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Why People Hate America Online
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Published: October 6, 2006
The software discs arrive in your mailbox. They're in racks at the checkout counter or at the video store. They may even be available at the supermarket. The software discs are always free for the taking, as many as you want. However, many people don't want them. Or if they do want them, they use them as drink coasters, Frisbees, or tools to release their aggression.
What are they?
They're America Online trial membership CDs. They're available everywhere yet nobody wants them. Why? Why do people hate AOL? The facts are backed up by former user's personal experiences with using America Online, plus a report in a major publication about the AOL software itself.
Creators or the site Wambooli.com wrote a seven point indictment in their Wambooli Dispatch entitled "AOL: Just Say "NO!" In the report, Wambooli states the "very serious issues involving AOL, and very specific reasons why I dislike it."
First, AOL is an "on-line service." Users are truly on the Internet when they open a web window. AOL wants users to stay on their website to "play their own games and do their own things." Second, AOL filters the content of sites outside of their web pages and limits the ability of users to enter the actual World Wide Web. Third, AOL's email program is not compatible with other Internet provider's mail program. Chuck Taggart, writer of GumboPages agrees. Taggart reports that because AOL forces users to create email addresses with words and numbers instead of real names due to "privacy concerns,"
AOL is ignoring established email protocols. Wambooli also says that AOL's email program prevents users from receiving common or multiple email attachments. The attachments simply do not make it to their destination.
Fourth, AOL is more expensive than other Internet service providers (ISPs) and those other providers provide unlimited access to the Internet, an email box, capability to create your own web pages, and technical support numbers for less money than AOL. Lastly, lousy technical support, unnecessary and poor upgrade programs, and the fact that AOL charges additional fees for instant messaging and chat. Other ISPs often work better and faster than AOL.
Many people hate America Online because of billing problems and the inability to cancel their membership. Testimonial after testimonial on Heferito's "AO-Hell" page are available for visitors to read.
The first anonymous post reports the user was charged $45 for Internet access. After trying to cancel the membership, the billing department offers you free service for a few months instead. What AOL fails to tell members is after the free service is over, the user is billed for the most expensive membership plan without the member's knowledge.
Testimonial after testimonial states AOL will try anything to keep their customers rather than allowing the cancellation to go through. Users have to deal with being put on hold for extended periods of time, unexplained over billing, and lousy customer support.
Aside from testimonials from former America Online customers, a recent article in PC World magazine reported about hidden malware inside AOL's free Internet software. StopBadware, a malicious software group says that the AOL 9.0 software "interferes with computer use." It simply does not work well with Microsoft Internet Explorer or the Windows taskbar. Stopbadware also states that the AOL 9.0 software provides for "deceptive installation" because some of its programs did not uninstall when the uninstallation took place. The PC World article also reports that America OnLine has lost over 3 million subscribers in the past year. They currently have 17.7 million subscribers in the United States.
Because there are so many people who hate America Online, the popular media site Ebaumsworld posted a list of "Things to do with your AOL discs." Items include using them to fix wobbly table legs, drink coasters, ice scrapers, grill scrapers, stress relievers, firewood, Halloween treats, Christmas tree ornaments or stocking stuffers.
Wambooli also notes that it is impossible to use all of the hours available on a typical free trial CD. "If you take up AOL on their current '1000 free hours for 45 days,' realize that to take advantage of the full 1000 free hours you'll have to be online with AOL for 22 hours a day, every day for the full 45 days."
One poster on Heferito's website talked about a possible class action lawsuit against AOL and their former subscribers in the future. "If there's a class action suit to get money back from AOL for things like this, I'd be happy to hear about it." Whether there is a lawsuit against America Online in the future, or word of mouth spreads to the point that AOL goes out of business, nothing is for certain. The fact is millions of computer users hate America Online and refuse to use AOL as their Internet provider.
Wambooli. "AOL: Just Say 'No!' " Wambooli Dispatch. Copyright 2006. Quantum Particle Bottling Co. October 5, 2006. http://www.wambooli.com/help/internet/d_no_aol.sht ml
Taggart, Chuck. "Why America Online pisses me off." The Gumbo Pages. Copyright 2006. Chuck Taggart. October 5, 2006. http://www.gumbopages.com/scribhneoireacht/aol.htm l
Heferito. "AO-Hell: Real AOL Hell Testimonials." Heferito.com. October 5, 2006. http://www.heferito.com/aohell-testimonials.asp
McMillan, Robert. "AOL 9.0 Accused of Behaving Like Badware." IDG News Service. August 28, 2006. PC World Magazine. October 5, 2006. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126928-c,aol/art icle.html
EBaum. "Things to do with your AOL disks." EBaumsworld.com. Copyright 2006. eBaums World Inc. October 5, 2006. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/aoldisks.shtml
What are they?
They're America Online trial membership CDs. They're available everywhere yet nobody wants them. Why? Why do people hate AOL? The facts are backed up by former user's personal experiences with using America Online, plus a report in a major publication about the AOL software itself.
Creators or the site Wambooli.com wrote a seven point indictment in their Wambooli Dispatch entitled "AOL: Just Say "NO!" In the report, Wambooli states the "very serious issues involving AOL, and very specific reasons why I dislike it."
First, AOL is an "on-line service." Users are truly on the Internet when they open a web window. AOL wants users to stay on their website to "play their own games and do their own things." Second, AOL filters the content of sites outside of their web pages and limits the ability of users to enter the actual World Wide Web. Third, AOL's email program is not compatible with other Internet provider's mail program. Chuck Taggart, writer of GumboPages agrees. Taggart reports that because AOL forces users to create email addresses with words and numbers instead of real names due to "privacy concerns,"
AOL is ignoring established email protocols. Wambooli also says that AOL's email program prevents users from receiving common or multiple email attachments. The attachments simply do not make it to their destination.
Fourth, AOL is more expensive than other Internet service providers (ISPs) and those other providers provide unlimited access to the Internet, an email box, capability to create your own web pages, and technical support numbers for less money than AOL. Lastly, lousy technical support, unnecessary and poor upgrade programs, and the fact that AOL charges additional fees for instant messaging and chat. Other ISPs often work better and faster than AOL.
Many people hate America Online because of billing problems and the inability to cancel their membership. Testimonial after testimonial on Heferito's "AO-Hell" page are available for visitors to read.
The first anonymous post reports the user was charged $45 for Internet access. After trying to cancel the membership, the billing department offers you free service for a few months instead. What AOL fails to tell members is after the free service is over, the user is billed for the most expensive membership plan without the member's knowledge.
Testimonial after testimonial states AOL will try anything to keep their customers rather than allowing the cancellation to go through. Users have to deal with being put on hold for extended periods of time, unexplained over billing, and lousy customer support.
Aside from testimonials from former America Online customers, a recent article in PC World magazine reported about hidden malware inside AOL's free Internet software. StopBadware, a malicious software group says that the AOL 9.0 software "interferes with computer use." It simply does not work well with Microsoft Internet Explorer or the Windows taskbar. Stopbadware also states that the AOL 9.0 software provides for "deceptive installation" because some of its programs did not uninstall when the uninstallation took place. The PC World article also reports that America OnLine has lost over 3 million subscribers in the past year. They currently have 17.7 million subscribers in the United States.
Because there are so many people who hate America Online, the popular media site Ebaumsworld posted a list of "Things to do with your AOL discs." Items include using them to fix wobbly table legs, drink coasters, ice scrapers, grill scrapers, stress relievers, firewood, Halloween treats, Christmas tree ornaments or stocking stuffers.
Wambooli also notes that it is impossible to use all of the hours available on a typical free trial CD. "If you take up AOL on their current '1000 free hours for 45 days,' realize that to take advantage of the full 1000 free hours you'll have to be online with AOL for 22 hours a day, every day for the full 45 days."
One poster on Heferito's website talked about a possible class action lawsuit against AOL and their former subscribers in the future. "If there's a class action suit to get money back from AOL for things like this, I'd be happy to hear about it." Whether there is a lawsuit against America Online in the future, or word of mouth spreads to the point that AOL goes out of business, nothing is for certain. The fact is millions of computer users hate America Online and refuse to use AOL as their Internet provider.
Wambooli. "AOL: Just Say 'No!' " Wambooli Dispatch. Copyright 2006. Quantum Particle Bottling Co. October 5, 2006. http://www.wambooli.com/help/internet/d_no_aol.sht ml
Taggart, Chuck. "Why America Online pisses me off." The Gumbo Pages. Copyright 2006. Chuck Taggart. October 5, 2006. http://www.gumbopages.com/scribhneoireacht/aol.htm l
Heferito. "AO-Hell: Real AOL Hell Testimonials." Heferito.com. October 5, 2006. http://www.heferito.com/aohell-testimonials.asp
McMillan, Robert. "AOL 9.0 Accused of Behaving Like Badware." IDG News Service. August 28, 2006. PC World Magazine. October 5, 2006. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126928-c,aol/art icle.html
EBaum. "Things to do with your AOL disks." EBaumsworld.com. Copyright 2006. eBaums World Inc. October 5, 2006. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/aoldisks.shtml
