Morons who subscribe to AOL have made this site (sort of) famous. Over two years ago I posted a simple, quick little link about how a guy canceled his AOL account in 3 minutes. Nothing really exciting about the link, really, but for some reason the entry got listed well on Google (as well as this search), so people are coming to the page, thinking that by posting a comment on my site, I can somehow cancel their AOL account (even to the point where some idiots were posting usernames, password, credit card numbers, etc…). In a later entry about cancelling AOL, I’m also getting some odd-ball comments.
So far, I’ve left the comments on the entry open, and while a few commenters have found it hilarious, most of the 150+ comments are from AOLers wanting to cancel their AOL account. I’m almost considering starting a service where I’ll cancel their AOL service for a small fee (So for $50, I’ll just call AOL and deal with ’em for you).
That entry, obviously, has been mentioned on a couple blogs, and now comments from it have shown up in a New York Times article (mirrored on the IHT site).
And to think the only reason I found that article was because I was looking for the source for this forward sent to me by Barney:
As reported last week in the NYTimes:
Guy tried for better part of a week to cancel AOL. He talked to six or seven different people on six different days. Each time he was thwarted by what is apparently an AOL plot that make it next-to-impossible to cancel the service, as the representatives pretend to be concerned about you and your reasons for cancellation and give you soothing chat and reasons to continue AOL service.
Finally, weary of the runaround, he went into a “chat room” and started threatening to kill people in the room.
His AOL account was cancelled in under three minutes.
I’ll be sure to update the original AOL post with a link to this entry, in case somebody there actually reads the entry copy before commenting.
Comments
i once had aol as a stopgap for internet service when mine went out. i tried to cancel it. it took a good long while. i finally got a a long line of humans on the phone and every one of them asked if i wanted some other aol service and stuff.. “no i wanna cancel my aol”. one of them was, like, personally offended that should want to cancel such an awesome thing and tallked to me like to piece of poo when i confirmed (for, like, the 50th time) that i didn’t want AOL or any of their stupid services. Oh i would have liked to keep the cool sky thing that changed as the day progressed, but sadly, that was all i wanted. heh. one my friends squeezed like six months of free service out of them, but i didnt even want that.
Thanks to google I have the Yahoo morons on my page:
http://www.wormus.com/aaron/stories/2004/09/09/yahoo-mail-deactivated.html
^ I guess AOL is starting to feel the fire under their collective rear ends. Like you I used AOL as a stopgap between ISP’s. However, when I canceled my 50 trial membership (27 of which I used and was told I only had 3 days left when I was cancelling….tricky, tricky), it took perhaps 6 minutes.
-J.
Why do you feel the need to call people idiots when I bet there are a zillon things you haven’t a clue about? Does knowing how to cancel a service make you a genious? Whoooooaaaaa!!!!!!!
Easy there, Suzi. I never said I was a “genious”, nor would I ever claim to be one. I just know that I’m smarter than the idiots who think I can somehow cancel their AOL account, and seem to have no problem giving me their username, password, and credit card number. I’m sorry, but they are idiots.
How to cancel an AOL account in 3 minutes
Tell them you’re selling your computer, not buying another, and moving out of the country. Update on 9/13/05: Congrats all you AOL idiots — you’ve made me famous….
The AOL Idiots Keep Coming
I’ve mentioned before that this site got a New York Times mention because of the idiots AOLers who keep commenting on this site. So far, that entry has gotten 177…
We told them we wanted to cancel the service. You know what they did? They gave us cheaper service.
I get these dumb emails all the time asking me to cancel their AOL. I finally had to take my contact information off my web page that tells people how cancel AOL. But I have written a good article on not only how to cancel, but how to get started with a new ISP. It’s called Are You Tangled in AOL’s Web? in case you’re interested. It has info on taking your contact lists, keeping Instant Messenger, forwarding your old AOL emails, and more.
So, I just cancelled my aol membership, it was pretty easy I just said I had hispeed now and what they offered was to expensive and they gave me a cancelation confirmation number, said I could access my aol email and keep my name! no strings attatched and no fees! Is this for real or are they gonna jip me as soon as I log on to the account? If any one knows please let me know before I log on to their sight. thanks
I’ve Been Hit By Digg.com
My Life Is Now Complete. This site has been hit up on Digg thanks to the morons who keep posting comments on this really old AOL story. So I’ve now…
I would say that 90% of AOL’s users are naive to idiots. Half of them do think that AOL is the Internet and vice-versa.
Actually you do not have to cancel your AOL account to stop paying for it. There is a free subscription plan under the accound information. If you do not choose it you are on the STANDARD AOL IDIOT plan which is billed montly to your credit card (yes, for convenience)…
My 2c