I like many other Internet users started this little adventure by signing up with America Online. That’s where I first created my screen name “Bnpositive”, where I was very active in the chat rooms.
This news article on Yahoo! News is letting us know that AOL will be paying $3,000,000 to past users because of their, let’s say ‘challenging’, account cancellation procedures.
Subscribers who phoned AOL to cancel their service sometimes were greeted by aggressive customer service representatives who were paid bonuses of up to $3,000 if they found a way to retain the business, according to the multistate settlement. Customers complained that AOL’s incentive system created an obstructive culture that made service cancellations difficult.
“Consumers who called were put on hold or transferred repeatedly until they hung up in disgust,” said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who described AOL’s practices as “outlandish and underhanded.”
The settlement requires AOL to issue refunds to consumers who can show they were still charged monthly fees after trying to cancel their services. AOL’s fees currently range from $9.95 to $25.90 per month. Tiede said the multistate investigation didn’t estimate how much money AOL might have to refund.
Whooo wee! $3,000 bonus to keep someone from canceling their service. Not sure if that per quarter or some other time frame, but I can’t imagine it being per account.
That just goes to show you how valuable your eyeballs are in this new age of advertising.
Do you have money coming to you?