Nearly 60% of Web surfers plan to quit AOL

Reuters via digitalMASS.com ^ | 5/21/02

[Dog Gone]

AOL was a great entry point for new web users. After awhile, they will probably notice that they are still on a tiny little bicycle with training wheels, while the rest of the world is zooming by on motorcycles.

AOL will be in huge trouble, especially if they think broadband isn't that important.

[Maedhros]

AOHell $ux0r

[TADSLOS]

...and I'm one of them, as soon as I figure out this whole wireless thing.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Trouble is, AOL won't let them go that easily. They're like drug dealers. I admit I signed up recently for their free trial so I could have net access down in Australia while on vacation (I ended up leaving my laptop at home anyway, and using an Internet cafe'). When I called to cancel, they offered me a free month. I told them again that I had no need of their services, so they offered two free months. I finally said 'fine'. I wonder if they'll offer me more free time when I go to cancel again.

AOL just creeps me out. Call it a gut feeling. I don't like being so aggressively targeted. It's like the politician whose smile is a little TOO bright, or the used car salesman whose pitch is TOO rehearsed. You just get the sense that they're playing you until they get what they want from you.

[1Old Pro]

"We have done more than 100 surveys and reports since late 2000 and this survey has the most overwhelming, and negative, response to a company or technology we have ever seen,"

They could have saved time and money if they just asked me. AOL sucks. It takes minutes to clear off all their marketing pop-ups just to get mail or to a website. They "update" your software without asking if it's a convenient time for you to wait 3-5 minutes, they STILL have busy signals, they offer nothing substantive more than other ISPs. MOST people get started with AOL becuause they simply really don't understand the alternatives, many which offer quicker speed or the same speed for less cost.

AOL has survived because it "attracts" new customers, just look at the software offers each month in your mail. The problem has always been that they cannot "retain" users.

My suggestion, get rid of ALL pop-ups, make the screen cleaner, and drastically reduce monthly fees to say $15/month for unlimited use.

If they don't do that they will lose massive market share.

[GailA]

We just dumped them last month. Service just kept getting crappier and crappier. It was ALWAYS OUR COMPUTER. Never their service. Hard to log on, hard to stay on, their program kept corrupting the Browser. At the end when I went to publish my web page it kept saying it couldn't floormat it.

[Focault's Pendulum]

I wonder if they'll offer me more free time when I go to cancel again

I rode that puppy for a whole year by calling to cancel two days before my last free period ended.

Of course I finally smartened up when I received this error message.

[Dog Gone]

Why anyone would stick with AOL when highspeed internet service is available at a comparable cost is mind-boggling. Just getting rid of the aggravation of trying to dial in is worth making the switch.

[Risky Schemer]

AOL just creeps me out. Call it a gut feeling.

I remember some specifics in the old days, some of the practices of the old, arrogant AOL. It felt to me like I was doing business with snot-nosed arrogant punks.

Another thing I remember is the customer service routine when you called to complain about pauses, drops, disconnects, etc. They never admitted it was inadequacy in the AOL system (bottlenecks in proxy servers, bandwidth inadequacy, overselling the service or whatever it was). They'd get you to go through a list of "impressive" adjustments on your computer. No matter how many times you called and complained, they'd run you through the same hoops. And no matter how pointed your questions, the service rep would never admit AOL was the source of the probs.

I was curious if AOL dialup had improved any since I last subscribed. Guess this story answers my question.

[Keeper of the Turf]

AOL does think broadband is important. In fact, they think it is so important, they believe people wouldn't mind paying the $45 for broadband on top of the AOL monthly fee.

[rdavis84]

"When I called to cancel, they offered me a free month. I told them again that I had no need of their services, so they offered two free months. I finally said 'fine'. I wonder if they'll offer me more free time when I go to cancel again."

Exact same here. But my notice to them still stands. I'll be through with them at the end of June.

They were the only local access ISP at the time I went with them and at the time I didn't know whether all of the Probs. were mine, theirs, or the INET. Put up a couple of websites and that has ALWAYS been a problem. They're history for me real soon.

[Jonathon Spectre]

The company has also acknowledged that it needs to clarify its high-speed strategy but has downplayed the urgency after getting into high-speed services, noting that the mass market is unlikely to embrace broadband overnight.

And... goodbye. Unbelievable to me that this company that supposedly knows something about the Internet would even say this in public.

[tdadams]

I just dropped AOL a few days ago. I haven't even used it in two years, since I've had broadband, but kept it for a convenient spam-funnel address, overseas availability and some webhosting. But realistically, those are things I can still do without AOL.

But even on the minimum plan ($4.95 a month), I felt like I was wasting my money. Procrastination was the only thing that kept me from dropping it before.

[hsmomx3]

I've heard from AOL subscribers that they continually get disconnected while reading/writing email, and while they are on Instant Messenger.

We've had great service with Prodigy but soon that will be obsolete as SBC bought Prodigy and it will be known as "SBC/Yahoo".

My pet peeve is that these companies bungle Internet Explorer in everything.

[Dog Gone]

Yikes. Is that really what they're trying to charge? Nearly $70 per month for a DSL or cable modem connection?

[GoldnGate]

A = Always O = Off L = Line .... and then they wonder why their subscribership base is vaporizing ... the wheels are coming off ... and Steve Case .... will make AOL look like Does ENRON ring a bell ??? .....

[rdavis84]

"Another thing I remember is the customer service routine when you called........"

That was the final straw for me. BTW, it's sure FUN trying to talk to a living nerd of any kind at aol, isn't it?

[Kaslin]

How can AOL be # 1 if they have to give all those hours away to attract customers?

[Keeper of the Turf]

That's what their radio commercial says.