New AOL offer not as sweet as it seems

[Gary29]

From Sept 5th AOL is going to jump on the bandwagon and offer a free laptop when you sign up for a 24 month wireless broadband contract:



The advert also says that they'll check you out with a credit referencing agency. Seems a liitle odd for a Broadband contract, after-all if you don't pay they stop the service and take back the laptop. What isn't explained in the advert is that this offer only applies if you take out the AOL talk package as well, at a monthly cost of £5 (not including call charges), if you don't want there phone package they'll charge you £39.99 per month. That's £25 a month on top of the normal AOL wireless package or £600 over the 2yr contract, now considering the "free" laptop is only worth £400, this wonderfull deal actually may end up costing you 50% over the odds.

[Conniff]

This really is taking the biscuit. Even if you had not noticed the added extras and taken up the contract, they do NOT promise you a laptop, it is on 'first come first served'.
This can mean that they need only have one laptop to give away and the first to sign up would get it and no-one else. This is clever advertising at it's shoddy worse.

[redshoes65]

aol is c**p

[MARTIN3030]

Have removed the commercial link.
Use your own judgements to decide as to whrther the deal is a good one or not.

[laddie007]

i sacked aol of there speeds are capped at peak times and gone with talk talk its the best i s p ive had and its free

[Gary29]

Originally Posted by laddie007

i sacked aol of there speeds are capped at peak times and gone with talk talk its the best i s p ive had and its free

They're the same company. Both owned by Carphone Warehouse.

[guttedconsumer]

I saw this late. I am currently writing to them to get this sorted out ASAP as it clearly represent miselling.

[bluelouboyle]

Are you guys sure there is an extra charge ? Maybe I'm being naive, but as far as i can tell the only cost is £19.99 pcm. (Plus any call charges through AOL pay as you go deal - 6p connection, 4.25p first hour, 1p afterwards. ) When you are about to sign up, it clearly states these are the only costs - plus £14.99 delivery charge.

Here are the details:
A few words on your AOL Talk package.

AOL Broadband Wireless Plus includes AOL Talk Pay As You Go as standard – with all its benefits. (BT line required).

AOL Talk

• FREE technical support calls to Member Services for all your Internet and Talk queries*.
• Competitive international and mobile rates.
• Continue using your phone as normal and paying BT for your line rental – and keep your existing phone number.
• Keep track of your call charges with itemised billing online.

Pay As You Go (inclusive with Wireless Plus unless you upgrade or opt out).

Prefer to hang up rather than hang on? Pay As You Go means you only pay for the calls you make. In the evening and at the weekends the rate is just 4.25p for the first hour and 1p per minute after that.

A connection fee of 6p applies to all chargeable calls for AOL Talk.
* All calls to AOL Member Services are free when made from the phone line on which AOL Talk has been activated. AOL Talk is not compatible with BT light user scheme, BT Featureline, ISDN or Home Highway or if your line is set up for incoming calls only (Incontact Plus).

[Gary29]

If you are not in a "Bundled are", they charge you an EXTRA £10, on top of what you are paying. And we have this in writting as us and my mother wrote a letter of complaint to them. And they have stated it in this letter, that if you are not on an exchange that is bundled by them they charge you extra.

[Conniff]

Originally Posted by Gary29

If you are not in a "Bundled are", they charge you an EXTRA £10, on top of what you are paying. And we have this in writting as us and my mother wrote a letter of complaint to them. And they have stated it in this letter, that if you are not on an exchange that is bundled by them they charge you extra.

Not unless that was in the contract you signed. Have another read and if there is no mention then report them then demand the money back or quit and report them.

[standingupformyself]

I am with AOL and have been for a few years now.... I pay £21.99 per month and am out of contract. I never have any problems with them, am not subject to a fair usage policy, however I am sure that I am not getting this best deal of all the internet providers. I am not in a cabled area, any suggestions of who to use? We can have up to three computers on the go, my son who plays W.O.W. a lot in the evenings, which I dont think downloads anything, but relies on a good speed.

[k65]

i currently have aol through the old ntl cable and have done for years,
i pay 14.99 per month i recieve unrestricted downloads free customer support and all the other stuff aol gives its customers, i recently wanted to take them up on the ;laptop offer as this was through a telephone cable and was told it was a 24 month contract and 39.99 per month and a 5 gig download limit i politely told them no i will stick with what i have already.

[Gary29]

Aol will never write to you and tell you your price plan, they won't even put it in an email,they will tell you over the phone,if your lucky.

Up untill my wife called for her mother(she was still paying £17.99, for the same broadband wireless package that we are paying £14.99 for). Not only that but we were charged £16 odd, for something that should have cost us £9.99, so Julie rung them while being on online billing asked the agent why we had been charged this amount and she tried to tell us, it was due to set up, so Julie said but our first month was free, so you had already set us up, why charge us now, when you had already set us up. And told the agent that we should have a credit and only be charged £9.99, which agent agreed with and gave us a credit back.

They will never be straight with you and it's very rare that you get someone that knows what to do, if it deveates from the script.

Julie bought new laptop(yesterday)tried to set up last night needed password(couldn't remember it)called tech supp, system down, called today(but laptop batt went,said they would call back)at 6.30 called them system still down. Called them after the Rugby first guy told us router was not compatable, so dissconnected desktop, reconnected Julie asked if he could tell her why router not compatable even though we had connected yet again and phone to speaker(to show we had connected) and to stop reading from a script(he hung up). I called and got laptop set up like last time, that took us 3 months to get wireless, untill we got someone that knows what they are doing.

So wife now happy, but aol support still crap and how do you get someone to talk to that you can understand????

EVERYBODY IN AN UNBUNDLED AOL EXCHANGE CARGED £10 on TOP OF THEIR BILL. So what costs someone in an AOL EXCANGE £29.99, will cost £39.99 in unbundled, asked how come changed rules as my mother in law been with them for 3years broadband now being provided at £14.99, but wanted to charge us an extra £10, even though same exchange.

STANDING, try TISCALI if you can get it, £7 odd for six months or maybe BT, they are both doing deals at the moment.

[escafeld]

Originally Posted by standingupformyself

I am with AOL and have been for a few years now.... I pay £21.99 per month and am out of contract. I never have any problems with them, am not subject to a fair usage policy, however I am sure that I am not getting this best deal of all the internet providers. I am not in a cabled area, any suggestions of who to use? We can have up to three computers on the go, my son who plays W.O.W. a lot in the evenings, which I dont think downloads anything, but relies on a good speed.

I have recently got rid of AOL as my ISP & after shopping around & reading lots & lots of testimonials decided on a company called Nildram.

Nildram UK - Internet service provider offering upto 8Mb Broadband ADSL

fast, reliable, great tech support, all of it UK based.

[Gary29]

Thats one of the problems really bugging us, it is at most times really hard to understand what they are saying.

[Duffman1445]

have any of you taken up the talk offer aol are in s**t street with ofcom over a call center in the czech was slamming customers so if you recently orderd talk then dont expect to get it.