(beep) Would You Like Fries With That?
PC World's Mark Sullivan blogs today about an AOL tech support chat session that left him feeling a little less like a customer and a little more like a database query.
Judging by the partial transcript Sullivan posted, the entity at the other end was perfectly scripted and pressing buttons that fired macro and marketing-perfect answers at the user or a bot.
That's right. Even when Sullivan baited the conversation by asking if he was typing to a male or female, he did not get a straight answer. He finally called the person (?) "HAL" after the computer in the classic movie 2001. Still no answer.
Only a month ago, we wrote about AOL's refund policies and our work on behalf of consumers who were owed money. Even if Sullivan had received service from someone in Bangalore or South America or even Dubuque, now is not the time for the beleaguered company to be coy regarding its service.
(beep) You've got customers.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
AOL Changing Refund Policy Amidst Complaints, Past Customers May Be Due Refunds
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."
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
