The Consumer Help Web customer from Colorado was no different than the handful of consumers who had contacted the complaint resolution company before. AOL was unresponsive to his complaints about account handling and was charging him for money he said he didn't owe.
Consumer Help Web was able to get an Executive Response Team member to work with the consumer, but even then there were difficulties in an adequate resolution. "Our experience was that AOL changed from ignoring customer complaints to stonewalling them," said Consumer Help Web President Joan Bounacos. "Their retention program was legendary in its zeal to keep customer accounts. That wasn't a good thing for consumers or for AOL."
Now the Virginia based company with ties to Google and Time Warner has agreed with a consortium of states to change its cancellation policies. Without admitting any wrongdoing, AOL says it will now offer consumers the opportunity to cancel online instead of by telephone or in writing. The company also agreed to refund consumers who can prove they were charged the company's monthly service fee after requesting a cancellation. AOL also agreed to pay $3 million to reimburse the states for their expenses in pursuing the matter.
"This represents the largest change to AOL's policies in a very long time," Bounacos said. "If they follow through as they have said, consumers will have won a major victory."
Labels: AOL
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