Finding it impossible to cancel AOL broadband

[Brassed off]

So how are you getting on with BT then Fuzz?

I'm thinking of changing from my mates at AOHELL to BT, so I'm watching this thread with interest

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[fuzzybobble]

It's going well so far. Wireless router works perfectly and very easy to set up. Just a username and password and each device connects in seconds. Also got a fun little PDA for free too. Connnection speed is faster than AOL and doesn't drop out every hour or so like AOL did.

My only problem is AOL tried to take payment from my bank account 5 days after my cancellation date. Lukily I kept a copy of both email and written cancellation/proof of posting. So they don't have a leg to stand on.

[locutus]

OK, bit premature here but when you have 2 months left of the minimum contract period, call 0800 800 030 (customer options team) and ask for your MAC code... This will put them into "offer fuzzybobble all sorts of deals" mode. See what you can get out of them

[Kenobee]

Just don't bother with AOL. Our internet was shabby the minute we got connected (took them 5 weeks to get it up and running, they were quite happy to take the money at week 4), about 6 months in suddenly our internet goes down. Phone call after phone call to these people (in India) resulted in a heavy phone bill, alot of angry moments and 7 weeks of no internet. We concluded that we are just sent in circles, as they have little to no care about you as soon as you join their bandwagon.

They also tried to take a monthly payment after we cancelled (don't get me started on the issues we had doing that) but I think they got the message it wasn't theirs.

The only reason they had so many customers was the many coasters we recieved throughout the 90's and early 00's.

	Record your calls Follow this link to read the review of the Truecall telephone recorder and call manager. This is the Rolls Royce of call recorders. It's a bit pricey but if you buy it with our special offer you will get it at cost: about 20% discount. How much do we make on the deal? - Nothing at all. You can also buy cheaper devices from Maplins. Truecall is the best - but the important thing is to record your calls.

[funkyparott]

Why on earth would you take up a complaint with a watchdog/regulator?

Would you do the same over bank charges?

Why not hit them with legal action in the County Court?

FP

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[legalpickle]

Originally Posted by funkyparott

Why on earth would you take up a complaint with a watchdog/regulator?

Would you do the same over bank charges?

Why not hit them with legal action in the County Court?

FP

funkyparott: Some complaints about companies wouldn't succeed in County Court as there is no automatic compensation for aggravation in County Court. However with all Ombudsman schemes you can get compensation.

Also, if the claim is valued at more than £5k, then you save the risk of costs if you take a complaint to an Ombudsman.

I personally prefer court all the way, but do use the various Ombudsman schemes on occasions and consider it wrong to rule them out completely for every case.

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[funkyparott]

Valid points legal pickle.

If you wanted to leave AOL for breach of contact, surely the normal track could hear a case for breach of contract and make an order that the MAC code be provided.


FP

[legalpickle]

Originally Posted by funkyparott

Valid points legal pickle.

If you wanted to leave AOL for breach of contact, surely the normal track could hear a case for breach of contract and make an order that the MAC code be provided.


FP

If you are purely seeking an order, and not seeking any monies, then it is EITHER issuing a claim for something other than money [including possession claims] which will cost you £150 to issue and would then most likely go on to the fast-track where costs are awarded OR an N244 Application on Notice which costs £75 and where costs are awarded.

I don't know what you mean by the "normal" track. What is normal? The times I recommend people take on court cases are where they would be below £5k in value - hence most likely small claims track - or are virtually dead cert.

Issuing court proceedings seeking an order, unless it is seeking enforcement of an Ombudsman decision - in which case it is less, and is enforcement, rather than an order you would make - could be more costly for the consumer.

If however you are seeking an order as part of a court claim then you issue for the monetary value, and it proceeds on the relevant track dependent on the monetary value.

Bottom line: If a provider has refused to give you a MAC code because they disagree that the contract has been breached, either find something they have done wrong that reasonably has cost you money - and that they would be liable for - and seek an order for a MAC code and cancellation of the contract in the process or go through their complaints procedure and take it to the relevant ADR scheme.

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

[flyingdoc]

another problem you will have with AOL is getting rid of their software from your computer - its so invasive

[fuzzybobble]

Originally Posted by flyingdoc

another problem you will have with AOL is getting rid of their software from your computer - its so invasive

No probs getting rid of AOL's software. Popped a bigger hard disk in my laptop a few weeks ago and reinstalled windows and all the software I use. AOL is now officially dead and buried.

[flyingdoc]

lol thats what I call an uninstall