One of Many AOL Problems

[BlindMelon7]

Hi All,
I'm gonna be blunt about this. DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT JOINING AOL.
I joined AOL a few months ago. it was working fairly well for the trial period, but as soon as i signed up properly it stopped working. I am told this is due to a new version of ASDL which is not compatible with my phone line (i am in quite a rural area). Their contract clearly states that i can cancel at any time (from what I've read). But according to the AOL guys in India or wherever, i cant. Any1 got any ideas? I'd appreciate the help.

[BeoWulf]

Hmm you could try contacting trading standards, explain whats happened, see what they say. Usually companies are much more pliant when trading standards gets in touch, however trading standards can be quite slow (they have a very large workload and not all that many staff).

If the contract states that you can cancel at any time, look for the small print, it might say "except for clause blah blah" in there. Just read it through thouroghly, if it does indeed state so, write down the relevent sections and what it states, (section 1 part a subsection 3 or other some such crap) when you get on the phone, ask to cancel since the service doesnt work for you, if they argue, state the numbers, and start to monologue it. If your lucky you wont have to, and get someone nice. If not, hopefully the monologging will break their will to argue with you heh.

Good Luck!

[BlindMelon7]

Thanks a lot. I'll try that.

[BeoWulf]

Let us know how you get on

[BlindMelon7]

no luck with aol. but i canceled the direct debit and i'm with another provider now. now all i have 2 do is wait and see if they try 2 sue

[BeoWulf]

They wont sue, they will more than likely pass your "debt" onto small claims court, or sell it to a debt collection agency. Make sure you inform them in writing that you have indeed canceled and shall recieve no more money from you. Not the greatest of situations, but the best you can do.

[XA04]

I take it your on dial up now then? - As you would of needed the MAC code off AOL if you were to switch with another provider..

Can't imagine AOL taking it too kindly, but I can't see them doing anything nasty.

[BlindMelon7]

im wireless with a local provider as i cant get phone line web. (there literally a bunch of hippies so it isnt very official)

[peterb]

One of the (many?) problems with AOL is that it seems that the optimum MTU setting is lower than the default. Normally this is around the 1500 mark, but AOL (for some reason) falls over if it much above 1400. I think their software (the one that tramps - or used to tramp) over your PC used to change it automatically, but if you don't use that, it has been reported to cause problems. Not having used AOL myself, I can't state whether that is true, or an "urban myth".

[cougarslam]

im on aol dont use their software tho as its resource hog is ad-ridden bad interface full of pop up alot of hassle to get it to connect and ithas to stay running while connected do i need to go on?

should i change my mtu down to 1400 then

also my ping is about 51ms at its lowest shouldnt it be lower than this. my old uni conenction used to get pings of 6-15ms.

4.5mb connection (adsl max)

[peterb]

should i change my mtu down to 1400 then

also my ping is about 51ms at its lowest shouldnt it be lower than this. my old uni conenction used to get pings of 6-15ms.

4.5mb connection (adsl max)

Worth experimenting with the MTU setting.

Ping (latency) depends on many things, the principle one being whether interleaving is on or off. Interleaving on can improve speed and stability but at the expense of increased latency. Interleaving is usually only enabled if line conditions warrant it. Some ISP's allow you to specify interleaving off if low latency is more important than speed, but I don't know if AOL will do this.

[adam1701]

Ooooook,
AOL state that you must sign up for a minumum of 12 months, where in the contract does it say that you can cancel at any time?
And... their call centres are in Ireland, not India

[ragolis]

I am on Aol and I am enjoying it thoroughly recently upgraded to Aol broadband gold 2mbs and with free wireless router (Thomson speedtouch 576) which works on its own so even if i off the computer i can still connect to the internet with my laptop, I think Aol is great and reliable

[BeoWulf]

Err any router should work on its own, they are independent of a computer. Look at the price your paying for 2meg with more than likely caps. Then take a look for the better services.

[adam1701]

AOL dont cap, and dont throttle, they are one of the only isps not to

[BlindMelon7]

i no they say 12 months but if it doesnt work?