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