aol broadband www.aol.com review

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Average Ratings

Content	4.7/10
Reliability	2.6/10
Customer Service	1.6/10
Speed Consistency	2.6/10
Value for Money	3/10
Reviewer Rating	2.8/10
Overall Rating	2.9/10

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23% Recommended39 out of 173 Reviews

11% Recommended8 out of 70 Reviews

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Review of AOL Broadband www.aol.com

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By GrumpyEsq on 30th Mar 2008

GrumpyEsq's Ratings

Reliability	1/10
Customer Service	1/10
Speed Consistency	1/10
Value for money	1/10
Overall value	1/10
GrumpyEsq's recommendation

Good Points

I've been with AOL since 1996, and enjoyed almost eleven years of superb service.
During that time I have had a 100% reliable connection, and the only problem I ever had was when I set up a home wireless network. I didn't buy it from AOL, but they still spent an hour on the phone helping me to set it up. Superb.

Bad Points

In February 2008, I upgraded to 8Meg broadband. Since then I have lost connection after no more than 45 minutes every time I go online. The fastest connection I have ever had (according to speedtest.net) has been 2.2M, the slowest 0.5M. Everything is unreliable in my experience and opinion.

General Comments

I am now locked into an 18 month contract - and bitterly regret it. My wife and I run a charity online and 50% of the time are forced to use mobile broadband dongles from Vodaphone and 3 Mobile when using the internet in our own home.

AOL internet used to be the most reliable thing I bought; overnight it has become the most unreliable in my opinion. And their helpdesk is unhelpful as far as I am concerned. I feel I have not received enough information about what the problem is or when it will be fixed.

And don't believe the "Service status" indicator on the AOL homepage. It always says "No problems."

2 Comments on Review by GrumpyEsq for AOL Broadband www.aol.com

1. hilaryhilary on 1st Apr 2008

   This "contract" thing.
   
   A contract is by definition, something undertaken by two or more parties.
   
   If either party fail to perform, there are consequences.
   
   On the customers part, they agree to cough up their hard earned cash for a period of time for the benefit of using AOL's services. Should you fail to perform your part whilst you receive the benefit of the service promised contractually to you by AOL you would be asked for those monies.
   
   However.
   
   If you have not received a service which you were led to believe to be provided by AOL, either by advertising or implied you have recourse to not only cancel this contract without penalty to you, but also to recover a reasonable amount of costs which you may have incurred in the pursuit of gaining those services (time spent on calls to support, etc etc)
   
   You will have to give up anything you have given as an "enticement" of course. That may include laptops and routers etc etc. Just send them back - kiss all the problems you are encountering goodbye and breathe easy again.
   
   You will need to make logs of your encountered problems for a reasonable period. A reasonable period to solve ISP performance problems need not extend to more than a week in fact! But best to keep them for up to a month. This can only be the case if your line (as supplied by BT) is checking out as faultless.
   
   If there is a fault on the line then you must demand that AOL have the fault rectified immediately.
   
   Do NOT get into the BT side however tempting. Your contract is between AOL and you and you must ignore any 3rd party involvement (hard to do - but stay detached. AOL buy broadband bandwidth from BT Wholesale in the same way as other ISP's do - and it is for profit. Not for the good of their health ok)
   
   For areas to do with line faults, you must allow access to your lines and sockets by BT. The BT engineers are pretty nice people so let them do their work and make them a quick cup of tea. You may be able to glean a lot of information from the engineers which can help you.
   
   In your case grumpy - if you have had to incur substantial additional costs which have arisen from phone calls etc etc and use of mobiles. It might be worth popping into your Citizens Advice Bureau and asking if you have any recourse. I would love to know what happens please.
   
   In all cases, do NOT be worried about this "contract" thing and do not be intimidated by bullying billing departments.
   
   Action Plan
   
   1) Make logs of all faults, take screen shots (use the print screen button and then paste the result into PAINT) Do this for every single solitary session you start for AOL broadband.
   
   2) If you have used LIVE HELP - make a copy of the conversation as you go along and paste this into NOTEPAD. At the bottom right of the screen you will see a session ID number. Type that into the document and save the document with a date on it.
   
   3) If you have the inclusive call package, remember that 0844 numbers are not included in the free calls. However, you can still contact AOL on 0117 919 1100 where you will not incur an 0844 charge.
   
   4) Call AOL on that number every day until they resolve your problems completely. Make a nuisance of yourself - you are the customer paying your hard earned cash.
   
   5) Get names of the people you speak to and write them down along with their comments.
   
   6) Do all these things for a month then get onto AOL and ask them why they have not resolved your problems with their service which you have reasonably expected them to provide for the money you have paid. Demand your money back!
   
   7) Properly write to AOL to cancel your contract due to AOL's failure to perform.

2. DDD3 on 4th Apr 2008

   I found this review helpful because... I'm thinking of switching my ADSL line to a company that doesn't track my surfing and sell the results, but I'd still like the same standard of service that I'm currently getting. Apparently AOL isn't in the running...

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