AOL are sneaky so beware when cancelling

[Conniff]

They told me I should definitely not deal with SRJ, but only communicate directly with AOL.

 

Now why is this? If AOL have indeed employed SRJ to chase up a debt, then they have a legitimate reason to do that so why are AOL telling you not to communicate with SRJ?

If, on the other hand, the debt has been sold to SRJ, then telling you to only communicate with AOL is because they see the chance of getting some money they can't be entitled to, so by paying AOL, that would amount to theft by AOL

 

Just a thought.

[Pinot]

New here and good to see I` m not alone.

 

We rang AOL several times to cancel the account and all we got was that they could not find an account. I did point out that that was odd as they had been taking money from my bank for years!!

 

Eventually I told them I was going to stop my direct debit as we no longer needed their services and had tried many times to tell them.

 

Months passed until yesterday when my wife got a letter from Roxborough:mad:

[Plama]

Pinot, I actually managed to get SRJ off my back by speaking to AOL and clarifying everything, so good luck to you and your wife with Roxborough as well.

[Beck1968]

Just got a letter from Advantis Credit Ltd today for AOL Broadband

 

thought very strange as i have been with BT Boardband for about 7 years

previously i was will AOL dial up, but canceled when i moved to BT

 

Looked at my statements and low and behold Aol still debting my account

until no funds in account :shock:

 

so can anyone suggest a proper way to reclaim the funds removed from my account

Edited December 17, 2009 by Beck1968
keyboard

[buzby]

Well 'reclaim' is perhaps too stong a term?

 

Unless you can prove that you gave notice of termination, the charges would have been correct, as I kept mine going for several years for the odd time I needed dial up access when I wan;t at home. They cannot tane non-use as a reason to arbitrarily discontinue the service you are paying for.

 

In the absence of proof - and of course, if giving them a mandate to take payments, the onus remains with the customer to check statements and claim in a timeous manner. As it is, you'll have to hope they treat you sympathetically, as you can only ask, not demand a return.

 

Other complications are that in the lat five years, AOL has had two owners, Time Warner, and now Carphone Warehouse. If you contact them (AOL) giving as much information as possible, explaining the oversight, and asking for a refund of the services paid for nut not condumed. They might be feeling charitiable.

[cyclingoscar]

Hiya,

 

Tis over 30 weeks since the chasing DSA contacted me to say "...I have raised a direct query with our clients."

 

I think this can be put to bed AOL never had a leg in the first place to try standing on ;-)

[andrew101]

hi i have been having problems with aol i moved house and told them i was moving they said they could not provide a service at my new address so i told them i would have to cancel with aol they then wrote me a email saying that i hadnt had a accout with them now i am at my new address and after being without broadband for 2 months a dept company has contacted me saying i have to pay aol £197 for being in breach of contract i have tryed to contact aol but no one the will talk to me about this bill i have asked the dept company to let me know how they got the figure £197 but was told just to pay he also told me i shouldnt move house while i have an aol contract has anyone else had this problem. andrew

[buzby]

Hi Andrew, welcome to CAG. You'll find if you take on a commitment with a minimum term they do stick with it. As it was you who moved, any waiver on their part to your commitment is a bonus, not a right. Solutions include getting the new owner/tenant to agree to keep on the contract (or buy you out of it). What were the reason for their inability to reprovide service at youre new address? If it was technical, and their failure - you would at least expect some compromise. However as it stands, they are within their rights to seek repayment of the minimum tern you agreed to initially.

[locutus]

For now ignore the debt company, if they phone you just tell them you will only deal with this through AOL as you dispute owing anything.

 

Now, dealing with the organ grinder rather than the threat monkey Only communicate in writing.

 

TalkTalk Telecom Limited (trading as AOL Broadband)

11 Evesham Street

London

W11 4AR

 

Include your name, address that they provided service at, AOL account number and phone number that they provided service at, then outline your complaint (that you canceled as they could not provide service and shouldn't have been charged) and ask for a resolution that you think is fair, and say as an alternative to give you a letter confirming you are at DEADLOCK so you can escalate the complaint further. Also ask for a copy of their "Code of practice" as this has a section relating to escalating your complaint.

[buzby]

Locutus, agreed but to what ends? Complaining simply because you dont like what you agreed to earlier simply prolongs the agony, plus (in AOLs case) probably result in a CRA default if left too long.

[locutus]

If the debt has already been passed to a set of DCA threat monkies the damage to credit file will already have taken place. The only avenues left for andrew101 are to complain to AOL (and even further if needed). They obviously didn't inform him that there were cancelation charges.

[buzby]

THey don't have to advise. Any arrangement with a minimum term will always be made up on cancellation. They are not a specific 'cancellation' or 'termination charge - but simply the remainder of the contract term. What you describe is a fixed payment to be made on cancellation, which TT/AOL do not do. The cost dynamic, based on the remaining commitment. I'm unaware of any requirement for them to pre-advise of any cost before termination, althougfh I agree it would be useful to have advance notice of this, especially if such cancellation can be deferred.

[locutus]

andrew101's post says something about an email, Sorry andrew101 I can't decipher what you're saying that email contained. I thought it meant that AOL had said nothing was owed, but on re-reading that's not clear...