. If you have it in your area (and have the money) get a cable modem. For ADSL, Tiscali are now getting better and Eclipse's service is beyond reproach.

In answer to your question, I would be looking at the TOS especially regarding disconnection. If you were tied into a contract and disconnected before the contract was up then they may be charging you a disconnection fee. If everything looks spot on in the TOS I would start threatening some poor customer service person making reference to lots of consumer legislation mumbo-jumbo

LoadsaMoney · 22 Jun 2006 at 21:27

Freakish_05 said:
Tiscali are now getting better

Rofltastic.

xma55 · 22 Jun 2006 at 22:11

ok what is TOS?

i have signed up with bt broadband seems ok good speeds

muke1428 · 22 Jun 2006 at 22:15

xma55 said:
ok what is TOS?

Terms Of Service i Guess

NicktheNorse · 22 Jun 2006 at 23:57

AOHELL!

mejinks · 23 Jun 2006 at 14:24

good luck complaining, the helldesk for AOLHELL is based in a callcentre where English isn't even their third language.

Pinkeyes · 23 Jun 2006 at 20:16

mejinks said:
good luck complaining, the helldesk for AOLHELL is based in a callcentre where English isn't even their third language.

LOL Classic.

To the OP. I can't see a company like AOL taking money from you without you agreeing to it somewhere along the line.

LoadsaMoney · 23 Jun 2006 at 22:15

Could always phone the Irish call-centre though.

Beerbaron · 23 Jun 2006 at 22:42

xma55 said:
i did not realise that i was being charged, otherwise i would have used outlook or similar, i will take it up with the credit card compnay and tell them its unautorised

i work in customer services for an ISP (not aol) and the majority of complaints we get are because customers dont read the T's and C's. Have a good read as adivised and if you still believe you are in the right follow it up.

I wouldnt just charge back the payment as if they are legally entitled to it as you have accepted their terms you may get the debt collectors knocking on your door to recover it.

xma55 · 24 Jun 2006 at 07:44

its a fair point i would be happy for aol to have to go to all the hassel of getting debt collectors soliciters letters etc for £88, if i have to pay up so be it, but i will make them work for it

Scope · 24 Jun 2006 at 08:55

xma55 said:
its a fair point i would be happy for aol to have to go to all the hassel of getting debt collectors soliciters letters etc for £88, if i have to pay up so be it, but i will make them work for it

You dont want to go down that route, trust me.. Once you get debt collectors involved you wont be paying £88, but many times that amount. Not forgetting you being black listed and might get problems getting credit, mortgage, etc later on.. Just pay up, then fight them if you want.

stoofa · 24 Jun 2006 at 10:54

xma55 said:
its a fair point i would be happy for aol to have to go to all the hassel of getting debt collectors soliciters letters etc for £88, if i have to pay up so be it, but i will make them work for it

The minute debt collectors are involved your £88 becomes £138 and that is before they charge for their first visit to collect the debt.

Simple rule in life - if you owe somebody money pay them or get in contact with them and speak about your debt.
Hiding or making "somebody work" to get their money will only end up costing YOU more.

LoadsaMoney · 24 Jun 2006 at 11:15

I can feel a Dennis Waterman coming on

The original bill was £88

Baliff fees etc....

Total £498.11 pence.

Remember watching that 'The Baliffs'

Some ppl only had parking fees of £60, and they ended up having to pay about £500 when the baliffs came round.

If they want £88 id pay it, as once the baliffs come round it could end up being a grand.