AOL for Free? - Comments Page 1

what you do not mention, is that if you go with the free service, if you have problems, you do not get support. no 24/7, no tech people. I pay 4.95 per month for broadband. On the rare occasion I have to use tech support, it's worth the $4.95 per month. I'm not sure if I will cancel the billing...something tells me there is really hanging there that will come back and bite me in the butt. I guess that they are counting on that, eh?

EDITOR'S NOTE: $5/month for Broadband??? The average price is about $40/month. What service do you use?

I wouldn't recommend AOL "services" even though they're now free. Heck, I wouldn't recommend AOL at all, even if they paid me to use it. I was one victim of their notorious membership scams. AOL promised me a free trial month for broadband services and instead locked me in to a six-month contract, then lied about it and would not correct the problem, then made me say “no” for 15 minutes on an overseas call when I finally could cancel.

I would be very suspicious of AOL. Your note about their being happy to continue overcharging at $25.90 is one justification for such suspicion. In any case, companies such as these richly deserve to go out of business. Why support customer-abusers? You can easily find alternatives, often better, to everything they offer.

Every time I had an issue with AOL, I would sit on hold forever...finally I told them I wanted to cancel my service. No one seems to know what will happen for tech support if it's free. The real question is whether they will still have any tech support staff members left to handle the phone calls!

My price would increase back up to $9.95 if I had to start paying them again for tech support. Have you heard back from anyone who's gone free and tried to get tech support? Everyone I know is waiting for someone else to cancel their service charges with AOL!

Hi all. It's true that you don't get customer support from AOL with the free plan. But you don't get phone support from Yahoo, Google, YouTube, MySpace, or anyone else you DON'T pay, do you? If you still need dialup, you can get it for $10/month from AOL, or from Earthlink or anyone else. If you want to buy dial-up from Earthlink, you can still use your AOL screen name and all of AOL's other services once you're connected via dialup.

Most of the things that Bob mentioned in this article do not rely on AOL's client software in any way — you can access all of them using a browser. (I'm a Mac user, and AOL hasn't update the Mac software in a long time, so I use all of AOL's services via my Mac Safari browser.)

If you use a non-AOL browser and get broadband access from someone other than AOL, then why would you even need to call AOL for support? Some people think it's probably better NOT to call them, in fact. The good news is that most of the new, internet-based AOL stuff Bob mentions is just cool, and it works well, and gives a lot of value. Why not try it? Just like any other Internet company's products, if you don't have to pay for it and you don't like it, don't use it. If you like it and it's free, then you're getting something for nothing. I especially like the 5 Gb of online storage from Xdrive -- Xdrive was a great product long before AOL bought it, and now AOL has added more value by using its huge server farms for something really good!

Bruce, Do you mean you can access all of AOL's services without installing their big messy client software? (at least it uninstalls more cleanly now) I guess AIM is the only thing that would need an install then?

Thats pretty interesting. A friend of mine collected those omnipresent CD's from people for about a year, then built a lamp out of them - about 100. It glows out the sides. I've warned people away from AOL for years due to their software and practices. They've always been a headache for business clients with vanishing email, proxy access to the Internet (it was never direct) that blocked web services, and impenetrable support if you were not a client.

I have to agree with Phil Christensen's comments above. I too went through 'AOL Hell' a few years ago! Even after I finally got rid of it, it was months and I was still finding AOL 'junk files' on my computer!

I've since purchased a brand new computer, ...'virgin'....and free of any AOL corruption! I just don't trust anything from AOL! I certainly don't want them 'worming' into my computer again!

I bought a new Compaq computer and it is filled with programs that I can't get rid of. Most are under the heading of C:\ProgramFiles\Online Services, etc. When I click on the icon I get the message that it will only delete the icon and not the program and tells me that I must uninstall from the Add/Remove Program; but they are not listed on the Add/Remove Program or my Innova Add/Remove Program. They have hidden these files so that a person who may want to uninstall them can't. This includes MSN, eBay, AOL music, AOL 3 months trial. I think that they are playing dirty. I even installed an uninstall program and they were not on it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: My guess is that they are OPTIONAL installs, and not actually on your system. You can verify by trying to run one of them.

I use the AOL client software because I like the way it handles email better than the web-mail version -- it is faster, it handles attachments and inserts with ease and it automatically stores each email on my computer. I can still get AOL's webmail from any computer when I travel without my laptop. I chose to keep the $9.95 version because,even though I have used AOL for years and know it well, I occasionally have to call AOL for some help and I do not want to lose that service and occasionally have to use dial-up access.

Bob, can you recommend a good AOL reader? I would like to access AOL for free, but I would still like to check my old email.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You mean an email reader? Then I think you'll need the AOL software, or the web interface at http://webmail.aol.com

Every time I try to use the FREE button all I get is "Temporarily unavailable" message.However I was able to change to the free AOL by calling this # 1-888-265-8003. After talking to machines for a minute or two I was connected to a real live person. Without any hassle, she changed my account from pay to FREE. That was followed up by an email which explained what I would get for free and how to connect to free Aol.

my 15 year old has set up this account with aol and I want it deleted...... she's using the email for sconex and myspace and I've just found stuff that she has no right of having online or corresponding with people she should not be... how do I as a parent delete her account.. I have all info regarding it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: To cancel your AOL account, call AOL Member Services at 1-888-265-8008. That said, what's to stop her from getting another free email account on Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail or a hundred other places? Deleting her AOL email account will not solve the problem. Setting clear guidelines and assigning consequences will go a lot further.

Bob, I have used AOL....and the free AOL for about 7 years...never once had an issue...for some reason now it won't let me log into either of my accounts....One started a week ago and last night the other....I can't call now...and all the help is related to if i forgot my password...I didn't forget it, all my info has been checked a million times...I am so frustrated right now...all my business info is tied up in an account I can not acess! HELP BOB!

EDITOR'S NOTE: You're not in CAPS LOCK mode, are you? That can mess up the password entry, if it's case sensitive. Failing that, I'd go ahead and reset the password.

Can ANYONE help? I recently went to broadband and with that was able to have AOL for free. However, I need to delete a sreen name from the sign on screen and no where do I look will it allow me to; even under my Master name. The screen names were created under 8.0 and now I am running 9.0 on my PC. Many thanks to whomever can help!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Log in to AOL and choose Account Settings, then Screen Names. You'll see a "DELETE" link there.

I too can not delete a screen name with the Free service...I tried going to account settings and this did not help....Can you advise how to delete a screen name with the Free AOL service?

Thanks

For the people that need to change/remove screen names on the free account, it's Keyword Screen Names. Allows you to edit them all when signed on to a Master Screen Name.

And as an ex-AOL tech I'd like to point out, that almost 75% of the calls I got were people who had a broadband connection through their cable/phone company and a free AOL account.

They called us to fix the broadband connection. Now I understand not everyone completely grasps the intricacies of internet access, but these people would become verbal abusive when I told them there was nothing AOL can do to make their internet access work.

I'd also like to point out that a lot of times, when a member tells their broadband provider they have an AOL account, the bb provider sends them to AOL, which to me is just bad customer service.

You lucky Americans. I just checked my account. I think it is us suckers in the UK paying for your free use, because I pay £14.99 a month and it ain't ever gonna be free. Come to think of it, it has to be free in New Hampshire (State motto: Live free or die). :-) I think we Brits just love paying....

I have used AOL for yrs. and since retired and discontitued my AOL, bought a new desk top computer and hated the hotmail & etc. Went to Free AOL Email, plus broadband. I called to have aol canced and was done with no problems in a wk. Now on my laptop I still have full AOL and my screen name. My question is how do I get my new Screen name on both computers? They do not let you use your old email address with out some change. If they do I would like my old screen name back. One person wrote to you saying you could keep your screen name.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The screen name is independent of your computer... you can use your screen name to login on ANY computer. Just go to webmail.aol.com to access your email with any browser.

I used to use AOL as a "dial backup" on their $4.95 a month plan, but the day they started censoring the Doonesbury comic strips that were critical of George Bush was the day I got rid of AOL and I told AOL specifically why I was cancelling my account. And no, the comic strip was not "down" I found another site on the internet that was carrying the missing strips. I found a free alternative for a backup provider.

This does not work anymore. There is not a "free" option for keyword change plan. It did work for me a year ago but now it is gone!

I have signed up for free aol, downloaded the client and signed in, but when I click to get to people connection, it tells me I need to go thru age verification, which I understand the reason. I click, go the appropriate page, enter my credit card info and then I get a message saying there is a technical problem, try back in 5 minutes... this has been going on for about a week - no matter when I try. Has anyone else had this problem?