How do I cancel my America Online (AOL) account?

Exactly the same experience in 1994 -- order AOL (Version Ancient!) and just about never got it canceled. It was being auto deducted from my bank account 6 months after "I canceled." Looks like it's become a "marketing policy" for them. Unfortunate. But then the whole AOL/Time Warner thing happened -- I guess they couldn't find the cancel button on that either.

David

i had to go through this with my mom's account. it was horrid.. I was on hold for 5-10 minutes, and the operator I finally got was just a salesmen... he assumed that we'd want another 3 months of AOL for free, and tried to rush the converstaion. I said something to the effect of "we have another ISP lined up, we'll have to let you go. please cancel the account immediatly". It finally worked.
my father still has his AOL account even though we now have a cable line, simply because he doesn't want to deal with this crap.

Gotta love that whole business strategy, when customers "stay with you because it's just too darn much hassle to leave".

I have had AOL in the past, and have cancelled with as much struggle as you have. They make it incredibly hard, keep throwing offers at you to stay on, and other crap.

You really do have to say "Shut the heck up, I want to cancel, and I want to cancel NOW".

Making sure that they do actually cancel it is another process entirely...

Two yrs ago I called to cancel also. I said I wanted to cancel and was told that by being a good customer, I was was to be given another month free. OK, I answered. A couple of months later I saw that I was again being charged on my Visa for service. I had not used it as I now had cable access. I called and was told that they did not accept pre-cancelations. This was a result of the "Free" month of service. I again said I wanted to cancel and had not used their service for the last couple of months. I was given a credit on my Visa and it was canceled this time. Two weeks later I received a letter that said if I logged back on I would get my old name back and be reinstated. If I had just checked my account one time, I would have been hooked again. Pretty tricky, I would say. A friend also had to call his Visa service and tell them not to accept any more charges from AOL before he got them to stop charging him. They never stopped until they could no longer charge his card.

It's called 'customer stickiness' and I've seen many forms of it over the years. Most companies make it difficult for you to terminate a recurring bill setup, but others are even more sneaky.

If, for example, you offer a service that is priced competitively in a saturated market, you have to find a way to stand out. Or, you have to find a way to make it near impossible for the customers you have to leave you. The easiest method, by far, is to convince your customer during the honeymoon period to bond with your service. This sounds like gobbledygook, but what it really means is that once you've convinced them to depend on your method of providing the service, it can be nearly impossible for them to switch to onother provider.

Say, for example, you provide a web portal for your customers. If you convince them to allow you to host their personalized domain name 'to make it appear more professional', then it becomes quite difficult for them to decide to switch to another portal provider. You, in effect, hold their domain name hostage. Or, you simply inform them that you'd be happy to transfer all of the information you provide for them, but it will take 6-8 weeks. Very few companies can afford to deal with that kind of lag time.

I've seen this done with:

Toll free phone numbers
Voice Mail
Web Portals
ACD Systems
Document Versioning software.

Interestingly, I had to cancel my Earthlink account this morning too (I'd forgotten that it was auto-billing, egads). Time taken to find that I needed to call an 800 number (888-Earthlink) to cancel the account: 3 minutes online. Time on hold to get a representative: 9 minutes. Total time: 11 minutes. Operator was a pleasant young lady from Oklahoma, twang and all.

Conclusion at the end of the cancellation: Earthlink is pleasant and professional to work with. Hold time was a bit long, still, but certainly the overall experience was more favorable and leaves me more likely to reinstate my Earthlink account.

I have had several aol accounts over the years and never had any problems cancelling or getting the account back if I decided to come back. I found the cancel number easily also. I have it written in my pda now.

Angel

I, too, am having a hard-ass time cancelling my AOL account. After discovering Netscape and People PC for 10 bucks cheaper than what I got trapped with, well heck yeah I want to cancel. I applied for AOL free trial back in March 2004, and after my free three months, I wanted to cancel and try out other internet options. But did that happen?, No. Here it is Mid April 2005 and I got dooped onto a contract for 17.95 a month plus since it is a dial up mode they charge me an extra 5 bucks a month all on my phone bill. (which comes to 50 bucks a month.) So this past christmas, I went out and spent money on my own Norton Security system and pop-up blocker and am determined to cancel my AOL. People PC here I come
because I am tired of getting the raw deal, whether I have to pay 50 bucks to get out of it, oh friggin well. *Note* Do NOT sign up for AOL unless it is the only internet base on this planet!

i cancelled my aol by calling 1-877-773-4462 i got this number over the internet. i got to talk to a live person, the first thing they asked was where did i get this number. but they said they cancelled my service, we'll see if it works. if it don't i'll go to my bank and stop payment to them, i know that will work.

Angel, you must be one lucky person !! My daughter signed on to AOL for 5 MINUTES from their CD and I cancelled the account online immediately after . For 3 months, they kept deducting the money from my bank acct, and I kept calling and raising H-LL, to no avail. I told them I knew they could track our usage and see that there had been 0 time spent on AOL except for that one night. After 3 months of deducting a payment from my bank, they FINALLY cancelled my acct. I decided not to fight them anymore for reimbursement after HOURS of e-mailing and calling their Customer Service. (What a JOKE !) They are the BIGGEST crooks around !!!

AOL blocked my account after I "violated the TOS" by saying something that offended someone on a message board. What I said was a lot better than the majority of the posts on the board, yet those posts stayed up. I immediately called to cancel my account, and they refused. I am seriously considering filing a class action lawsuit against AOL. They are a SCAM! Hear me? A SCAM! They are not an ISP but a SCAM and if you have any sense at all you will advise everyone you know that has an AOL account to cancel immediately!

That doesn't make sense, Steve. How can they refuse to cancel your account? What if you write them a letter, copy your credit card company, then tell your credit card company to refuse charges from AOL?

I can not use anymore my AOL due too much popsup, and you never take those items you should have spy sweeper

last year we did the free aol thing ,used it for a couple of days ,and forgot about it .got a bill, didn't want to pay it ,23.95 or something.called ,twice,cuz the first call ,the guy i could barely understand ,didn't seem to know what "cancel" meant.after a couple of words back and forth ,he hung up on me.he didn't let me cancel ,and wouldn't refund my money.I was so pissed icalled rite back ,talked to someone else,a little more plesant ,explained what happened and got my money back.after a while of saying "no...no....no...NO...NOOOOO... so like an idiot we did the free thing again ,to try a apple imac ,forgot about it,got billed .don't use it , want my money back.stumbled on this web site,called 18777734462.not too bad .straight through , cancelled ,got refunded ,after a short session of "no..no...no...wal mart internet for 9.95. thanx for the number

im canceling this account becoz i have juss discoverd that i have two accounts w aol

Phew, that was nice. I called the 877 number that someone provided above. After about 10 seconds a midwestern female came on the line. I told her I would like to cancel...she mentioned that I could have 2 more months at 9.95 per month I said No thanks....She then asked me my info and Tada...We are now done and completely AOL free for the first time since 1994...Amazing, the cloud of deception is now gone...Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this thread...you assisted me in getting out of the AOL cloud that I lived under...I am now a free man!!!! Praise God and Amen!!!!!!!!

I called to cancel my account and they gave me one month free to just to continue on. I plan to cancel my account before that time. This way I have time to get all of my addresses off and emails that I want to save. The cancellation number is 888-265-8008. That was a hard number to find!

I hope this doesn't mean i'm in for a nightmare. I plan to cancell my aol acct. Any helpful hints on how to go about this?

thank you to everyone who has written in with their previous experiences and new found knowledge of canceling AOL: couldn't have done it without you.

I can't believe how desperate AOL is with keeping customers?! Get this... I called about 4 months ago to cancel, sat through listening to all the garbage that everyone else here has spoken of, and was given a final offer of "3 months free" to stay (I guess since I was a longtime customer of theirs for over 7 years now). I took them up on their offer, and amazingly enough, they kept their word and did not auto-deduct from my checking account for 3 months... sweet! Now here's the even dumber part... after my free 3 months was up, I called AOL again to cancel, and guess what? Those idiots must not be keeping accurate records or something because I was AGAIN OFFERED 3 FREE MONTHS TO STAY! Yeah, I could've taken them up on this offer again, but I just wanted out of AOL for good and not have to deal with the hassles again and again. Seriously, they were prepared to give me half a year of FREE AOL just to keep me! AOL is desperately INSANE!

Greg, you're right, but the key metric is the cost of customer acquisition versus the cost of comp'ing you for even a year or two, hoping that you'll then remain and be a life-long customer. While you may be paying $21/mo, the fact is that you might only be worth a few dollars each month, and if AOL's customer acquisition cost is, say, $50, you can see that letting you stay around for 3-6 months free is peanuts compared to finding someone to replace you. Not so insane after all, eh? :-)

I just tried cancelling my AOL account. I used it for a week until DSL got installed. Anyways, if you call 1-888-265-8008 and just say "I don't know" to everything, you get connected to a "live" person pretty quick. Just FYI. Thanks, Dave!

I am such a Neanderthal, I canceled my aol account last year, but didn't bother to get a cancelation number. I recenlty found out, I was still getting billed, upset because I had canceled, and hearing all the horror stories I immediatly called aol. Then they informed me that the account I was being billed on was an account I recieved with my Dell computer I bought 10 months ago. And I had recieved 6 free months with the computer, Ok, I remember that now..And the last 4 months I have been paying for a service I don't use. Well I may deserve paying those 4 months, because I had no clue about what kind of money I had in my bank account, I had never even looked at my monthly statements. But I asked aol if they could refund my money, and they did offer to put back two months, then my account was canceled, I recieved a Cancelation number, which I also recieve a letter about a week later. After the cancel I listen to recording stating my account was canceled, and it was. I can't help but feel, due to this Computer AGE, many of the problems caused, are by US. I was quite ingnorant about the internet, as well as my own finances, which I am changing. I thought this was all due to my first account I was Canceled, and the account had a year ago had also been canceled... Just an honest oppinion.

Just an addendum to the law governing internet service cancellation for Illinois residents (above). This law pertains to "personal" accounts, or accounts for use at home, not corporate ISP accounts.

The problem with canceling aol is not aol itself. its all of you as consumers. nobody is forcing you to keep a service you dont want, and you have the option to say no. If everyone would just get out of the mindset that "god just cancel my account" and maybe listen to what the aol reps have to say usually it is pretty beneficial to you. if not just say no and they will understand. If you really think about it the only reason people cancel is becuase there is a problem, and aol is only trying to help and fix the problem, whether its technical, or annoying pop ups, or even the price. any other isp who doesnt attempt to fix the problems their members are facing and just cancel with no questions asked, they are practically admitting that their service sucks and they cant help you. thats all aol tries to do. is help you out. and for those of you who may be alittle slow, simply go to aol keyword cancel(wow that was hard) and you can find their number, and addressed if you want to send in a written request to cancel. gosh that is pretty easy.

Dave,
Finally got around to cancelling my AOL account... it would have been impossible without your info. I can, however, say that my wait was not long and my operator was pleasant and had no thick Indian accent to deal with. I feel totally liberated. Thanks
-Lonnie

AOl really gave the run around. Wanted to know
why I would even think of cancelling my acct
since that I had been with them since April
of 99. They play on peoples weakness make
you feel like a real heel.

We are your friends tell us what you want.
free months motem what. Then they put you
on hold. Saying that I would like alot of
people that dropped AOL regret it later after
they loose all their favorite places etc pfc.

I just got off of the phone with AOL (after an hour)trying to cancel my membership. Wow there is a lot of cracks for people to fall through if you don't listen carefully. They tried everything to make me change my mind, but all I kept on saying was that I understood and all that I wanted to do was please, please, please just let my AOL accout be cancelled. After talking to the first guy he said that my August bill would be free of charge and that I needed to call back before August 31 to cancel my AOl (crack #1). I asked if that he could just consider this phone call as being the one before Aug. 31 to cancel, but he wouldn't let me, so I told him thta I would just call right back to cancel, he laughed and said okay (don't get me wrong, they were nice people on the phone, but they just don't think that they understand the words CANCEL MY AOL!) So, I got off of the phone with Jeff and called right back and talked to another gentleman that sounded just like Jeff, but his name was something weird. I went through the rig-a-ma-role again and kept on cutting him off (nicely) saying that I know what you have to offer, but just please cancel my account. So after 55 minutes and 2 phone calls it is supposedly cancelled, crack #2 is that if you don't want to continue service then don't click on your AOL icon or login to AOL under your screen name because they can put you back on the billing list. I also aked for a confirmation letter stating that I had cancelled my AOL account, just in case something fishing comes up, like my bank account being charged.

Thank you so much. I spent all of 3-5 minutes canceling my aol service due to this wonderful info. I knew what was going to happen, was prepared for it, and it shortened the process up. Thanks again.

My aunt had a similar experience she also had to wait a long time. After a little while they called her and like offered i think six months for a penny each aol is really desperate

I had a horrible experience with this a few years back, but I was just able to cancel my latest account in under 10 minutes with no pressure to keep the service. I was pleasantly surprised.

BYE

bye i dont want aol anymore ok thancks for this days ok bye

I want AOL off my computer.Please.Too expnsive.

I feel sorry for AOL. I've been a member off and on since 1995, back in the 2.5 days when they charge you by the hour. I have always known about their pesky reps on the phone. They've driven my mother bonkers just trying to cancel an acccount, and giving you a "confirmation number" and other questionable practices in what many would consider a simple procedure. I've had many ISPs before but we've never had any problem cancelling CompuServe, WOW! (yes WOW!), Prodigy (sniff sniff), and others. I loved the AOL service, but the reps are another thing. The last time we cancelled, the lady was a real ass, saying that if we didn't remember the answer to our secret question, there was no way to cancel the account.

Why do AOL reps pressure you to keep your account? Because they get some sort of comission for doing so, a special bonus. It's on the news; today, August 24 2005, AOL has been punished by a New York attourney. A million people have complained about the process of cancelling an AOL account, and AOL has agreed to pay money and also change its practices immediately. Hopefully they'll wisen up, but it's a matter of time before they go out of business. (Sad.)

I have been subscribed to AOL since the 3.0 days, I've kept it soley for my father in the last few years. After his death in June, I immediately signed-up for the NetZero $10 account. (I wouldn't even consider using their gimicky 3G crap, I just need barebones 56k internet until I make the leap to cable!) I have finally gotten around to canceling AOL. I called the number on my billing statement, went through a few things mentioned here, but nothing very aggravating. yet.
My account ends in early Sept., so I will see how that goes. It seems that AOL might finally be feeling enough heat from those of us living in the real world.
My biggest problem is AOL's choice to make their bookmarks i.e. favorites and saved email not exportable to IE or Firefox. Have to do it the hard way, but I'm glad to do it. AOL has for so many years just taken their customers for granted and caused a situation of ridicule on anyone who openly states "I'm an AOL user."

I'm about to make my first call to cancel AOL and after reading all these comments I'm no longer distressed. Thanks guys. Wish me luck!!

thanks for the phone number. it really helped. the guy was very very pushy about peddling some free months and practically hung up on me like 3 times so I wouldn't have the opportunity to say no. Just got to stay persistant in saying no!

Well troups here goes nothing ~ I have tried everything else SO what have I got to loose ~ Maybe AOL Hehehehehehe. . .

I have two accounts. One the original cutiegrams@aol.com and another that was by mistake (bcutiegrams@aol.com) Unfortunately the b was a typing error. How do I fix this? thank you June Bunker

It's all so true, it took me 56 minutes to cancel my AOL account. I was transferred 4 times. Blech!

well...you are the lucky ones...i can't even get an unbusy circuit so i can talk to a rep...however to get an access # or upgrade aol the circuits are NOT busy...help me please.

I just cancelled my account by calling 1-877-773-4462. I was only on the phone for 8 minutes and 3 seconds. I would like to say thank you to the person who posted that number; it made my life a little easier. The woman I spoke to, however, gave me a serious attitude. She kept saying things like, "If you stay with aol, you can get 6 more months free..." and she kept listing all of these security features. I just kept repeating myself and after firmly saying "No!!!" a few times, she said "...ok. But you're making a big mistake." I replied, "No, ma'am. The only mistake I made was getting an account with aol in the first place." That ended things in a hurry!

All of the above + some, have cancelled my direct debit (was told by aol that my card needed to be activated again date etc. so they could take my payment) - happened without anyway,why do they not understand NO? stopped talking to them, just not paying anymore. now wondering about my credit rating?

i called you guys like a week ago to cancel my aol and it is still up and going. why,is this.you guys have probably taken your money out of my account and more than likely over drawn my account.so please will you cancel my aol account as soon as possible. thank you ,tina white

I think I came out of this fairly unscathed. I called the 800-827-6364 number, got a rep like 5 seconds after the automated service was done, he was nice and I didn't have any trouble understanding him, and within maybe 5 minutes of talking I had my account cancelled (hopefully :D). But it does sound like I'm in the minority here. Good luck to everyone else.

Please note that I am not affiliated or associated with America Online in any way and therefore cannot help you cancel your account. Please, call them directly to do so. Thanks!

Well...after stumbling across an AOL signup page in search of free stuff (ha ha, silly me)..I accidentally created an account for "3 free months"....then I realized I was duped into doing so..well..I searched for "Cancel aol account" and came across this site...I called in the 8008#...and said "i dont know" to everything...got an Indian sounding operator...now, I couldnt understand ANYTHING he said...BUT, I was pissed already cuz my daughter was crying my wife was bitching and I was going to be paying 24$ a month for a useless service...So I'm being very stern / harsh with the operator...I said "look I dont want the service, dont waste our time going through your bribery requirements I'm moving to Alaska and selling my computer, so just cancel my account now..and have a nice day" and he promptly replied ok sir..Your account is cancelled...I was surprised after reading all the comments here how fast I got served....but hell, if THATS what you gotta do to get out the obligation..AOL SUCKS! but if you really want out, use my method..it will work 100%

I had a comic sense of deja vu reading everyone's comments. I should have read this website BEFORE I called to cancel the first time. Posted comments & stories were all true to my experience in trying to cancel with these additions.
1) On my first call to AOL to cancel, I was told I'd called the wrong number and was given another number to call after 8:00 am the following day. Guess what--it was Bell South!
2) When I called BACK to AOL to cancel and the CS rep wanted a reason, I told her that the acct was for elderly parents who would be going to a nursing home. She only wanted to talk about how many nursing homes have internet access and they should continue to use it, etc. It took me forever to get her to shut up and give me the confirmation # to cancel.
We'll see if they stop charging my credit card. Odds are that I'll have to make another call to complete this cancellation and make it go away.

Jennifer

Thanks for the detailed account and the phone number to call.Saved me a few minutes in my effort to cancel. Went through the exact same speal as you but was totally prepared to tell him to shut up "I don't need your service anymore, don't like your "service" and just want to cancel now. No I do not want a free month, blah, blah, blah" Thanks again I think I got it down to under 15 minutes!

Hello fellow AOL haters. I went to cancel my 2 month free subscription that I signed up for 1 month and 28 days ago for. (Cutting it close!) I had to sign up due to having dial-up access at my previous house, and ended up moving out quicker than I thought. Anyways, that's not important. I used the 800-827-6364# that was posted in the article, and was reading along with the article about what was going to happen, and the article was step-by-step what was happening simultaneously on the phone. Boo on that, so I thought I was going to be on the phone for at least a half hour on my day off of school/work. So, I kick back in the computer chair, have this site pulled up for reference, grabbed a pepsi, and had the TV on low volume. When, after my home telephone number and screenname was taken bye the automated attendant, they cancelled it immediately!!!!!
WHAT!? Is this for real? So, there was some option on the menu for me to choose that was a more detailed explanation of the cancellation process, so I chose it to make sure I didn't get duped over and would still be paying for service. So, to make an already long story short, I'm getting a letter in the mail in/by/before 14 days to confirm my cancellation. I hope it's really cancelled before the 2 months kicks in, or I might have to call and get mean with that automated attendant!
I hope everyone's cancellation date with AOL goes as smoothly as mine went! Happy Cancelling!

THANK YOU AOL, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO CANCEL MY AOL SERVICE. THANK YOU AGAIN.

sorry but i cant keep this account because i cant afford to keep it right now maybe another time thank you

Please cancel my account...

Please cancel my Aol account
Thank you,
Peter Lazare 10/18/05

Just a reminder to everyone here that

I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH AMERICA ONLINE AND CANNOT CANCEL YOUR ACCOUNT

I hate to have you post a request to cancel, just to have no results because I can't do anything about your account. You need to contact AOL directly for help on this, not just ask me. Thanks!

COMPUSERVE NEWS FLASH:

To Whom It May Concern: If you want to cancel your subscription to CompuServe (a division of AOL), the above numbers are worthless! Instead, call 800-848-8990, and if you have about a half hour to waste going through the much of the same nonsense described at the beginning of this thread, you will nevertheless finally succeed in cancelling your account TODAY! I just did. Good luck, folks.

Nice site, Dave. Ciao.

i just got my aol cancellation #....what do with it now?
Thanks

Cancelled AOL today after having Verizon DSL for two days. Total call time: 10 minutes.

However, they did tell me I am able to keep my AOL E-mail for free. Is this true?

I will get a letter within 14 days, and an e-mail within 24 hours. The woman's name, Trula, tried to get me connected to AOL Broadband, and she tried to sign me up for services that I didn't want. Services such as security features and the like, and she was like "so let's get you set up for that right now" and I immediately stopped her saying no thats alright. They are very sneaky. A year ago, I would have fallen for that.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Trying to use the AOL service to cancel, 25 minutes; trying to call AOL direct, 15 minutes; reading the materials on your website, 5 minutes, successfully cancelling AOL as a result of your information, PRICELESS. Many thanks.

Here's how I did it:

I called 800 827-6364. It's an automated attendant. It walks you through the questions, then connects you to a live attendant to "finalize" the cancellation.

After repeatedly rebuffing his upsell techniques, he asks me why would I ever want to cancel my AOL account after being a member for nine years. My answer:

"Because I'm trying to get my final affairs in order."

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he says:

"One moment please, I'll finish processing your request."

Checkmate!

Damn Aol tried to pull me in again i said noooo

I've never subscribed to (or even used for free) AOL, yet to my surprise my credit card was recently charged $23.90. I called AOL 15 times today, to correct the mistake, and have met with only rudeness and run-arounds and hangups.

My credit card company has reversed the charge, but AOL can still refute and try to make it stick. Having read all the horror stories about AOL tapping people's bank accounts and re-re-re-billing months after the fact, I fear I will have to simply cancel alll my credit cards, close my bank accounts and keep my money under my mattress. And I'm not kidding.

Someone needs to sue this company.

I tried using the aforementioned 877 # (the women spoke nicely and was helpful) but I was told I could NOT resolve this matter through that place, and was subsequently given a Fraud Department number of (800) 307-7969, where I've now been on hold for about 15 minutes.

Not sure where things will go... For the people whose bank accounts were "tapped" by AOL, did you initially provide them with your banking info, or did they somehow track it down?

Good luck to everyone.

Follow-up...

After speaking with a nice guy at the Fraud Department for about 2 minutes, it appears everything is fine and the bogus, unrequested-by-me account is now dead and buried. Fingers crossed.

I was on hold for a long time (check my previous post's time for the difference now and then, and add 15 minutes and minus 2 minutes) and you've got it...but hopefully worth it in the end.

I hope that's it...

I recently got A DSL from my cable company and I JUST CALLED AOL TO CANCEL MY ACCOUNT AND THAT IDIOT KEPT TELLING ME THAT THE ACCOUNT WILL REMAIN ACTIVE TILL THE DATE OF BILLING. I kept insisting to cancel it but he said "SIR YOU CAN USE AOL THROUGH DSL BLAH BLAH BLAH AND SPYWARE BLOCKER BLAH. I SAID I DON'T CARE JUST CANCEL". HE JUST TOLD ME "The account will remain active and have a nice day sir" and hunged up on me ( very disrespectful )... I AM VERY P*&^#D..... This sucks.....IF they even dare to charge a penny from my account they are gonna get sued!! or i will just call the bank and tell them "That is a fraudulent charge" ( I'm learning from you guys! Thanks for all the posts! )

okay i've signed up for aol 3 times total.. first i signed up on 2000 then once on 2004 and now 2005 (it came free with my new pc).. back in 2000 i had to go through the same thing as u guys did .. but then i used it for 24 hrs only.. on 2004 once i had to call them to change my password.. my pc crashed right after and i thought someone hacked into my account. i had to wait more than 30 mins just to get my password changed, so i've decided to cancel them. i called back few days later.. as usual after about 15 mins some guy named brian with indian accent answered and then he hung up on me when i said i want to cancel. i called again and got a lady, after her yapping i was finally able to cancel it (total use of aol zero hours).. then i got a letter saying that i have decided to continue with their service. i had to call them again to make sure that im actually canceled for good. now i have free aol for 3 months and i have used and tried aol everyway i possibly could and i absolutely hate it. i wont get it if they were offering it for 5 bucks. im gonna cancel it.

Just out of curiosity, does everyone believe everything they read? I mean honestly how do you "accidently" commit to a service that you KNOW you are going to be billed for? And how do you "accidently" not call to cancel your subscription only expecting three free months (which according to some news they no longer do). How do you blame AOL for your poor judgements in purchasing decisions?

That's like me calling SBC and saying "well, i used the service and don't want it anymore give me all my money back even though i used it". It's nor PRODUCE people. It's SERVICE.

just called aol.. i timed her how long the bs would run she blew about 5 minutes-- i just sat and typed this. She wanted to talk & talk about free months. She put me on hold to cancel me, and i got a recording of the details of canceling. What ever you do do not use your cell phone. They suck up the minutes. They stated i have been canceled effective today. We will see what happens. I am also suppose to get an e-mail today.

Your info helped above so just be stern and say I want this canceled effective today..

good luck

I called to cancel my service and was told after paying over $20 a month that now they offer a $14.95 service which has the same features as the service I have now. After telling Brian with the indian accent that I didnt want to listen to his rambling that I was gonna pay $9.95 for serivce and that was it. He then told me that I will get the same serivce for that price. He said that they are gonna notify all Aol customers that they now have service that is cheaper. They are the worlds leading ISP and they cant notify anyone quickly and efficiently. He said that some people will be notified by email and some by US mail in 5 to 7 business days. Get real.

When i called to cancel, they told me that since i was using road runner, the service would be free. I'm really skeptical, is that all true?

Thanks to all the great info about cancelling aol, I went into the task with teeth clenched and prepared to waste a great deal of time. We've had aol as long as we've been online--forever, it seems, so I expected them to give me a really hard time. I was pleasantly surprised. The customer service person, Casey was friendly and delightful, she couldn't argue that since we have dsl and only used aol to get email, we had no need to pay for the service; besides, aol now allows you to keep and access your screen name at their website forever at no charge!

Be careful when you cancel. If you arent very clear AOL will change your paid account into a free email account (like hotmail or yahoo). Imagine my surprise today to find out from an associate that they had been emailing my aol address for weeks with no response. So I logged onto my old screenname via the internet and found 636 emails sitting there.

AOL's reponse? They cannot close the free account!!! The account will automatically close after 8 weeks of inactivity. When I signed on today the 8 weeks began from today. Talked to several people and they all told me the same thing. One guy told me all the free accounts do that. My response to him is that you can cancel a Yahoo account at anytime and the email shuts off immediately.

So be careful!

I haven't canceled my AOL.
I just started today!
U know,I don't want to call,so what should I do?
Man,ur right,its hard to quit!
Is there an active online way to cancel?

I don't hate them; I cancelled because I'm just going to use my work e-mail from now on to save money. But it's weird because even though I've had no negative experiences, I still don't trust 'em...

So here's what I did: I called the 877-773-4462 number that I got on this site. "Darrell" was very nice. It took him five minutes to collect my personal info, which I had not updated since 1997. He almost didn't let me cancel because it took me a while to remember my zip from that year. (Five addresses ago...).

Of course he tried to talk me into keeping AOL. I said, "I use the computer all day at work and don't want a computer at home. I'm selling my home computer and live just a few miles from work if I need to get online." He gave me the free two months pitch.

Then he said I'd get confirmation only by going back onto my AOL account. I asked if he could send it to a different e-mail address; he said no. Then he said that I'd get a confirmation by regular mail, and then he transferred me to a recording, which explained one more time how I'd get confirmation and how I could reinstate my account if I changed my mind, and that while I would no longer be charged, I would be responsible for additional fees. We'll see what they mean by that...!

The whole thing took 12 minutes.

I have had nothing but problems since joining AOL.
I have been ofered various extentions of my contract with no cost. NO MORE OF THIS! I HATE
AOL and I want OUT! Please tell me how I getn out with out more discussion! Thank you,
MrWesleydog@ AOL>com

I WANT TO CANCEL. WENT TO ANOTHER NET SERVICE. I HAVE NOT USED AOL FOR MONTHS. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IF I CAN GET THE REFUND FOR MONTHS I HAVE NOT USED. I WAS CHARGED FOR ANOTHER ACCOUNT THAT I DIDN'T SET AND CALLED AND WAS GIVEN A CONFIRMATION NUMBER AND I HAVE MAILED INFORMATION TO RECIEVE UNUSED INTERNET SERVICES .HAVE NOT HEARD NO FEEDBACK YET . THIS HAS BEEN MONTHS.SO PLEASE CANCEL.
THANKS

please cancel myinternet service plz

Thanks Dave, much appreciated. That was a royal pita!

Greetings, I just canceled my AOL free 50 days service after 45 days. It was rather simple for me, I just replied Help when the automated voice came on and was forwarded to a rep. I told him I needed to cancel and he asked why and I told him I travel alot so I don't get to use it and it was simple as that. Total time about 10 mins.

Good Ridence!!

I'm going to call tomorrow to cancel my aol.
thank you for all the phone numbers.
Wish me luck
Sam

I just cancelled my trial account from AOL in 2 minutes and got a confirmation number. Thanks to this web-site's help I called 877-773-4462 and did not have too much trouble asking the guy to cancel it when I told him that "I don't want to waste your time". Try it, it may help, and good luck.

Just call 1-877-773-4462 and be patient; you will get an offer at a reduced price - just decline (or not).

aol sux they will give the hardest time in the world to get one to stay a member and they will tell what to do just so you stay a member and i for one am against that B.S. thus I HATE AOL and all that stand for it

I just wanted to reiterate what others in previous posts have said--this number is one you can call to cancel your AOL account: 1-877-773-4462!

Thanks!!

I have written an article on my site called "Are You Tangled in AOL's Web. You might want to look it up because it has some good info about saving your AOL address book, keeping your instant messenger id, etc. I hope I can post the URL here. If not just copy www.easycall.net/switching-isp.shtml or here is the link: www.easycall.net/switching-isp.shtml

I have written an article on my site called "Are You Tangled in AOL's Web. You might want to look it up because it has some good info about dumping AOL but saving your AOL address book, keeping your instant messenger id, etc. Just click my name or go to www.easycall.net/switching-isp.shtml - Thanks and good luck!

Here's one for you...

I tried one of the phone numbers to cancel...they asked me the same recorded info to access my account. When I finally spoke to a real person, he could not hear me at all, but I could hear him perfectly. He stated that if I was still on the line...to stay there and he would send out a letter to resolve the issue. I stayed on the phone for 15 minutes while this guy also stayed on the phone talking to me every once in a while to ensure he was trying to get the problem resolved. Sounds like a bunch of BS to me.

I just want to say to all who care that AOL is not as difficult as all of you say to cancel. I have probably canceled a total of 6 accounts throughout the years with NO PROBLEMS. If you could all learn how to use an automated system, you wouldnt have to worry about being transfered 3,4,5 or even 6 times to get the right person. The number is listed on the screen here and depending on which one you call, there is actually an option to CANCEL. Just choose that one. And like the person said earlier, listen to what the representative says and if you really dont want to continue, then tell them you dont and they WILL cancel it. Just make sure to get a cancellation confirmation because if for some reason you do get chareged in the future, you will need that to get reimbursed. I have worked for a phone center in the past and I know that I was always willing to help the calm nice person more than the JERK so remember, they are not AOL, they just work for them. How would you like people YELLING at you at your work. If you already have that, I am sorry, but dont make someone elses life Hell just because yours is or at least your jobs is.

I want to cancel my AOL-Service because I have my own server so I don't need AOL anymore. I still keep my first and original Compuserve address. I paid for one year in advance. But I still accept the cancellation right away. Please help me and cancel my AOL-account. Thank you a lot

I want to cancel my aol as i am not in to computers and do not use it enough
thank you
Mrs Munn

Cancel America Online (AOL)
Members can cancel over the
phone or by fax or by mail. They will try to offer you a
free month, but just decline. Tell them you don't have
a computer anymore if they give you trouble.
Try this number first: 1-877-773-4462
2nd option: 1-888-265-8008
Fax: 1-801-622-7969
Address:
America Online
PO BOX 17100
Jacksonville, FL 32245-7100
More info: keyword CANCEL

You know, for some reason they gave me my AOL E-mail for free. And I think they are serious since I haven't received a bill from them in regards to the e-mail account. How nice of them.

What is the phone number for canceling 'GREETING CARDS' within the 30 day period. Spoke with a VERY nice AOL respondant--but when i printed the information,the 'cancel subscription' phone number was not printed. thank you. maureen. Geeze----- give me a break-- i have a math difficulty i am SURE you would not understand...

i am e: maureenwheat@aol.com. please respond.

AOL is so stupid!!!! I call to cancel & they say I will get penalties for canceling before Jan. 1st 2006. Don't no one ever go to them!!!!!

(re: post Dec 19) AOL cancellation attempts such as Ms Munn's are unfortunately commonplace in the internet industry, and result in continued billings like those complained about above. Take some initiative. Pick up the phone, get it done.

I'm 16 yrs old and about 3 months ago I convinced my parents to switch from AOL to DSL they just said I had to order the DSL package install it and cancel AOL. The first 2 parts were simple but AOL was just a hassle I called and got about a half an hour of ads before I got a person. I told them I wanted to cancel and they gave me a long winded pitch. I told them I was getting DSL and they gave me some stupid crap like I could "piggyback" my aol service onto my DSL for the "low" price of 11 bucks a month. I told the guy "So I should pay you 11 dollars a month even though you aren't giving me internet? Just so I can have the name AOL pop up when I sign on to my new DSL which is super fast (which it is)." I flatly told him no and he kept bugging me about the 3 months free thing and I eventually gave in since I wasn't going to get my DSL package for a week anyway I might as well keep it till then. So I get my DSL install it and call AOL again and after a crapload of waitingand listening to sales pitches it happens. Then a few months later they call me saying I owe them money for service. The reason why my parents credit card wasn't charged was because there credit card was stolen and they got a new one with a new number. They're still calling me. We eventually got annoyed and sent them a check for payment AND THEY STILL CALL!!! I tell them everyday the check was sent December 12th, but they NEVER listen. I'm seriously considering going to there headquarters and telling them whats what.

DONT GET AOL!!

Man... I read everyones post and cracked so hard.... I'm seriously loling to everyone on here. I'm canceling my account today.

like i really want to cancel aol but i forgot me security question... what do you think i could do to get it back. Aol is really annoying me and slowing down my computer. I don't want to use dial up anymore and it's too expensive. i wouldnt want to pay for something that's slow and wasted me about 20 bucks a month. Please help...

Frances, I'd call AOL and explain the situation to them. Good luck!

I Just canceled my AOL account using the 877 # it took about 5 min. And they were very polite.

I just cancelled using the 877 number. Got a non-foreigner rep. Just kept saying no, I want to cancel. He said I would be cancelled 1/20/06 (billing date). I'm afraid to log in to acct to get the cancellation email, I've heard that IF you do log in, it re-instates your account. I wrote down the cancellation number and will wait for the snail mail.

He did mention that a bad virus is to be released 1/5/06 and if I didn't have virus protection I have to buy a new computer. Not sure how AOL would have saved me from that..........

THANK YOU FOR SENDING US A MAIL BUT PLEASE CAN YOU GIVE US THE TELEPHONE NUMBER TO CANCEL WITH AOL FOR THE U.K.

THANK YOU

I was married in August of 2003. when my husband and I started living together we thought we would combine our accounts so we only had one bill of $23.90 taken out of our accounts a month. AOL would not let me combine to my husbands account, they said that if I did that I would have to cancel one or the other, and all the screen names would be gone. With me having three teenage boys and at that time no MYSPACE email addresses I decided that it would be fine to just keep the two accounts. Back in Septemper 2004 we bought a brand new HP Media center computer. Comes with the works (my husband loves it). Which includes Comcast cable internet! My husband never canceled his AOL service, but the credit card he used to set up his account expired even though he NEVER used his AOL account. Now that AOL isn't getting their money, they have sent my husband to collections for more than $100 to pay for the service he never used. I sometimes use mine, but just to delete spam so I am up this morning ready to cancel and see this website. I sure hope one of these phone numbers work cause I really don't want this service anymore after reading all these terrible things!

AOL "IS" Big Brother... when I tried to quit, they offered me a YEAR FREE! I told them, "not if you paid ME!" My cancelation time was close to 15 mins. When I removed/uninstalled it, My Ad-Aware program still found fragments with a command line! tHANK gOD IT'S GONE!!

AOL is the sickest joke to exist on the net. I signed up for Comcast internet service due to better speed and pricing, so I decided to cancel my AOL service. What a nightmare!

All their customer service calls seem to be routed to a call center in India, and you can't even understand what the h*ll those people are saying while they're reading off their obvious cue-cards. I too was offered 3 months of free service to stay... forget it! They made another offer of 6 months... no way! They then offered to lower my monthly charge to $12.95... heck no! I just wanted OUT.

It's so easy to see that AOL itself knows their company is headed for a huge financial downfall in the coming years, which explains their desperate plea's / offers to get you to stay with them. I read somewhere that they're losing up to 2 million customers each year. So pathetic!

You guys wanna know the reason why AOL customer service reps are so persistant and rude to you when you're trying to cancel?

A friend of mine worked at a calling center for AOL in Florida about 3 years ago and said that they were given bonuses for every customer they managed to talk into staying with their service. She said that the people she worked with there are mostly morons and losers like used car salesmen and telemarketers. She took that job to earn extra money for college but she quit after 1 month because it was so sickening to be among those other rude people in their call center.
The people who are nicer and more professional are the ones that you probably reached at the main AOL headquarters by using that 1-877-773-4462 number.

After reading a lot of experiences here about AOL customer service people I guess she was right!

I like all of you tried and tried and tried to cancel the stupid account until finally I got sucked in again with a $5 charge per month. But I have also received in the mail a court informational letter to make a claim agaist AOL for charging my credit card without authorization and for late fees, etc... anyone that would like that information I'll be glad to post it.

Thanks! Dave.

*****************
*****************

IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE READ!!!

I honestly urge everyone who has had problems cancelling their AOL accounts to file a formal complaint against them with the Federal Trade Commission. This government agency is there for the sole purpose of protecting consumer interests (forget the Better Business Bureau... they are a JOKE!).
Many people fail to realize that the FTC is there to defend our consumer rights. If enough similar complaints are received, the FTC will launch an investigation against AOL, and probably end up levying very hefty fines upon them.... which of course means even MORE $$$$ losses for an already financially-suffering AOL-Time Warner Corporation... and not to mention the HUGE negative publicity they'll receive from the FTC reports that are often released to the general public/news agencies.

Stop being victims of AOL's bad treatment!! Filing a formal government complaint against AOL takes less than 10 minutes of your time. This is your chance to make a TRUE difference against the company (AOL) who had disrespected and treated you like complete garbage. Please spread the word!!

File your complaints online at-- http://www.ftc.gov

***************************
***************************

I've had AOL since 1999 and cancelled today. I have broadband through my cable service and simply no longer need the additional features nor the expense.

The experience was not unpleasant. Total time on the phone was about 5 mins.

When the service person attempted to pursuade me to stay, I asked, "We had a relationship for 6 yrs. didn't we?"

She answered in the affirmative.

I said, "That's longer than most marriages!"

She laughed.

I've grown comfortable with the AOL format and so I signed up with AOL's bastard child AIM.com. It's free and has many, if not most of the features that I feel I need in an email service.

I'm free!

Thanks for your assistance Dave.

What an experience! I called the 877 # to reach someone who could speak english. I could understand him and he definately could understand me. But he chose not to. I told him at least 20 times I wanted to cancel and that I did not want to answer any more questions. Then he says "don't tell me to shut-up". I never used those words. Then he threatens me with a virus I will get within days of cancelling. Are these people of this earth or what! Cancel means cancel and give me my confirmation number. How simple is that. However, I was only on the phone for at least 10 minutes but I still repeated "cancel" until I was blue and laughing out loud. He told me once that I may think it's funny but I will get a virus and that after 6 years of service why am I cancelling. Well shoot that's just my business and no one elses.

Enjoy your experience of cancelling. A word to the wise, don't join to start with. AOL latches on to everything in your computer, even your printer.

Hi dave I have been trying to cancel my sisters AOL account for about 3 weeks with absolutely no success! My sister recently passed away try explaining that to there call centre! They don,t understand the concept of death! I have spoke to several call centre personnel they ask for details that I can,t give because I don,t know them! They just send me e-mails telling me to phone this number then I go round in circles again!!! I have got to the stage where I told them by e-mail get used to the idea that you won,t be getting paid anymore as the credit card she used is about to be cut up and the account closed! Have these people no feelings we are grieving our dead sister but they have no compassion. AOL Stinks!! Paul

Dave Taylor:
Thank You for the information concerning the headache in cancelling AOL. I was (I believe past tense)an AOL member for almost 12 years. I must say that I could not sleep at night if I pulled the same hard sell tactics that AOL does. I must also say, that there "Ought to be a Law" covering such as the ordeal it is to cancel an account.
Anyway, thanks again, and my experience was just as painful as your description.

I just used 877.773.4462 and got right through. I had to endure quite a sales pitch but was cancelled in about ten minutes . . . thanks for the tip from Lawrence. Harold Tracy Laurel, MS.

I cancelled AOL today and although I did have to suffer through the rep's tries to get me to stay, I was able to cancel. I ended up being on the phone for about 20 minutes. So so so glad I was able to do it with ease.

Whew! FREE at last! The 877-773-4462 went to a call center (India?) but first gave my responses to automated questions (screen name, ph#) then a person verified the SN info. and transferred me to 888-265-8008 where 'Ryan' was just about as hard-sell as any bad aggressive telemarketer that has ever gotten through to me. Told him I simply don't use it -- RYAN: try Verizon + AOL (NO), try a free month (NO), we have better security (NO THANKS) I told him my objective was to CANCEL, and I'd like to CANCEL, thanks. But... no, CANCEL... have you...? CANCEL... 10 minutes total. BE FIRM, BE POLITE, they are just doing their jobs, poor people, but if your objective is to QUIT AOL -- it CAN be DONE!!

Hi guys. Well i dont know why all of you people have gone thru all that crap but take it from me , i called AOL today and i had no problems cancelling my account. Infact, they also told me about the great high speed deal that they have in my area for only 25.90. This is amazing the guy was very helpful and helped me big time! Thanx aol for hiring such reps

After reading all the other comments about AOL I just have to relate my experience with them. I got a person from India or someplace where they can barely speak English and was given the same old pitch. I didn't argue about the extra month she wanted to give me because I couldn't understand her in the first place. Then here came the bill. I argued with their billing dept. and with the supervisor who said I was supposed to cancel again and that they sent me a letter and an email, neither of which I got, advising me they were continuing my service. He refused to refund my money because he said they were right and I was wrong. I can't remember the last time I was a mad as I was today. I HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, WWW.FTC.GOV, AND SUGGEST THAT ANY OF YOU WHO ARE HAVING PROBLEMS DO THE SAME. I have also disputed the charge with my Visa provider and asked them not to accept any more charges from AOL. I can't understand how a company this large can dish out this much crap and not get nailed by the FTC. I don't know if I am free at last but I know they will never get another dime from me.

Thank you to that Trista person a few comments above who provided all that info about the FTC. I just cancelled my AOL service yesterday and had the usual nightmare as everyone else here has. Repeatedly told them no thanks, but the customer service guy kept ignoring me while rambling his sales pitch. It took me nearly 20 minutes to finally get rid of AOL forever.

I know these phone reps are just doing their job, but where do you draw the line between doing an honest job or being a rude, unethical jerk? Shame on AOL for their level of customer service. It's no wonder they're losing over 2 million customers each year, and now that they'd just raised their monthly rates in March 2006, I'm sure they'll be losing even more customers.

So for all of you who are planning to quit AOL, I highly recommend that you file a complaint against them with the FTC by going to www.ftc.gov. Just because you're finally free of AOL doesn't mean that you should let them get away with how rudely they treated you. Do the right thing and file a complaint. I happily did!

Oh myGod! I can't believe this #@*&%!!! All I want to do is cancel my aol membership. I've tried for several days, with no luck. I'm at my wits end......... It's like I'm in aol HELL! I'm so damn mad, I can hardly breathe. I am going to try some of the referenced numbers on this site and attempt one more time........ It's too crazy!!!!!! And Sadam is a terrorist? I'll let you know if I'm successful. Wish me luck please............

Deb

All this whining is almost as tedious as the AOL homepage. I simply called 1-888-265-8008, said "cancellation" quickly after the speech recognition menu was presented, and waited the 8 minutes as estimated. A very pleasant, Anglo sounding 'Holly' took my call and when the sales pitch was initiated I said the reason I was cancelling was - "I was simplifying my life and quitting the internet", actually a very compelling concept.
After a brief moment of silence , Holly said she respected my decision and completed the cancellation in less then 2 minutes.

Well, more and more people are learning AOL is tremendously difficult to cancel.

A good site to check for how to cancel AOL is http://marahs-aol-log.livejournal.com/ . I think it's a good site because I put it up myself after the problems I had cancelling AOL. Cancelling was a nightmare. I went through 3 AOL call reps, one supervisor and a few letters between me, the BBB, and a woman named Heidi Jonguist at AOL before both my free trials were finally cancelled with no charges incurred.

When I asked them to cancel one account they cancelled the other instead, then tried to make it sound like it was a "mistake" when I called them again several weeks later. There's nothing call reps won't pull to stop people from cancelling so they can get their commissions on "saved" accounts!

That link translates into "Help at AOL.com" and really does provide the latest phone numbers and addresses from AOL.com itself. That should save readers some time. Getting through the Automated Operator and the live call reps is another matter.

Here's a link to the BBB if cancelling with the call reps doesn't work: http://www.bbb.org/.
That's the link to file an online complaint against any company, including AOL. That link saved me from having to pay AOL anything. In fact, the matter was resolved in my favor in under 2 weeks, so I recommend using the Better Business Bureau if talking to AOL's call reps fails to result in actual cancellation.

Just keep in mind when filing with the BBB, there's a section of their complaint form that asks, "How would you like to see this complaint resolved?" Be sure to write that you "do NOT want any more free trials or free service". If you don't write that out in words for the BBB to see, AOL will offer free months as a way to resolve your complaint, rather than refund any money. Just keep that in mind.

I wrote in that section of the BBB's form that AOL had "infected my computer like a virus with adware, spyware, and viruses, so I did NOT want anymore free service from AOL".

Lastly, uninstalling any version of AOL is exceedingly difficult, in fact, it's impossible, if you're picky and want it out of your Registry, too. My site shows the great links I found to uninstall AOL from my computer.

AOL deleted all the phone numbers, fax numbers and addresses that can be used by their members to cancel accounts from the link I posted a few days ago. They don't waste much time, do they? My thought is they pay "trolls" to search the Internet for negative references to their rotten company, products, and services. They probably keep an eye on pages like yours, and once I posted the link from AOL.com itself for info on how to cancel AOL, AOL got involved and deleted all the contact info from that page. They really don't want anyone to cancel!

They want to stop people from cancelling so bad they just made "null and void" their lawsuit settlements with the states of Ohio and New York by deleting that information, which was supposed to be published on their site at all times as part of the terms of each settlement. Hey New York and Ohio--trial lawyers, anyone? Looks like AOL's heading back to court!

P.s. I searched AOL exhaustively after discovering the deletion and found, on their entire site, ONE phone number to call to cancel AOL. I called it immediately from my cell phone and lo and behold it was busy. At 12:30 am Eastern time. Go figure. That one number won't be much help to anyone if it's always busy, but that's all AOL's giving us for now. The number is on my web site, I'm keeping it off of here so AOL doesn't use me as an excuse to delete that page also.

Hey im trying to get rid of aol. what is that phone number. Marilyn

Thank you to that person who posted the FTC information. I just filed my complaint against AOL! I successfully cancelled my AOL account after spending 35 minutes on the phone and being transferred between 4 different people! Each one kept throwing out their stupid sales pitch to convince me into staying, and I repeatedly told them "no thank you", then they'd switch me off to another service person who gave me the same stupid sales pitch. That happened 4 times, and the third guy I spoke to was so rude and even yelled at me to "shut up" while he was talking! All I was doing was trying to explain to him that I din't want to hear any more sales pitches and to just please cancel my account!

I'm so furious at AOL for being such disrespectful idiots!!!! Go file a complaint at that www.ftc.gov website like I did. I hope AOL rots in hell!!!!!

took 5 minutes to cancel. just kept repeating the mantra to "Kim". I just need a cancelation confirmation number.you were a great help.

took 10 minutes to try to answer the equation in a creative way but the verification program doesn't have a sense of humor
thanks
Steven

I canceled last night. It was easy. I told them that I got mad at my comptuer and shot it with a shotgun. So I loaded, took the phone outside and shot it into the woods. The service person was on the floor laughing her ass off. Then she got a couple other people to listen and I did it again. They loved it. It took only 10 minutes. She said it was the best call she ever had taken.

I highly recommend this cancelation method.
Oh, and it was with the 1-877-773-4462 number.

i switched to unlimmited charges from aol since i got rid of cable connection which i have done in the past.i kept getting a message that after two hours of free billing i woulld be billed for by the hr.i sent them several emails but it took about 2-3 weeks for their response.tried calling but no answer to my problem. they billed me over $650.00 so i just cancelled as i feel this is fraud. they say that i was in the wrong
and cannot reverse charges buulshit try collecting i will sue them

If AOL has pissed you off with cancellation hassles or fraudulent billing, file a consumer complaint against them at http://www.ftc.gov

AOL is holding my e-mail files hostage...HELP...I want to cancel my AOL subscription but need my AOL 9.0 pfc files. There are too many to do a cut and paste.

I am able to save/burn the pfc file to a CD, but cannot open it. Apparently the only way you can open the file is with AOL software.

I've talked to AOL tech support (a joke) who said I cannot open them anywhere but in AOL. I told them I pay for AOL each month and they are my files....they hung up on me.

Any suggestions?

thanks
Pat

Actually, Patricia, there are tools that can help you export your address book and old email from AOL, but generally they're right: all that data is kept ENCRYPTED on your disk. Check out:

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_export_my_america_online_aol_address_book_and_email.html

Dave, thanks for the info on exporting my AOL pfc files to another ISP...I'll probably be switching to SNET which became SBC and is now AT&T since they are my phone company and they offer bundled packages which include phone, DSL, cell, etc...think ePreserver will import to AT&T? I'll contact them to find out...I'll be so glad to get away from AOL...
thanks again and I'll keep you updated

All I want to do is to cancel my AOL.com Internet guest service. I did not think it would take an act of Congress, yet I shouldn't be surprised as the reason I want to cancel my service is due to the less than user friendly service.

I would appreciate my service being cancelled on Friday, March 24, 2006. I have made arrangements with an internet service that I've used in the past that I was very pleased with.

Linda, please note that I cannot cancel your AOL account, nor am I even affiliated in any way with America Online, so you'll need to call them yourself to cancel. Good luck.

I have to post a correction to my comments about AOL violating settlement terms with NY and Ohio--its actually settlement terms with Washington state that they're in violation of if "cancel contact info" isn't easy to find on their site. I should've refreshed my memory before posting here about that.

As a guest of AOL.com that info was but no longer is easy to find. I use their site search, called "Answer Wizard", which works for me today, but may not tomorrow. Since I'm not a subscriber I can't say if subscribers can find it on AOL's site any easier than I can. Good luck, all.

Thanks for all of the info. I especially got a kick out of all of the people trying to cancel right here, right now. Hee-hee.

Thanks, Dave

Came across your site-wow-my prob-I signed up for aol 90 day freebee, till comcast cable got established. Only 23,99 @ month for 4 months--now it's $49.95 for internet from comcast and I'm still with aol---what's a girl to do??? Where's everyone going for high speed? I can't keep both-too spendy, plus--i'm not real crazy with cable homepage. I have a condo no cable-just telephone and a house with the works from comcast--spend 2 or 3 nights at condo--been dragging my laptop back and forth. Any suggestions from the king? Thx

I'd don't know what to do. I just called to cancel our PTA free trial and they won't let me because I'm not on the account? Huh? I'm the treasurer..I set it up. I gave them everything, my name, my security question answer, everything. I tried to ask what they were talking about, but everytime I asked any question they interupted me and said sorry we can't help you...you could be a hacker!!! Who has ever heard of a hacker calling to cancel a PTA account...hello. The supervisor must have been the guys retarded younger brother because he was about as helpful. (sorry hope to not offend, I'm just very angry) They are faxing me a form to fill out to be put on the account..Why would you fax a form to a hacker to add them to the account...yikes, I think I will contact my bank too!

Thanks for all the info-- called aol to
downsize to just keeping my aol address and aim
Victor was very helpful. it took all of 5 minutes.
costs only 6.95 a month.

hi dave....

thanks for this site. very informative. added hope for all you there. i cancelled aol today and was directed to 888/265-8008. i was on the phone w/ an aol rep. for like 5 minutes. yes, she did try to get me to stay on (nicely) and i replied that i already signed up for a new service. she says that i get to keep my aol address and have access to email and address book, my pictures, etc.

ben

WOW!!! I have been on hold for over 50 minutes and nobody at AOL can get off their ass to pick up the phone so I can cancel the account.

i want to cancel and i just started getting into my computer doing this finding that. what i really need is more free time if you can help me with that. thank you for all your time and concidersation

I canceled my aol account today using 888-265-8008 and it was very easy! A young man helped me thru the process. He did try to get me to stay on, but that of course is his job. He was very polite. I also was able to keep my screen name and acess to my email. Not a bad experience at all.......

Shenell

Everytime I call aol to cancel my service, they give me more free months of service, which is great! I called the number 800-827-6364 to cancel again and they have a voice automated system now. I was only on the phone for 8 mins. awesome! maybe they've been reading your comments...lol. I got another month free but will be canceling for good within that month.

Hey, I registered to aol by accident today.
But I live in Europe and already have an internet provider... I also didn't download anything from the aol website.

Will I need to cancel?

i just tried couple weeks, they keeping charging me. i even forgot my account number and password.
what can i do?

I just called and cancelled my AOL account. Because of this information, it was fairly easy. I sat here endless hours looking around on AOL trying to find where it would tell me how to do so, and of course, why would they put that anywhere on AOL because then a lot of people would go ahead and cancel. I chose to cancel after using a 90 day free disk, and ended up being charged $25.90 for who knows what...the woman that I talked to was very nice, and put my refund through right away and then cancelled my account from there. She told me that the disk isn't really a 3 months free kind of thing, but more of a "try it out, we'll charge you, and if you don't like it, we'll give you your money back." I used to enjoy AOL, but I think it is far too complicated these days, and they don't keep it simple enough. I will never go back to them!

Dave, just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting the AOL Cust. Svc. number. I hunted for it on the AOL site for about 30 minutes, before I turned to the www for answers! Rock on!!!

I used AOL for 6 years. Once I became a "senior citizen" I received an offer for a discounted PeoplePC service through AARP. I signed up for the new service then went to cancel my AOL. Man, what an experience. After digging through the AOL website I found the number I had to call to cancel. I was on the phone for 40 minutes and talked to 3 different people. Only one that spoke fluent english. Long story short, they refused to cancel my account. I wrote a letter to the CEO Jonathan Miller at 22000 AOL Way Dulles, VA 20166. About a week later I got a call from their Customer Service Department. My AOL service was canceled at that time. It was like going through a bad divorce. I will make it a point to NEVER sign up with AOL again. I wlll do without Internet service before that will happen.

After reading so many horror stories about canceling AOL, I decided to face it and make my move. My mind set was prepared.
I called the 800-827-6364 number (same as AOl's Billing Service number) to cancel. I went through the questions asked by the machine, then it told me a consultant will talk to me. I got a gentleman named Jimmy with perfect American English to ask me the same questions that I had just gone through with the machine. He was polite and efficient. After having declined his three offers to stay, he told me to get a pen and paper to jot down the cancellation number. He said an email would be sent to my account to confirm it in the next 24 hours. Then he started saying he had something for me... and all a sudden, I heard a clack and was shut off from him. I kept calling Jimmy to come on back, and waited for 5 minutes just before I said to the dead space the other end that I've got the cancellation number this was complete and hung up. He ended not as graceful as he had started, but it was OK. Just wondering what would happen next to my account.
This morning, 04-28-2006, I opened my AOL email, voila, just before the messages page, there was a posted color page acknowledging the cancellation. It was a good experience. It took me over 9 minutes, including the 5 minutes wishfully waiting for Jimmy to come back on line to conclude the action.
Now the final big test is whether AOL will stop charging my credit card next month. I've been with AOL for 12 years. Others offer charges free on line now. I shall write again to let everyone know the result next month.
Many thanks to Dave Taylor, and to the folks who wrote up this column.

After over a decade, I too want to cancel my AOL. But I have a question; can I keep one or two of my AOL email addresses via thier free web service? If so, how do I tell these idiots that is what I want to do?

UPDATE,

After writing for some help, I found an another blog & called 800-381-4006. Followed the auto voice instructions & within a few minutes on the phone live with a sweet person from India. She accepted my cancellation & allowed me to keep all 7 of my email accounts via access through www.aol.com, FREE (even got a email to that effect)! It is like having your cake & eating it too. I am recent GMAIL convert, but it is nice to know I can still access my old email accounts. Thanks to everyone on this site & you all saved me $180 a year!!

Joe

My experience with AOL is at least as bad as every body else who has posted a complaint. I started an account five or six years ago on behalf of my daughter who was going to college in a southern Georgia location. In the course of her studies and moving several times I lost the original phone number that I used to conncet the AOL account (Dial-UP). My daughter is now married and working at the school she graduated from and no longer needs an e-mail account at home. Long story short - I called AOL and was told that I was not the account holder and got hung-up on. This happened several times. I then went to my credit card company and told them to no lomger pay the AOL bill. They said AOL bills through a bank and the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. My credit card company told me they just return the billing notice and AOL does nothing but continue to bill me. My credit card company said AOL is a real pain in the butt when it comes to canceling. My daughter finally called AOL and said that she no longer wanted AOL service. AOL told her that she or her father [me] could have canceled anytime because both of our names were on the account. I called AOL and told them that I "know where they lived" and the next time I was in their area someone was going to get a kick in the butt. Of course, they hung-up again - they're good at that. I understand the third party boycott law(s) and in spite of said laws I am still going to bad-mouth AOL everytime I get a chance. I hope they come and get me. I'm waithing for them.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ha, finally, somebody has got their finger on AOL, well, as far as it will reach in friggin INDIA!!! No wonder there aren't any jobs available in the US, AOL has given them to idiots than can hardly speak English let alone pronounce the name of the city in which I reside!! I am thankful for the number posted on the website. After the stupid girl on the other end tryed,not once, not twice, but three times to sell me her product, I FINALLY GOT MY DAMN SERVICE CANCELLED!!! WOO HOO!!! Thanks for the tidbits!! >:-) Happy in IA

Dave,
Thanks for the information on canceling aol.
I laughed as I followed your info line for line with what aol was doing. What a pain in the neck.

Thanks Again,

Mark

Good Grief they make it difficult. I tried to be patient and nice and let the guy do his spiel but every time I asked him to cancel he had another round of "reasons" for me not to. Price drop offer to 4.95/month. Maybe they'd keep their subscribers if they dropped the price. I finally lost it when he tried to make me feel guilty for having high-speed access at home (not AOL) but not wanting to have him send me an email explaining all the 'benefits'.

Dude awesome info but man they are really annoying with their questions, but thnx to you man this process was quite easy thnx a lot.

Great info i just hope they don't do any other charges on my account.

This is too funny, but also sad because it's so true. Thank you for the information and advice.

I just cancelled my AOL subscription without any problems. The number is 1-877-773-4462. I spoke to a live person name Dave. I received a confirmation number and a message about my cancellation. Dave however, did all he could to try to keep me with AOL.

I disagree with all of you. there is a reason why aol is the #1 ISP in the world. its because aol cares about their members and will do anything they can to help them out. aol has over 21 million members and is still rising. its people like you that should not even signed up with aol in the first place.

I find this all very funny. The fact is that all of you need google search your ISP and find out how hard it is to cancel them. To all of you that think that AOL is lossing members for every one of you that have canceled they sign up three more If they are so bad why do people keep comming?

AOL, THE HASSLE YOU MADE ME GO THROUGH TO CANCEL MY ACCOUNT IS UNACCEPTABLE, UNACCEPTABLE.

I WILL NEVER, EVER USE AOL AGAIN. I WILL NEVER EVER RECOMMEND AOL TO ANYONE.

AOL, UNACCEPTABLE.

AOL is the worst service provider period. They handle cancellations in such an unprofessional way. The cancellation rep told me to hold on the line to get my cancellation number and instead I get disconnected after waiting on the line for five minutes! Plus he told me that since today is the 17th of the month I will get billed for one more entire month. So watch out for that when you try to cancel. What a total rip off especially after being a customer for so many years.

Yes, AOL has been gaining new customers, but that's only from the people who have bought new computers with AOL pre-installed, which also required an initial subscription of service as part of the rebate offer (just as how MSN is offered on some new computers, too). After their time is up, a majority of those people quit AOL.

And if you think AOL/Time Warner is doing great, tell that to the record number of investors who have been steadily pulling out since 2002. Tell that to the 1,500 workers that AOL just laid off earlier this month in 3 of their call centers. Tell that to the people in France and Germany who are about to lose their internet service since AOL is currently in the planned talks of discontinuing ISP service there. And lastly, the latest financial reports from AOL/Time Warner showed that they lost approximately 850,000 subscribers from the period of January 2005 to May 2006.

Yeah, AOL is really doing great, huh? ;)

I have waited on the phone for one whole hour to cancell my acct. I think this is to long of a wait to cancell my acct.
Rhondia

Ok, after trying to find out the number I needed to cancel AOL, I found this page. I had heard horror stories before, but after reading all of these, OH MY!

I've dialed... (1-877-773-4462)

I'm now sitting on the phone with an approximate wait time of 8 mins or less.......we'll see.

Well, it took 10 minutes to get an actual person, and another 10 to go through the process, Vera, (the polite, english speaking and understanding rep), was persistant but not pushy. After politely telling her "no,thank you, I want to cancel", after every question she finally gave in and cancelled my account, then she made me listen to their important cancellation message.

I am a little leary though, I was not given a confirmation number, but was told by the system that a letter would come in the mail within the next two weeks containing it.

I would like to hope that it was that easy, but to be sure I'll keep one eye on my bank account at all times, I've already talked to my bank about how much trouble it would be to block payment just in case.

Thanks for all the helpful info, I'm sure I would have been lost without it.

i just tried to cancel aol and the guy had to go into his deal about how great aol is and i told him listen i am about to deploy to a warzone (iraq) and he still kept going on and on and i was like man i won't have a use for it. i now have a free month of service because i made the mistake of telling him that i deploy in a month. i can not get rid of this crap! i am going to call back tomorrow any suggestion as to how i can cancel since they don't care that i am about to risk life and limb?

Thanks for lots of comments and suggestions to cancel this terrible internet provider. We have had the same experience in the UK with AOL trying to cancel. There is NO contact to cancel not even a email correct address! As already mentioned do not touch them with a barge pole. KEEP WELL AWAY!
They tie you in with a credit card and payments keep coming out. SO just contact your card company and cancel your card. End of Story!

I would like to Cancel my AOL account

Carl, I can't help you with that request. You are stuck having to call AOL up directly, on the phone, and go through the process as I outline at the top of this page. Good luck to you!

Dave;
Thanks for posting this online. I just finished cancelling my account that was created by my ex. It only took me about 5 minutes to complete and the girl I spoke to after the automated service was very nice and very helpful. I don't like AOL and never intend to have them on my computer EVER! I called the 800-827-6364 #. Got a cancellation # and will receive one in the mail in 14 days.

i gues want to cancel my aol, because i am not satisfied with, i dont like it,and i cant do much with it,it has irritated me so bad,so i will get something else. thank you

I tried quitting AOL today after 11 years of service and they actually had the nerve to ask me my secret question and passcode I created when I was frickn 16.

So...

I still have an account..
bastards

I'm not sure what the addition quiz was about, but I read this whole page and by whole page, I do mean the comments and everything while I was waiting on hold to cancel my service! OMG! WTF! Do they think you'll get bored or fed up and just hang up??? GRRRRRRRRR

I think I canceled my account after arguing with the customer service rep for 10 mins. Bless his heart. You just have to keep saying, I just want to cancel my account. He then put me through to someone else to confirm and it rang and rang and rang then my call got dropped. I'm on a land line not cell phone fyi... So I then called my bank to issue a stop payment on that account forever. AOL is the devil.

Hello Everyone!
I've just read all your postings on problems cancelling AOL and wanted to let you know my experience thus far.
We have had AOL for 12-15 years...a really long, long time. We paid by the year and allowed AOL to bill using our checking account number or our charge account number. AOL was the absolutely only business that had both those numbers.
In the summer of 2005 we began to get dozens of fraudulent charges on the card and the checking account. Both were cancelled immediately and both the bank and the charge acct. company worked for months to get it all straight. It helped that I had not used either that checking acct or that charge card for 6 months before the fraudulent charges began to appear.
I called AOL to let them know that I was SURE AOL was involved in this and met with a totally disinterested and rude individual. From that point on I was determined to dump AOL. When my membership ran out at the end of 2005, AOL WAS UNABLE to automatically renew due to the accts. being long closed. AOL then began to bill me by mail and call me on the phone. They insist I owe them for another year's service and that I have renewed which I HAVE NOT. I have happily been using Gmail and high speed internet service through my cable company since Sept 2005. I do not use AOL.
Do you recommend that I call them and officially cancel or what?
I wanted others to know that just stopping them from billing you through your bank or your credit card DOES NOT MAKE THEM GO AWAY or at least it hasn't for me. I EAGERLY AWAIT YOUR ADVICE AND RESPONSE. THANKS

How do I cancel/delete an aol account? I have searched and searched and can't seem to find the delete button???? Please help me delete my account. Thanx, CACommINS@gmail.com

hey everyone

just thought I would add my story. Iused one of thos aol cd's for 3 free months in Dec. 2004 called in Feb. of 2005 to cancel got the same run around a free month ect. I told them no I just wanted to cancel my service. Finaly I got the ok your canceled (so I thought)my wife didn't know I canceled my service (she never gets on the computer)so they have been deducting money from my checking account since Mar. of 2005 I found out after my wife came to me in Feb. 2006 and told me I had to cancel my aol account because money was short with the twins on the way. Well needless to say I've been fighting with them every sice.And theres no way there going to give that money back but thats ok I just want to get my account canceled. One other thing it's funny that when I uninstalled the aol soft ware my computer crashed I had 3 service techs. tell me you uninstalled aol soft ware didn't you.

I feel very sorry for each and every single one of you. I have been using AOL since 1999 and quite frankly, I am sick of it. It is TOO SLOW, and it crashes all the time. Sometimes, I literally wait 10 MINUTES for ONE web site to load. That is absoulutely, postiviely ridiculous. AOL is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to an easy-to-use, realiable Internet Service Provider. I am cancelling (or hoping to cancel) my account today and getting a high-speed service that is local in my area. We're all victims of the "AOL Con Game" and sooner or later, they're going to pay for it. I know there have been a lot of numbers released on this page, but I'll provide them here for anyone who needs them:

1st Number: 1-877-773-4462
2nd Number: 800-827-6364
3rd Number: 1-888-265-8008
4th Number: 1-800-392-5180

And if any of you want to file a complaint with the FTC, or the BBB, here are their links.

FTC: www.ftc.gov
BBB: www.bbb.org

You're all free to use what you want, but from expierence, there are better alternatives than AOL.

Dear Sirs,
I have just had a reasonably poor experience with your phone in service. I tried unsuccessfully for over 24 minutes to get my service uncharged for the month of June due to financial hardship. I was attempting to cancel my AOL service and I was answered within 2 minutes by a PERSON. I informed him I wished to CANCEL my service AFTER he asked me if I had called to sign up for new exciting services! I have poor hearing but if I heard correctly, he said he would put me through to "cancellations". I waited for 19 minutes. I then logged onto AOL and had a chat online with AOL Tech BCE. This person was incredibly gracious to me after I, admittedly quite rudely, lambasted this Tech BCE for this rediculous amount of being put on hold time. As I was typing to this Tech, I FINALLY was answered on the phone! It had been 22 minutes and some seconds from the moment I called AOL, a full 19 minutes on hold for "cancellations". I attempted simultaneously to voice chat and verbally report my displeasure with these wait times. I am fully disabled because of my hands so it was quite difficult to type quickly and talk to someone else. After a short discussion with the telephone respondent, I was told by Her, that I would have to call another number. 1-888-265-8008 for "cancellations". I am Jeffrey L. Meisner. I was closing an account for Ramona L. Cooke. I have had my name on a joint account, (On and off. Due to financial troubles I was forced to remove my name from her account at times.), with Ms. Cooke under the account name mopowoody from 2002 up until mid-April. The Credit Union account we used for the mopowoody account has been closed for financial reasons which is why we wish to cancel our service.I repeat, I was told on the phone that I would not be able to cancel the account and the number I was given was for "cancellations". Again. I waited 19 minutes to speak to "cancellations" and was, after a 2 or 3 minute discussion where I expressed my etreme displeasure, referred to "cancellations"? This is outrageously poor customer service. Please tell me how I can be assured that I won't be billed and what protection I have from my bad temper with your representatives. I don't want to cause difficulties. I apologize for rudeness but I believe you can see why I was upset. I also apologize for statements regarding lawyers. I expressed my apologies to Tech BCE at the time but feel compelled to write and formally apologize. Thank You. However, I was extremely frustrated. My 82 year old virtual Mother-In-Law is having a kidney and a large cancerous tumor removed tomorow and times are quite stressful here. Thank you for your time. God Bless you.


Sincerely,
Jeffrey L. Meisner

Please advise me about that one Dave? These people Mafia or what?.............Jeff :-)

easiest way to cancell aol is to instruct ur bank/credit company not to accept deductions from them

I am the Newest Member of the CantCancelAOLClub.
I spent the last hour and 20mins on hold and talking with a man I didnt understand. This was after reading this blog and bypassing all of your helpful tips. I can only imagine how much longer I would have been. I used a combination of your tech's...I used the helpful number for direct contact...the security code feature...and the "i'm getting my last affairs in order" to finally get him to give me my confirmation number. He did say it may not go through and then I had to tell them i would cancel my Credit Card account to get away from them, and He then gave me another "actual" code. So to everyone out there trying to get rid of their account...make sure you get the "actual" code...otherwise you may keep getting billed.
Thanks for listening
Mark of Seattle

Rob, please note that AOL probably has a legal right to go after you for unpaid fees if you just cancel your credit card or otherwise block payment without notifying them that you want to cancel. I would recommend calling, even if you have to spend 30 minutes on hold and another 10 minutes saying "yes I want to cancel" over and over again.

yeah,itried to cancell and that was a joke!!!step by step everything happen you said,it would.could i have yopur security answer please?can i have your name and address?night phone please?please hold
i held.then can w eask why you are leaving?basically i am fincially bind and can only afford phone ,rent,and my car.
that,s a shame so they repeat everything that i said,three times.pain in the a--!!you know!!!so they offer free two months and 4.95 cents a month after augusty.well who could pass that up?it like a mob/once you join them you can,t leave them.crazy.if i have to i will leave!!

I followed your advice but I also faxed the cancellation with a page that comes out and says it went through. I sent a copy of this all to my bank including a copy of my bill that I printed off the night before I cancelled, so I had a record of the bill and told them I do not authorize any more payments from them.

So far so good, I will let you know if that is the last I hear!

Thanks for the advice!

How about this story? I have never had AOL - yet suddenly I'm being charged $25.90 on my credit card. I call AOL, stay on hold for 20 minutes, and I'm told that yes, there is an account with my credit card and name, but not my phone number or address. I tell him it's not me, it's fraudulent. I tell him to immediately cancel the account and give me the address and phone number of the person who opened the account with MY credit card. He tells me that he CAN'T give me the information and he can't cancel the account! What? He then gives me a number for their fraud department, so I call and stay on hold for 45 MINUTES. I finally get a recording that says "sorry we're closed" and I'm disconnected. I tell you ... I would never EVER use AOL. Their customer service is non existent and sucks. In the meantime, I fixed their happy butts (both AOL and the criminal who stole my CC number) and had my bank cancel the credit card and issue me another number. I also filed a claim with my bank for fraud.

I'm not done with AOL yet. I will be complaining loud and wide to anyone who will listen. DO YOU HEAR ME AOL?

Thank u thank u thank u. my aol account haz jus been CANCELED. i hav had aol 4 3 years!! my mother haz alwayz thout it waz my computer dat waz slow, but now dat i got a laptop (ha) she relized it waz aol.LOL (i hav alwayz nown dat).mt father got him into dis situation (since he pays aol) & told me to call the stinkin number & cancel immediatly.i researched da # & witin 12 minutes my account waz canceled. the number is 1877-773-4462. i m aol FREE. the aol person Garret said i cud keep my email adress 4 free but after wat i hav been through i aint takin the risk.DO NOT GET AOL.

After being with aol for, wait for it, a whopping 14 years (on two accounts), I finally canceled. I wish to thank all the people who posted information on this page, as it helped keep me going when they kept bouncing me around.

Why was I there so long you say? I had been on aol since version 1.0 for windows (yeah that long). When I changed to another account (rather than the one I shared with someone) in 1994 I applied for, and got the position, to actually work for aol from home. I have not paid for my aol account since late 1995. Why would I leave! It was free. But, as I moved on from working for them, I decided to change, that is when it got ugly.

Ever really searched your computer after uninstalling aol? HAH! Boy are you in for a surprise if you haven't. Aol leaves all kinds of junk on there. And that isn't even mentioning all the things it leaves in your registry. It took me a while to remove it all. So be warned, just because you uninstall it, doesn't mean it is even remotely gone. It is hiding all over your computer.

Well the person who actually talked to me (on my 4th try of calling), and gave me my cancelation number. If you call back a little while later, and go through all the prompts, info inputting, etc. it will tell you that your account was canceled before you get to a person (if they really canceled it).

Here is the fun part though. The person on the phone kept telling me all I had to do was go through aol.com and check my email to get the confirmation that it was canceled. Now that just seemed really wrong to me. So I said 'no thanks' and made my return call to check the status (as I said before). Boy I am glad I did.

Not only did I find out that yes it was canceled, but I got a nice little message saying ...

1. That they would mail me, postal mail mind you, a confirmation saying it was canceled and that it would take up to 14 days for me to get it.

2. That if I wanted to change this (not cancel or get my account back) all I had to do was go to aol.com and log in under my name.

I knew what the person on the phone said was fishy. How nice, not!

That isn't even the most interesting part. This is where I also must thank those who have posted here. THANK YOU!!!!! Because when I called the 3rd time, the person there tried to tell me, since I didn't have the C.C. that I had originally used on the account anymore, (man am I glad I remembered I had the number written down in an old book LOL) that I should just log into aol and change the billing information. I am so glad I didn't do that. Hello! What give them access to a current account? Save me from the sneaky bad people (and companies) of the world. There are way to many of them.

If you are thinking about joining aol, DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have uninstalled aol from your computer and are computer savy I suggest you clear up your drive and registry.

If you aren't computer savy, find someone who is and have them clean it all up for you.

You will be glad you did.

Good luck to anyone trying to still get out from under the aol boot.

Me I am happy with Sprint and Earthlink. One fee, less than aol, for dsl, it is on my regular house phone bill and earthlink came with it free. And not for a limited time. I am a happy camper.

I wish I found this page last week. At least then I would've known what to expect when I called to cancel my AOL account.

I thought it would be a simple process, but nope. I was connected to someone who barely spoke understandable English. I think he was in India because he sounded like that Apu character on The Simpsons. I tried to explain to him several times that I no longer needed AOL since I got a good deal with high speed internet from Comcast. I can't believe this guy had the nerve to tell me to 'shut up' not once, but twice! That's right, he told me to 'shut up' and listen to him.

To make a long story short, it took me nearly 30 minutes to cancel my AOL account. 20 minutes on hold and about 10 minutes for the actual cancellation process.
AOL should be ashamed of themselves with their level of unprofessional and disrespectful customer service! Never in my life have I ever dealt with such shameful rudeness! I know that some here have luckily had better experience with a nice customer service person who is simply doing their job, but it seems a majority of the people here are just like me in having dealt with disrespectful AOL representatives.

I'm glad that I'll never have to deal with those morons, and I'm even happier that AOL Time Warner is losing customers and money every year! What goes around comes around. That's karma for you, AOL! Shame on you!!

aol sucks.i tried to cancel my aol account.those people jus keep on shoving offers up your @$$.

yes i want to cancel my aol....they promised me back in 2005 they would reinubuse me the $200.oo the took out of my account and never did...and they are still charging me..i found a better isp. and i want nothing else to do with aol...their services are way to high anyway...thank you

I tried canceling aol last night. haha what a trip. the man by the name of mike pretty much gave my mother the guilt trip as to why she would take away her childrens service.... um b/c we were the ones who asked her to. the man had an attitude problem, told us that we were only customers for 6years, when i know for a friggin fact its been 10. got it at 14, now im 24. hmm do them math buddy. he was rude, told us to cancel the new yr plan we had with opt online and to come back to aol becuase they offer this bull and more bull. how come new members are given a 100$ gift card for signing up, but for old members they get nothing? oh okay so offer me aol rewards, yes another credit card. morons. so i have to pay to get a point. whatever. mike was so rude he even hung up on us at the end of the convo... just because we wanted to cancel. instead of giving us the cancellation number we needed to cut them from taking money from our credit card he keeps blabbing on and on rudely on how dumb it is for us to cancel.... look we just need the code... hangs up. nice fella. time wasted on phone about an hour. they send you from sales person to sales person, not a single one willing to help u cancel.... its sad that they only offer you the world when youre ready to cancel. then dont even let you cancel. Mike told us rudely that if we signed on or checked our email, YOU WILL GET A BILL. yet umm isnt aolmail free and aim free? im confused and cant talk to anyone w/o them trying to get me to sign up for another plan... blah blah.... they dont even have a contact us page on the site. crazy. buyer beware... run... becuase once theyve got you theyve got you for life, and believe me 2 hours spent on the phone is not worth their cruddy 25$ a month dial up. yay dial up. yay aol. seriously spend the extra 10 bucks and get optonline or some other service, aol is by far the worst , and by far have the rudest customer service reprasentatives.

I expected the worst, and was satisfied with their service. I cancelled 1 account and re-priced 3 others saving $600.00/year. I'm generally impressed with their work.

I WANT TO CANCEL SRVICE I DID NOT ORDER AND IS TAKING MONEY OFFOFMY CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT.

Beware people! When you cancel your account, they'll often tell you two things: 1) Logging in after cancelling re-activates your subscription; and 2) That a confirmation notice of your cancellation will be sent via e-mail to your AOL account.... whatever you do, DO NOT LOG IN TO CHECK FOR IT! I repeat... DO NOT LOG BACK IN TO YOUR ACCOUNT ONCE YOU'VE CANCELLED OVER THE PHONE.

By doing so, you've just re-activated your AOL account... and once again you're trapped in the hellish nightmare of being "legally" billed each month.
This recently happened to a friend of mine. She figured that she had to log in to check the cancellation confirmation e-mail and did so a few hours after hanging up with the AOL service rep. A week later she received a copy of the cancellation confirmation in the mail, so she assumed all was said and done. Nope! A month and a half later she finds that AOL has continued billing her credit card because she had "logged back in" to her account after being mislead into believing this needed to be done to receive/confirm her cancellation e-mail.

AOL is nothing but a bunch of greedy, selfish and manipulating jerks. And the really sad thing is that I bet they're so proud of that while laughing all the way to the bank with our money!

I recently had to go through this, and I expected a nightmare. Then I had a flash of brilliance.

I explained to the customer service rep that I was recently convicted of a crime, and part of my sentence was that I was to have no Internet service accounts in my name or use the Internet. I still did have to tell him that I didn't want a free extension of the service, but he wasn't very pushy at all. I am sure they are required to offer those deals before processing the cancelation.

Towards the end of the call, the rep said that I'd still be able to use the AOL email account that was part of my full account, and this account would receive an email confirmation of the cancelation. I again said that I was not allowed to use the Internet because of the Judge's ruling, and I had to have a confirmation number to give to my lawyer (to prove to the Judge I had complied). The rep said I would get a postal letter in 7-10 days with the confirmation number, but I took the guy's badge number as well. He then transfered me in to an automated system which gave me the confirmation number.

I have tried for 5 months to cancel my accout and it was a 90 free and I used it for 5 min. trying to get on line and I called them right away and they said try it for 30 days and then call beack. I told them to cancel it now. Well 6 times I have tried and I just called them and told them I was recording the call and they did not want to talk and They ask me to turn off the recorder and I said yea, well I lied and they still gave me the run around. I was P$$$ bye know and I then told them I did not turn of the recorder and Would report them to the BBB and them got mad and I told them no problem and call my bank and cancel my card and the bank is going to give me back the past 2 months fees and give me a new card. The bad thing is the ladie at the bank said she just did the same thing and they get a 3 or 4 calls a week about the same thing. O'well they will not get no more of my money and I should have called the bank the first time. Good luck with aol.... Dead beats need to be closed down...

Hmmmm . . . AOL seems to have defeated the work-around to get rid of AOL pop-ups. I had thought I had set my preferences to 'no pop-ups', but they are forever popping up. I searched, found your information, followed it: my preferences are set to 'no pop-ups'. Then I noticed their little note: 'AOL will still send you marketing pop-ups . . . ." The AOL mindset is an amazing thing to behold -- unfortunately I'm too busy to change over to another service, notify everyone, etc..

lol

how do i close my aol acount down i was just signing up 4 fun and i dont know if it's free how do i shut it down

OMG I just sat on the phone while someone tried to convince me my life would go down the drain if I cancelled AOL. After much protesting and stating I would just fine without them, he told me check my mail with my AOL screen name to get the confirmation number and then he hung up on me. Funny thing is, he had told me right before that, all I had to do was use my screen name to reinstate my service. What a dope. I am still not sure if I have been cancelled. I don't dare log on to find out. P.S. I think it is pretty funny that people keep writing notes to "Dave" asking him to cancel thier service.

I have to smile sadly at the posts by people who say "Oh, I had no problem. I spoke to someone and they cancelled my account right away." All I can say is, check your credit card or checking account next month. I had to actually close my checking account to stop AOL. When the people at the bank asked me why I was closing my account and I told them it was to stop AOL from continuing to debit my account, they said "Oh yeah, we hear that all the time."

You all should visit ebaumsworld.com. There's a posting on that site where an AOL customer service rep is on the phone with somebody, and he records it. I am a CSR, too (not for AOL, thank God), and I have to say WOW. The guy was just not very friendly. The customer says "I want to cancel this account," and the CSR just keeps on saying "Well... I've got you pulled up right here... and it says you've been..." It's like the guy doesn't even listen to you! I am planning on cancelling mine tomorrow, and I hope that I have as much luck as the testimonies here have had. I only hope I don't get "John!" I swear, those CSRs must be robots.

i want to cancel my aol
and using your 800 numbers does not work i have tried to get through to you to no avail.

please cancel this mess and stop debiting my account
i would like for some one to email me with a confirmation number

thank you

Just my 2 cents. Just cancelled aol service. I've been listening to all the horror stories on Clark Howard and decided to do a search...that's how I ended up here. I used the 888-265-8008 number, took 23 minutes from the time I called to get my confirmation number. I should have a cancellation letter in the mail within 14 days, just prior to the end of "my billing cycle." I'll take that letter to the bank so they are sure not to process any charges (hopefully.) So, short of the wasted 20 minutes, it seemed relatively painless. When I get through a month of no charges to my account, then I'll know it is really all over with.

Aol sucks balls and cancellation is a bit*h. I called 1877-773-4462, dont chat online, its a waste of time. Now u gotta wait a bit. When the auto message asks you something just press 0. do that for every question and it puts yhou on hold for the next rep. I got some guy who sounded indian. I just told him i got mad at my computer and shot it, some other guy here recommended it, and it worked great. The rep tried to connect me to ppl who can get me a cheap computer, i just said im done with computers, NO MORE! so the guy justs canceled my account, i got my comf#. It was pretty fast.

I've been an aol member since 1998 and it has been working well but cancelling it may be the best option. After going through multiple times of being kicked off on a brand new computer with a brand new network. The security is also too much. im happy that it is free but it uses too much memory and locks up often. Currently im trying to switch to time warner aol so i can have road runner at hand. Im keeping aol bcuz my father needs it for business, but i havent called yet because im afraid of being stuck on the phone for hours just trying to change service

How about this method:

Repeatedly violate the "Terms of Service". Go into a chat room and use vulgar language and insult everyone. Let them get angry and report you to TOS. AOL will cancel your account for you!! No problem!!

I canceled my AOL account this morning. I was dreading it because I have had to do it before... why do I keep signing up for those free trials? Oh yeah because I want those "free" iPods hahaha! Anyhow, I was shocked to be off the phone and canceled within 9 minutes! WHAT A RECORD. I actually got a decently nice operator guy as well. This will amaze me for the rest of the day. Quickest number to call is 1-888-265=8008

dude i have heard so much of the same thing its crazy but did you ever have a problem of them chargeing you after you cancled let me know man im a little worried thanks though for the input
jess

Before I share about my cancellation woes with AOL, I would like to provide a background to this problem.
Back in May of 2006 I received an advertisement flyer in the mail for AOL's new High Speed Service for $25.90. I had just recently come back from a 7 month deployment in Iraq with the Marines. Before my deployment I used to have high-speed cable with Time Warner (Road Runner) for $44.95/month. When I saw the flyer I was like, cool it's a lot cheaper than my previous service. So, I signed up that day and was explained to me that while I will be signing up for AOL, the actual service would be provided by Time Warner. I was like cool, since I had service through them before with no problems. Unfortunately for me, I discovered pretty quickly that I was just starting a frustrating adventure. Apparently, I had signed up for AOL- Road Runner lite which was 768K DL where the service I was used to using was 5MB DL. Okay, so far not AOL's fault. (I discovered in tiny characters that were barely visible on the back of the original flyer) I just simply realized that I was willing to pay more for faster and more efficient connection. Plus I had only signed for AOL High Speed due to the price and thinking it was the same type of high speed service. I could care less about their security software (Anti-virus, spam-blocker, etc) since I had already personally purchased everything that I would need previously. All I needed was simple internet connection (5 MB DL rate of course) and that would be it.
Okay, so I have provided the background. I know I've already wrote a lot but now I'm about to get to the main point (s). Bear with me....
I call AOL and just like everyone else I have to go through the typical time consuming hassle and the runaround before I get someone on the phone. (waiting time was around 15-20 minutes) I explained the whole situation and state that I mistakenly signed up for something I really didn't want. I also went on to say that I just wanted to deal only with Time Warner since I was already getting the service and billing through them. (I had been originally told by AOL that all billing will be done by Time Warner) My intention was to upgrade my service through Time Warner. The AOL rep didn't seem to listen to anything I said, and he just wanted me to stick with AOL and starting trying to teach me about why I should stay with them and the various features of AOL. I repeatedly tell him that I'm already aware of what AOL offers and that I just want to cancel with AOL and continue my services with TW just like I had before I had gone to Iraq. After about 15 more minutes of talking back and forth, I start losing my patience (I'm a very patient man by the way) and firmly tell him that I will have to end this conversation since it wasn't getting anywhere. I had repeatedly stated no to everything he said. Then he says that all he's trying to do is help me and enlighten me on AOL. And he accuses me of being rude and yelling at him. Now I am completely appalled and say a few things myself. I never used any profanity nor did I yell. I maintained my professionalism but this rep apparently wasn't capable. Now that I look back, he was getting frustrated due to the fact I'm very well versed in computers and I just wasn't buying into anything he was saying. Every time he had something to say, I always had a good counter to it. I even got all technical on him. As the end of this conversation was near an end, and before I could get his name and ID#, he hung up on me! Right before he hung up on me, he stated that he couldn't cancel my account. He said that the only way to cancel was to get with Time Warner.- then he was off the phone.
I contacted Time Warner (after only a couple min wait) and explained my dilemma. The rep said, no problem and she upgraded my service right on the spot. She also said that she would perorate my first bill with the $25.90 rate and their rate (they gave me $34.95 special for the first 6 months) She did however recommend that I get in touch with AOL to cancel with them. I told her that I had already tried but to no avail. She said to me that whatever the AOL rep said was wrong and not the right way as far as procedures went in accordance with their partnership service. I asked her to transfer me to AOL with her still on the phone to ensure I get to the right person. She eventually connects me and she even explains the whole situation to that AOL rep. Now it's just me and the AOL rep on the phone. This guy apologizes and states that he will cancel my AOL service. I ask him if there is any cancellation confirmation # and for an assurance that this is a done deal. He assures me that it is a done deal and that I don't have to worry about it any longer. But he also says that there is no cancellation number. It sounds a little fishy but I let the issue go.
(on a side note- keep in mind that I only used AOL for a week. actually I didn't even utilize any of their features only the Time Warner internet connection from the beginning)
Anyways, I notice a perorated amount of $31.09 hit on my bill from TW which I was expecting. Then another week goes by and I all of a sudden notice a $25.90 charge. I'm like, "what the F_CK!" I call AOL (again after much runaround, waiting, and wasted time) and complain to them. I tell the rep that I had already cancelled. Then the rep states that the $25.90 charge was for dial-up services. I'm like, "I don't even use dial-up!" Another see-saw battle along with sales pitches occur. However this Rep isn't as strong as the very first rep and he gives in and says that he will credit my card back with the charge of $25.90 and that it should be a done deal now. I ask him for a confirmation # but says that it should be good and same as before. I give the guy some leeway since he said that he was going to credit my money back to my account.
As time went by and my second bill with TW posted, this time for $34.95 as expected. Then a few days after that, I see another $25.90 charge! I'm like, "that's it, I can't take this anymore!" I try to get Time Warner involved in this siutation to help me out but the $25.90 charges can't even be seen by their computers. I have no choice but to deal with AOL again.
I am on hold for 15 minutes before I get someone on the phone. The first thing I say is "Before you say anything, let me explain every single intricate detail so that you will be able to help me." I guess that as a fellow human being, the AOL rep felt sorry for me and she is very helpful. She finally explains to me the reasons of the continuous problems. She says that what I initially signed up for was part of a bundled packaged via a partnership with Time Warner and AOL. I was signed up for AOL services, AOL dial-up, and the high-speed connection through TW. She says that I will be able to just continue using the TW service, and that she'll credit the $25.90 back to my account. She says that there is no need to cancel the AOL services and I can continue use them at no charge with TW. (apparently I was never canceled like I was supposed to) I found this very hard to believe. I tell her straight up to cancel EVERYTHING AFFILIATED WITH AOL ASAP! She then finally says she will and does it right on the spot. Then she says that I will have to listen to a disclaimer and it might or might not give me a cancelation confirmation number. At this point, I just want to give up so I say okay. I then listed to the disclaimer and THANK GOD! it tells me a cancellation conf. #! The madness was finally over. (I would still have to wait to see if I get my money back on my account)
The money is put back in my account after about 5 days or so and I have my fingers crossed that AOL is finally out of my life. These past couple months have been hell for me. If AOL tries to screw me again, I will get with BBB, FTC, and file a class action lawsuit - the whole package. I will get them for fraud, emotional stress, and everything single negative thing I can think of that they put on me. EVERYONE- DON'T EVER EVER USE AOL. I hope they go out of business. For those of you who have had no problems canceling, good on you. You were all very lucky. But don't think for a moment that just because you were treated fairly, the company should be praised and left alone. There has been way too many problems and complaints from consumers and too many inconsistencies as well screwing the consumers by AOL. OKAY I'M FINALLY DONE WRITING!!!!! C-YA!!!!!

Hi,
Here is the antidote.
I had a dsl modem from 2wire, a provider from sbc/att yahoo dsl.
When my modem took a dump i called and they shipped me a replacement modem. in the meantime i wanted to access the internet and my email. signed up with aol dial-up, free service, 1095 hours or 45 days, whichever came first.
When I received the dsl replacement modem, i called SBC/At&t and cancelled the service from aol directly. No hassle. After all SBC/AT&T does not want disgruntled customers who dispute the charges from aol.
I suspect that visa, mastercard, american express, ..., do not want the hassle neither. So, go to the provider of your direct access for AOL, b/4 u go to AOL. That way, no matter the outcome, you will not be charged for something you don't want.
The plus side? I used AOL 2 keep me connected at thier expense. And peeps, u r right, AOL makes it extrememly difficult to ex your account from thier database.
Bottom line, use AOL as a redundant way to stay connected, when your network/dsl connection takes a dump.

I called the 877-773-4462 and was on hold about 5 minutes (not to bad) BUT when I did get to the automated line it would not recognize my security information. I was transferred to a live person and they informed me that the access information was temporarily down and I would have to call back in approximately 2 hours. I called my bank and cancelled the automatic draft. Period. End of story. Done!

I have to vent somewhere! I have been billed for AOL now over THREE YEARS ! we agreed to automatic deductions from our checking account. after we cancelled, they kept billing, again, and again. oh, from time to time we would get credits, then a bill would show up again. they said it was after our 30 day free trial period. I said 'We DON'T have AOL!'. do you have internet? yes, I said, we get free service through my husbands work and its not AOL. we want our money back! my employer at the time was only going through direct deposit at the bank I had for AOL, so I was stuck. We contacted the bank to stop the payments, we cancelled our card. the bank can only stop payment if you pay their stop payment fee of $35, they said cancelling the card should do the trick. It didn't. Finally after another bill after our 'free trial' I had the pay refuse to pay last months charge. the bank said this surely would get AOL to send us a regular bill in the mail. but no, today I check and my account is overdrawn, AOL is still trying to bill. the bank conceded defeat, they are closing our account. they said they never seen anyhting like it. they even tried contacting AOL about the charges. why, you ask, THREE years of putting up with this? whhat is the problem? AOL claims THEY HAVE NO RECORD OF US !!!!!!!! yet, they send info out to my secondary e-mail address and bill us every month !!!!!!!! and they can't find a way to stop billing us.

We have kept AOL for probably 8 years longer than we should have. So thier tactics work at keeping customers. However, as a result I hate AOL. They would have been better off making it easy for me to cancel and then offered me an high speed upgrade. As a result I will never ever do business with them again! They will eventally put them sells right out of business. Pass the word on and thank you to ASK DAVE!

I had been with AOL since 1996. After Qwest DSL became available, I was able to cancel my AOL account in 8 minutes on the phone, speaking with an AMERICAN! Warning! if you chose to cancel via FAX, it will take at lease 3 days to process.

Thank you for this site !!! I called 800-827-6364 was on hold maybe 2 minutes was pressured to stay I have been w/AOL for 10 years....cancelled my account in 6 minutes. BUT have been trying to cancel for days thanks to this site its taken minutes..

Just so you guys know, AOL reps earn a bonus commission for every customer they manage to convince in staying with AOL... that's why a majority of them are demanding, unrelenting, rude, arrogant, uneducated, and heartless jerks. The base-pay for the job is extremely cheap (just about minimum wage earnings), so they're forced to act the way they do if they wanna make a good paycheck for the week.
Most commission-based jobs is where you'll find people like that... used car salesmen, telemarketers, bill collectors, etc.

The only reason why I know this is that my sister worked as an AOL rep in one of their call centers here in Florida. She quit after three weeks because she couldn't stand the people she worked with. There were a few friendly people there that really did their best to be polite and kind as a proper rep should, but she said that everyone else just seemed really uncaring.

Oh, and another thing. If by any chance you want to quit AOL because it's too expensive, I'll let you know that you can actually get your monthly rate reduced to just $4.95. Call them saying you want to quit because it's too expensive. They'll throw out the typical sales pitch of why AOL is worth the price, but keep telling them that it's too expensive and that you'll be switching to a cheaper local ISP. They'll then offer you a month to 3 months of free service, but tell them that's only a "temporary solution" since your monthly rate will go right back up after that free period is over, and again reiterate that AOL is too expensive. They'll then say they can offer you a reduced rate of $19.95 a month... say "That's still too expensive." After a little speech, they'll offer you $10.95, tell them the same thing and throw in that your local ISP would only cost you $9.95. The rep says that they can match that price if you decide to stay, but politely tell them "No thank you. If you want me to stay, you're gonna have to beat that price."
Now you've reach the end... the rep will say, "I can arrange for your unlimited access monthly charge to be $4.95 if you'll remain with AOL." At this point you should sound hesitant for a bit, make like you're thinking about it, and then tell them "Ok, that's a good offer" or whatevers. Have them put that agreement in writing and to send you a copy (they'll get one out to you within 1 - 2 weeks), and notify your bank / credit card company of the expected change.

$4.95 is the absolute LOWEST that they are authorized to offer and cannot go any lower. So, for those that still want to stay but hate paying the recently increased montly rate, do that and enjoy your cheaper AOL service! Many thanks to my sister for providing that info to you all! :)

I just called the 800-827-6364 number to canel my AOL account. . they must be listening. I was on the phone for less than 5 minutes even though the representative tried to keep me longer with AOL offers! I am keeping my fingers crossed this works. thanks for all the helpful numbers and hints.

If I can manage to quit AOL, is there a good way to redirect my email from AOL to something that will be here in 3 years?

I need to quit AOL because it is such a major memory and resource hog. Is anything any better?

I just called the 877 number (thanks to whoever posted it). I called at 9:32am this morning and was off the phone by 9:40am! Polite girl on the phone, asked me a few questions, made the $9.95 offer to stay (that required a 1 year committment, of course). This was after 5 minutes of a recorded operator trying to decipher what I was saying to the machine...my pet's name, my screen name, my zip code, etc. Once it even asked me to re-enter my phone number and the recording cut me off saying "I couldn't understand..." before I was done! What a joke... But ultimately I think I've managed to cancel. We'll see....
thanks for all the comments. It was literally all of these comments word for word once I got them on the phone!

I have a unigue one for you!

I called some months ago to cancel my service with AOL. They asked me why, after the long wait of holding and holding, and I stated the cost was too high. They gave me a free month and I agreed to stay with them (After being with them for 6 1/2 years).
I thought that was very nice, they would give me a free month of service for paying them ungodly amounts of money for a lousey dial-up service for so long (Stupid Me).

Well, the very next week I got a letter in the mail that they were raising their fees to dial up customers to $25.95, an increase of $2.00 a month.

Now, my question to you all is this:
Would you send a customer a letter telling them that you were INCREASING their bill each month after they JUST CALLED IN TO CANCEL SERVICE DUE TO HIGH MONTHLY FEES?

I have found noother business that has done this in my 43 years of life! I hope to never find another one in my remaining years of life.

Brandon

The experiences are hilarious as well as sad.

I have tried to find and list three surefire and minimum time consuming methods to cancel AOL.

I think each aggrieved subscriber should complain FTC. It is just horrible business pratices.

I don't exactly no why the 11+4= box is really for and I guess it is to just to see if I know my math. :)
I also went through the whole rigamarole in cancelling my AOL account. In the past I had the premium version and when I tried to cancel my account, they also offered a free month plus they reduced my fee to about half with their clever talk. I opted for it and here it is a couple of years later and told them I want to cancel. Interestingly enough, I did not have to wait long but still had to go through their propaganda which was only a few minutes. The person I talked to was from another country but spoke pretty good English; rare for these days. The only thing he asked was why I want to cancel. I gave him the reason and he did not try to talk me out of it. I also got a confirmation number. If next month, I find that I am still being charged, then they'll here from me and I won't be very nice. If that happens, I will be back on this blog again.

zzmel

I don't exactly no why the 11+4= box is really for and I guess it is to just to see if I know my math. :)
I also went through the whole rigamarole in cancelling my AOL account. In the past I had the premium version and when I tried to cancel my account, they also offered a free month plus they reduced my fee to about half with their clever talk. I opted for it and here it is a couple of years later and told them I want to cancel. Interestingly enough, I did not have to wait long but still had to go through their propaganda which was only a few minutes. The person I talked to was from another country but spoke pretty good English; rare for these days. The only thing he asked was why I want to cancel. I gave him the reason and he did not try to talk me out of it. I also got a confirmation number. If next month, I find that I am still being charged, then they'll here from me and I won't be very nice. If that happens, I will be back on this blog again.

zzmel

I have been trying to cancel TWO Aol accounts for six months. I don't know the user names or passwords; I didn't create these accounts. I have had Comcast internet since 2003, when I became handicapped and highly dependant on my laptop computer and wireless routers. My children say that they didn't do it, and their computers also are wireless so they can do homework next to me on my bed. I have called several times since the AOL bills showed up on my credit card. I have been reassured several times that the account has been cancelled. Somewhere I have a "confirmation number", but searching through massive amounts of paperwork for a note scribbled last January is POINTLESS. The representatives will only give me their first names, I have been told that they don't have CSR identifying numbers due to "security reasons", and I am spending slightly over $100 a month for internet providers, ON A FIXED INCOME!!! They currently owe me $306, and I still can't get through to the fraud department (the only ones that can give me a refund of that much). A rep said he could give me a two month refund, but not two months on both accounts! He also couldn't figure out why I had two accounts showing, and that it didn't make much sense, but he couldn't refund one account while I continue to pursue a refund for the other! Apparently it's all or nothing!

I never give up until I win. Sometimes it just requires a little more fight than other times. So much energy is wasted on problems like these; is there a study showing how many man-hours are wasted on stupidity? LOL.

Okay, So I have had AOL for several years. Whenever I have tried to cancel they have offered me a cheaper rate plan that I have taken.

The associates from India mostly seem to be reading from a script and do not seem to really listen so that is quite difficult.

The night time associates from the Florida office are kids working for a company that AOL contracts to. That was an experience!! This one kid I got actually told me that the nickname for his coworker was "Trucker Bitch". No lie!! He then proceeded to use profanity the ENTIRE time we were on the call (although, never directed toward me).

Finally I called to cancel for good today. They informed me I could stay a member AND use all of the AOL software, for FREE!!

The only catch is that I will receive no live support (which is useless anyways) and no dial up minutes which I am fine with.

Overall I have had a great experience with AOL. I think maybe it's because I work in a call center for GEICO myself and I can understand a little better what kind of people they have to deal with (see all of the above posts).

They have always been courteous and have done exactly what they said they were going to do for 5+ years.

My advice is: Be patient, write everything down, and tell them what you want without being a belligerent ass. That will almost always work.

If you want to cancel, my advice is to go to the free plan if you have broadband.

Hope everyone has as good of an experience as I did!!!

Paul

WOW!!!!!!!!! I reached the fraud department today, and the CSR was awesome! Not only did she handle my whole problem competently, but she looked up the identifiers of the CSR's that I had spoken with before who were incompetent and annoying so that their supervisors would be told about it! Yes, the reps from AOL do have employee ID numbers and if you don't get one when you ask for it, hang up! Call until you get a rep that is doing their job and isn't afraid to be accountable for their actions! AOL, I apologize for any disparaging remarks. Who does your hiring? Maybe that's who I should have complained about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too bad none of they people that have addressed their cancel problems did not read the terms of service that they agreed to when they signed up for AOL. It told you there that you have to CALL to cancel and the phone number was listed there as well. I can't believe that you "accidentally" signed up for AOL, how do you accidentally put in all your info including billing info? If you do not like having to acctually verify your account then write your Senators and Congressmen and asked to have the Federal Privacy Act repealed. The consultants you talk to have a job to do and have Federal guidelines to follow. If you can't verify an account or are not listed as an owner of the account then the consultant can not discuss the account with you. Pretty much all I have read is whinning from people that are too ignorant to understand what they are doing and "agree" the the terms of service without reading them. Do you also sign other contracts without reading them.

Just a quick note. On 8 - 14 - 06 I cancelled my aol account. Took about 10 mins from start to finish. I just googled "cancel my aol service", got this wonderful site and using the above number was able to end my dial up quickly and easily. I did get the recorded message before I was transfered to someone in Baliwood or pakistan or wherever but they didn't even give me a sales pitch, just cancelled my account and that was that.

And for the record, I never had a single problem with my dial up service other than, like all dial up everywhere, it just is not adequate for todays internet.

I just got off the phone from cancelling AOL as my ISP. It was sooo easy. I believe AOL has gotten too many complaints about how hard it is to cancel and got with the program!

Here's all you do: call 1-877-443-4462 and choose the last automated option which is "Cancellation" and then answer a few key logon questions. After that a live, American voice was on the line within 30 seconds. She politely cancelled my subscription and also asked me if I wanted to keep my FREE AOL e-mail account. I said yes. She then informed me that if I had a Premium Service such as "Call Alert" for $5/month, that I would need to call 1-866-265-4415 to get that cancelled also. That was it-no upselling, no offers, no beating around the bush that I wanted to cancel....NO PAIN!!!!

thank you... I'm now free of AOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you! After years of waiting, I finally found a phone number to call to cancel. Thank you for your service. I also got them to give me the last month's price back so go for it people, ask and they will give you at least $9.95 back!

http://help.aol.com/AIMhelp/search.do

Finally, the site you need to cancel your AOL!
They provide Fax, Phone and Mail options too. Thank God.

You have provided a valuable tool in dealing with AOL. Perhaps by now, they have gotten the message because my experience was seamless. Well done.

We are cancelling our account with AOL simply
because we now have an account which is much
faster.
I have heard that it is very difficult to cancel
your AOL Account, I am telling you that it had
better not have any trouble with this one.
JUST CANCEL AOL ACCOUNT NOW!

Jeanne M. Spry

Please cancel my account with AOL. I'm retired and going back home to my country. It's effective now. thanks.....

Janet, Rosauro, I cannot cancel anyone's AOL account as I am not part of America Online. You must cancel your own account by calling them, as detailed at the top of this page. Thanks!!

http://help.aol.com/help/siteLoginUrl.jsp?url=login&sitedomain=help.aol.com&authLev=1&siteState=&lang=en&locale=us&mcAuth=%2FBcAG0T44%2FsAAPeAATccKUT45DcIh6hbf%2FfJF0AAAA%3D%3D

Go to this page for current options on cancelling. The latest phone # is 1-888-265-8008. I had no trouble cancelling after I turned down their reduced price offer.

how do i cancle aol

I would like to cancel my Aol account immediately because I have an account with another
internet server. O. K. ?

Albert B. Willis

thank you for your post. I coun't find a way to canel my aol but with your help was able to. THANK YOU AGAIN

I thought if everyone contacted the CEO himself of AOL, Johnathan Miller, to tell him of the problems they were having he would light a fire under someone. You know he wouldn't want to deal with it so he'll have his peon's to take care of the problem. Always after the 2nd call and you don't get satisfaction from ANYONE go to the top!

I called to cancel my aol service less than a minute ago. If anyone has been watching the news or TV comercials you know that aols been making aolt of changes lately. Giving away services for free, and all that jazz. So I call to cancel my account and the automated assistant tells me that if I go to aol keyword "Change Plan" you can switch to get their new 'free services' option. With this option you pay for a seprate broadband connection (Which is alot cheaper. we recently got SBC Yahoo! dsl, which is great, and alot faster), but you can still use your aol software, with all your 7 screen names FOR FREE! So I hung up, signed into aol and chose the option. It sounds too good to be true right? My thoguhts exactly, so I call back the number and when I get connected to a person (which took about 10 seconds) I told them that I switched to the free services (Which they knew. The automated assistant said 'Looks like you were a former paying member of aol before, and have now switched to the free services, let me connect you to a representative that can answer your questions...blah blah blah' ) and I asked my representative if I would no longer be billed for aol, and she said 'No, the aol service is free, if you have another connection to use it with' (my SBC yahoo.. And so I asked her 'Wont that mean you guys will lose money?' and she answered 'Well the thing is, were still taking in revenue from other places, and our dial up customers. Were basically stil bringing in the same amount of money' and I said 'Oh well, thats good. Thanks alot, bye.'
And that was that. Crazy no? But Im happy. I always did like aol, but it was simply too much hassle to not be able to use the phone while on their dial up. And now I get the service for free on my high speed connection! Everyone wins. ^_^

(Im still not sure what made them decide to give their service for free. I think its basically a cancelation, but they let you keep the software and use it with your other connection just so they can say 'No, they didnt cancel. They just UPGRADED'. Which is what they call it. An 'upgrade'. But Im not complaining. I think its great.)

I would like to swithch over to people pc and i did today i dont like aol service my computer freeze all the time

Anybody want to join me in a class-action suit? I am so disgusted with AOL I could scream. After jumping through their hoops twice now (including a fax to Jacksonville, Florida, because they claimed they needed something in writing from me) AOL has systematically ignored my cancellation attempts.
The link above (from Pat on 1 September) shifts over to a general page which, naturally, does not mention anything about cancelling.

I live in Germany and will try quitting AOL through the consumer-protection office.

Dave - Do you happen to have a fax number or address for the "great" AOL company. I've been to their "user unfriendly" site and NOTHING. I have a few choice words I'd like to share with them regarding our recent experience which mirrors everyone elses (won't take NO for an answer, says cancelled, NOT, charges your account, try cancelling again, on and on, can't understand why they can't get people who speak ENGLISH to work their phones!!!). Thanks.

I called the 800-827-6364 shown on your site. I just stayed on the line ("if you do not have touch tone stay on the line"). They told me I their call volumes were high and offered me an option of them calling me back (cool eh!). I left my number, and by the time I walked from my office to the kitchen, I had a call back from Tech support. I told them I didn't want tech support, I wanted billing. He took my info and forwarded me to the proper extension. Less than 1 minute later, I was with a live, breathing, human being!! He took the same info; name of account, phone number and last 4 digits of my method of payment. Yes, he tried to hook me on another offer - I declined immediately. He gave me my cancelation number and played the famed recording and that was that. Actually much easier than I anticipated. Easier than cancelling with Sympatico who continued to bill me for an additional 3 months!! Standard practice for them. Thanks, for the info.

I went through the 6 month run:

Trial CD used for 1 month.

20 min hold + automation:
Think Indian voice both times. 1st time, tried to sell me back in, didn't do it. Not finished- although given confim #.

5 months later,

Billed again.

20 min hold + automation:
2nd Arab had to hear me very angry and supposedly it's over.

Never again. I will do everything in my power to bring AOL down now. www.myspace.com/illustratetheend

I just got off the phone with AOL for the 7th time in three years. It has taken me THREE YEARS to cancel my account. I called AOL in Jan. 2002 to cancel the account. They told me it was canceled. Looking at bank statements, they continued to withdrawal $30 a month after that for months and months. I finally had to have the bank go up to bat for me. I called them three times, my husband called two times, the bank called one time and I just had to call them again! Okay, so I thought it was all taken care of as of July 2005 but just received A COLLECTION NOTICE FOR FEES DUE for my canceled account. They put me in collection! After speaking with Jason in India, (after being transferred several times and speaking with some creepy computer for several minutes) he cleared up the problem (supposedly) and waived the fees. We'll see. He was disgustingly polite but got the job done I hope. What a nightmare!!

LOL I called AOL to cancel my account too! It only took me 48 minutes and telling the guy (who spoke terrible english)about 100 times I did NOT want 2 free months to stay. I wanted to cancel the account!
Now let me tell you that they charged my debit card after the account was closed!!!!I was HOT! Did they give me a refund? NOOOOOOOOOO

Hey, thanks for the tutorial on canceling my AOL account , i needed it. the funny thing was, i also got a guy with a thick indian accent!! :-)

Here's the info if you live in Virginia:

How do I cancel my AOL account?
If you would like to cancel your membership, we are happy to help you with that. We hope you've enjoyed being an AOL member and hope we can help you again in the future. However you can continue to use AOL for FREE for as long as you'd like.

If you wish to cancel your membership via phone, please dial US 1-888-265-8008 to speak with one of our Member Services Representatives.

You may also choose to mail your request to us at:

AOL
PO Box 65100
Sterling, VA 20165-8800
Or you may fax your request to us at (703) 433-7283.

If you choose to write or fax us, please include the nature of your request and primary billing contact's full name, phone number, address, and handwritten signature. Additionally, for account security purposes, please provide ONE of the following:

The AOL account's Master or Secondary Master Screen Name
The AOL account's Primary or Secondary Billing Contact's Name
Evening telephone number
The answer to the Primary or Secondary Master Screen Name's Account Security Question or The last four digits of the current payment method used for this account (for your security, only the last four digits please).

Cancellation will take effect within 72 hours of receipt of your request, and AOL will send you written confirmation. Please note that AOL reserves the right to charge and collect fees, surcharges or costs incurred before your cancellation takes effect. Thank you for using AOL.

maybe someone needs to make a page for all the states, so that if you want to call and cancel, you don't have to sift through a ton of AOL bs.

Help! I was one of those suckers who was going to keep AOL mail when I switched to Verizon. Now I want to get rid of the AOL Mail. I don't need it and besides, when I try to access the mail I get an ad popping up and blocking the message. The biggest irritant is that you cannot just get rid of or close the ad. You have to open it to see your mail. Unfortunately I did not know my new email before I left AOL so I couldn't tell the people on my address list I left.

Thanks for the information people. It took me about 5 min to cancel. But let's see if I really cancelled.

I switched to Verizon and kept my aol e-mail. How do I cancel my aol e-mail? I cannot find this option on the aol site.

i want to change my account name

Well, here goes! I'm about to attempt closing my AOL account because I'm getting double billed monthly...total amounts to $24.95, but that's $25 I could use to pay my comcast service. Wish me luck! Anna

well isnt AOL just a peach. I set up the account for aol in my husbands name. Aol had no problem with me setting up the account to take our money but they will not let me cancel the account. They told me he has to do it. Does it even seem legal that they can take my money no problem but I myself cannot cancel our account.
I did like having Aol until today. I will NEVER have AOL again. They are just not right.
Thank you
Cheryl Lockyer

thank you.thank you for the cancellation number.it only took 5 minutes and i wasn't speaking to india although i did have to tell the guy to talk more slowly.the number i called is
1-877-773 4462.thank you so much.

I GOT UP AT 2:25 AM...DECIDED TO TRY AOL AFTER A DAYTIME NIGHTMARE THAT I HUNG UP ON. IT TOOK 2 MINUTES AND THE ACCOUNT WAS *HOPEFULLY* CLOSED. TRY CALLING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT...IT WAS A BREEZE.

Hi, After six months of trying to cancel, I have decided to cancel my debit card as apparently it seems the only way!
Well done AOL I wish I had thought of such a successful scam!

my ao hell ,i singed to aol broadband in jan of this year with ao hell .I found aol's message boards and thought id join in ,soon i was to have an email off a member of this PUBLIC board warning me to sat clear of another certain member ,yes immature to say the least ,i choose to ignore the warning and carried on adding comments to this women's discussion board along side all member on there including the member i was warned about,soon i became bombarded with instant messages of abuse and emails ,so i closed my emails off ,other than to people i knew and also my instant messaging facility .

This did not howver stop the harrasment ,i then became 1 of many members who were daily intimidated ,bullied and malicious comments added about on this public board .

aol had a great idea ,a new facility open to all users on all internet providers called aim ,where anyone can access aol's message boards for free ,and add comments .Therefore giving members who were initially banned of aol for abuse ,bullying ,attacking other members the free right to come back to the boards and comment ,

aol has a conditions of service polict and terms of service which we paying aol members have to abide by ,no swearing ,no harrassing other members etc or risking terminationtion of our accounts .

But what rules for aim users ??? well apparantly none ,thewy can attack ,abuse ,intimidate and bully members and all that happens is the screen name they are using at the time gets removed off aol ,5 mins later here comes a new screen name ,the culprit is back on the general women's discussion board to carry on the attacks and the abuse ,when i questioned the cos manager of aol of this ,he replied aol does act upon aim users who dont comply with the rules of aol ,i asked how ? he replied their screen name gets removed and the comment of abuse etc removed .what good is this to aol paying members the damage is already done .one aim user for instance has had a total of about 30 odd screen names that she has used to attack members with .I asked aol could their ip provider be located and these people barred off aim for good ,cos manager replied no not possible .So what dod i do ,stop using the message boards ? why should i have to ? i pay aol for the facilities .

I decided enough was enough i coul not sit back and watch members and myself being victims day in day out ,so i rang aol to cancel ,spoke to an indian guy who i could hardly understand ,not racist or anything but this phone call is costing me 7p a min from my landline he asked for all my details ,name address telephone number ,private password ,then asked why i wished to cancel my account .i went through all my bad experiences on aol and that i wished to go with a new ip provider and have an hassle free service ,this is not possible madam he commments you are on broadband and have a contract ,i said yes but aol are not giving me the customer care and service ,so therefore i want to come of aol ,on he goes ,no madam its not posible .I asked to be put through to their conditions of servive team ,no madam you owe 36.oo on your account how do you wish to pay this ,i replied i dont wish to pay it .FINALLY I WAS PUT THROUGH TO A GUY IN COS AGAIN HAVING TO GIVE MY NAME ADDRESS ETC .AND AGAIN TELL HIM THE STORY AGAIN .by this time i was pd off id been on the phone to aol for about an hour ,then i had to be transferred to another guy in cos same story name addy why i was ringing etc .I explained all about the harrassment on the message board ,which i will add is still going on ,and this call was made to aol on the 21st sept .To my shock this guy in cos gave me a grilling on how many reports i had send to aol via a facility called the notify aol button ,which is there for the use of members who witness any messages to be found against the cos rules of aol .i had been on the phone to aol about 2 hrs by this time and i felt this guy was simpling me ,i told him i had copied and saves messages ,message id numbers ,times ,dates and screen names of attacks ,malice ,bullying ,swearing and even malicious comments about my mum who has passed away ,i could see i was getting nowhere ,it was like hitting my head against a brick wall ,after being told by this guy in cos that so many reports coming off my scren name meant that cos wont even bother to read them and just delete them ,i gave upon the call .I tried again vein to cancel my account over the phone to the billing department again over the same old ground ,the guy applogised for my upsetting experience of aol and offered me a month free and to waver the amount owing of 30 odd pound .I wasnt happy that i was unable to cancel aol ,and told this guy in billing that i would take his offer up if he would promise that my report went to cos and that they man the message board regularly ,so i hung up bythis time spent over 3 hrs at 7p a min to aol so far .

The next day the phone rang ,it was the guy who gave me the free month and the waver of charges ,he went onto appologise that he had made an error and i should not have been offerd this and he withdrew the offer saying that the cos department had authorised him to do so .I rang aol and asked to speak to a supervisor and was advised that no supervisors work on the weekend ,i attempted to go to live online aol help to gain an email address for a supervisor to get a email of complint form to fill in ,there was 44 members in front of me in the queue ,i finally got through to live help on the 30th sept at 22,49 and noted the emloyeess name and time of conversation with aol live help ,i requested a compliants form ,but still to today i never recieved one .So i sent an email of my complaint to tosgeneral@aol.com .Later i went to sign onto aol and had a meesage the password is incorrect ,i attempted again on 2 more occassions ,i knew i had put in the right password ,and thought someone had hacked into my account ,i rang aol and explained my problem ,an emplyee said noi problem i will reset your password ,mind i waited for a lengthy time to get through to chat to someone ,the employee reset my password ,all was well ,signed on ,and within less that a few mins my pc went off ,tried to sign back on ,once again stating incorrect password .again i rang aol and explained this ,the lady i spoke to this time again said i will reset your password ,i asked if there was a problem with my account ,she replied no,there is no block on it .she reset my password and once again aol signed on ,but not for long ,mins later aol goes off once again ....by this time i am so stressed and even angry ,i am ready to throw my pc out of the window ..again back on the phone to aol ,this time i asked to be put through to billing .I was advised by the employee that i needed to be put through to their aol security dept ,this was known as cos ,i was again chatting to the cos guy i spoke to days ago ,he informed me a block had been put on my account ,i could not acess aol ,until i speak to the cos manager ,i asked that the cos manager ring me ,this was not possible i was told i had to ring and speak to him the following day .I thought that i would be granted an appology by him for the way in which my complaint had been dealt with ,and the withdrawl of the offer given to me of a months free aol and waver of 30 odd ponds owing ,instead i had for more of a beeter word ,a telling off by him for clicking the notify aol button to report abuse i had seen ,telling me that i am taking alot of cos time up by doing this i tried on countless times to put my experiences across to him ,even willing to give him the message id numbers of threats ,abuse ,intimidation etc of myself and other members had encountered on that women's discussion board .He advised me that the only way i could opt out of aol would be to pay myself out of my contract .This was yesterday oct 3rd ,meanwhile more malicious attacks are made to members and still nothing concrete has been done to stop this for good .In my views aol has no customer care or satisfaction ,this aol idea of aim users has made aol a company that is powerless to protect paying members against harrassment etc .and so far all i have managed to accomplish is a large phone bill to cancel my aol account .I have not named anyone as i do not know the law against this ,no times etc of calls and emails sent of complaints.I know for a fact of 5 members who have complained to aol about this general women's discussion board ,yet cos manager tells me im the only one complaining ,lucky for me i have saved all evidence of this andf recieved copies of the other member's emails of complaint to aol .I WILL NOT ALLOW AOL TO FOB ME OF AND ALLOW THIS BEHAVIOUR TO GO ON ON THIS MESSAGE BOARD .( sorry capitals left on lol ) i will take aol all the way with my complaint ,i am now seeking legal advise and also in the process of writing to the telecommuncations ombudsman as i strongly belive that aol have failed to use reaonable skill in preventing and dealing with malice and threats etc to their members .and i strongly belive and i know that i have enough evidence of this to put forward a case under the 1988 malicious communications act .I would not advise anyone to use aol as a internet provider ,as in my experiences and that of many others its an aol HELL experience .

sorry this is such a long comment ,any advise or suggestion would be appreciated

andie

Thank You so much for publishing this site. With your help, I was able to cancel my account in 3 minutes! =P I am finally off the hook from those outrageous amount of payment every month. Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Honestly, the other people seem to have exaggerated the trouble of canceling the account.)

I would like to cancel my AOL service. Because I have been unable to use my service here in Edgard, La.. Please cancel my service before the 19 Oct 2006. That is the end of my trial period.
Thank you
Carolyn Brown

Hi, I just cancelled AOL, it did not take long. However, upon asking the gentleman I spoke to about a cancellation confirmation number, he said he did not have one and that I would get a cancellation notice in the mail in 10 business days. I hope so! Was I supposed to get a cancellation number?

By the way if you have a premium service you have to cancel that seperatley. Call 866-278-6582.

I signed on with AOL in Alaska, and I used it, and didn't mind paying their monthly fees. However, our family is with the Armed Forces and has been relocated to the Europe area. I know that they offer AOL here, but I'm not intersted. After a couple reminders that I'm still being billed, however, not using the service, I remind myself to call to cancel. Research the cancel number (which as previously stated, is very embedded). I call to cancel, I get an operator, and cancel the account, and too, I get the disclaimer at the end, which states IF YOU LOG IN TO AOL your account is REINSTATED! No problems here... Well, they keep charging my account, so I have to look up the number to call them to tell them TO STOP TAKING MY MONEY!! I still enjoy the benefites of AIM, as some of my family uses it is a great way to keep in touch, when in another country! So I sign up for a FREE SCREEN name, and that logs me into AOL, and they reinstate my account, they will get you ANY way they can. It's terrible these people. I mean it's smart...but it's an enormous scam! Grrrr AOL.

i want to cancel my american online internet
write back

sombody call a waaambulance. Ok guys, it's real easy and it only takes about seven minutes. Call 1800-827-6364 automation will send you to the cancellation dept. I switched from being a paying customer to the new free access in under 7 minutes. I have dsl and use the free aol on top of my dsl and haven't noticed any change in my surfing and I still get all my mail options. Computer goobers tend to make things way more complicated than they really are.

Where is the address to write to cancel the AOL? What is going on? No phone #, no addresses where I need to write to, computer voice services. I cann't find way anywhere on the web to cancel AOL. Please I need to cancel AOL.

I have been trying desperately to find a number or address on AOL's website so that I can cancel my account. It has been next to impossible. I appreciate whoever posted the number to use. Now let's see if it works for me!!

I just cancelled my aol account it only took a few minutes but without this site I would not have had the right number. online there is no access to cancellation, but with this site and the 877 773-4462 number it was totally easy, thanks!!!

This is how its always been.. lol

I signed on with AOL via a Verzion DSL connection. I got billed from AOL seperately from Verizon.

I got irked when AOL went free 2 months after I signed a year contract. I did the TOS Recommendation listed here, but going to a chat room and taking a different viewpoint. This got me off of AOL nice and quick. However, what will happen with my Verizon? AOL cancelled me and said I will not receive another bill. Does this mean I get to keep Verison for the remainder of the year at $16 per month? Is this a loophole?

please cancel my free aol mail

I am a skeptic expecially in dealing with corporations and usually things go worse than expected for me. However I just spoke to Robert in the Phillipines to cancel my AOL and surprisingly it went better than ever expected and was completed in less than 10 minutes with most of that time talking directly to him.
I do thank you for your advice and sometimes being prepared is the key to life. Afterall it's all about expectations!!

I am trying to find out how to get aol out of my dads computer now that he have canceled and joined netzero. It keeps poping up and freezing up his computer how do i get it out of his computer so he can use the internet. I deleted it from his programs and took it off his dial-up but it keeps coming back. Help please

Just wanted to let you know I canceled AOL just a few minutes ago. 877 773-4462 It seemed to go quite well. No problem, I hope. I did not offer any comment other than I would no longer be using the internet. Less information given less hassle given back. No cancellation number was given. Will get letter in the mail in a few days. (fingers crossed) Don't forget to call 866 265-4415 to cancel Call Alert. (my premium service) I was connected directly by the young man who took the first call. Hopefully because of media attention and posts this really worked. It only took about 4 minutes total for both cancellations. I just don't quite understand the whole free service I am supposed to get from AOL now. I won't be using it, just in case there is really a catch.

Just cancelled AOL at the 877 number mentioned above. Customer service rep was cordial and pleasant and I was done in 5 minutes. AOL will find out that good service might give them rewards down the line

Dave,thanks for all of your help.I have tried for the best part of the last ten hours to find out how I was going to cancel with aol.They make very hard and are very pushy about wanting you to stay with them.but thanks to you I got out from under them.god bless and have a great night jeff

Thanks so much for the phone number. It could not have been easier to cancel my account. The person on the phone was very nice. I will be keeping the info for others.

Alex

WHY DID IT ASK ME WHAT 5 PLUS 10 WAS? LOL ANYWAY
I JUST CALLED TO CANCEL MY ACCOUNT AND WAS DREADING THE AWFUL EXPERIENCE... I ONCE HEARD A RECORDING ONLINE OF SOMEONE TRYING TO CANCEL THEIR ACCOUNT.. THE PROCEDURE TOOK WAYYYYY TOO LONG AND ENDED UP WITH A SCREAMING AOL EMPLOYEE AND AOL EX CLIENT! I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THROUGH THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE IN 8 MINUTES AND 28 SECONDS....WANT TO KNOW THE EASIEST WAY TO AVOID BEING HASSLED INTO CONTINUING SERVICE WITH AOL? WHEN YOU ARE ASKED THE REASON FOR CANCELLING SERVICE.....SAY "I DONT NEED INTERNET ACCESS AT ALL"
I STILL ENDED UP BEING ABLE TO HAVE EMAIL WITH AOL FOR FREE! I DIDNT ASK FOR IT...I DONT EVEN WANT IT. THE MAN TOLD ME THAT I STILL HAVE ALL THE FREE ACCESS TO MY EMAIL AND THE NEWS AND SUCH....JUST WONT HAVE AN ACTUAL DIAL UP CONNECTION ANYMORE....STRANGE....THAT MAKES ME ANGRY. WHY ARE THEY CHARGING FOR A SERVICE THAT THEY WILL GIVE TO YOU AT NO CHARGE ONCE YOU TRY AND CANCEL...?
I DONT THINK I WILL USE THE AOL EMAIL NO MATTER WHAT! SOMETHING JUST DOESNT SEEM RIGHT...

i want to cancel my aol account.i dont know why you are charging my friend christina foster.its my account not hers.

well...I called the 1-877-773-4462 number from Australia because I had cancelled my account in June 06 but they didn't really cancel it -.- and it took about 14 minutes to get it all done. Tell them you are living in a different country and they won't try to sell you any more Aoh*ll. Cheers

I cancelled my AOL yesterday. I tried to cancel it 2 months ago but was told to hold on to it - that it was totally free. I was assured that no charges would show up on my account. Well they did so as I said, I cancelled it yesterday. Today, MORE CHARGES showed up on my account. I called, this time i was FURIOUS!!!! I should be seeing a credit for $38.85 ( 12.95*3) If not, I would hate to be the AOL rep that gets that call.

I cancelled my AOL yesterday. I tried to cancel it 2 months ago but was told to hold on to it - that it was totally free. I was assured that no charges would show up on my account. Well they did so as I said, I cancelled it yesterday. Today, MORE CHARGES showed up on my account. I called, this time i was FURIOUS!!!! I should be seeing a credit for $38.85 ( 12.95*3) If not, I would hate to be the AOL rep that gets that call.

Thank you for this site..the info will be vary helpful when I try to cancel tomorrow..I can't believe I had to research on how to cancel AOL..I typed in Canceling AOL and it brought me to this site..At least AOL was useful for one thing....Thank you much Dave Taylor.

You did better than me! Last time I cancelled AOL, it took me 1 hour of wiat time on the phone, I almost passed out and went to sleep they took so long.

AOL is very bad, when you log into their service, you connect at 4k, 9k (as opposed to 56k). Deathly slow.

Tried to cancel my AOL account via the internet and had no success. Just doesn't seem possible. Called 877-773-0750 which is a number provided by a gentleman who sent in his comments. After going through the usual verbal prompts....go somebody from India.....wow. My response to every question was, "I just want to cancel my account, I want nothing to do with AOL". They finally got the message. Also contacted my credit card company to not accept anymore charges from AOL. The End (I hope). Thanks for the site.

You CAN get away from AOL - just call their fraud line at 800-307-7969 and tell the rep that you will call the state Attorney General if AOL will not cancel your account or resolve your difficulty with them.

Hi Dave,
I was a paying member of AOL and almost a year ago I switched to Comcast. At that time AOL said I could keep all of my screen names for FREE. (I had 3 accounts.) At first I thought that was a good thing so I could periodically check to see who didn't record my new Comcast address and was still sending to AOL.

Now, I want to cancel my AOL screen names completely! I called today and the young lady said it just can't be done! I'm sure it CAN BE DONE, they just don't want to. Do you agree?

Do you know of a way around this? She said to just stop using the accounts. But email still goes to them and I just want these old email addresses to be history. Do you think they WON'T do it so they can measure their success by the number of screen names out there?

thanks for your thoughts!
Sherri

After reading all the horror-stories I was reluctant, but I bit-the-bullet and just cancelled my AOL "pay" account over the phone, using 1-888-265-8008. Now, hold on to your hat!! -- Within THREE minutes the account was cancelled, no yelling, no swearing, no farting!.. And I keep my "free" email account and associated services, like my buddy list. All that I lose is "dial-up" capability and live tech support. The rep was pleasant and professional and -- yes, from India. Did I just luck out? Who knows?

A friend of mine just had her service cancelled with NO telephone wait time, whatsoever. How? She simply threatened to kill someone in a chatroom (she was kidding around with an old, close friend, of course). Someone copied it and pasted it and sent it to AOL Terms of Service. They cancelled her account the very next day. Now, I am not advocating this in any way...just thought I would throw in my 2 cents.

I have tried for 2 months to close my account. I was on the phone for more than an hour trying to convince the guy that I wanted my account canceled. I finally asked him "what is it that you don't understand about "I don't want." I recieved 6 months free form them. I called them aafter 5 months and was told that as long as I contacted them before the 6 months was up I would not incur any charges. I called after less than 6 month snd asked that the account be canceled. I was told that because the billing cycle starts at the first of the month I would have to pay for one months service inspite of the fact that I had not recieved the six months free as promised. Two months later I have been told that my account will be closed today (I was told the same thing last month!!!!) I pray they cancel this account and I will be put out of my misery. It is absurd and shameful. Please spread the word that these people are crooks. My new address is Naombasana@yahoo.com,

I would Like to cancel my aol account. I will be switching banks and have transferred to my cable providers intenet service.

Thank you

Wanda R Fancher
wf509gold@aol.com

My concern is just the opposite of Sherri's (December 27, 2006). I switched to Comcast and want to get rid of AOL entirely. BUT -- I do really need to keep our current AOL screen names and email. I am looking for some assurance (from someone other than AOL) that I really will be able to continue using our screen names/aol email etc., after I am totally free of AOL. I'm afraid they will delete them out of spite or something. We have three family members - three screen names. Can someone give me peace of mind that they will still be there once I manage to cancel AOL completely? (I am currently in the downgraded phase of $9.95 a month even though I never plan to use the AOL icon again) Thanks!! Karen

I just called the AOL number listed on one of the posts ( 877 773 4462 ) I didn't want to cancel my account since it's free. What I wanted to do was change my (non) payment method because I started doing surveys through opinion place @ aol and they said I should see a credit for $4.50 for the survey I just did (about beer..lol) on my credit or debit card. I was like..hmmm...let's put that on MY checking account, rather than my joint account. LOL I had a horrible time with their automated service that wanted to pull up my account first. It's one of those pain in the ass ones that wants you to SPEAK your answers. I have five children... the backround noise, as you can imagine, is pretty loud. FINALLY I got a live person (I called 5 times), without the automated system being able to pull up my account. (Note: don't hit ZERO over and over again, the system will hang up on you.)

I changed my (non) payment method with the man who called himself "Mark." He wanted to know why I had to call to do so. I explained to him when I tried to do it online it says the service is temp. unavalable. (Probably because they want me to call) Mark sees my account is free and tries to sell me the 9.95 a month plan, which I had previously.

I told him no. I have my own dsl connection... I like the free account. I'm simply changing the payment method incase I end up losing or changing my dsl account, and have to pay for AOL again - that they have a valid payment method. (yea right...) Mark then tries to sell me aol's dsl. NO, I have my own. But THANKS!!

So if it works, AOL WILL BE PAYING ME to use their service.... not vice versa. LOL

I want to discontinue my aol security. I have McAfee. aol pop-ups so many "improvements." I was dumb enough to download. Now I am stuck. Sometimes I cannot reach the internet. I took my computer to an "expert." They didn't do a darned thing. Who do I call? What do I do? I ant to get rid of aol completely, but I do not have enough time to get this done now--only to dump the security system NOW. How does aol remain in legal standing with all the tricks and absolute thievry? I loved my computer, until I got their security system. Thanks, Ann Dewey

Indeed I had AOL Dial-up and I called 800-627-6364 and wanted to cancel my pay account. It took me approximately 2 minutes between the computerized voice and a real live agent. So it has been done. Just wanted to let you know that I had no problem.

it took me 3 minutes to cancel my AOL account by calling 877-773-4462, she said I would receive an email within 10 business days showing changes to my account and I would no longer be billed for AOL. I wanted to keep my email address until all contacts were notified by the switch service. No problems,....so far.

Easy AOL Cancellation Phone # 888-265-8008 took about 4 minutes...Just thought I'd pass it along

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK THAT YOU WERE CANCELED EASY, ALL I GOT TO SAY IS YOU BETTER CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS CAUSE AOL HAS TOLD ME 3 TIMES THAT I WAS CANCELED AND GIVEN ME THE CANCELATION CODE AND WELL I AM STILL BEING BILLED FOR IT!

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK THAT YOU WERE CANCELED EASY, ALL I GOT TO SAY IS YOU BETTER CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS CAUSE AOL HAS TOLD ME 3 TIMES THAT I WAS CANCELED AND GIVEN ME THE CANCELATION CODE AND WELL I AM STILL BEING BILLED FOR IT!

i just called the 8777734462 no. that someone gave before to cancel my free 3mo. AOL account. the customer representative was really nice. i waited 6mins. for a live rep to assist me. and spoke to the rep for about 4mins. She didnt offer me 3 more months of free aol that others mentioned. she just explained that my account will still be active until the billing date which is feb 7 but she assured that i would not be billed anymore. total duration of call is less than 15mins. which is not bad thanks to this site.! very helpful. i recommend everyone else who needs to cancel this account to call the 877 no. coz of their good customer srvc. goodluck guyz!

Hi guys!

Over in the UK here - yes, AOL is unfortunately international and blights the entire world, not just the USA. Just in case anyone in the UK is looking to cancel AOL, I just have, and it isn't too tricky. My process was:

Rang 0117 919 1100 (Could have used 0870 320 20 20, but would have been charged, and have free calls to normal numbers!)

Speaking to Justina...

Rang at 19.15
Got through at 19.18
Done by 19.24

Very helpful!
I was told I can use AOL software up until 9th February, but to delete it after that, as the billing date is the 10th of each month: If I try to sign on from the 10th onwards, I will be told the account has been closed, but that I could re-instate it easily by clicking a button... which I clearly do not want to do! Thus I should delete all the software so that nobody using my computer could, by mistake, sign me back up!
I will also be writing to the card company to ensure they do not accept any more payments to AOl - just in case. Tie up all loose ends, eh?!?

I will still be able to get email, despite some slight odd changes in how it will display, so that's good.

My total time on the phone: 9mins 47 seconds.

Result!

Best wishes to you all.

I don't know how to delete an aol account, HELP PLEASE! Or if i ignore it, how long before it deletes itself?

I STOP AOL TONIGHT 01 23 2007 IT TOOK LESS THEN 5MIN THANK YOU FOR THE NUMBER 1-877-773-4462.THIS PAGE HAD GREAT INFORMATION THANK YOU FOR HAVING IT.ARTY 11PM THANKS AGAIN ALL HAVE A GREAT 2007

All I have to add to this is AOL sucks so much. I can't imagine why anyone would want an AOL account. If there is someone out there who has one I'd like to know WHY????!!!!!

Thanks for the info. Took me exactly 13 minutes to cancel my aol account. It would have been quicker, but they disconnected me after i said cancel. Oh well........moving on to bigger and better now !

This number, (800)418-5320, will get a real person on the phone and a 5 minute cancelllation; They have to give you spiel about free-bees.

<_< ... I wish people would listen to your last line, one of the greatest words of wisdom I have ever heard. "Save yourself the effort and just don't sign up in the first place..."

Anyway, I remember when my mother tried to cancel the AOL account that we had. They wouldn't cancel the account until she finally said that our computer was completely done for (which it was) and it took her about an hour to cancel total. But you know what? 2 years later and she has resigned up with them. Sometimes I wish parents listened to their children, then we could all end up ending AOL once and for all. Can't wait to watch as she tries to cancel again! ☺

Well to jump on the wagon with other AOL haters, I have had my fill with AOL. It took me 10 minutes to stop the computerized voice. The person I finally got wanted my banking information "WHAT the hell for I said. Again I repeated myself and said "I DO NOT HAVE AOL", why am I being charged????? I finally contacted by bank and stated do not pay any more AOL charges. I hope everyone else have it much easier than I did on cancelling a account I do not have. What a morning. Good Luck To Others!!!

I WANT TO DELETE MY AOL ACCOUNT, I NO LONGER HAVE USE FOR IT, AOL SUCKS SO, IF YOU COULD PLEASE HELP ME THAT WOULD BE GREAT.

AOL is good for certain people, and not for others. We need to think, when we call to cancell services. It is not the person on the other end of our calls fault that we signed up for service with aol... How would we take our own comments, were the shoe on the other foot. I cancelled aol and found the operator that recieved my call to be helpfull....However they did try to loop me into staying, but that is their job to do...as you have yours to do, don't cuss of piss and moan at them, they are just doing their job. I did not like aol and will never go back to their services, but I respect that their operators @ customer service have their calls listen in on and they have to do what is asked of them on their job....As do you..

I just went thru the cancellation process and it only took about 5 minutes. Painless and hassel free. Use the following phone # 1-888-265-8008. Go thru the automated part to finally get to a live tech then when he/she asks why you are cancelling your AOL account simply tell them you are moving out of the country. You then have to sit thru a couple of minutes of AOL chest thumping and finally the tech said I would be receiving a cancellation notification e-mail in 7 to 10 days. Thank you velly much!!

i've been stymied how to cancel my aol service and thanks to google pointing me to your site, am going to try it right now -- as soon as i get off aol!!!!

I canceled my account through the mail a stamp was all i needed, and of course the address that changes every so often, I can still keep my aol name and account on my new cable network, Good luck to all

I just cancelled my account with Aol and I have to say that it was horrid. I had to try to everyone of my phone numbers before they asked for the name on the account and then they tried to argue with me when I told them that I was not satisfied with their service. I also asked for a cancellation nember at the end of the conversation and the lady told me she did not have one that I would be emailed to my AOL email. When I told her I did not know my AOL email she just keep tellling me that she would gaurantee that the account had been cancelled. AOL is a joke. Cancelling an account should not be this difficult. Thank you for posting the information you did because I was looking everywhere for a phone number to call and cancell. This might come as a shocker but they don't have that number anywhere on their sight.

I called the above mentioned #.8777734462 and was hung up on. This has got to be Illegal!! Somebody needs to start a petition and ddo something. It's all over the news here in Michigan. I'm calling back... hopefully it will get this issue resolved

Hello, I´m really sorry to see that you were AOL customers and had to go through all their crap. I actually worked in an AOL call center, and know exactly what you went through, and from the other side! I used to do that to at least 40 people a day! Please, understand the people you get to talk to are just employees and really need the money, otherwise they wouldn´t be working for such a crummy company.

Yes, AOL sucks.

The misinformation between departments, the fact that they don´t send you a bill, c´mon! And that freaking "verification process" that takes forever!! Please! As a former AOL employee (and on behalf of most of their Customer Care Consultants) I really apologize for putting you through all their sh*t, we had to, believe me!

I JUST WANTED TO KNOW HOW TO CANCEL MY ACCOUNT ON AOL

AOL is the pits!!!! I would not recommend their service to anyone - not only because they SUCK, but also because I consider it dishonest and crooked to make it so difficult to cancel. I couldn't find a number to call for cancelling my service anywhere. I finally googled various phrases and stumbled upon this site and various other numbers. The automated service was a complete run around and a joke, it took three times of being hung up on before finally getting a live person. By this time I was furious and extremely short with the phone attendant. It only took about two times of emphasizing I wanted him to cancel my account before I got a confirmation number and was free and clear of AOL forever!! I am glad to read that I am not the only one who went through this nonsense but sincerely, something has to be done about their customer service tactics. How can they continue to be in buisness?

Dear sir,

I regret to tell you that even though I cancelled my AOL account.I have been charged for the aol services,I want to claim my money back as I requested to my bank regarding this. I only took the free trial offer without no obligation.
kind regards
Chan Kaur

hey why don't you try putting a stop payment from your bank?

Maybe there's hope. I just called AOL and cancelled without issue. No hassles, no non-native-english-speakers.

When their system answered, I was not shocked to hear that they were experiencing high call volume. I braced for the delay.

The automated attendant was deaf and couldn't understand what I was saying, which slowed things down a little. The box gave up, however, and routed me to a human in just a few seconds.

I didn't get the big upsell. The CSA asked why I was leaving, and I told him it was because I didn't use the service anymore and wanted it gone. He was going to switch me to an unbilled plan, but when I told him I wanted to fully cancel, he did that without another problem. He asked me for an address and phone number so they could mail the cancellation confirmation. I reluctantly gave it to him, but when I asked if my records were going to be purged from their system entirely, he told me that after the cancellation notice goes out and after a reactivation grace period, that the account record is deleted. I guess we'll see.

The moral is that it looks like the strongarm tactics are gone. A tip for others may be to just mumble to the box and let it send you to a human for faster service.

Only thing in retrospect would be not to update the address and just tell them that they don't need to contact me post-departure just to see where that would go.

Hi Dave, and everyone else! This is important, so listen up people! Most of you may already know by now that AOL is doing away with their paid services, and relying mainly on advertising to generate their $$$ revenue. Please note though that you'll still be billed by AOL if you don't cancel entirely, or, choose to opt for their FREE service (you need to have your own ISP, like Comcast, Qwest, RoadRunner, etc.).
If you'd like to keep your e-mail and all the standard AOL features of your account for free, fill out AOL's electronic "cancel / change of service" form by finding the link in your AOL account's "Billing" section... or, use this link at AOL...

http://notify.aol.com/ui_front/jsp/notify_fdm.jsp

If you want to mail in your cancellation / change of service form to AOL, you can download it here...

https://bill.aol.com/changePlan/cancelForm.pdf

Both the electronic and paper forms will give you the option to either cancel your account entirely, or, switch to their "Free" service as long as you already have your own ISP.
I hope this information helps those that are frustrated with talking to AOL customer service reps on the phone. Good luck all!

~~ Jenna

AOL IS HORRIBLE!!! Thanks to this website, I just called...using two phones. I tried using one suggestion regarding the fraud line. The employee was asking my bank account number rather than my Aol login name. When he told me that he was transfering me to the cancellation line, I told him that I am going to start a petition to sue AOL. I finally got a rep on this 1-888-265-8008 number. I also called this same number on my other phone and was told I'd have to wait 10 minutes. Earlier, before I found this website, I was told I'd have to wait 8 mins, 9 mins, etc.
Finally, this rep name Victor- took my request and he gave me a cancel confirmation number. He reassured me that they would not charge me anymore. I am also going to fax the request with the cancellation number to AOL (Fax 1-703-433-7283). I am going to let them know THAT I HAVE SOUGHT LEGAL CONSULTATION REGARDING THIS. I DO NOT TRUST THEM. NO ONE SHOULD SUBSCRIBE FROM AOL. AOL SENDS YOU THROUGH TOOOO MUCH WHEN YOU NEED TO CANCEL. THIS WEBSITE WILL HELP PEOPLE TO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE I MADE IN SUBSCRIBING......THANKS

I just need an easy way of ending AOL account before they charge my checking account for the next month service and I don't even know how much it is?

Thank you, My gosh, Thank you,I have been freed from a five year prison.After three years of paying for it and not using it,I stopped them at my bank,only to get billed repetedly for three months.Ten phone calls to the number on the bill got me nowhere.I called 877-773-4462 ,spoke with a very polite(Yes,Indian)woman who handled everything in about five min.

Thanks for the phone numbers. I just managed to talk with a real person who assured me that the account would be cancelled immediately and gave me a confirmation number. To be sure it works, I will notify my credit card that I will no longer accept billing from AOL. It didn't take long to complete the process - just a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon.

Hey,

You don't know how long it took me to get somebody...I got locked out the system and then a response came back..you cannot enter your account for 24hours...I need to cancel the account that my husband opened, but was..is being paid on my credit card...I'm waiting now..they say it will take 8 minutes for someone to answer.....HELP..................LOST IN AOL LA..LA..LAND.....outta here buddy....!!

Aol, despite me asking them to cancel did not cancel, now they are saying ive commited 'Fraud'...wtf?? Im pissed off and there taking me to court. If someone wants to help me email me at goat_222@yahoo.com

First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time and having the courage to post your experience. I tried to cancel my AOL account recently. I have not used it in four months. Fist, I called and held for over 20 minutes. As a result, I got frustrated and hung up. I then tried to cancel my subscription over on the wesbite, but was again unsuccessful. I will tell everyone I know to avoid AOL internet services. I would rather pay more money to a company that I trust - and respects my wishes.
Tarnisha S. Alston

The easiest way to cancel is to violate aol's terms of service, send spam mail consistantly to aol admins.

hurry! so were do I go to cancel this worthless service as soon as possible?

I just canceled my aol instant messenger with the help of your phone #'s. When he tried to ask me what the reason was for cancelling I told him it was none of his business. He then said it was cancelled and was going to give me a cancellation # and then proceeded to hang up on me. Whole thing only took 5 min. but we will see if he really cancels it.

THANK YOU for the 877-773-4462 number!!! I have been trying for the past 2 hours to cancel using another number and every time it was getting ready to connect me to a representative it disconnected me! With the number above I got through to a representative right away. (Yes, someone with a thick Indian accent - they must be outsourcing their customer service). Of course, he tried to get me not to cancel like they always do. Make sure to get a cancellation number when you cancel, the last time I cancelled AOL they kept billing me for it! I had to call them with my cancellation number to get a refund.

ok, i have read most of the above comments... I am concerned. I have gone with bellsouth.net for dsl service. I do not need two internet services. My questions are (1) when using Bellsouth.net DSL service, can I access another e-mail service without paying... that sounded funny.. but what I mean is I was told that aol had to allow you to keep your e-mail address without the service... Is this possible? and how? (2) Does anyone have Bellsouth service? and does it compare it all with the internet options of AOL? Sorry, I am a little green when it comes to all this stuff... I guess that is another reason people like me stay... don't know enough to leave... Thanks for any help you can give me.

WE just cancelled our aol with the number you gave us--I told my husband the method to use but we also asked the operator his name and informed him he was being recorded--my husband preceded with I want to cancel my aol never swaying from
these words I do not like aol, I want to cancel.
It took two minutes. make sure you get the cancellation number

Sharon, you can use your AOL services for free by these steps:

1) Log in to your AOL account and click the "Settings" icon along the top AOL menu bar.
2) Click on the "Billings" link which will show you your current billing status and account options.
3) From there you'll easily see along the left side your other options to choose for what kind of account you want (dial-up, free AOL, etc.)... so check that out and change your account to the "Free AOL". The changes will take place on your next billing period.

As long as you have your own internet provider (i.e. Bellsouth), then you can still connect to and use your current AOL all for free.
If you just want to totally quit AOL altogether, there's also a link that will let you cancel it on-line or you can print and FAX your cancellation request. Scroll up a few comments here and you'll see that someone posted the links to all that.

Dear aol,
I would like to get away from this so my Mother doesn't have to keep paying for what I'm not use. Mary F. Harper

What makes the waiting to send mail function not work. By that I mean, one it is up there and showing, I cannot re-open it. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Then, if I can open it, it may be blank.

Thank you re: canceling AOL account info. CRAP -- we were stupid enough to get it, freebie thing we were offered, thinking we were helping our daughter with school stuff, and now we can't get out of it. I had to search the internet to find you and your great story and answer. Thank you. I should have known better. AOL sucks.
Sheri

I had an account several years ago. I got a free account for several months, but decided to cancel it when I found a cheaper ISP (I never used the AOL account except for a few weeks at the beginning). Everytime I called to cancel, however, they were so difficult and kept extending my free service that it was easier just to keep it. However, fearing I might one time forget the deadline date and end up paying for a service I didn't want, I finally tried a third time and came up with a plan on how to cut thru the third degree:

I simply told them that the reason I was canceling my account was that I was getting rid of my computer.

The operator clearly saw thru this because she responded kind of with a chuckle, "Oh, so you're just up and chucking it, eh?" To which, I replied, "Yes, I'm up and chucking it."

She gave me no argument and cancelled my account. One reason the operators have to fight to keep you is because their supervisors are listening in and no doubt monitoring to ensure they fight for every account. So I simply found an explanation that they could not argue with.

After all that @#*& I think I need a drink.! That explains why when something is a free 90 day trial I should have asked myself, "What's the Catch?".

I canceled 3 months ago, half way into my free six months. today i noticed they beilled my credit card $25.90. I HAd to raise my voice very very loud and talk to 3 people to finally get a $24.95 credit. I was wondering if everyone else had to resort to yelling at them to get the money back they stole form me. They have made sure i will never use them again even if they come up with a useful product.

One technique that works for me often (once you actually reach a person): "Hello, I need you to know that I am recording this call. May I have your name again? Thank you, Audrey. Here's the help I need...."

Of course I'm not actually recording the call, but I find a very different, much better experience when I do that.

Hey<i'm at work and just called and cancelled on the 8777734462 and had a little trouble having the automatic man understand me. but after a couple of minutes a foreign voice came on and offered a 9.95 deal and I said no, so he read something I could not understand about free aol service, i said just cancel my aol. he said okay with a thank you. so now we will see when payment time rolls around.

Hi Dave & Everyone,

Think cancelling your service is tough? Try shutting it down when you can't remember your screen name. I just spent 20 minutes trying to break through that horribly smug, but oddly handsome sounding, computer voice...to no avail. Then I found this cool site. I realized the key would be to get to a live person, so I used the "set up a great new account" number and got to a person pretty quickly. Of course they answer when they think they've got a new customer! From that point it was a matter of sweet-talking the into giving me my screen name and password, which they seem happy enough to do with minimal ID checking questions.

Then a quick transfer and I'm outta there! Freedom...whoa-oh freedom!!!

Love you guys. You really saved me a bunch of stress!
Cg.

That is 90 days risk free you pay for it while you use the service and if your not happy with the service your call and cancel and have to verbally request your money back i believe 25.90 AND READING THE FINE PRINT INFORMAION WITH THE DISK ALSO HELPS .... or if you called in and signed up they did tell you... your were not listening

And I thought I was the only one! Thanks for this website to get a clue and vent my frustration!
Customer satisfaction is what it's all about - no matter the business. This is outrageous business practice in my opinion and very unfortunate for AOL. Once I am able remove myself from this mess I will yell from the hilltops "DO NOT USE AOL!!"

I was finally able to cancel my AOL account. I even got a conformation number. I just called the number on my credit card statement: 1-800-827-6364. I had to be very firm about canceling. I just told them I no longer had a computer.
Thanks,
I hope this helps.
Nisha

I was so happy to find this. Thanks to this site I got my problems resolved with AOL. I also got my unauthorized payment refunded. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for being here when I needed you!!

Forgot to tell "I AM CANCELLED..YEA!!"

thanks for all your help just keep saying no and make sure you get a confirmation number

i want to cancel my account and do not charge to my credit card thank you

I've read most of the complaints about difficulty in cancelling AOL, but I havent seen why they wanted to cancel. I've had AOL since 2000, and have no complaints about it. Until now. I'm a wheelchair guy and online from morning to night. Every 20 minutes, AOL pops up a message, 'Do you wish to continue to stay online?' Yes___No___ When i have to leave the computer for a few minutes, and i cant get back to the computer fast enough, I lose my conection. If I cant stop them to pop up then I'll I will cancel and go somewhere else. I didn't see this complaint from any of the posted.

Thank you for telling me how to cancel my aol and I had no problem with the guy I talked to , the srvice i'm going to is a sister to aol and that is what he has and he likes it better. so thank you very much , aol is so slow and the popups are anoying.see ya

He he he...I got free AOL access for six years. Now that the company is tanking, they've changed their free service stuff, so the dream is over. But hey, I got it all for free using those stupid discs they pass out, and I met all kinds of easy chicks in their sleazy chat rooms. I hate AOL and took pleasure in ripping them off for so long. I love being rude to their employees on the phone. It's always a pleasure going through the cancellation ordeal. Thanks AOL.

Hey ! I just cancelled my AOL account after 9 years. After I read Daves letter, I started getting a little nervous about calling the number , but I have to say it wasnt bad at all, I was on the phone with them for literally 4 minutes, when the indian woman asked me why I was cancelling, I just said I was getting divorced and had no money whatsoever, not even 50cents, so she didint evenm ask about the 9.99 thingy. Thanks for the number and the warning Dave!

Thanks to all for your information. I was armed when I called to cancel my mom's subscription. I dialed 1-888-265-8008. The phone call lasted less than 5 minutes and I was sure to get the cancel confirmation #. I initially tried cancelling online, but I found the phone number online and your messages confirmed that the number works. Logging on to the website to attempt cancelling, required me to answer an account security question, which I was asked during the call.

I also had the problem of cancelling the aol account. I called and cancelled it back in Feb 2004. They didn't cancel it and continued to charge my checking account until July which I called again about how the account should have been cancelled. I finally cancelled it and said I wanted a refund for what they had charged my from Feb to July. They refused. I called the FTC and wrote a letter to Aol and everyone I could think of. And today unbelievably 3 years later I received a cc. letter addressed to the Attorney general in Florida from Aol regarding my account. Aol agreed to refund me $132 for all charges incurred on this account. I am in shock I actually had forgotten about this, even though I was extremely angry for months. So, for anyone having trouble like this, I would contact the Attorney General in Florida, it seems they are getting something done with this horrible business practise of Aol. Oh ya, in the letter it stated that Aol didn't receive my letter until Feb. of 2007, even though i wrote it back in 2004. I can not believe they can still be in business. To anyone even considering Aol, don't do it, you will regret it.I'm just happy that someone I actually got a refund, even if it did take three years.

we canceled and they charged my mom 200 dollars

Thanx for the info on how to cancel AOL accounts. Maybe it was the time of day that you tried to cancel your account in. I did 2 in the morning (0745) and had virtually no wait on hold. I did have to repeat all the data to the operator, and he did try to delay me with questions, but in all it was relatively painless.

Man, if I would of known that it was so complicated to cancel, i won't of join in the first place. But I manage to cancel my account, let's see if any funny pops up the next few months. I'll be keeping my eyes open. Tricky Tricky AOL is......Like everyone has said. DON'T JOIN, YOU'LL REGRET IT!!!!!!!!

I NEVER DID'T KNOW AOL WAS GOING INTO MY ACCOUNT I HAD A SIX MONTH FREE INTERNET SERVICE FROM GATEWAY COMPUTER. AFTER MY SIX MONTHS WAS UP AOL WAS TAKING MONEY OUT OF MY ACCOUNT. NOW I NEED TO KNOW HOW DO I GET CANCEL FROM AOL.

AOL's billing number is: 1-888-265-8003. Confirmed by AOL on 4/26/07.

Thanks for this article, After six attempts I read this and canceled in less than five minutes. THANK YOU!

I just cancelled my aol. Had it for months but simply forgot once we bundled internet, phone and cable with 1 supplier. Was on the phone for approx. 5 minutes, was given my confirmation # forced to listened to 1 recording and was done.

Really a painless experience at 1:56pm.

please i have been trying to cancel for a long time i am sick with cancer and cannot use computor please cancel i have been paying this bill for a year and not using it please please

i have enjoyed my aol for a few years now, i will always let people know how user friendly aol is, but now I have both my Dells on broadband with comcast and can't afford to pay for both,so I need to cancel my aol.

i am now on the phone with aol and trying to get me to stay i got on the phone quite quickly but he wont stop trying to get me to stay god stop talking ok good all done alittle pain lol

trish

just called the 877-773-4462 # and spoke w/ a customer service agent named Drankel(I believe he is from India) anyhow since I'm being deployed to Iraq I told him I no longer needed the service. He gave me a reference # number and said I will not be billed after 1 June. I hope not...unlike the rest of you I had no real problem cancelling......as of yet!!!

Thanks Lawarence for your post of 4/26 - the telephone number 877 773 4462 works - was on the phone for 6 mins plus some seconds - when I got to a live person -told them did not want to hear the sales pitch - just give my my confirmation number and she did - my next step will be to inform my bank that effective today - do not honor any more payment request from AOL - again thanks for your help - tried like you did on line and it did not work!

CLASS ACTION? We certainly have enough on this site alone. There is evidence of a concerted effort to defraud in a uniform manner.
This could be big, hundreds of millions... the end of AOL...

I just contacted the number mentioned above..was relatively easy. Cust Serc said it would be cancelled. Thanks for your help guys.

I just had a really easy time cancelling AOL!!!
I dialed this number: 1-888-265-8008. The last option offered (I think it was the 5th) was, frankly stated, "cancellation"!
Good luck!

It was pretty easy for me to cancel. I just got off the phone. took less than ten minutes I think. You people are very cynical.

Well... i am getting ready to cancel my Aol services adn I am getting pretty nervous! I have heard it was easy from some people, but then again I heard its been a nightmare to others!

I am getting ready to once again cancel my aol account. I am so regretting the phone call that I once again have to make. I have finally decided to upgrade to Verizon DSL. I hope this is going to be a good move for me. It is very true of what you have said. Aol does give you a very hard time to cancel. The last time I canceled, I ended up yelling at the person on the other end and said "All I want to do is cancel my account" That seemed to shut them up and get on with the cancelling.

I just called the 1-877-773-4462 number and kept saying no thank you to the indian speaking woman and it took about 5-10 minutes total and it is cancelled effective in 1 month.
Small price to pay to get rid of it.
THANKS for the number, try it!

Just used the 1-877-773-4462 number with great success. I literily just used it while reading this very informative site. I could not believe how easy it was considering the fact that years ago I had to cancel my bank account and open a new one.

I need to cancel the account that I accepted for a trial of three month through a disk.
And I said that I was only going to use the internet for the trial period, but they ask me for my credit card and I gave to AOL my Diners Club Number, and I being charge already for 5 month, starting in January 2007, when I haven’t since November in the trial period. I don’t need and want your internet service, please do not keep on using my credit card for the monthly debit, I will pass a communication to diners indicating this, you are charging me with no reason, you should reimburse me the five months that you have charge $.25,90 per month.
My name is Nelson Merino and address is 2156 Tigris dr. Fla 33411 and you are debiting from my Diners Club each month.
Need you to respond that you are cancelling my AOL Internet service to my emailisidromerino@hotmail.com.

Dave Taylor! You are a Godsend! I've recently subscribed to Comcast two days ago and I've heard all the horror stories at work. I spent an half-hour looking for AOL's (800) number with no success. From "google", I found your website. I must say that just a couple of minutes ago I cancelled AOL in "9 minutes and 34 seconds!" And yes, the person I spoke to was very polite and business in every way. Yes, she did try to offer me "a free" years worth of AOL, only after she realized that I would not accept the $9.95/month deal. I used the 877-773-4462 number and I was spoken to, via automated voice, for a couple of seconds, then, the representative took over. I informed them that "I had lost my job and I'm selling my computer!" I guess I was of no use to them. I was given my cancellation and informed that my confirmation letter will be mailed in 7-10 business days. Thanks to all the wonderful people whom helped giving some much needed information! God Bless each and every one of you!

use an indian accent for best service!!

I can't say much than congratulations Dave Taylor, you have won American's heart with your website. I hope this is more than Proof to AOL: that America thinks they are just useless. This has been the most non-hassle-free night of my life.
True Story: I got a letter calling me a delinquent for not paying a bill since October, I had cancel this account for reasons which are odvious. I had gotten back to AOL(seems i did not learn my lesson)sign up with my screen name, It says FREE! for 30-40-60 DAYS. Okay yet i have to pay the same amount of money i would pay with broadband or DSl. "You are not really paying the services with in those days, you are paying memebership." Okay AOL. Put this on your CD: Membership ripoff! HA HA HA!, we have your money an dyou can't do squat about it!

I appreciate your time
-whatsinaname?

Thanks a million! I have been dreading having to contact AOL and try to cancel. God bless the person who provided the actual phone number to cancel
(1 877-773-4462) it saved me 30 minutes of quality time with terrible muzac. Thanks again

I am being billed for aol whitch I cancelled so long ago I forgot me password I had not written it down anyplace.

mike g

AOL SUCKS...SOME ONE SHOULD GET JOHN STOLLES TO INVESTIGATE AOL FOR 20/20....CANCELLING IS A NIGHTMARE,FRAUD AND THEFT...

I cancelled my aol account on three occasions. The first time was really bad and I called my credit card company and stopped the automatic deduction. The next two times I simply stopped my automatic deduction. They would write to me for payment, and I wrote them a letter indicating that I tried to cancel over the phone with no success, so they left me no choice. Don't hassle with them. Just stop your automatic deduction. Very simple.

You are dead on the money with this article. AOL isn't very easy to escape. It's quite like a minuature Third Reich of the internet. It's easy to get in, but once you are, watch out! I have AOL service for free since they offered that option if you connect through another service, i.e., Comcast or WOW! But even then I still don't like it and am preparing to give it the boot.

I am a victim of my own stupidity. I cancelled AOL in 1999 after three years and it took me no less than ten phone calls, most of them very nasty. Only when I contacted the Georgia Secratery of State and told AOL I had done so did they finally cancel the account.

Back in 2004, I was in a pinch working on a critical project and my cable broadband connection went out. The cable company didn't have an estimated repair time but said it would be a while. Out of desperation and lack of any dial up service, I fished out an old AOL disk out of a pile of junk mail and installed it. My intention was to cancel prior to the end of the free trial....hehe, famous last words!

I made two phone calls to AOL and both times told their representative that there was NOTHING humanly possible that would stop me from cancelling. I guess AOL drones aren't 'human' because I didn't manage to cancel it on either call.

I finally came up with the simplest solution of all- I called and reported my credit card lost/stolen. =)

Just cancelled AOL with 1 877 773-4462, in five minutes.Explained that it had been set up by my daughter without permission and it must be cancelled immediately.He tried to slip 9.99 a month in on me and offered free internet access and I refused, but never say yes to anything or they will sign you up.Thanks so much for the good info.

cancel my aol account

Dave,

Don't know if you recall becuase I wrote it in this comment thread about a year and a half ago, but I was having a hard time finding finding AOL's "How to Cancel" page after they kept deleting copies of it from links I posted on my site. I wound up writing a post about it on Marah's AOL Log (renamed Anti-AOL) and the story was popular on digg.com (I mentioned this thread in that post, too!).

A lot of people were confused (thanks to a blogger for a huge online newspaper) and thought I was writing about how I couldn't find an online cancel *form*. At the time, AOL didn't have one, and I knew that. They were simply deleting and moving around the info about how to cancel. I solved the problem by finding an active copy of the page one last time and mirroring it on my site.

Last week AOL settled a class action lawsuit with 47 states (every state is covered by the agreement except NY and FL) for making it extremely hard to cancel. Terms of the agreement state that AOL call reps can no longer receive commission for customer "saves" and must keep an online cancel *form* easily available to all members. The form is accessible by visiting cancel.aol.com when members are signed in. For members who don't want to make a phone call to AOL, this might be a good thing.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Aol suckss...
My story is a weird one 'cos signing up for Aol service is what I always argue ''bout. I believe I never was a member and never used their service 'cos I have internet service on my computer. I remembered it was sptember 23,2006, I bought a new laptop n was trying to use it on that same day but I had to have a internet service, so I sucribed to the 6month free Aol sevice that came with my laptop. But withing 5 minutes of doing this, I realized I could'nt operate with Aol service 'cos I was going to be billed from my savings account which can't be possible 'cos I was still underage then n my card wasn't a visa card. So I called the Aol people and asked for a cancelation which the agent told me has already been cancelled. 6 month later I realized that 30 dollars has been deducted from my account. I was so angry and I called the Aol office back requesting for a refund and cancelation, I was transfered to 12 different people without any help, and at last they told me that my membership has been canceled. I thought this was true, not knowing that they never did something about it.Later on that day, I called my bank and told them to stop giving Aol access to my account. As I'm speaking today Aol has been going to my account without my concent for almost 8times deducting $30 each time.
I don't really know what to do 'bout them, but I think the best way is to withdraw my money from the account and change my account.

I read all of the information on this page and was able to successfully cancel my account within 5-7 minutes. There is a menu choice available for cancellation. My problem was that I set up the account over 8 years ago and could not remember the initial phone number or address used at the time. I repetitively said "customer service" to the automated voice and was put through to a live person who of course tried to sell me on keeping aol. I stated that I was not interested in an offers and to please cancel me now. After reading the previous posts I was able to cancel without alot of hassle.

THANK U!

We sent a letter on 23 May 07 to the AOL HQ in Sterling VA with these details:
We have received bills in April, May, June and July although we had notified our credit card company not to accept any billings from AOL. The only human being we were able to contact during these months was from India and we were totally unable to communicate. We have several friends and relatives who have also found that AOL puts every hurdle in the game to make it nearly impossible to stop service.

We have tried on four, yes four, different dates to end our relationship with you and you won't allow us do it! Details and dates:

• 30 Mar 07, sent you an e-mail saying we are canceling AOL service. Our message resulted in a nonsense form letter that didn’t address our request by e-mail to stop the service. The incident report on your form letter was 2053911, dated 30 Mar 07, 11:10 p.m.

• 31 Mar 07 - Called your 800 number (1-888-265-8008) and canceled our service. AOL had a record of our phone call, but not that we wanted to cancel our service.

• 28 Apr 07 - AOL again bills us for service, service that we had canceled.

• 23 May 07, tried three times to reach your company by phone and after having to answer a series of questions to a machine, we were put on hold, a busy signal, and then were disconnected. Each time we returned, the same run around happened.

• 24 Jul 07, we were notified by an AOL person in FL that we owe money for May, and that they were going to turn over the bill (for less than $12.00 to a bill collector. He would not listen to my wife’s record of all the phone calls and authorization numbers given to our request - - totally hostile!!

I called AOL this morning (July 27th, 2007 @ 8:20AM) and spoke to a customer service rep. I called 800-827-6364 and went through the automated system in less than five minutes. By 8:30am I had a live person on the line asking me why I want to cancel my Acccount. I was straight forward w/ him and let him know that I have Verizon highspeed for $14.95/month and I am happy with it.... and there is nothing he can say that will make me change my mind and stay w/ AOL. My account was canceled within 10 minutes. Best time to call is before 9AM for those of you who live on the East Coast. Have your "Security Answer" ready before you call. They will also ask for your full name, billing address, home phone number (linked to your AOL Account). If you don't know any of that information, you deserve AOL :) Jk

Ar

AR

I need to cancel my AOL account by the end of this month 9TOMORROW) How do I do thqt???

I called the 800-827-6364 number and told them that i had unauthorized charges, that way they would take me off of any account created. Supposidly that will be done within 24 hours.

That number 877-773-4462 is a phishing scam. Looks like they ahve been working this site hard for a few years now.

Don't call it.

http://www.millersmiles.co.uk/report/408

I just found this page, I dont know how new it is, but it makes it much easier to cancel your AOL dialup account:

https://bill.aol.com/changePlan/changePlan.adp

sir
how i can safely send my mails to given destination

thanks to the helpful information and numbers on how to cancel aol service. i had no problems canceling service like all the other three times i tried. thanks alot!!!!

Dave -- I was having the same frustrations as you in trying to cancel my AOL. After reading your article, I called the second number on your list (800-827-6364), and one of the choices was "cancellation"!!! Wonders never cease! I called it and got an overly friendly automated system and then an EFFUSIVELY friendly actual person, who finally cancelled it after MUCH extra verbiage! Thanks for the phone number!
Nancy

I tried cancelling my AOL account for 4 months, with no success.
In frustration, I contacted the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (State Attorney Generals Office). They sent my complaint to the AOL legal department and told them to take care of it.
AOL closed my account and issued me a 4 month credit on my credit card.
Anyone having trouble cancelling AOL may want to try contacting their states attorney generals office.

I have been with AOL for some 6 or 7 years now.
signed on. I even reverted back to AOL 8.0 thinking pe Dave, they will not let me finish this they keep stopping me, with this insane aggressive way of trying to get me to download some security peeping toms or some such thing. I am loosing my mind and not getting my work done because of their constant interuptions ... This is absolutely ludadcrice and I am going out of my mind trying to work and keep them off of my screen .... Between AOL shutting me out all the time and the windows people or whoever they are bugging the hell out of me to do this and do that...well what can I add to this?
Thank You for allowing me to speak

Respectfully,
Ralph G. Mancuso
mancu63@aol.com

any help you can throw my way would be greatly appreciated Dave.

I used the # above 1-877-773-4462 and it took me about 5 minutes to cancel!!!!

Your full of it you and like alot of others are trial abusers trying to get free service AOL does not give out free months like it use and has not for the last 2 years. People who try to get something for nothing make me sick

Hey Dave,

Thnaks for the information. I seriously had trouble with AOL before and could not get in touch with them. I appreciate this thourough analysis. Thanks a lot.

Hi Dave, I live in England and have been with AOL for four 'very' long years. I, too, am now ripping my hair (and finger nails) out, desperately trying to move to a better, faster, Internet Service Provider.

Over here, a new ISP requests a MAC (migration access code)from the previous provider before allowing a new customer to join them. Well, AOL is making it very difficult for me to get hold of my MAC reference number! It is UK law that I can ask, and they cannot refuse, but all AOL does is suggest up-grade packages and extentions to my contract. I want OUT!!! Also, AOL has sold its dial-up and broadband ISP status. From now on, it cannot charge a subscription fee or block users from accessing 'any' websites they choose to view. It's got so bad, for me, that AOL is even blocking me from using Windows Internet Explorer! I have had to download a programme called Mozilla Firefox to use Java powered websites/pop-ups/chat rooms BUT, after 1hr, AOL blocks Mozilla and I have to close down my pc and restart it.

Any suggestions greatfully received.

John.

Hello again, guess what? I've just managed to get AOL to issue my MAC refernce number. BUT, it will take 48hrs to arrive!!! Surely the Scottish call centre (was an Irish call centre guy, who I spoke to, earlier today) woman could have given me the code over the phone or e-mailed it straight away?! The Irish guy tried hard to belittle and undermine my post-graduate brain by saying "Why, after 4yrs, was I suddenly wanting to move providers?" Cos, as I put it "AOL is rubbish." (translation - garbage) Then, he got agressive so I hung up on him.

The key to getting AOL to cancel your account is this... Maintain the fact you just want to leave. Don't get aggressive, be polite, don't answer their questions as it will open you up to all sorts of other 'begging' questions relating to free/low cost upgrades or extentions. The least you can get away with saying, the better. This is what happened:
Female Scottish accent - "How can I assist you today?"
Northern English accent, not Liverpool or Manchester, but Sheffield in South Yorkshire (me) - "How do I cancel my AOL Broadband account?"
FS accent - "You have been with us for four years, why do you want to leave now?"
(me) "I want to try a new provider."
FS accent - "Why, what's wrong with the service we provide?"
(me, lying through my teeth) "Nothing, I'd just like to try a different provider."
FS accent - "Would you like to cancel immediately or be sent your MAC reference number?"
(me, astonished that there might, soon, be a light at the end of the tunnel) - "Yes, I'd like my MAC please."
FS accent - "You'll receive it in 48hrs. Can I assist you with anything else?"

I said no, hung up and then realised I may have to buy myself out of my current contract. Though, it will be well worth the loss of money just to say "So long, farewell, asta la vista, goodbye" (as Julie andrews might have sung, in the Sound of Music) and move to the top British ISP bt.com

I'll try, where possible, to keep you all up-dated on my progress to become Carbon (erm, I mean AOL) neutral by 2008.

John.

I just called the 877-773-4462 and took less than 5 mins. good luck all

im wondering how to change my aol account screen name wothout deleting my aol account i have no idea how to do that ?????????????????? please help me

I recieved 6 months free AOL when I purchased my computer. A month later I went with ATT. So after a half hour with AOL I was told it was cancelled.Today I received a billing on my card.I called 800-827-6364.It took a long time to get a human, with an accent I couldn't really understand.After I explained my situation,he tried to reduce my payments to 9.95. I reminded him that I just told him I don't need you or I've never even used you.He asked for my screen name. Which I told him I do not know.Since I never used you.He said he can give me free AOL,{that i will never use] and my billing on my card is a legal matter that he can't take care of because I don't have a cacellation number that was sent to a e-mail that I no longer exists. My matter is still not taken care of.Iv'e got to find another way of taking care of this....

UMM ALL I DID WAS CALL 1-877-773-4462 AND GAVE MY HOME NUMBER AND AOL S-N AND IT CANCELED IT. TOOK ALL OF 1 MINUTE AND 51 SECONDS!!

TO THE GUY SCOTT ABOVE JUST CLOSE OUT YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT OR GO TO YOU BANK AND TELL THEM AOL NO LONG HAS ACCESS TO YOUR ACCOUNT

I called that number and after going through all of the steps and then gettting through to an operator with a thick Indian accent I told her I would like to cancel and she said " I am sorry to hear that mam" and then silence!!!!!!!! SHE HUNG UP ON ME!!!!!!!!!22 minutes that took!!!
i just called back and they switched me to a free account...I will see how that works...

pleases cancell this service for me, i never ask.

THANK

pleases cancell this service for me, i never ask.

THANK

I accidentally found this page. My god this is hilarious...I just read most of the comments in this page and I can't believe there are so many people out there that got rob. I thought I was one of the few naive fools that got trap with aol.

Seven or eight years ago I tried cancelling with them and it was hell. Every time I cancelled, the following month I got billed. This went on a few times. I was using my former gf's computer at that time. When we broke up and no longe live together, she would probably accidentaly hit the aol icon and reactivate my account. I know it wasn't her fault. She doesnt know much about computers. I called aol to expalin the situation with them that I don't even have a computer and why charge my account. Obviously they had my account the first time I signed up....

To make long story short, the last phone conversation I had them them ended up in a shouting and cursing match with one of the customer service manager. I knew I would've gone postal with them if I lived a few blocks away. I would've pleaded temporary insanity in my defense in court.

After reading all the postings, I feel so much better knowing in my heart they are the worst company in America.

Just type live help in the aol search bar and talk to them live to get the account canceled...

I have called my credit card co. to not honour the deductions Aol are making to my credit card. I cancelled 7/07 & am still getting billed!!
This is total highway robbery. my opinion
LB

You don't have to call anymore... you can do it online:

http://cancel.aol.com

I've just tried the online cancellation process to cancel my free account and found that the links take you to a copyright infringement form. I've tried this several times and each time the same thing happens.

AOL sucks more than dyson and hoover put together.

Try this URL https://bill.aol.com/changePlan/changePlan.adp

And read good.

I just canceled my free-trial of aol. It took a total of 8 minutes. All you have to do is keep hitting zero, then the option to add services. You will always get a rep quickly for that. Easy as pie!

I used to work for them doing technical support. Even we made fun of the cancellation process.

They ask you all those questions after you just answered them to the automated machine in order to 1) verify that the information the popped up is correct (lets face it, those machines screw up) and 2) to verify who YOU are so that no one is going to retrieve any personal information about you. I know that sounds a little messy, but believe me we had a ridiculous number of social engineers (people who call in to get information) call us with real information pretending to be someone else so that piece by piece they could steal YOUR identity. It was able to happen due to people not following procedure, so in a way, be happy that they ask all those questions.

Dave, if you hadn't had a security question, they have other ways to verify your account. If you didn't have the answer to those however, you were pretty screwed because once you fail to answer them correctly, we couldn't help you anymore regarding your account (I could still provide technical support, but i wouldn't be able to change passwords or release screen names or anything like that).

The hold time is so long because we honestly had wayyyy too many calls in queue all the time. If there was a system issue, we could be looking at over 200 calls on hold at a time. If not, regular business hours were usually something like 50 calls at a time. And I wasn't at the busiest call center. Other centers are worse. They give you a certain call time that you are allowed, if your average is higher than that time, you have to start ditching people early and rushing them off the phone. Then they would realise they didn't have what they wanted, and call back, and oops, another call on hold. It's a catch-22. If we handle calls quickly, you don't get what you want, but theres less hold time. If we do what you want, theres a LOT of hold. That counts for ALL call centers. Take it with a grain of salt.

As far as cancellations dept, they have to rebuttal 3 times. If they care to continue or if they think you'll still stay (if you sound unsure) they can continue to rebuttal until you hang up on them. People who enjoy their commission always let you hang up first! My tips for cancelling;
1) be confident sounding.
2) don't fall for free time, it's not going to get you anywhere but stuck on the phone again 3 months from now
3) be speaking to the correct person. You may have to wait on hold for a long time, but you get one of those people who simply WILL NOT cancel your account, hang up and call back or demand a sup (although, that's hard to get there).
4) Be careful. I know from personal interactions that sometimes people will tell you they are cancelling your account but then they don't. They say your call may be recorded, and a lot of them are, but if you are speaking to someone who can tell when they are being monitored and when they aren't you might get scamed. They can tell you it's cancelled, mark it as a SAVED CALL in the system, make money off of your time, and you have no proof that they lied to you. Double check everything.

All in all, working there was hell. I enjoyed some of it, like the people I worked with were fantastic, and I enjoyed helping people, but there were flaws in the system. Big flaws. Some of which I worked hard to change, but alas, AOL is still AOL. The program itself is really picky and needs to be installed on a pristine computer in order to function properly, and the service, well, obviously everyone already knows about that.

Good luck.

Aol is easy to Cancel, If you "Members" would simply listen to what the aol reps are offering it would actually be of great benifit to you. Those of you who have walls up, are to stubborn, and dont have their own information, are the ones who have a hard time. Come on How hard it is to call the toll free number, or go to cancel.aol.com COME ON PEOPLE!!! Dont make life so hard on yourselves!!

I also tried to cancel online, but for some "odd" reason, they say my answer to the security question of where I was born isn't correct, so my account has now been locked for 24 hours. REALLY? Because I think I can remember where the hell I was born.

I have now decided to make cancelling a crusade.

MoFos

this must be a record then 4 minutes to cancel AOL.
use the phone when you get through tell them you are about to become a bankrupt and the phone line has been disconnected.worked a treat got my number straight away.

I just went and called AOL about 5 minutes ago and it only took me 9 mins and 45 seconds.
The man I spoke to was very polite and helped me through the whole thing. I will say they go on a tangent trying to keep you from cancelling but they are just doing their job so that they will not get in trouble. I will still be on the look out to see if they bill me for january or the months to follow but I'm hopeful that maybe they arent the tyrants we think they are. GOODLUCK future members of AOL who choose to cancel =)

We got the AOL subscription while buying a laptop for my daughter 2 years ago. I forgot all about it till I saw it on my Visa bill recently. We never even used the AOL account even ONCE! Now I have no idea how to cancel it because I don't know what our username is!!!!! How can I cancel without knowing that? :(

Just went thru it again.. Having cancelled one account.. and just noticed(4-5 mos) i was still being billed I went back to cancel Again and realized I was down for two accounts.YIKES!!!
I hope to save my confirm # this time .. in case I see it charged again on my acct.

To cancel AOL, you simply go to cancel.aol.com

I don't know why I'm still being billed by aol. I now have broadband service and am being billed by IO and aol. AOL should not be billing me.

Thanks a bunch for the help. I was going around in circles, trying to figure out how to cancel AOL.

Right on, everything that was described was the same experience I encountered. Thank you for your assistance. I won't use AOL ever again as a provider.

Mike P.

I WANT TO CLOSE MY AOL ACCOUNT

I cancelled my AOL account rather easily, you can too. Buy a prepaid Visa and make sure there is not enough money in it to cover the monthly bill. Then, simply change your payment method on line. AOL will cancel you.

I want to cancel my AOL account effective immediately,as of today 2/06/08

Thank you,
CYNTHIA R. FREMONT

CANCEL.AOL.COM <<<------- go there... choice to switch to free (cancel billing)

****************************
"CANCEL AOL"... Making a "Request Migration To Free Service" and continue using some features.

****************************

This is what I did:

-Sign In: Screen Name or E-mail and Password (on some cases they need your Account Security Question)
-Go to keyword and enter: billing
-On "My Account - AOL Help" go to menu on the left and select: Account Status
-If your account is active with no issues, then you would see on the next window:

"Your account is active, with no issues.
Have a question about your account? Please speak with a Member Services Representative."

-Click on link: Please speak with a Member Services Representative.

-On the next window:

--(From option 1.) select: Live Help (Immediate answer via chat)

--(On option 2.) write your name and Email address

--(On option 3.) select from menu: Cancel Account

Next window comes with the explannation that they can't cancel your AOL account through live chat or email. But, they can provide you with some information on how you can continue your AOL account using differents price plans, including the option "Free AOL/Cancel My Billing"

-Select link: cancel.aol.com

-On the next window look for "Free AOL/Cancel My Billing" on the left side and select: Continue

-Next window is the "Confirmation Page" where you can insert an alternate Email address, then click: Save

**************************

I just received my confirmation email with some information related to my last charge on the next billing statement due that my cycle is always on the 4th day of the month; after that I'll need to connect to the Internet through my own high-speed, broadband or dial-up provider.

I'll hope that this help somebody, after all you cancel the bill and still using some of theyr features. Thx!

********************************************
***** Now, this is the msg they sent to me:

Dear Member,

Thank you for being a valued AOL member and for contacting Member Services about your AOL® account! This email serves as confirmation that we canceled your paid account and converted it to a free account on 02/07/2008. You will have access to your AOL Internet connection until 03/04/2008, at which time your Free AOL plan will take effect. This plan does not include dial-up access or live technical customer support from AOL. However, you can continue to use AOL over any other Internet connection by following the instructions below about how to access your Free AOL account.

You will not be charged any additional monthly membership fees, but you will be responsible for any other charges you might have incurred since your last billing date 02/04/2008.

PLEASE SAVE THIS CONFIRMATION EMAIL AS YOUR RECORD OF THE CANCELLATION AND CONVERSION OF YOUR PAID MEMBERSHIP AND FOR FUTURE REFERENCE ON USING YOUR FREE MEMBER ACCOUNT.

What Your Free AOL Account Includes:
Once your paid member account is converted, you will still be able to use your account over an Internet connection of your choice, continuing to enjoy the content and many of the features that you currently use, such as:

✓ Your current AOL screen name for communicating via email and instant messaging
✓ Your familiar AOL software for quicker and safer Web browsing
✓ Safety and security software to help protect you from viruses, spyware, and more
✓ Your photos, emails, address book and everything else you've saved to your AOL account
✓ Great broadband content like AOL® Radio with XM, videos, news, sports and more!

How to Access Your Free AOL Account:
First, you will need to connect to the Internet through your new high-speed, broadband or dial-up provider. Then select one of the following ways to access your account:

✓ Using the AOL software (e.g. AOL Desktop), follow our step-by-step instructions to set up a new connection. Please note: If you previously chose to block pop-up offers while using AOL's software, your preference will be reset to allow pop-ups once you activate your Free AOL service is activated. Please visit marketingpreferences.aol.com to review your preferences and set them to meet your needs.
✓ Using a web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Firefox), go to www.aol.com and sign in to access your email, send instant messages and more.

For more information on our free features and content, please visit discover.aol.com. If you have a technical or billing question, or need help accessing your account, please visit help.aol.com.

Please note: AOL membership and use of AOL's free services remains subject to the AOL Terms of Service. For complete details click here.

Account Billing Details
Account Number: xxxxxxxx
Transaction Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Last Cycle date: 02/04/2008

Because your cancellation request was made after this date, your last charge will appear on your next billing statement. After that, you will no longer be charged any monthly membership fee, though you will be responsible for any other charges you might have incurred since your last billing date.

Please review your billing statements carefully and contact AOL if you have questions at 1-800-827-6364.

Thank you again for being a valued member. We hope you continue to take advantage of your free AOL service for a safer, more secure and hassle-free online experience -- no matter who provides your Internet connection.

Sincerely,

AOL Member Services

P.S. If you feel you have canceled your Internet access with AOL in error, or want to explore other low-cost service plans, go to myaccount.aol.com, or call an AOL Member Services representative anytime at 1-800-381-4006.

*********************

iam tring to cancel my account but they don't really give you the right information to cancel it on the internet. so if anyone can help me i would really like that. thank you

I have also had the worse luck cancelling Aol....not only do i get an automated system...every time i call i get hung up on. This has been an on going problem for three days now...i am so tired of messing with them that i just want to scream. If anyone know an easier way to contact them please post it....i am
tired and disgusted with them.

I just closed (rather, I think i did) my aol account by using keyword 'cancel' and changing my account to 'free' service. Then i clicked on the FAQ to cancel my screen name, and sent an electronic form to have my old account screen name removed. I received a confirmation, stating it will take up to 3 days to process... We'll see how this turns out. [fingers-crossed]

After 12 yrs of having AOL, I just canceled and it only took 10 minutes. They guy was very nice. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. Maybe that was because I was geared up for a battle that never happened!

i want to delete this account

i would like to cancel my aol account

Hi, I think I just set a NEW WORLD RECORD. I canceled AOL in only 8 minutes and 19 seconds. They where very nice. Yes they tried to sell me on staying but I politly said no and that was the end of it. The recording asked me all the qustions and when I was transfered to an operator he did n0ot ask me again. I have herd some real bad horor stoies but my try worked out just fine and I was with them for 2 years and 2 months. My question now is do I win anything?

I have been trying to cancel AOL for over a year. I have talked to them three times and they still haven't cancelled it. I am signed up for automatic payment from my Quicken credit card. They refuse to quit the automatic charge to my Quicken card. It seems that they have no control over their own business. By the way, the Quicken Mastercard is operated by CITI. I would suggest that all of you who read this NEVER, EVER get a credit card from Quicken or CITI. They absolutely refuse to help their customers in any way. They are every bit as usless and conniving as AOL. I had to cancel my credit card from Quicken and get another credit card from someone else because they refused to stop taking the AOL charges. They just lost all the fees from thousands of dollars a month of purchases because of their incompetance, greed and poor customer service.
Whatever you do-----DO NOT EVER SIGN UP FOR AOL OR GET A CREDIT CARD FROM QUICKEN, QUICK BOOKS OR CITIBANK. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL REGRET IT FOREVER!!!!

I HAVE TRIED TO CANCEL MY AOL DIAL-UP CONNECTION BUT YOU KEEP CHARGING MY CREDIT CARD. I TOLD YOU
I DON"T WANT IT AND I WANT IT TAKEN OFF MY CREDIT CARD THIS MONTH.
DOUG BROWN

This site was great. I wanted to cancel my aol account and didn't know where to start until I entered this site. I called the 888-265-8008 number and was able to cancel my account in under 10 minutes. Thanks for the info. So anyone needing to cancel their AOL account, the above number works like a charm.

Pleas cancel my account !!!

please cancle my aol account

Dave this is 2008 and AOL gives the same NON Customer support to Cancel. I took the steps that you listed and then India said, "We can't do that now as we are upgrading the system. Call back in 24 hours."

Your story and 800 telephone number has at least short cut the contact problems. But, looks like they have found a new scam to delay NOT getting my money any longer.

Gary

I followed your advise - called the 800 number to cancel my AOL account and it worked perfectly and u 8 minutes I was done. Thank you Dave!!

I CANcELLED IN UNDER 5 MINUTES!
use the 888-265-8008 #
no hold time!

i'm very sorry i can't afford this account please take me off,all the way from Canada,I just put my phone on with Yahoo i just don;t want it periord!! thank-you Eva Lopeke

My name is William, I have been without aol for at least 7 months. I try to cancel my accout over the phone and the woman said no problem. 7 months later $70.79 come off my card, now I am on a fixed income called the card co. and they said that they would do an investigation and they changed my card number for free. S.O.B's aol are crooked!!!! Aol is wrong for doing this to a disabled person like my self, I wonder how many other people got screwed if you think about it they should be put out of business. I think I will pursue this further, $70 may not be much to some people, but if you think of all the senoir and disabled people, Aol is coming out like a rose and we cant afford it!!! William

CANCELLED AOL IN 4 MINUTES. I LIED AND SAID I WAS MOVING BACK INTO MY PARENTS' HOUSE, THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE HIGH SPEED INTERNET HOOKED UP FOR MULTIPLE COMPUTERS, AND THAT I WOULDN'T BE NEEDING AOL ANYMORE. I SPOKE WITH WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A TECH GUY FROM INDIA, HE WAS VERY NICE AND HE CONCLUDED THE CONVERSATION VERY QUICKLY. HIS NAME WAS ALEX. NOT AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE AT ALL.

April 14,2008 AOL has done it agani. After almost 15 years as a customer, I don't feel appreciated, in fact I really feel like a number. Therefore, A few weeks ago, I cancelled my DSL service from AOL and are moving to a competitor who really wants my business, but the @#%*$ AOL still holds the DSL connection, even though I am off their billing, frustrating my new ISP provider an causing my new order being cancelled twice. More to follow as I pursue the most difficult company to deal with. AOL should have been an airline.

I just canceled my AOL account, which took about 12 minutes. I thought I would never get to speak to a human, and when I finally did, I couldn't understand him, and he kept trying his hardest to make me stay with AOL, I felt like a broken record saying "no Im not interested, I just want to cancel", finally after pissing him off he gave me my confirmation number....I will never have AOL again, their horrible!!!

Dave -
I asked several friends (including a tech from The Geek Squad) how to cancel AOL service. I was told "Good Luck". The most frustrating part was getting a young man on the phone stating he would fax a form for signature of the person who appears on the account (we are a small busiess) - 2 weeks later no form. When I called again, another customer support person (floor manager) told me there is no form (not part of their policy!). Is that a lie or just uninformed employees? I found a form is available online after going thru several steps and reading the fine print to get to it!! WOW - all of you nailed the difficulty right on the head.

Nancy (a frustrated Sr. citizen)

To stop paying for your AOL account, just go to http://cancel.aol.com and switch to the free plan.

As long as you have a broadband connection already, and don't need dialup there is no reason to pay for this. Just login with your account and switch to the free plan. No need to speak to anyone or call.

You'll be able to continue using your account - the software, IM, email, etc. Just will be free. Only thing that changes if you switch to free is that you won't be able to use dialup anymore.

I just received an overdraft notice on a business account we rarely use... why? AOL has been charging our account several months. We don't even have AOL, have never had AOL and specifically don't like AOL. It took 25 minutes on the phone to get them to cancel an account we never authorized in the first place. Now we have a load of paperwork to do for both AOL and our financial institution to try to get several hundred dollars in charges back. The best part was when they tried to get me to keep an account we never set up in the first place. Good luck on getting rid of AOL. If that's possible.

Thanks for the information. I called the phone number you gave and actually had a not-so-bad experience. The whole process took about 10 minutes and although the lady was persistant in trying to get me to stay with AOL, I did not give in and am happy that I was able to cancel.

Ha! This is all so funny. Before I tried canceling my AOL, I switched to their cheaper service because we got high speed internet. Found out months later, they were still charging over $20 each month. I called a second time. It was supposed to be $9.95 a month. Still no luck. I called a third time to cancel and got a runaround, and was told that I still had to pay for a month because I was canceling past some imaginary cut off date. I argued and asked how they could even charge for a service that they were offering for free? Finally, I just paid the bill. Months and months later, I got letters from them saying I still owed. I called and talked to "Steve" in India who gave me a fax number. I faxed the bank statements of the payment and the letters stopped coming. That is, until a collections agency contacted me! I gave them the bank statements and they stopped. I've called AOL several times, and faxed the paperwork a 3rd time to be on the safe side, but they still say I owe. Luckily, I checked my credit reports and they're not on there. They seem to just want me to give in and pay extra money!

CANCELLED AOL BUT THEY STILL TAKE THREE MONTHS BILL OUT OF BANK ACC REFUSED TO REFUND BECAUSE WE GOT NEW COMPUTER AND NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS.VERY POOR SERVICE

I cancelled AOL today because I can't get to my email for some unknown reason....I cancelled a year ago with no problem but then added them again....for some unknown reason. I called 1-800-827-6364; I had to shout my email address over the phone several times before the recorder understood me and finally put me thru to a live person. She was very nice but, like so many others, kept trying to talk me into staying. I'm still being charged for another week or so--can't remember the date she gave me but it was sometime in June---I hope of 2008!!!!

ok i tried to cancel my service but it says i have to be the mai screen name holder & im not but im the one paying the bill...but i have account #....what can i do.

by using this am I charged? I am so confused and need to cancel the aol I pay for. NOW. thanks, Sally Roberts

I just canceled my AOL and it took a whopping 7 minutes. The gal was very polite and believe it or not she was American!!! After I canceled, she then told me I now have AOL free of charge with the exception of using tech support..

No problems here......so far.....

Last night I painlessly cancelled my aol account and now I have it free. Called 800-827-6364 and was connected in a few minutes. Spoke with "Henry" in India. You do need to be subscribed to a broadband carrier, I have been connected to Bellsouth(AT&) for a year now but still kept my aol for $7.95 a month. They raised it to 9.99 so I cancelled. Now I have the same thing but it is free. Anyone can have free email through aol.

There is a much easier way, you all. Go to changeplan.aol.com while logged into AOL. There are currently 4 options. Choose the one in the lower left... its pink. It says change to free plan/cancel AOL. Yeah, people will still be able to send email to that address, but you wont pay for it anymore.
If you must call in, get the confirmation number and write it down. Keep it for heavens sake. Don't go whining about how AOL wont cancel your account and then you can't find the confirmation number.
And, above all, if you just want the free service, don't say you want to cancel. Just say you want to change your plan. It saves you time in the long run, and the people wont be trying to sell you on a new plan.
Take it from a guy who works in the cancelation department, its not as hard as the impatient whiners make it sound.

I would just like you to relinquish my account as of July 2008 and i thank you

I just called the 877/773-4469 number. I will tell you that I was able to cancel quickly, it took approximately 8 minute. However, they were persistent about signing me up for free and leaving my email and all that crap up and running. You just have to cut them off immediately and they will go onto their next cue card. Just keep telling them NO. The unfortunate thing about this whole incident is I originally canceled AOL in January of 2008. I don't check my bank statements often, until today, and found that they have been charging me $24.95 a month. I asked their representative if I would be receiving rembursement and he said no but after July 28, I would no longer be billed. The only other problem was that they were canceling my account today July 21 but they are still going to bill me for the additional 7 days. I was given a Virginia address(AOL Billing Operations and Service, POB 65627, Sterling, VA 20165) and a fax number 703/433-7294 to request reimbursement. After reading one of the comments about a refund, I will probably have to contact the Attorney General in Flordia or Colorado where I'm from to get any action taken on this matter. They have about $175 of my hard earned money and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get it back.

add me to the list of people unable to cancel aol ,despite a stroke and hospitalization , they cancelled my log in password and now all phone numbers 1 have from this site 1 am not authorized to use and my bills have all gone so 1 have no other way to contact them ,1 say 'them', but 1 know aol is just one guy in a toilet who gets half of india to work for nothing as his company , 1 expect a bill for unused time soon and 1 will cover it in chile powder and send it back ..who cares

First thing to remember when you want to cancel your AOL account: The guy answering the phone doesn't want to talk to you either. He has a mortgage, a car payment and bills to pay. Give him a break. He is following the policies required by his employer (third party company with AOL contract) and if he doesn't he loses his job. You wouldn't want his kids to go hungry, would you? Average time on the phone with a cancelation member: 5 minutes (unless you cry about credits because you don't ever look at your bank statement. Thats not MY fault. The policies don't let me give you credit. Get over it).
The second thing to know is that the agent on the phone is required to make TWO offers. No more, no less. Let them rattle off the offer then politely say "No".
The third thing to remember is: Yes, we know you waited on hold forever and you are glad to talk to a live person. Yes, we are glad you got to speak to an American, too. Yes, we know you just got the greatest package deal from your local cable/DSL provider and you don't need to pay for your AOL service. Yes, we know you are in a hurry and you can't use the manners you teach your kids to let us say the "speach" we speak in our sleep because we talk to (and I'm NOT joking) 50-70 times a day. No, you aren't the worst customer we ever had. No, we aren't getting a commission to keep you on (we get a bonus, but the bonus is so hard to obtain that no one really tries to get it). No, you can't have credit just because you forgot to cancel your AOL account last spring when your husband told you to do it.

This one is for TJ from a couple of posts ago.

If you can log into the master screen name, go to MYACCOUNT.AOL.COM and answer the security question. On the left where there are blue links, you will see the SECONDARY BILLING CONTACT. Put your name there and they will talk to you when you call.

to young

I wonder how much those AOL people get paid to dothir jobs...they do it pretty well! To cancell just keep saying no to everything in a firm sure voice, if they notice a weak um no, or hesitation, they will feed on that. "NO"! or just tell them you turned "Mormon" they dont use AOL...LOL.

thanks for the post. I used the 800 number and it only took me 5 minutes. They were pretty persistent trying to keep me with lower prices etc...but overall was fast experience.

Maybe I lucked out.

Guess what ,after reading through most of the how do,s i think i have a fast option,here goes
cancel my checking account,shut off my computer
and wait

EASY WAY TO CANCEL AOL!!

Go to: cancel.aol.com

Its quick and EASY!!

i would like you to cancel my aol account i dont want it no more thank you dawn

I have a new isp yhat i am pleased with at this point thank you

I just want to cancel my aol account. Why can't I?

7:05pm (hey, that's when my free minutes start and I figured I'd be needing the free ones as I knew it would be a long call). 7:15pm - Disconnected from call.

At first I was hung up on because the prompts could not locate me based on my phone number. (Not sure why?)... Couldn't find me by zip code either.

Next, prompt tells me the wait time is 4 minutes... VERY ANNOYING WAITING HOLD MUSIC!

Woman comes on the line barely speaking English asking me why I want to cancel. Gives me two rebuttals. Then as monotone as humanly possible she reads me a statement. Mean wile, the entire time I was on the line with her it was so loud in the background I could barely hear her talking.

Right now I am just hoping that it does not recharge to my checking account. I informed the rep. that the billing account is soon to be closing and she did not ask me what my new account information would be... I warned her if I was billed again that it would bounce and that it was not my problem as I called to cancel and cancelling should be what I get!

Please cancel my account with aol.
Dan Danielson

I tried to cancel my aol but they told me that since my aol was in my husband's name that he would have to ask them to cancel. Since my husband had died he couldn't ask them. I told them that and they said that I had to prove that he was dead. It has been so much trouble to do what they want that I still am
using them, after 6 years
Beebs

Thanks for the article. The run-around almost drove me mad too. The I had the bright idea to try tech chat. I did apoligize to the lady for my irate condition. She cleared the matter up on the spot. So the old service is still there, it's just not so easy to find. I must say that the more modern these web pages get, the worse they are. Maybe the bright lads should concetrate on being practical instead of too clever.
Regards

Bill Sheldon

I love my current internet service, but AOL won't go away. I spend more time deleting emails that keep coming into AOL and wasting my time. Why don't they just let go and take the service off of my PC once and for all. Just the email alone is using up too much of my valuable space. Would someone tell me what we can do to make them take it off of our computers? My email is judm1112@zoominternet.net.

I want to delete my AOL Account, Please help me out with it.

You can also cancel online at cancel.aol.com, It was simple, hit the cancel option then hit the $0.00 option.

i wanna cancel my account coz u charged me 20 dollars..

Please cancel my account

I've put off trying to cancel my AOL membership just because I've heard all of this awful news about how hard it is. So now I called the 800# which says - like some of the comments here - to go to cancel.aol.com cancel.aol.com doesn't exist anymore as far as I can tell. I've heard if you just instruct your credit card compnay not to pay anymore then this may just be the best way to get AOL to cancel your membership.
I can't believe this is allowed by the government, which should intervene in this fraudulent practice.

I've just been able to cancel my aol on line, I think. I went to my home page & signed in, then I went to "contact us." It led me to a live tech support window that I clicked on & I got a live operator. I've copied the instructions I was given which I'll now paste here.

1. Please launch another external browser such as Internet Explorer and go to cancel.aol.com (If this address doesn't work, try cancelling from your home page.)

2. Under Frequently Asked Questions, please select number 4 Question (or Number 5 Question).

3. A new window will appear, and you just need to click the HERE Link under "Click here to send an electronic Cancellation of Paid Membership and Conversion to Free Service request." statement.

4. Please log in by entering your AOL screen name and password.

5. Provide the answer to your master screen name Account Security Question. (I didn't have to do this step, but I did have to type in my name, st. address, city & state, my evening telephone # & type in my signature at the bottom of the form.)

6. Lastly, fill up the form and click on SUBMIT.
Those are the steps that you need to perform. You should be all set. (After I hit "submit," I got a notice telling me that my cancellation request was submitted & that it takes 72 hours to process. We'll see what happens. I did all this in about 10 minutes.)

Thanks for the info! I called the number, talked to a really nice guy and my account was cancelled within 11 minutes. (Well, I guess it wasn't cancelled outright... sounds like it was switched to the free aol, so I get to keep my aol email address, which I'm embarrassed to say I haven't used in about 2 years).

Cancel now - it's so much easier!

pLEASE CANCEL MY ACCUNT i THINK AOL DOES NOT MEET MY NEEDS THANKS PLEASE CANCEL

I hate AOL. OMG. I spent 2 hours on the phone with them they kept telling me I dont have an email when I do!!!!!! This is impossible. I called the automated number and none of my info would would so I just kept saying HELP HELP finally I get to a live person who is even worse than the automated machine! AHHHHHHH! I have never been so frustrated! Finally after 2 hours on the phone they told me to call this number because I actually have a AIM- free aol account that does not show up on their computers....
1 800 279 3192

I don't want this e-mail account anymore i don't
know the password.

wow you people who received actual billing statements are lucky. i regret ever getting aol as a teenager. They would only allow me to put it on my dads credit card bill in 2004 and since then they have been charging him despite the fact that in 2005 i did not have internet service for close to six months. I tried to call them and there was never an answer to the number i had been given. Now i have finally called again thanks to this site i hope it goes well. 29.95 down the drain for 4 years....i guess i deserve it for letting them bully me around

if i delete my aol account will i lose all my old emails and saved things...its four years of highschool memories....that were forced to be on aol??? any info would be appreciated

oh a question if i delete my aol account will i lose all my old emails and saved things...its four years of highschool memories....that were forced to be on aol??? any info would be appreciated

I am not happy that you raised your fees. Also the rates Have gone up from $9.99 to 11.99. Plus I also have free Broadband through my cable service.

Cordially yours,
Terry D. Moss

I want to cancel my aol account

Thanks

Thanks to you all for providing your info. Today I cancelled my AOL. I called one of the #'s listed above, 800 827-6364, and they told me I was cancelled. they tried to sell more, but I had already signed up and was receiving service from another. In addition, I printed off the sheet for cancellation of service, typed up a little note formally telling AOL that they are no longer authorized to pull ACH or electronic payment from my checking account. I faxed oth sheets to the # provided. I may be niave, but so far, so good. I believe I am good. Thanks for your info.

Why would anyone write something like, "Could you please cancel my account?" on this comment board? ? ?

Thanks dave

AHHHHHH!!!
Been trying to cancel our AOL account for the past couple years {since June 2006). It's an old business account and people still send us the occasional important email. Wish it would bounce back to them so they'd send it to the account we use and check regularly.
Overall I've spent 5-6 hours trying to cancel this.
I just got off the phone with them (800 827-6364)and they advised me IT IS NOT POSSIBLE to cancel your account. I mentioned it is an old email address for a law firm and that we need the account canceled and are prepared to take legal action. "Good luck" I was told.

Okay, so now I've sent 3 emails to local media agencies and one to my local member of parliament. If AOL thinks I am going to sit quietly and let them bully me, they are wrong!! Am on hold now (for past 25 minutes) waiting for AOL to pick up the phone. I'll let them know what I'm doing and see if that makes a difference. If not, then tomorrow when my various emails get answered will be a completely different story. By the way, the email address is for a law firm. Mentioned this in my earlier call to rep "Steve" at AOL today and he wasn't perturbed. Ahhh, but he should be. Certainly his supervisor will be interested in what he had to say. Sure hope they recorded the call (as their pre-recorded message indicated was possible before he answered). Oops Steve, should've watched what you said and canceled the account like I asked.
Still on hold...

So, the new rep, said that if I don't access the email for 4-5 months, it should be pulled from the system. Definitely worth a try.

Still so frustrated though. Why can't they just delete it on their end?

I've forgotten my screen name and also not sure of which card I used to set the free trial up - still charging me.....how can I get around this?

Hi,

How do i cancel my AOL screen name on the internet so i don't need to call them to cancel it for me. I have just recieved a email from AOL saying that i have been subscribed but i don't remember doing it. I think that someone else is doing things like this to me by using my email accounts that i use. The email i recieved this morning went to this address: mhickie2@hotmail.com. I have contacted AOL by email, but i will have to wait for them to get back to me. I have even told my dad but he said that i will have to phone so they can cancel my screen name that has beeen registered..

Please can you tell me that else i can do.

Thanks

Marin Hickie

Thanks, your 50 minute effort and additional time to write about it and post on this website made my cancellation process a total of 5 minutes. Thanks a million!

I still have a free account w/ AOL because it has been my e-mail address since 1995. I signed up for aol greetings, but decided to cancel it. An hour ago I was able to get online tech help who was not helpful and said here's a link so you can cancel aol greetings online, I said ok thx and when I clicked on it, I got booted off aol and now I am no longer eligible for online help. I did get the session #, but does anyone know how to cancel greetings without totally cancelling my e-mail account? The phone #'s and times are totally restrictive and inconvenient. Thanks,
Nancy

I can get high speed from ATT for 14.00 a month

Please cancel my account asap. I no longer want aol. please cancel it now.

Thank you

closing your account is simple. Just delete everything personal on your page, and then change your email address to your worst enemys email address, and solve two problems at the same time.

No wonder this country's economy is slipping. I called AOL 3 times and spoke to three different accents each time. I wanted to ask them what country they were from but didn't have the nerve.I probably would not have know the country anyway. KEEP JOBS HERE STOP OUTSOURCING

can somebody blow up the aol building wherever they are based i shallbuy you a beer

RE: "Posted by: Paul at September 14, 2008 9:19 PM"

Paul, I hope this works. Seemed too easy...

I have had AOL since the beginning. When I tried to cancel about 10 years ago, they said I could stay on as a charter member for 4.95 a month. They just raised that to 9.95. I don't mind having the AOL address (use it for IM and iTunes rarely), but I much prefer the free part.

I'm optimistic.

Does anybody know a CURRENT phone number (preferably 800) that I can call to cancel my
AOL service? Thanks.

Thanks to Dave for his instructions.....AOL must have changed some of its instructions to phone reps...called at 12:01 PM, went through the prompts and got a rep in 10 mins...gave her the right answer to the security question and asked to discontinue my service (11yrs, 5 mos at $23.31 per month!....boy am I dumb!)...no big hassle...just asked why i was changing and no hard sell to stay...gave me my confirmation cancellation number and thanked me for my membership.

i want to cancel american online i got another internet service so can u please deleted of my account thanks

please close this account

I will like to cancel my aol screen name and email it is fredrickbrysjr password is melina

I want to cancet my aol account and stop paying the monthly fee...asapwe've had this account for years so i do not know the personal info as my son started it and is now married and left us the computer..as of this date please...12/23/08

thank you
nancy and robert lentz

I would like to cancel my aol account as of today. I signed up years ago and now all my kids are grown and moved out. Therefore please close my aol account and stop the automatic debits that your company has been doing from my account.

plz plz cancel my account on aol as soon as possible.i cant pay u no more thnx a lot

i sign up with some one eles

plz delete my aol account because i am tired of my aol account .

We just finally consolidated our phone, cable and internet with Time Warner. I had AOL for 5 years and today after reading the above I cancelled our service. I was polite, but firm with the representative. I received a confirmation # cancelling our account and it took approximately 12 minutes in total. I find that firm politeness works every time. When asked why we were cancelling I simply stated "I am cancelling the account". I might add that by consolidating our phone, cable, etc. I am saving $7 per month - and gained caller ID on my phone which we didn't have before. We also have free long distance. Our cable stayed the same - basic - all that we need. By making this change, re-evaluating car insurance needs for our 3 cars, changing my regular hair-cut/color from 4 weeks to every 5 weeks, not renewing 2 magazines that I haven't been enjoying - we are saving $700 a year - not a boatload, but when you are retired every bit helps.

Thanks to all of your experioences I was able to cancel my aol with no trouble at all.

I cut right through the red tape and I am free again!

i actually canceled my account and after i thought it was all cancelled i received another bill. i called them and they said to forget about it and to my surprise i get another bill the next month and when i called that time they were asking me for a cancellation number and if i could not get them a number i would have to pay them. so the account is not payed, finally canceled i hope and logged a complaint with the better business bureau. good luck to the other suckers that sign up for this bad service

I want to delete my entire AOL email account and AIM messenger. How in the HELl do I do that? I been trying to do this for 3 years now! I have too many email accounts and I can;t keep up with them all. I just want to delete them and start over!!!!!!! PLLLLEEEEEEEAASSSEEEEE HELP ME!

Oh and I tried that 877-77 whatever number and it was disconnected... too many people calling to cancel this crummy service!

I did my battle with AOL again this morning. I have had a battle for several years trying to stop the AOL billing. I signed up with a free cd for a dial up account so I could find out was high speed service was available in my area. I canceled within 30 days after battling with the Indian guy, this is in 2003. All is good for several months then I start seeing AOL billing my charge card. I call up and complain. I get a song and dance because I don't know the screen name or anything about the account, so nothing happens. I check with the wife, did she sign up? No, so I call them again and say make it stop. Again the song and dance sales story etc. I tell them you have my information make it stop. Six months later, I'm reviewing the bills, my wife usually does it, and there is AOL again. Wife says she will take care of it. We are both working and spend more at Starbucks each week than the AOL bill, but here it is another year later and I'm reviewing bills for Taxes and AOL is on the bill again. So I scream at my wife, she's the one with an MBA and wants to manage the money. In October 2008, our mail is stolen by some local meth-heads some we get new charge cards. This morning I get a call from some Indian woman threatening to report me to a credit agency. It went something like this:
What for?
You haven't paid my AOL bill since October.
I said I don't have AOL. I canceled it in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
We sent you a letter. Do you have a cancellation number?
Not from 2003.
I don't believe you canceled it. What about the letters? We sent several.
Why would I even look at junk mail from AOL, when I don't have an account?
When can we expect payment?
I'm not paying, Good bye.

Needless to say, I'm also canceling my wife's money management program.

Amazing! I'm cancelled.

First, thank you for the phone number and suggestons - all worked. I get a friendly lady who spoke clearly. An incentive deal was offered. No long legal message. I got my confirmation number and I was done in less than 12 minutes. Of course, I have yet to see if they actually stop billing my card!

Here's a tip: I didn't remember my (old) phone number and the phone robot didn't recognize my screen name. Maybe - just maybe - that got me to a domestic operator instead of Bombay. So, try giving bogus info to the phonbot and see if you also get good service. Good luck!

Hi Dave-- Thank you for the cancellation phone number to AOL. I was able to cancel my membership with AOL in 8 minutes and 22 seconds. It went smoothly and without difficulty. Jeanine

i having alot proplem loging in.also web site to solw.thank you abe

I have been with AOL for about 10 years. Called to cancel account because I now have gone to Comcast what a joke!!!!!!! They told me they could not cancel my account because I was not the account holder so when I finally got to the account page what the hell do I see my name in fine print as the account contract. I had tryed calling days before they say I can't do anything our system is down our system is updating call back that is all you hear. The funny thing is when I was finally on the phone with somebody he told me to go to myaccount.aol.com and this is where this page popped up and I was reading this to him how AOL makes it so hard to cancel. Also the first time I called I could not understand the person. Shame Shame

When I cancel my dial up service will I'll still be able to use my aol.com email address? We are switching to comcast but my husband has many business contacts still wants to keep his aol.com address?
Thanks
Jean

AOL must be getting better at takeing cancelations, it only took 6 minutes.....and the Indian guy, well, I could understand him, who knew !!!! well the I tryed to cancel my home telephone service with VERIZON,took much longer(27 minutes) thanks for the help Dave !

I don't know who you are but I love you, lol.
I picked up one of those "free" disk that you find at the supermarket and downloaded or whatever, used what has to be the slowest damn service I've ever experienced in my life and then decided that this is not for me. Left it alone and forgot about it till I looked online at my credit card transactions. Those bastards charged me 26.90 for something that I did not agree to have. Granted AOL didn't just pull my credit card information out of the sky as I did imput the info obviously but trust me when i say it was totally under false pretenses. I cancelled out before actually completing whatever form they wanted online and they used my info anyway to tie me to their sorry ass service. I was so pissed this morning. Especially when I searched the internet and read other customers' complaints by people who have tried and have been trying to cancel service to absolutely no avail. Most of these pissed off people weren't even able to provide a good telephone number. It almost looked hopeless. Then I came across this article and let me tell you. I took the number to "customer service" that you provided and was done with AOL in all of 11 minutes. I will be watching my bill closely from now on. If I see anything even related to Aol on it, there will be problems. Believe me. I'm just glad I caught it in just three days and not three years down the line like some. That's the thing about being broke, it's noticable when my bank account is even 2 bucks off.lmao. I was so happy to have the service cancelled that I told the gentleman on the phone that I don't even care about the 26.00 bucks I'll pay that I just don't want to be charged anymore than I have been already.

BTW, you are so right about the thick ass accent. lol.

Okay...AOL sucks. What do you do if you made emails/screennames under ur granny's master account but then she closed it but yours still worked, and you would really like to shut your email acct down, but you see Granny has NO CLUE! that his grandson made these accts under her. Agh my husband is so mental! Im this grandson's wife and ready to delete his infamous acct which is on every porn website there is, although he doesnt use it and wants to shut it down he cant is there any other way?

Please help, we're desperate, and since he'll do whatever it takes to make me happy, he needs to end this!

I just canceled with them. It took less than five minutes. I told the woman I was addicted to the Internet and had to kick my habit by closing off all access to it. I could tell that she was stumped as to how to convince me to keep using it. LOL

I just cancelled my paid AOL account and it was a snap. Just take the foolwing 3-step process:

a. Log onto your AOL account

b. Go the following URL: https://bill.aol.com/SPortal/jsp/change_price_plan_home.jsp?originator=cancel

c. CLink on the cancel button

You will get an easy to complete form that will put your request into AOL electronically without any trouble at all. You may also mail or fax your request. Here are complete instructions on how to cancel you AOL account:
----
If you would like to cancel your paid member account and convert it to a free member account, we are happy to help you with that. By choosing to convert to a free account you will still be able to use the AOL service for free.

[Use the above instructions to go to the]. . . electronic Cancellation of Paid Membership and Conversion to Free Service request form.

If you prefer faxing or mailing the Cancellation . . . form [then go to this URL: https://bill.aol.com/SPortal/jsp/cancelForm.pdfclick]. . . to download the form.

Note: you will need Adobe Reader to open this form. A free copy of this software can be downloaded from www.adobe.com.

Please return your completed form to one of the following:

a. USPS Mail: AOL LLC, PO Box 65100 Sterling, VA 20165-8800

b. Fax: 1-703-433-7283

In order to process your request, all numbered fields on the form must be completed. Your request will be processed within 72 hours of receipt. Upon completion, AOL will send
you a written confirmation for your records. You can continue to enjoy your paid service for the remainder of your current bill cycle. Your account will be automatically converted to
the AOL Free Service prior to your next cycle date. Please note that AOL reserves the right to charge and collect fees, surcharges or costs incurred before your conversion takes
effect.

To speak with one of our Member Services Representatives who can help you with your request, please call us toll-free at
1-888-265-8008.

Thank you for using AOL.

Once your Paid Member Account is converted, you will still be able to use the AOL service for free -- which means that once you connect to the Internet through another provider, you will still have the same access to:

a. Your current AOL screen name, for email and instant messaging

b. Your familiar AOL software, for quick and safer Web browsing

c. Your emails, address book and everything else you've saved to your AOL account

d. Great broadband content like AOL® Radio, videos, news, sports

. . . and more

For more information on our free features and content, go to AOL Keyword: Help, or go to AOL help URL: http://help.aol.com

Please note: Use of AOL's free services remains subject to the AOL Terms of Service.

--------

Things have changed over the past four years. Largely because of articles like yours that expose these type of tactics. You helped bring this to the attention of the public and now there is legislation that forces ISPs like AOL to make the prces much easier and more efficient.

https://bill.aol.com/SPortal/jsp/change_price_plan_home.jsp?originator=cancel

Please cancel my account. I no longer want AOL Service.

Thanks

Thank you so much for this information. I have been trying for some years to get my AOL( unused for years)account cancelled. I have now successfully done this. Great.

MG Mitchell

Wow, thanks Seacent, who knew AOL would finally allow cancelling online.

pls cancel my account and give me the conformation
thankyou.
joseph.

I have just cancelled my aol account, it only took 12 minutes by phone. The guy was very persistant at getting me to stay, but I was more. I even got a credit back to my bank for lack of service. Big suprise!!
I used:
Help with your AOL account, connection or other technical issues: 800-827-6364
Good luck

PEOPLE PLEASE READ THIS - THIS IS NOT REPEAT NOT AN AOL WEBSITE TO CANCEL YOUR SERVICE. DO NOT LEAVE EMAIL REQUESTS ASKING TO CANCEL YOUR SERVICE AS NOTHING WILL HAPPEN.
Now I will stop "shouting".

The board you are reading right now is for Information on HOW to close your account. You are NOT connected to AOL!! You need to scroll back and read the instructions. For those of you who can't be bothered, or don't know how to scroll back, I'll give you an easy link to follow with complete directions:
http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/microsite.do?cmd=displayKCPopup&docType=kc&externalId=223796#first

please cancel my aol accoun i am no longer using it anymore

I am SO glad I read this posting! I went straight into Help, my Account and then how to cancel my fee based account, printing pdf form, and mailing it to AOL, snail mail (would have faxed if I owned one) It was easy and took less than 10 minutes from start to finish...15 if you add the reading your page! THANK YOU for saving me frustration!!!!!

Just canceled my 8-10 yr unused acct. Thanks for the phone #.

the credit card I used for my acct. isn't my card!I need to cancel my acct.! I no longer need your services. Thank You!

I have been trying for the past year to close my primary account with AOL. They would not allow me to do so. All I want is to rename it. I spoke to live consultant who told that they do not suggest closing of an primary account. This is unbelievable. They allow to open an account and you trap for ever.
Carmen

3/3109 Dave, Thanks to your site, I think I successfully cancelled aol. Brian July 8,2005 gave an 877# which I tried. I could get no where cause the automated system wanted a code, which I could not give. So I tried 888-265-8008. Then after not answerering questions I got a live person and a confirmation number. She seemed to be very helpful and cancelled it right away. We shall See!!! Thank you for your site. KC

ok how abt this one!!!!

I left AOL and wanted to keep my old e mail address, so apparantly they signed me up for the "AOL free email" ive been using it for 3 years and my password got comprimised so i wanted to change password BONGGGGGGGGG nope you cannot change your password on a FREE AOL email account. So god forbid if it wasnt my kid who comprimesed it and some terrorist or theif, cuz you CANNOT canceor change the password or free account. Absolute rubbish i tell ya

Did any of you have ever read the therms of agreement when you clicke'd "I AGREE"? NO YOU DIDN't beacuse beeing ignorant is a loot easyer then to actualy read thouse therms. And for the retard that postetd the comment is simple key word "MY ACCOUNT".

after reading the begining of this web page my cancelation call through the phone line took 8 minutes. I have also had trouble in the past also.
Thanks for the info i was searching around aol for a month before this to try and cancel online.
they kept trying to keep me but i stuck to the point and kept their free email.

To the person that made the comment about people being ignorant and retards. PLEASE!! learn how to spell before you type something else out for everyone to read. Now who looks ignorant and retarded. I did read the terms and conditions, and I also had trouble cancelling my account. But thanks to this site I was able to do it today after trying for months.

gee - this is a totally opposite issue. AOL cancelled terminated an account, and when the account users called, AOL refused to reopen the account or restore any of the info, despite the account being paid in full. The account owners did not ask to close the account, AOL is refusing to answer them. Anyone else having problems in Northern CT?

Breakin' up is hard to do.....

But I did it...bye bye AOL...they were ok for me back in the old dial up days...oops, am I giving away my age?....well, let's just say i'm having a mid internet crisis and it was time for out wid da old and in with the new.

My recommendation is to contact them directly. below is a link to the customer service numbers...there's even a cancellation number. Good luck...and remember, no matter how much they whine, cry and pitch you an extra 3 months...Breakin' up is hard to do...

http://www.freewareweb.com/cgi-bin/read.cgi?id=aolphone.a

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! I have a very busy schedule and who ever found the 888-265-8008 aol number to cancel subscriptions deserves a medal!!!!
Just a quick dial, say "cancelations". You can connect to a rep then be firm that you want to cancel.
The rep was courteous and persistant about trying to get me to hold on with another free trial but after about a half dozens "just want to cancel" a confirmation numer was received and aol is GONE!!! Less than 5 minutes!!!
God Bless You!!!

please cancel my acount monroe tant

I simply called my bank, cancelled my payment to AOL. My a/c was closed almost immediately.
Apparently, no pay no service
Yippee
AOL absolutely irresponsible and even worse now that carphone warehouse is in control

We tried free AOL while we were waiting for high speed access. After getting high speed access one week later, I decided to cancel the AOL account. I did a quick Internet search and found the toll free number to call. The automated attendant spoke clear English. The customer service representative did not; I could barely understand her thick accent.

I have been given a cancellation confirmation number. After reading some of the horror stories here, I had better keep that number in a safe place, as it sounds like they may try to bill us after the 6 free months are up.

I just called the 877-773-4462 to cancel my aol acoount; I actually got an English speaking person. Bob was the process of cancelling my account when I asked about the (have your own ISP) price of $4.95. I really do like AOL and have had them for over 20 years and didn't want to pass up that price, so I accepted the $4.95 rate and am pleased. After that I was forwarded to an Indian speaking person, pretty difficult to understand, but just had to confirm the transaction. This seems to be a good number.

THANKS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WHO PROVIDED THE 888-265-8008 PHONE NUMBER.
IN SPITE OF PERSISTENT BUT LIMITED RESISTANCE, I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CANCEL MY USELESS SUBSCRIPTION TO AOL.
THE REPRESENTATIVE WAS PLEASANT AND UNDERSTOOD MY REPEATED (5 TIMES) REQUEST TO CANCEL.

I have qwest not aol and my card was stolen in april 2009 stop charging my card i turned it in to my card holder

cancel my aol please thanks

My sister-in-law passed away on May 16th. my brother has been trying to cancel her account since the following week. We have called aol.via telephone, after answering many questions, they said my brother needed to fill out a form which they would send out to him. Needless to say, no form, but he is still getting billed for service he doesn't need or want, since he has no knowledge of computers at all. Had no problem signing up for it, but here it is over a month later, and no success, can someone tell me what else to do.

Rose, AOL is notorious for being difficult to work with. My suggestion: call the bank and tell them that you reject further transactions from the service and file a complaint that you seek to cancel the service but cannot. Then let your bank do the work.

I used the information above and was off the phone in 9min 30secs thanks for all you help

Hi, Dave,
I think AOL finally got it! It took under 5 minutes to cancel my AOL account. Why didn't I do this two years ago? Because of my address book. I was worried that I would lose my extensive address book once I canceled it.

But AOL has told me I get to keep that anyway, as well as my email address. But by canceling, I save $12 a month.

Geez.
Jane

hi all , i have been tryin to cancel my aol account since april only joined them last yr and i am havin no luck at all , they have continued chargin me 14.99 month plus i havnmt had fone line since april 09 , i need the uk fone number i cnt get thro on all them nums u provided , pls help im at my wits end and they keep gettin me occuring charges on my bank account as i have canceled the dd account but they still have my details and continue 2 charge my bank

Can anyone help me.I have AOL in Canada and am trying to cancel my service. I called what was presumably the canadian number and was told via recorded message that "the customer service area that I selected is now closed" (cancelation department). I also sent a letter advising of my request to cancel and it was returned "return to sender, Moved/Unknown". Help Dave, does anyone know what I should do next. I have had all my AOL deleted from my computer and am now with another server.

want to get their attention? tell your bank to reject their electronic payment requests...that should do it.

i shut off AOL 10 years ago, and it took me longer than your example - you did well!

there is always the drastic measure - close your bank account, and open a new one. that way, they won't have any account number to go by.

T

"That doesn't make sense, Steve. How can they refuse to cancel your account? What if you write them a letter, copy your credit card company, then tell your credit card company to refuse charges from AOL?"
I went through this dance with AOL. I could not get a confirmation and my bank would not block payments to AOL. This went on for 3-4 months in late 2008. After calling AOL for the 6th,7th, and 8th time and telling them to cancel the service, I decided to declare the account compromised since they would not stop making charges to it and my bank would not stop them. I requested another card be sent due to a compromise and amazingly, I had no more AOL charges. Today I received a bill from AOL stating that I owe them $124.75 in past charges (since I got a new card). Needless to say my account is now suspended. At the point where I tell a business that I no longer desire their service, it is over. When you continue to take money from me after that point, it is stealing or fraud.

I CANCELED MY AOL ACCOUNT W/ NO PROBLEM (once I figured out the solution)!

It's actually now easier to cancel AOL than it was years ago!
Go to My Account.
Go to Cancel Billing.
Go to FAQs How do I cancel my paid member account or convert it to a free member account?
You'll get a pop up type thingy.
Click where it says "here" in the sentance:
Click here to send an electronic Cancellation of Paid Membership and Conversion to Free Service request.
Fill out the form.

Three days to process and you don't have to deal with AOheLL ever again!

You can also fill out the form (click link in the pop up) and print and mail it to AOL:
AOL LLC, PO Box 65100 Sterling, VA 20165-8800.
You can fax it to AOL: 1-703-433-7283.

You can also contact you bank and order a new credit card so that AOL has no way to take any more money from you....

LOL, thanks for the great tips. I was able to change my plan in only a few minutes thanks to the great info. I have been an AOL member since 1990. From 1990 to 1996 this was the premier Interent service. AOL was the WWW before there was a WWW. Access to the internet and other email quickly surpassed. As an early member I received a lifetime 20% off. However it was no longer worth it as the service degraded significantly in the last 10 plus years. RIP AOL. I did switch to the 9.99 plan to allow my mom continued access.

If you are determined to leave AOL just cancel the subscription charge and then let them do all the chasing. Time -Warner then woiuld realise they had little power. A bit of aggressiveness does not do these altruistic companies any harm.
D. Ashworth

After 2 years I just canceled my AOL today- not bad had a real nice lady right away. I went to another internet. I really got frustrated waiting for the dial up and then having the stupid thing freeze up before I even got a chance to use it. Too much to pay for nothing!

goyt to many accounts !!!!!

I just canceled my account that Ive had for 8yrs and 2months as "Jess" the rep said.

i called that "800 827-6364" and the auto-voice asked for some info, not hard, took a couple minutes, then Jess got on, and she verified it was me.. she asked why i was leaving..
this is what i said-i think what i said sped things up as well.

Q:Why are you leaving AOL:
A: I use the internet at my company,they pay for it. (its true..nothing to lie about)

Q: so you don't use LAN line or computer?
A: no i use my company's computer and my blackberry

Q: Would you like to keep your email?
A: yes

Q: Ok , its done..blah blah your account will be shut off when your current billing cycle is done.after that it will switched over to FreeService..etc
A: thanks.

-----------------------------------
so it took all about 10min

i would suggest asking for JESS shes helpful, though AOL hasnt anything to offer the business class of internet ppl, she was a helpful rep. if they had better service and not Resource Hogging Applications/programs and offered better deals,faster transferes...w/o being expensive...it might be worth it.
------------------------------------

ANyway, Definitely worked faster than i thought its all about the Billing Number,

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP. I HAVE CANCELLED MY SERVICES WITH AOL THREE MONTHS AGO AND THEY ARE STILL TAKING MONEY FROM MY ACCOUNT. I CANT CONTACT THEM BY PHONE BECAUSE THE RECORDING IS SAYING I DONT HAVE AOL SUPPORT SERVICES AND EVERYTIME I TRY AND CANCELLED ONLINE THERE'S IS NO ICON TO DO SO. I WANT MY MONEY BACK AND CANCELLED MY SERVICES. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO. I HATE TO CLOSE MY ACCOUNT JUST FOR THIS STUPID REASON, PLEASE, PLEASE TELL WHAT I NEED TO DO.

I just canceled my credit card so they couldn't bill me anymore and therefore, THEY canceled MY account. HA!!

Dear Saviors

Thank you, thank you to who ever provided that very important phone number. I was actually nervous about canceling after all these years but got up my courage called and rejected all the lower offers (they can't get lower then free gmail.) But the truth was their home page was beginning to be offensive with it's TMZ information and other stupid fake news. I told the very nice,but persistant young lady that it wasn't just the money but that the quality of the product was offensive. What could they say to that? I have successfully canceled and save $25.00 per month. Let's see if it takes.
Thank you from the bottom of my now free heart

1-800-827-6364, Thankyou, 30 minutes of pleasant conversation with a sub-continent English speaker. Key to courtesy may be accepting any shortfall of AOL as your own. I mentioned for one reason that I may be ignorant and clumsey but I wasn't stupid. For another quit reason I used that I may be crazy, but I am not stupid. However intellegently designed AOL is, I was just having a personality conflict. Don't feel bad! For me 6.5 years is all gone @ $23.50/mo + $0.06 everytime I turned the gizmo on. Deep grattude. Saviors in actual deed. Salvaged a lot of future!

With fear in my heart and with trepidation, I got the nerve to cancel my paid AOL service ... following your advice and with others' comments in mind, I dialed 1-877-773-4462 (the first recommended number AND the one others had success canceling when reaching a live person). Well ... I easily reached a live person ... and that person heard me loud & clear ... within minutes, if not seconds, I had the coveted and desirable cancelation confirmation number! The AOL person was polite, and spoke clearly. He even asked if I had any questions at the end, then clarified answers to my queries. My son came out and asked, "Already done?" He'd heard me bellyaching about making that call for too, too long. Whew ... thanks for the help offered through this website. It should be relabeled as ... a support group!

Went to www.bill.aol.com signed in. Chose cancel my billing in right menu. Then chose Free AOL/ Cancel My Bill continue. Really easy.

That did the trick!!! Thanks. Took 30 minutes in a chat saying no to new offers, etc., and such. They do make it uncomfortable.

Hi Dave,When go to my contact page to get a email address it all numbers and letters. What caused this and how do i get rid fo this. Hope you can help me . Kathy

thanks - i was able to cancel aol after only 15 minutes. i have tried off and on for months with no success. getting the correct phone number was key.
thanks

Thanks to your tips I was able to complete my cancellation today in 11 minutes 11 seconds! Got to give them credit for trying to keep you but if your persistant in telling them you just want to CANCEL you will eventually prevail. I was a paying customer for 11 years.
Thanks again for the help!

I just had a reminder from you that you had problems processing my last two billing transactions. I have been off AOL for the past 2 years and I am with Sky broadband. If you have been billing be, plz ensure that all payments taken from my account is reimbursed. You can contact me via email.

i have tried for three months to cancel they tell me it is then i get another charge to my card STAY AWAY from them they have people on phone you can not understand if you are lucky enough to get one very pi%$#@ jcpayne redtick98@yahoo.com

I want to delete aim.com and aol.com asap

I wanted to cancel AOL and wasn't sure what to expect after reading ASK DAVE. I used the toll free number 800 827-6364...got an agent pretty fast. I told her that I wanted to cancel. She basically told me a couple ways to make aol faster for me..that was one of my complaints. I interupted her whenever she started telling me things I could use/pay extra for. She even told me that I could get AOL for $3.99 a month....not 5 minutes on the phone with her and I am done with AOL....good riddens AOL.

Over 2 years ago I cancelled an AOL account. In Dec. 2009 I realized that AOL had been charging my account all that time. I called my bank immediately and reported the fraud. They cancelled my debit card and issued a new one. I had to go in any change all bills that were being paid automatically on that card. The bank was able to refund 4 months but nothing else. I called AOL and blew a gasket. They insisted that I had never cancelled the account. A month later I received a nasty letter stating that I owed them for the money my bank refunded. This went on for months until I finally agreed to pay them a lesser amount just to get rid of them. During all this time I am repeating over and over to cancel the account. This morning I logged into my bank account and see that AOL is AGAIN charging my account. I immediately called my bank only to be told that AOL was using my new debit card number and had charged 4 months on it. They put me thru to their fraud dept. and when I told them I had never give the new card to AOL, they advised me that AOL has a way to get the new debit card # if you use your old PIN number on it. They are taking care of the charges again and reissuing another new card. Again I called AOL and was finally put thru to their fraud dept. who denied and denied that they have any way to get the debit card # without me providing it. I finally got a reference number to use should they ever claim again that I never cancelled the account. I will hang on to it for the next 10 years.

All the conversation seems to be about canceling payed accounts. I did that years ago, but want to cancel my free acount. I have not used it in years, but somehow it is sending out e-mails to people who were/are in my aol address book. I didn't send these e.mails, don't know how they are being sent. Has anyone had this happen? Any ideas of how to close the free aol account?

Ah AOL ! Left them a month ago and so far they have stolen £150 from my account. Be very careful about how you close the account,still trying to actually get hold of them.

bye bye good luck never again been with you too long thank you again but never again. you never worked after 3 years bye bye bye hayxxxx

Am trying to cancel a free account right now, and it's a nightmare. Note that you cannot use the phone number to cancel a free account - you have to upgrade your plan to get live support. The way they say to cancel is to go to: https://bill.aol.com/SPortal/jsp/change_price_plan_home.jsp?originator=cancel, login, and in the list of numbered options on the side, you'll see "How do I cancel my free member account?" You'll get a popup screen that gives you the option of printing a form and faxing/mailing it, or submitting online. I have tried both, to no avail. Note that if you choose to try the online form, you'll be routed through a confusing screen which tries to sell you service - just click "continue" on the bottom and you'll get to the actual cancellation form. BE SURE TO CHECK THE BOX AT THE BOTTOM IF YOU ARE CANCELING A FREE ACCOUNT. I hope this works for someone. I submitted it online, waited "3 business days," like it said to, then faxed the form, and my account is still active, and loaded with the 100 spam messages I get each day. I will try submitting a few more times and then just walk away, and let their server overload from all this crap mail.

AOL has been billing me for three years.Also I have called 3 times and yet they still charged my account.Just called today agin hope it is all over.Please Please Please......