AOL Unauthorized and Unethical Billing Practices, AOL Reluctance to Return my Refund as Promised

AOL Unauthorized and Unethical Billing Practices, AOL Reluctance to Return my Refund as Promised

November 22, 2005

Consumer Complaints,

Below is a copy of a certified letter that I sent to AOL. I have also contacted them seven times on the telephone in order to receive my refund, but to date, nothing has been resolved. AOL owes me $426.11 and I would like to have my money returned. They also SHOULD NOT be billing me until February 2006 and when they do bill me, they should only be billing me for $14.95 and they should have on record that my price plan includes UNLIMITED DSL minutes and UNLIMITED DIAL-UP minutes.

Please help me to resolve this issue. I have truly had it.

Sincerely,

Gladys

__________________

To: AOL Billing Operations and Services

P.O. Box 17200

Jacksonville, Florida 32245-7200

From: Gladys Scott

Account Number 953237935

Date: November 22, 2005

Re: Unauthorized Charges taken from VISA Debit Card and

Reluctance to Honor Agreed Upon Refund of Monies to my Bank

Account

AOL,

On October 29, 2005, AOL took $480.85 from my bank account. I discovered these unauthorized charges when my debit card began being declined. Upon discovery of these charges, I contacted AOL customer service on October 29, 2005 at 9:06 AM. I spoke to a young man in India, told him that I had DSL service through Verizon since July 2004 and that I was only supposed to be paying $14.95 monthly. I also told him that the plan I signed up for included unlimited DSL and unlimited dial-up charges. In response to my call, he refunded the $480.85 within TWO days of my contacting him, promised that I would not be charged any monthly fees from August 2005 THROUGH January 2006. He also told me that I would receive $64.00 for overdraft charges to my account caused by AOL?s withdrawal of unauthorized funds, and an additional $426.11 for unauthorized charges removed from my account by AOL in August 2005 and September 2005. A letter from my bank is enclosed verifying the removal of these charges.

The following weekend, November 5, 2005, the $426.11 still had not been returned to my account. I called again at 7:05AM in order to resolve this issue. Again, I spoke to a different young man from India, repeated the entire story AGAIN, and I was promised that I would receive a refund of $426.11 because the authorization to return these funds had already been made.

The following weekend, November 12, 2005, the $426.11 still had not been returned to my account. I called again TWICE, explained the entire story AGAIN, and was told that $98.00 was already returned to my account. I continued to explain to this person that I had NOT RECEIVED any money from AOL except the $480.85 which ONLY resolved the unauthorized charges removed from my account in October 2005. This person repeatedly told me that I was incorrect. The person I spoke with was a Latino woman. The second time I called back, I spoke with a man from India named David. He was supposed to be a supervisor. I explained the story AGAIN, and he accused me of overusing the dial-up minutes in my plan. I told him the same thing that I told the young man from India during my FIRST call, that I had DSL through Verizon and I had UNLIMITED DSL and UNLIMITED dial-up service with AOL at a monthly charge of $14.95. I also told him that I had been promised $426.11 which included unauthorized removal of funds from my account in August 2005 and September 2005 AND $64.00. He told me that on Monday, November 14, 2005, I would receive a refund of $98.00 and on Friday, November 18, 2005, I would receive a refund of $324.11 and that he would ensure that my account was changed to unlimited dial-up and unlimited DSL service. I explained to him that I had already signed up for this type of AOL account in July 2004. He then began to accuse me of using unauthorized dial-up minutes and threatened me. I told him that I wanted the money returned and that I should not have to go through all of this runaround and all of these lies in order to have money returned to my account that should not have been removed in the first place.

On November 17, 2005, AOL Billing Manager sent me an e-mail stating that I was being charged $28.02 for November and December 2005 charges. I was very angry because I had been told that I would receive NO BILLS from AOL until February 2006.

The following weekend, November 19, 2005, I called again and spoke with an American named Aaron. He told me that the notes on my account indicated that $98.00 had been returned to my account and that there WAS NO notification anywhere that I was going to receive $426.11. I also told him that AOL had sent me a bill for November and December 2005 stating that I was being charged $28.02. He told me that he would refund $28.02 to my account, and he did so on November 21, 2005. This $28.02 HAS NOTHING to do with the agreement AOL made with me to return charges from August 2005, September2005 or with the $64.00 of overdraft charges that they caused. He suggested that I either write or fax a letter to AOL regarding the $426.11 and so I have.

Further, after I discovered that someone at AOL took it upon themselves to alter my billing plan, charge me for dial-up minutes that I should NOT have been charged for, I contacted my bank. They reviewed my account for all of 2005 and discovered that AOL has all of a sudden STOPPED taking out $14.95 a month and began to charge me these outrageous fees. I have relayed this information to everyone I have spoken with at AOL repeatedly. No one seems to want to refund my $426.11.

AOL owes me $426.11. I have repeatedly asked for this money to be returned to my account, and I hope that this matter is resolved before further action is taken. Someone at AOL decided to change my price plan without my authorization, and someone at AOL obviously should be held accountable for doing so. It should not be a requirement of any AOL member to make so many phone calls, or to have to write a letter to get a refund that they are entitled to. AOL needs to believe its customers when they call to complain, and stop accusing them of overusing minutes when they have unlimited DSL and unlimited dial-up plans, which is what I signed up for OVER A YEAR AGO. The reluctance to return my money is unprofessional and unethical, and I want you folks to straighten this matter out immediately. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOR A MONTH TO HAVE MONEY RETURNED TO ME AND YOU SHOULD HONOR YOUR WORD.

I have been treated HORRIBLY by AOL, and now I understand why so many people have dropped your ISP services. You all either have some very good embezzlers working for you and/or you seriously need to reconsider outsourcing your customer services to people that simply do not give a DAMN about the customer. No customer should be lied to or treated with such disdain.

I look forward to the SPEEDY REFUND OF $426.11 to my account and NO BILLS until February 2006. I also look forward to being billed the correct monthly amount starting in February 2006 of $14.95 and to having you all accurately document the type of plan that I have which is unlimited DSL and unlimited dial-up internet provider services.

Thank you,

Gladys

Enclosures: Letter from Sandy Spring National Bank

Seven e-mails from AOL regarding my account and the numerous contacts I

Made to resolve the issue

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