It is so easy not to like AOL if you are a techy. Those of us in the business know there are a myriad of different services and solutions available offering superior solutions to what AOL offers the masses. Basic dial-up, email, and free web browsers, can unlock the power of the internet more cheaply and reliably than an AOL account in most instances. Still, millions and millions of home users rely on AOL for these services (although the numbers of faithful users is dwindling every day with broadband connections now exceeding fifty percent of all connected households). We all know the common reasons users get hooked on AOL’s internet train, easy sign up, new PCs have the service pre-loaded; "free" AOL CDs available in the mail, the mall, even the grocery store from time to time; family and friends who have known nothing else recommend the service, next thing you know, "You’ve Got Mail" is bellowing from your PC’s speakers.

Whenever I come across a home user requesting my help who is using the AOL service, I inquire what they like and dislike and explain alternative solutions if they are available in their area. Often it is simply the fear of changing holding back these folks. It has been some time since a client has told me that they are hooked on proprietary AOL chat rooms, or other exclusive content, that they simply don’t want to give up. Then there is the email account..... Changing email addresses can be a hassle, no doubt about it. For some it is a great purging experience allowing one to start over fresh; for others, the idea of losing their AOL address is so harrowing, they will endure almost any hardship to keep their account active. A recent house call reminded me just how farAOL will go to perpetuate their proprietary stranglehold on their customers....

A client of mine who is enjoying her retirement, called, finally "fed up with AOL." She was tired of the incessant pop up ads and reminders intruding on her online time. (AOL is moving towards an ad based revenue model and more open content. I have no empirical evidence that they are ramping up advertisements with their paying legions, but certainly anecdotal tales such as this suggest such tactics.) For years I have been suggesting that this client dump the AOL lifestyle and move to a broadband cable internet connection through Comcast. The economics are such that the change will cost her about $20 a month more since she did not have a second POTS line dedicated to her computer, but this wasn’t the issue holding her back all these years.

Changing email addresses; losing her list of favorites, and her address book, were hurdles she didn’t want to jump and AOL knows it! Ironically, it took the company’s insistence on cluttering her desktop with intrusive ads to put this kind retired school teacher over the edge. Literally, AOL lost this customer by insisting that the $28/month she spent with them "isn’t enough." I explained that there are both free and low cost tools which help with the task of moving these important pieces of information. I also assured her I would handle the entire process should she ever decide to make the switch. I was thrilled when the call came and then the fun began in earnest.

First there’s the issue of multiple programs, many "unwanted," some simply intrusive, which AOL insists on installing. This has been one of my longstanding issues with this company. The situation seems to only get worse with each new generation of their software’s install. AOL bogs down users with programs like AOL Buddy; AOL Companion; AOL Toolbar; AOL Communicator; and more. Most users don’t know what the programs are for so they blindly let them run utilizing system resources and slowing every process their PC executes. Many users are pleasantly surprised at how much "faster" their PC "feels" after removing this diutris from their systems. AOL also keeps prior versions! That’s right, if you go into your Add/Remove Program Applet, you will be greeted with the "opportunity" to delete multiple versions of AOL’s core software. Why in the world doesn’t AOL write an installer which detects and deletes prior versions? Answer, they want to make it as difficult as possible to purge your system of their presence. (HP are you listening?  Installation of recent printer drivers, along with all the other "required" software, now takes up to thirty minutes!)

As it turns out, my client’s address book and favorites were quite limited and a semi-automated transfer quickly had all of her favorites in my current browser of choice, Firefox. Since AOL offers loads of ways to import addresses and no export feature, we settled on printing out her address book and entering the handful of email addresses into Outlook Express as she corresponded with each individual.

Finally we were ready to call and "pull the plug." I called and navigated through the automated voice recording until finally reaching a human being who began by promptly requesting the same information I had dutifully entered a the automated prompts. (This is a problem I experience with several companies so AOL isn’t alone in this customer support blunder.) . This person was the last obstacle to saying goodbye to AOL and she took her job very seriously. My client had to identify herself two times and give her approval for me to continue the call in her behalf. This client is a bit older and, like many of us, can be confused when confronted with technical choices.  Her fear in dealing with AOL’s Customer Service and Support Group is why I
agreed to handle this task in her behalf.

Understand, you can’t "just cancel." You must tell AOL why you are leaving them; hear their extensive sales pitch for keeping their service; be offered an account which allows access through your broadband connection at a monthly discount, and more. This sale’s pitch went on for over five minutes at which point the operator refused to continue the cancellation process until she heard me regurgitate all of these great "deals" to my senior client. She dug her proverbial foot in the sand and refused to continue the cancellation process. Period.They simply refused to cancel the account.

Unbelievable! With this out of the way, the final offer was to keep their service for "one more month" and use some sort of notification system to let everybody know my client’s email account was changing. The agent muttered something about their "trueswitch program" but by this point I wasn’t even paying close attention. The entire cancellation process took nearly a half an hour on the ‘phone. At the end, I was abruptly transferred to a pre-recorded announcement informing me that a confirmation of cancellation would be sent by US Post in approximately two weeks… "Goodbye."

AOL has its place. As you hear about this company’s business model changes and as Time Warner continues to search for another company to take this rudderless subsidiary off their hands, remember, one thing, the customer is always right, even when they are saying goodbye… Feel free to share your opinion.