Complaint Review: America Online - Nationwide

My mother subscribed to AOL back in 2001, to provide internet for me when I was in high school. She paid for AOL until 2006, when the internet service for them became free and people would rarely use dial-up internet anymore. I changed the free account over to my name and kept all the email addresses we had. Well yesterday, when I tried to login to one of the old email addresses, I could not login with the browser. I never had problems in the past when I logged in from the AOL.com site. I managed to log in through the guest account and began to delete all the junk mail that had accumulated over the years. I noticed one certified email from AOL dating back from 2011 saying that the internet service fee would increase by $7 if the payment method wasn't changed to a debit card. "Hmmm, this is odd," I told myself. So I went to AOL and tried to log into the account and it told me I needed to set up a security question. I set one up and proceeded to the account settings, where I saw charges to my mother's bank account for the past months. I also saw the address was listed as our old address and phone number. The house was destroyed in 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, and that phone number had long been disconnected. I immediately hit cancel.

I drove to my mom's house and asked her to show me some of her bank statements. Lo and behold, every month there was a charge from AOL. All the charge said was AOL, so it was pretty easy to miss. I called AOL to ask them how she was still being charged for that account when it was switched over to free in 2006. She said that account was never cancelled, nor does it show that I canceled the service online that morning. I was furious! She then proceeded to offer me two free months of service. I told her NO, this account was supposed to have been canceled long ago. She told me the account was opened in 2002 and it was never canceled. That's when it got weird. I said no, the account was opened in 2001, and the email address we were talking about was not the primary email. She said that was the only email address on the account. I tried telling her that was an add on. I told her the primary email, and she said that was for an entirely different account...the account that I turned into the free account back in 2006. Turns out, instead of an email being added as one of the extra free email addresses, AOL turned that email address into an entirety different account.

So they charged for two accounts, for the same internet dial-up service, at one address, beginning in 2002. This was an account no one knew about! I tried calling the AOL fraud department and they were horrible! The rep I spoke with refused to talk about the fact that the other email was added, without anyone's knowledge, as another account. She kept repeating to me that because we were aware of the email address, then they could still charge us. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and the rep told me there were no supervisors available. I straight up called her a liar and said there's always a supervisor available. She paused, and then said that the supervisor won't tell me anything different. She transferred me to the supervisor and she said that AOL will not refund anything to my mother because she knew about the email address and they had every right to charge. I told her that the email address was only supposed to be an add on, not an added account. She said that people get two of the same services at their one address all the time. I said that people can only use one utility at once. It's like having two electricity bills at one house. She kept trying to get me off the phone by saying, "Is there anything else?" I told her that I will have my mother sue the company for the almost $6,000 they stole from her for over a decade. 

My father even attempted to talk to them and the fraud department offered a refund for three months worth of service. So, you'll offer a refund, but for only three months? That's comical! We've already talked to our attorney and we are planning a lawsuit; the same attorney that headed a giant class action suit down here in Louisiana. I'm sure AOL encounters many people who threaten to sue. Well they actually encountered people who will actually follow through with it! It's not like it's $300 we're talking about, this is in the thousands. This company sneakily added another chargeable account to an email address that was supposed to be a free add on. Not only that, but the AOL terms says, in bold letters:

IMPORTANT: You will need to remember the answer to the Account Security Question (ASQ) of your primary master Username to perform the steps below. You can change your ASQ if you don't remember the answer to it. For instructions on how to change your ASQ, refer to the help article I forgot the answer to my Account Security Question."

I just set up a security question on yesterday, so no one was able to have gained access to the account settings without a security code, which was never activated, meaning we couldn't really do much with the account.

This was an account no one added, or knew ever existed. I read other reports of people having additional accounts created when all they wanted to do was add an email address. AOL, you messed with the wrong people, because we are going to sue you...that's not a threat, but a promise!