After much calling of tech support in aol for an issue that's been going on for 6 months, I had enough and told them I don't want to use them any more. that was three weeks ago. I'm so upset with them that I thought I'd give an account of what should have been one simple phonecall this afternoon. It seems to be a pretty standard account of aol customer dis-service every time I call them, and so stands as fairly normal.
All I want to do, is to get them to take their adsl flags off my line for me to sign up with another provider. Unfortunately, each of the three times the've done so, they've put it back on without my permission for some reason.
The following is an account of this evenings attempts to get something done. It's worth noting that the fact that it ended on a promising note tonight is pretty darned unusual. I've been at this issue along with my housemate for three weeks now....
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AOL Support Calls Record – Cancelling Broadband…
1) 01/06/2005 15:57-
Called AOL broadband tech support on 0800 376 4406 – Call answered at 15:57.
Speaking to Level 1 technician named Brian Armstrong. We were told that a new note had been placed by himself on he account containing some manner of cancellation code, and that the problem is that the account is not completely cancelled, contrary to what we have been told previously. However, apparently the account can now be cancelled completely with the use of this code if we call the AOL cancellations department. Unfortunately, this would not resolve the issue we had called about on its own, as we have been told by BT retail that BT wholesale had received both a Cease and a Provide order on the AOL line the previous evening. Requested to speak to a level 2 technician to investigate this and hopefully resolve the issue so as not to result in AOL getting the line re-ordered against our express wishes and consent.
We were advised of a 13 minute delay to speak to a level 2 technician, and that there were already 10 calls in the queue, and we requested to be placed in the queue in light of this. The call was answered at 16:55, after we had spent a full 36 minutes holding in the queue.
We were then passed through to the level 2 technician by the name of Jason. At 17:09 we were still arguing with him as to whether or not a problem even existed. He said that the system was showing no orders on the line at all and that the current line is active, insisting that there is nothing wrong in spite of the evidence of notes on their system and of the time it’s taken for us to get this far, and still we’re calling to try to get something done (3 weeks!). Also, he denied that it was possible that British Telecom could have told us earlier in the day (which they did) that there was both a CEASE and a PROVIDE instruction on our phone line for the ADSL service. BT’s advice also ties up with a phone call to an AOL supervisor made on the previous day and the promised action of phoning BT Wholesale and requesting a CEASE order. (The PROVIDE order should never have been given to BT Wholesale by AOL, but if AOL denies its existence, it’s hard to get them to cancel it!)
The level 2 technician (Jason) put us on hold for no stated reason at 17:19. We were on hold for 10 minutes.
At 17:29 the level 2 technician finally accepts and understands that there is in fact a problem, but he doesn’t know what it is. He recommends writing to the complaints department, claiming that only they would have the technical ability to investigate the issue. He suddenly became a lot friendlier in tone, and went looking for a manager to transfer us to, and seemingly became far more helpful than he had previously been, before putting us on hold for a further 9 mins.
On his return, he told us that a manager would call us back within 1 hour. He was then asked to ensure that the manager was aware that the issue was of a high level of importance, and that any time waiting for the call is incredibly valuable to us, to which the technician agreed.
Call ends 17:39
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No call received at 18:39, so a new call made to the previous number at 18:39, answered by a Lvl 1 advisor at 18:46. We demanded transfer to a manager, complaining that the promised phone call FROM a manager was not made. Placed on hold at 18:47 to await transfer and held for 5 mins until 18:51. The advisor then returned and tells us that we will be transferred to a supervisor. We advise that this is not sufficient and that we need to speak to an actual manager, not a supervisor. We are then cut off completely at 18:52.
_______________________________________________________________________
New call made to same number at 18:53, and answered by a lvl1 advisor at 18:57. An immediate transfer to a manager was strongly requested. The advisor told us to hold the line at 18:58 (by which time things were getting really upsetting and frustrating, and the holding music wasn’t helping the situation much). The advisor returned 4 minutes later at 19:02 and refused to transfer us to a manager, even after explanation of the situation, as managers apparently only work until 19:00, and it was now 5 minutes past that time. We demanded a supervisor instead, seeing that a supervisor would appear to be the best we could’ve possibly expected (even though we had been promised a manager would call us). The supervisor took the call at 19:07, and his name was Justin. We find that Justin is a supervisor we have previously spoken to and recalled that he has been proficient at resolving a complicated issue for us in the past. None the less, we have to explain the whole situation (again!). We then explained how badly we have been treated in terms of not only customer service, but also in terms of basic individual respect, and proceeded to explain the current situation with the Cease and Provide orders on out ADSL line.
Justin was incredibly helpful, and agreed that he would go down to the technical office immediately, with a colleague, and investigate the systems, do his utmost to get ALL the relevant/required information from BT by whatever means possible, and take off the Provide order from our line. He said that after doing so, he would call us back to update us on the situation and leave a message on our BT answering service (1571) so that we could continue to use the dial-up internet in the meantime.
Call ended 19:16.
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So, as you see, the situation is still unresolved. If you were thinking about using AOL despite the fact that we all know how bad they can be, then consider these phonecalls and think again. It seems that treatment like this is the norm!
Edit: Finally, it seems, the problem has been resolved. (yes, we recieved a phonecall from Justin the supervisor!). Apparently everything is now in order, and the AOL codes will be finally off the line on the 8th of June, never to be put on again. This does remain to be seen, but there's hope! Thanks Justin!
All I want to do, is to get them to take their adsl flags off my line for me to sign up with another provider. Unfortunately, each of the three times the've done so, they've put it back on without my permission for some reason.
The following is an account of this evenings attempts to get something done. It's worth noting that the fact that it ended on a promising note tonight is pretty darned unusual. I've been at this issue along with my housemate for three weeks now....
*************************************************************
AOL Support Calls Record – Cancelling Broadband…
1) 01/06/2005 15:57-
Called AOL broadband tech support on 0800 376 4406 – Call answered at 15:57.
Speaking to Level 1 technician named Brian Armstrong. We were told that a new note had been placed by himself on he account containing some manner of cancellation code, and that the problem is that the account is not completely cancelled, contrary to what we have been told previously. However, apparently the account can now be cancelled completely with the use of this code if we call the AOL cancellations department. Unfortunately, this would not resolve the issue we had called about on its own, as we have been told by BT retail that BT wholesale had received both a Cease and a Provide order on the AOL line the previous evening. Requested to speak to a level 2 technician to investigate this and hopefully resolve the issue so as not to result in AOL getting the line re-ordered against our express wishes and consent.
We were advised of a 13 minute delay to speak to a level 2 technician, and that there were already 10 calls in the queue, and we requested to be placed in the queue in light of this. The call was answered at 16:55, after we had spent a full 36 minutes holding in the queue.
We were then passed through to the level 2 technician by the name of Jason. At 17:09 we were still arguing with him as to whether or not a problem even existed. He said that the system was showing no orders on the line at all and that the current line is active, insisting that there is nothing wrong in spite of the evidence of notes on their system and of the time it’s taken for us to get this far, and still we’re calling to try to get something done (3 weeks!). Also, he denied that it was possible that British Telecom could have told us earlier in the day (which they did) that there was both a CEASE and a PROVIDE instruction on our phone line for the ADSL service. BT’s advice also ties up with a phone call to an AOL supervisor made on the previous day and the promised action of phoning BT Wholesale and requesting a CEASE order. (The PROVIDE order should never have been given to BT Wholesale by AOL, but if AOL denies its existence, it’s hard to get them to cancel it!)
The level 2 technician (Jason) put us on hold for no stated reason at 17:19. We were on hold for 10 minutes.
At 17:29 the level 2 technician finally accepts and understands that there is in fact a problem, but he doesn’t know what it is. He recommends writing to the complaints department, claiming that only they would have the technical ability to investigate the issue. He suddenly became a lot friendlier in tone, and went looking for a manager to transfer us to, and seemingly became far more helpful than he had previously been, before putting us on hold for a further 9 mins.
On his return, he told us that a manager would call us back within 1 hour. He was then asked to ensure that the manager was aware that the issue was of a high level of importance, and that any time waiting for the call is incredibly valuable to us, to which the technician agreed.
Call ends 17:39
_______________________________________________________________________
No call received at 18:39, so a new call made to the previous number at 18:39, answered by a Lvl 1 advisor at 18:46. We demanded transfer to a manager, complaining that the promised phone call FROM a manager was not made. Placed on hold at 18:47 to await transfer and held for 5 mins until 18:51. The advisor then returned and tells us that we will be transferred to a supervisor. We advise that this is not sufficient and that we need to speak to an actual manager, not a supervisor. We are then cut off completely at 18:52.
_______________________________________________________________________
New call made to same number at 18:53, and answered by a lvl1 advisor at 18:57. An immediate transfer to a manager was strongly requested. The advisor told us to hold the line at 18:58 (by which time things were getting really upsetting and frustrating, and the holding music wasn’t helping the situation much). The advisor returned 4 minutes later at 19:02 and refused to transfer us to a manager, even after explanation of the situation, as managers apparently only work until 19:00, and it was now 5 minutes past that time. We demanded a supervisor instead, seeing that a supervisor would appear to be the best we could’ve possibly expected (even though we had been promised a manager would call us). The supervisor took the call at 19:07, and his name was Justin. We find that Justin is a supervisor we have previously spoken to and recalled that he has been proficient at resolving a complicated issue for us in the past. None the less, we have to explain the whole situation (again!). We then explained how badly we have been treated in terms of not only customer service, but also in terms of basic individual respect, and proceeded to explain the current situation with the Cease and Provide orders on out ADSL line.
Justin was incredibly helpful, and agreed that he would go down to the technical office immediately, with a colleague, and investigate the systems, do his utmost to get ALL the relevant/required information from BT by whatever means possible, and take off the Provide order from our line. He said that after doing so, he would call us back to update us on the situation and leave a message on our BT answering service (1571) so that we could continue to use the dial-up internet in the meantime.
Call ended 19:16.
*************************************************************
So, as you see, the situation is still unresolved. If you were thinking about using AOL despite the fact that we all know how bad they can be, then consider these phonecalls and think again. It seems that treatment like this is the norm!
Edit: Finally, it seems, the problem has been resolved. (yes, we recieved a phonecall from Justin the supervisor!). Apparently everything is now in order, and the AOL codes will be finally off the line on the 8th of June, never to be put on again. This does remain to be seen, but there's hope! Thanks Justin!
