Try to cancel AOL

[Swamp Gas]

Aryans On Line as I call them. This reminds me of the idiot from Senator Lautenberg's office when I called to complain about his Right of Center voting record (for a supposed Liberal - Democrat)

audio.isg.si/audiox/?q=audio/download/3444

[increase 1776]

AOL Sucks. That situation does not surprise me in the least.When I got my first computer and was in the process of teaching myself how these things work, AOL sadly to say ,was part of my life.When I canceled ,they stopped service right away but kept taking money from my bank account for months.It took about six weeks for AOL to refund all my money.They make Microsoft look good. AOL did everything they could to make you go were you didn't want to go.If you didn't read fast enough they would shut you down and you would have to dial-up and start from scratch.Oh the good ole days.

[Swamp Gas]

We had AOL for about a month back in the early 90s. I was in one of those "Tech discussion" forums they had. WHen I started posting dirt on Bill Gates from friends I had in the tech industry, I was literally knocked offline. I quit immediately, and have never looked back.

[altitudelou]

I can relate a similar experience as "Increase 1776" in that apron canceling our AOL service they still kept on tapping our bank account for two months for there nonexistent service.

After getting nowhere with there nonexistent account customer service department [LOL] we had to actually close the bank account that AOL was still raiding for our canceled service, it was the only option that got them away from hitting our account, then they started sending us bills via snail mail after that, obviously canceling the AOL service meant nothing to those idiots in AOL accounting, all they knew was that we were in the system and we had to pay, morons.

After four months of fighting with them to get them to refund two months of service charges they took out of our account we finally got a check from them but not before having an attorney friend give them a call on our behalf threatening to take them to court.

After all of the CRAP we went through to get rid of AOL they still have the nerve to send us there wonderful promotional shit which raves about their outstanding service, I've been using the AOL update CD's for Shurikens and throwing them at a one inch piece of foil backed insulation on my shop wall when I feel like bashing AOL, which is most of the time, I think they love to make you hate them.

That old saying, "Once bitten, Twice shy" certainly applies to AOL !

[chickenlittle]

Hey guys a bit off the subject but our 20 yr old uses Sprint as her cell phone service and they have been charging her double on everything on her bill,since she got hooked up again.She had trouble with her bill once and had to have it turned off but then piad it up got it on again and now every time she gets a bill its all doubled.
She told us that they said it was to straighten out all the old bill.Now she has paid a ton of extra money and they told her well you have a contract.
She of course didn't argue and was just paying it because she needs the phone so bad,She makes shit money in one of Americas fast food giants that pay the workers nothin and then she pays this emense phone bill $179.00 or more each month.
She paid last month $202.00 paid it all and received her bill yesterday and from the last week in May till yesterday her bill is $179.00 again,I guess they keep charging her because she can't argue and keeps paying it.My husband is PISSED and he plans to call them today and tell them they had better cut her a check and soon.
These large entity companies are HUGE and MONSTEROUS,like this fast food co.'s ,these poor kids.can barely get any other jobs,she is hoping to work for Costco (who here in Wa. treat their workers quite good)so I hope she can.
Thanks for letting me vent about the cell phone tsars!
chicky

[increase 1776]

If you don't pay the "extortion money",they threaten to turn it over to a collection agency,which drops your credit score.I resently was able to pay off all my outstanding things at all three credit reporting companies.I paid everyone.I thought.I get a call the other day from a 11year old debt.They want their money or this is going on my equifax or whoever.Spent thousands of dollars to get my credit score up and these guys come slithering in.I will pay it, but the past four years of credit repair is now worth shit.This debt was never listed at any credit place before,if it would have, I would have paid it.They say there is no statute of limitations on debt.....chickenlittle,if you have problems getting the Sprint thing straightened out let me know.

[altitudelou]

chickinlittle,

I certainly can sympathize with your plight concerning your daughters phone bills, it seems no matter what service we are dealing with, telephone, electric, LP supplier, credit cards, hospitals / doctors etc, they all seem to have their heads right up their arses when it comes to their billing departments, we have to watch them like a hawk or they will screw us every chance that they get, and forget about customer service, there is no such thing anymore, you usually get someone that sounds bored as soon as they speak, if they can speak English at all, lately we have been getting the outsourced, no speak the English very good types in India, Pakistan and Mexico and we wonder why our bills are being screwed up on their end.

Have they ever made a billing mistake in your favor or in favor of anyone that you know, I bet not.

It seems the larger the service provider the more screwed up the mistakes are and harder to straighten out as well, as with our four month fight with AOL to get reimbursed for the two month overcharge they took out of our bank account, that should have been taken care of with one phone call, not dozens and a threat from our attorney friend.

Unfortunately, I think we are watching the breakdown of society, it's starting crumble and it's becoming visible more and more as companies become more dysfunctional in customer relations, perhaps they have all become to much like our politicians, speaking of dysfunctional. (:-}

I think the best thing that we can do is to be as vigilant as possible, watch them closely and make sure their not ripping us off monthly, the day's of trusting the bills to be the correct amount each month are long gone.

[chickenlittle]

Thanks for the concern you guys,I think we basically got it straigtened out.But they are good at double talk too until you are not sure wether you are all discussing the smae bill or not.
thanks again all,
chicky

[Swamp Gas]

There's some light at the end of the tunnel. I deal with technicians from India, and let me tell you this...They screw up many times more than American workers. Very slow and inaccurate service.

www.postchronicle.com/news/technology/article_21223577.shtml


Analysis: Offshoring Getting More Costly In India

Analysis: Offshoring Getting More Costly In India

by Indrajit Basu

Jun 16, 2006

CALCUTTA, India - June 16, 2006 (UPI) Not many global IT majors have started recoiling yet, but the recent decision of Apple Computers to shut down its new Bangalore center and local news about Intel planning to lay off a number of people from its Indian operations have sparked fears that rising cost may have started threatening India's attraction as an IT offshoring destination.

And although the Indian IT sector has shrugged off these two developments as just "internal corporate decisions," many are worried that rising cost pressures which are showing signs of lasting for a while may end up in some lost opportunities and may even blunt the competitive edge of offshoring IT in India.

"As the Apple story points out, India's first-mover advantage is gone at least in established city centers like Bangalore," said Michael Corbett, executive director of The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, the global organization for the outsourcing profession. "The marketplace dynamic of supply and demand is resulting in rapid salary inflation, high turnover, and other forms of cost escalation, which may end up in some lost opportunities for the Indian IT."

He added that other competing countries like Philippines, China, Russia and Eastern Europe "will exploit India's growing pains to improve their competitive posture," and could even give India a run for the money.

In a startling announcement last week, Apple, which opened its software division in Bangalore with much fanfare in April, announced without citing reasons that it is closing down its Indian operations and "has decided to put its support center growth in other countries." Consequently it served layoff notices to about 600 newly appointed employees, who, according to reports, said "India isn't as inexpensive as it used to be," and that was impacting the financial feasibility of the Indian operations.

"Apple hired professionals at salary levels much higher than the industry standards and soon realized that the business generated from the additional expenditure did not justify the costs," said an industry insider requesting anonymity.

But if the Apple decision perplexed the Indian IT offshoring industry, what came as a jolt were local reports that said that Intel, as a part of the company's global cost-cutting and layoff exercise designed to cut $1 billion out of its forecasted expenses, is seeking to downsize its Indian operations as well.


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www.macworld.com/news/2006/06/23/pervasive/index.php


Pervasive follows Apple out of India

By John Ribeiro, IDG News Service

Pervasive Software, a U.S. vendor of data infrastructure software, this week announced it closed down its software development subsidiary in Bangalore, India, citing complexity of management of the operation, and increasing employee cost and turnover.

Industry analysts expect a number of other small software development or services operations in India of multinationals to either close down or get transferred to an Indian supplier.

A number of foreign companies have set up operations in India which do not have the optimum size required to realize the savings of doing work offshore in India, said Siddharth Pai, a partner at sourcing consultancy firm, Technology Partners International (TPI) in Houston, Texas.

Unless a company is doing work that is highly skilled or highly differentiated in India, it needs to have at least a 1000-person operation in India as the fixed costs for such an operation are high, he added.

Companies setting up offshore software development or services operations in India also miscalculate the amount of management bandwidth and effort required to make it work to their expectations, according to Pai. There are currently about 385 development and services subsidiaries of multinational companies in India, and while there are some that are very large, there are many that are too small to be viable, he added.

The move by Pervasive came in the wake of a similar decision by Apple which shut down recently its month-old support center in Bangalore, which had 30 staff. “We have re-evaluated our plans and have decided to put our planned support center growth in other countries,” said Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Apple in Cupertino, Calif. earlier this month.

In a statement this week, Pervasive quoted its president and chief executive officer John Farr as saying that while the potential cost savings of an offshore development operation can be mathematically compelling, the company found that the complexity of managing such an operation, and the increasing costs of labor, employee turnover, training, and facilities in a hot market such as Bangalore make it challenging to ultimately realize those savings. Pervasive had about 50 staff in India.

Pervasive announced earlier this week hiring plans in its software development and technical support groups at the company headquarters in Austin, Texas. The company will however continue to outsource to Indian company Aztec Software & Technology Services in Bangalore.

The moves by Apple and Pervasive to opt out of their offshore operations in India do not however reflect an overall trend. Other foreign companies are expanding at a fast pace in the country. French IT services company Capgemini S.A. said earlier this month that India would be the hub for its offshore delivery of services, while IBM announced US$6 billion in new investments in India over the next three years, mainly to expand its offshore services operations in the country.

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www.macworld.com/news/2006/06/05/appleindia/index.php


Apple shuts down Indian support center[/i]

By John Ribeiro, IDG News Service

Apple has decided to shut down its fledgling technical support center in India after only one month, according to a report Saturday in a local newspaper.

Apple informed its employees May 29 of the decision to lay off all 30 staff, according to the Times of India newspaper. The center, intended as offshore technical support for worldwide customers, began operations in April.

Officials at Apple India were not immediately available for comment. The company’s sales and marketing operations in the country will continue, the report said.

Apple’s decision to pull out its technical support center from India comes at a time when some of its competitors like Dell are expanding rapidly in India. Dell announced earlier this year that it would double the number of staff in India to 20,000 over the next three years. Most of the new jobs at Dell India are in customer support.

[David]

I too tried AOL for a very short period of time. Rotten service and a company that won't take 'no' for an answer.
The so called '90 day free trial' cost me three months service fees, they said if I did not pay they would turn it over to collection. I paid the extortion money to avoid a bad credit rating. It's been amost a year later I still get offers in the mail.
What they need is a huge class action lawsuit by all who have been screwed by them.

[increase 1776]

Sounds

What they need is a huge class action lawsuit by all who have been screwed by them.

Sounds like a good idea David,belated happy birthday by the way,like the one against "Pay-up -the -ass-Pal, aka..PayPal. Those robbers froze over $3,000.00 of my money for 30 days,when I was building up a good business at e-bay,selling salvage goods.All the goods were brand new.Not having access to the info or the cash for 30days destroyed a very promising income for myself and family.My check from PayPal from the class action suit is still uncashed $7.87,my share.The lawyers made all the money.PayPal is still in business,as well as e-bay,which now owns PayPal,and they both crushed the small business man like a grape,stole their business's and ideas and are still devouring people.Kind of like WalMart aka....ChinaMart.

[altitudelou]

LOL, I can't help but laugh even though it's not funny to anyone that's had to deal with those thieving pricks at AOL.

Everyone that I know or talk to that's had AOL at one time or another has a horror story to relate about it without exception, I liken AOL to having and survived cancer, it's that much of an ordeal to go through.