BEWARE AIM.COM (subsid. of AOL) FREE EMAIL

Bottom line: AOL/AIM free e-mail cannot be trusted.

Use at your own risk. If you have important e-mails,

back them up on your computer. It can internally mess

up and suddenly you won’t be able to access your

e-mail in the blink of an eye and with little help to

rectify it. (All my content is clean, I use it for

keeping up with friends and family, for a local

association I belong to, shopping, etc.. I also had

not come close to using my 2GB storage capacity).

Full story: I have had a free e-mail account with

www.aim.com (a subsidiary of AOL - the acronym is AOL

Instant Messaging) for two years. At the time I signed

up, AOL e-mail was a subscription service. AIM was a

free alternative and suggested by my IT guru at work

because of its security features. It has worked

flawlessly for two years. On Monday, January 29, 2007,

I got an error code "Invalid Screen Name or password."

when I attempted to log in (I use mail every day and

know my SN/PW without a doubt. It had worked on

Sunday, January 28 perfectly fine). On Tuesday,

January 30, I tried all my previous passwords,

attempted to get a new password using the "I forgot my

password" button, tried to log on through AOL's mail

page, tried to log on at my work computer and a

friend's computer. All unsuccessful. (P.S. I've never

given my PW out via e-mail or any other method).

Additionally, I contacted AOL customer service and in

the automated attendant, it indicated services were

not available to free users, however, I could purchase

technical support. I had my credit card ready to do

just that but AOL said AIM was not something they

could provide services on. So where do AIM personnel

exist? I also filed a report through the AIM

troubleshooting section. Below is a reply I received.

It didn't work either, although I appreciate the

attempt to contact me (the report page indicated there

would be no response but in the dialog box, I entered

my alternative e-mail account and they were kind

enough to reply). However, I’ve never been able to log

on to my aim.com account through AOL’s e-mail log in

page so I think this person is confused about AIM vs.

AOL. I also don’t have an account so there is nothing

to manage. It’s now Thursday, February 1, 2007 and I’m

still having the same trouble. I fear that my archived

e-mails from two years worth of Association work, etc.

are lost forever.

--- AOLSupport Email User wrote:

> Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:48:20 -0500 (EST)

> From: "AOLSupport"Email User

> To: Email User

> Subject: Confirmation of Account Update

---------------------------------

Dear Email User

The Account Security Question for your Screen Name has

been created. For questions about how to use or update

your Account Security Question, please visit AOL

Keyword:Account Security Question or on the web at

http://myaccount.aol.com.

With your Account Security Question, you can access

AOL's secure, self-service account management area at

AOL Keyword:My Account or on the web at

http://myaccount.aol.com. Here you can update your

contact information, view your billing statements,

update your payment method and change your price plan

anytime. Your Account Security Question can also be

used to reset your password in case you forget it.

Remember: AOL Staff will never ask you for your

password. Never give your password to anyone online.

Sincerely,

AOL Member Services

AOL LLC

Comment On This

agree, I have had a email and screen name with AIM for years, now I am unable to access my account, I also am not getting any replies about why this is happening, I found a board on AOL with people who are getting the same problem. I attempted to call but since I am not a paying AOL customer I don't receive help. In my opinion, if a company does not give customer services for a service they provide than they should not be providing that service free or not! this is poor business and I will not ever use their services again, and tell everyone I know who is using their services to change every personal thing they have sent to their AOL and AIM account to be changed immediately! Thanks again to huge corporations who don't care about the consumer!