| by cmcclintack, 30 March 2008 |
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was with aol for years they changed to carphone warehouse said bt could only give me half meg download changed to o2 with my mobile pay 7.50 and only have to top up 10 every 3 months gettin speeds of 8meg constant bye aol
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| by curly, 22 March 2008 |
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The only problems i have had with AOL is using the AOL software to browse the internet. It is slow and unreliable and constantly jams up.
I would recommend AOL broadband but do not install the AOL 9 software. The AOL software is like a virus, it gets all over your computer and is hard to remove.
Stick to using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox as your web browser.
Download speeds are fine and i have never had a lost connection in over a year.
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| by faz, 05 March 2008 |
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I have AOL silver (£17.99) and have just been on to them to ask for my migration code, when asked why I wanted to change to another ISP I explained that I was not happy with a maximum download speed of 59KB/sec and was told that no other ISP could improve on this download speed, even when I told her that my neighbour has a download speed of just under 2 meg with a different ISP she still insisted that I could not get a faster connection. Then offered to cut my payment to £9.99. Bye bye AOL.
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| by Raz, 25 February 2008 |
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We've been with AOL BB for about 3 years and until recently would have recommended it wholeheartedly despite costing £17.99 p/mth (unlimited download). The last two or three months, however, are a different story altogether. The speed seems to be slower, disconnects from time to time, and it's often impossible to log in for hours on end. Friends who use AOL and AOL's own technical boards tell the same story. Problems began when AOL sent customers an essential, (i.e. not optional), update which I think might have moved us to a Carphone Warehouse server. My Mother in law is with TalkTalk BB, (also Carphone Warehouse), and told me yesterday that she'd been offline for a week as her connection had disappeared, (not her fault).
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| by hello, 22 February 2008 |
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This is the crappest company ever there call centres are in India and you cant here them. And i have got really bad speed for the last month or so
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| by Cleo, 06 February 2008 |
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Have been with aol for 5 years and recently entered a new contract of 2Mb download speed, unlimited downloads @ £9.99 - had been paying £19.99 before on the now non-existent Gold package. I was told that I had 7 working days cooling off period that didn't include weekends or UK public holidays. When I tried to cancel within the 7 working days they said the cooling off period had expired and didn't include weekends. Their web site and all the correspondence I have from them says that it does. Am now having to wait 3 months before I can go to CISAS. Their customer service is diabolical - the only people you ever get to communicate with are in India and when you try and email or complaint via the proper channels you just get a bulk standard reply. They don't deserve the loyal customers who have stuck with them through the dreadful drops in speed and constant disconnections.
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| by K-Lee, 01 February 2008 |
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I've got AOL Silver @£14.99
The service should be UP TO 2mbps.
My line holds 3mbps.
All through the day peak-time or not I'm never above 400kbps.
That's not even a half a MB.
I do actually believe they are slowing down speeds on purpose.
Youtube doesn't play fluently.
The AOL interface is awful I never use it.
Thank God I am out of contract. AS I plan to move and cancel AOL ASAP...and find someone who doesnt minimize speeds.
And that can give me a bigger chunk if the 3mbps my line should get. Although that 3mbps increases all the time.
And supposedly I should be able to recieve 6.3mbps on a ASDL MAX service that is what I will go for.
Keeping in mind peak times and the slowing down of the NET naturally.
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| by gary, 21 January 2008 |
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ive been with aol for over 2 yrs now..when i joined they stated clearly they were totally unlimited and to use it as i wish feel free.they stated they pride themself cos they dont cap..they lie....since then they now brought in to effect 40 gb allowance yet failed to notify members of this..once u hit that limit my speed drops from 476 kbs to 45-46 kbs between peak times of 6 pm-11 pm uk times...which is like working with dail up again when it comes to surfing..so aol read what your members state and remember this..without members there be no aol..try looking after those that pay ur wages simple..
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| by gerrytunman, 30 November 2007 |
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I have been with AOL for many years and upgraded to Broadband about 2 years ago. At first everything was fine. For the past 12 months I keep losing connection and also Im not getting all my e mails delivered. Or if they do arrive it can take 48hours for them to arrive. Have contacted customer services many times but it still happens. So not impressed with AOL at all. Has anybody else had this problem with e mail?
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| by james, 02 October 2007 |
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Hi there
I have just opened a new account with AOL BROADBAND and have to say it was fantastic
9.99 for the first 6 months
then 14.99 for 12 months
got a free wireless system and its great nice and neat the customer service was great and FREE !!!! yeah at last a company that does not hide anything from you.
plus i got evening a weekend calls for uk landlines thrown in
you should get it 8meg speed and fast upload
i am very happy with it
and the sales agent who sold it to me was very informative so if anyone from ICON COMMUNICATIONS calls you snap it up
thanks James
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| by Trev, 02 October 2007 |
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I have been with AOL for eight years in the beginning they were the best I have tried many others on family lines, they are now so bad, you are lucky if you get 10 percent of paid for speed their software is buggy and blocks outgoing email direct to non AOL sites allows emails to be delivered that is not addressed to me, The service centre since moving from Ireland is worst than useless, they lie about their service and do not follow up on promises.
Since Car Phone Warehouse took over they have become the Worst ISP out.
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| by Chris Mace, 23 September 2007 |
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Leaving AOL after minimum contract expired. Reasons:
1. Awful connection speeds (up to 8mb - was getting 0.9mb - line can support 4 - 5mb)
2. Unreliable connection (eg. YouTube never works! and online gaming is impossible)
3. Deceitful technical support - told me THREE times that my speed would be fixed in 10-14 days
4. Disgraceful customer complaints service - did not reply to a my letter or multiple emails
5. Lied to over price. Offered me evening and weekend calls free for 12 months - then started charging me £4 a month for the service.
Avoid AOL at all costs
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| by aoluser, 16 September 2007 |
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I've had AOL for the past 8years, and I live outside their lower tariff areas, so was paying £19.99 for unlimited 2mb Broadband.
I've been using a Belkin router on their Silver plan, sharing with a pc downstairs and wirelessly to the upstairs pc with no problems or connection drops.
In fact, my connection hasn't dropped once in over 2years. Not one single problem. I've never installed the AOL program and always used Gmail. I pay for 2mb and receive 1.8mb download and 0.2mb upload and libe 1,400metres from my exchange.
AOL itself is amazing. Best ISP i've had. For everyone else its more a problem of setting up your pc correctly and following the small bits of advice of their site or on forums. AOL IS AMAZING.
Recently they Upgraded me to 8mb and £14.99 for being being a member so long. Cheers :)
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| by Rich, 01 September 2007 |
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Very poor support, low speeds at peak times effecting me and all my friends even tho most of us only download very small amounts each month (>10gb). Aol vr is worthless and reduces speeds even more with its poor reliablity although you dont have to use the aol software thank god. using internet explorer i get speeds of around 7mb (at off peak times 0.5mb at peak times) and using aol software the fastest speeds i reach are 4.5 mb off peak.
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| by Hywel, 12 July 2007 |
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Just rang AOL to request a MAC code. Been with them a long time but slow clunky speeds and an interface that does my head in finally persuaded me to change. Lo and behold after a few minutes on the phone going through the usual please don't leave.... your such a valued customer etc was told they would reduce my £29.99 platinum package down to £9.99 and give me free local and national calls for 6 months OR Free evenings and weekend calls for 18 months! How can they suddenly drop the price that much. Am having second thoughts about changing now as nothing comes close to that price. My advice is to keep threatening to quit and the price will come rocketing down. Have to say though that it really winds me up that they can suddenly knock 20 quid off the monthly charge straight away.
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| by sean, 07 July 2007 |
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i have the silver package deal and i have got to agree with everyone else , the down load speeds are terrible . they keep promising these high speeds and actually provide betwwen 20 and 80 kps , what happpened to he 4 mb promised ,i am looking elsewhere but is there actually a broadband provider which actually provides the service they are charging for. there should be some sort of legal legislation to penalise these rip off merchants
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| by Sam, 17 May 2007 |
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Not too bad, but 2mb i get just a quatre of that, yet their customer service etc is excellent, even for a computer novice. My rating : 6/10
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| by Nessie Poston, 14 May 2007 |
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AOL was good for quite a long time for me. Then I lost my address book and auto address facility when writing emails. In trying to sort this with both telephone and online support, I reinstalled AOL9 twice, assured by India I would not lose my PFC. Its gone. Still no address book and My Pictures takes forever to load. Worst of all, I can now only log on as a Guest, so no PFC anyway! This has gone on for three months. India is hopeless and has no authority to say anything. They constantly repeat a mantra that usually ends with 'I have an email that will solve this problem' Finally a second level technician admitted they had a server problem and are working on it. They sent an email confirming this and offered me 15 days refund. No sign of it yet. I want to move, but feel I might be out of the frying pan into the fire. Will definitely go when I research a bit more. AOL need to know that Indian call centres are a disaster.
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| by aol, 23 April 2007 |
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very good
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| by JaMeZ_01, 17 April 2007 |
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V. Good. Been with them for 7 years with no problems. Just changed from Silver to Platinium for no extra cost! The customer service has been excellent!
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| by KJS, 12 April 2007 |
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Been with AOL for 2 years initially on Platinum 8MB service which I had to complain about as speed was equivalent to dial up then they moved me to Silver 2MB for £9.99 per month. They quickly gave me the MAC code when I wanted to leave but then came good with a sweetner to stay 8MB Platinum for £9.99 per month. I searched around and found this hard impossible to beat. Glad to say the speed has improved to 6.5MB which is the maximum from my exchange. AOL is still great for news and simple key words assist. Limted email however and no free web space but not too bad at all
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| by GPR, 11 April 2007 |
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My AOL Silver broadband service is appalling
* Slow downloads and even slllooowwweeerrr uploads
* Many disconnects on uploading a file over 300kb
* Online support virtually non-existant and via offshore agents
I'm looking to change soonest
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| by Dan, 04 April 2007 |
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Standard internet psycology, if it's not on the first page, then people will probably not read it. I notice that most of AOL's terrible reviews are on the "read more reviews link". I guess they probably would't pay for the hits otherwise? Don't bother to delete this post, it's on the extended page after all. :o). In case you're wondering......I' m cancelling AOL because basically, it's pants.
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| by Nigel, 02 April 2007 |
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Don't even think of signing up with AOL. I have been with them for 8 years ( lethargy !). The on-line help service is absolutely useless and virtually incomprehensible ( India). That drives you (deliberately ?) to their expensive telephone service which used to be in Ireland (it was great|)but is now in India and just as bad as on-line.
The main problem is their connection speed. I am meant to get 4mb but never get even 10% of that. And don't get me started on the drop-outs.............. You have been warned.
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| by Jim, 22 March 2007 |
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If you suffer from any stress related illnesses, then DO NOT telephone their customer service helpline. If you have a real problem (not a dodgy filter or incorrectly set up router) then don't waste your time. It has taken me 3 months to get the correct bandwidth allocation. When I asked for a refund, the overseas call centre lady yawned continuously.
Don't bother complaining as their response is......you guessed it, NO response. As for sending them an email, I'm sure they use them as target practise for yawning.
Goodbye AOL, never and I mean never again.
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| by transtellar, 21 March 2007 |
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i got bad customer service and lies from Aol when trying to install it on a MAC, i dont beleivee they should ever be classed as market leaders, just market cheaters!
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| by jlo, 19 March 2007 |
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I must admit AOL service was good - when it worked... the trouble is when things go wrong you have a job getting a customer service representative to listen to you.
I found the Asain call centres rude and unhelpful. Unfortunately this is a language barrier, so this might improve with time.
Unfortunately the 3 complaint letters sent to the AOL complaints department have been ignored - so be very aware!!!
I even sent one by recorded delivery!
The final thing is I tried to cancel my contract (within the 7 day cooling off period). Unfortunately, they had closed their telephone lines early so I couldn't cancel.
AOL did try and tell me I had to continue with the 12 month contract until I pointed out I wasn't made aware of the 7 day cooling off period in the telephone call or email they provided (this was pointed out in my 3rd letter).
I had to telephone them to see what was happening and they gave me tha MAC code - but couldn't offer an explaination about the missing letters!
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| by Rob, 13 March 2007 |
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AOL has changed, and not for the better.
Quite simply the worst customer call centre I have ever encountered.
If the "follow the on screen problem solver" fails to work for them, expect a hang up tone (5 times). Expect to talk to people who have no idea about networks or bandwidth (Painfully inept).
Please, Please,Please AOL, do not use overseas call centres. Take a leaf out of the book of the many companies returning their call centres to the uk & ireland. When my contract ends soon I'm leaving, because I just can't cope with having to PAY for the pleasure of speaking to an idiot.
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| by boab, 28 February 2007 |
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aol is now restricting the speeds of its customers to 300kbps between the times of 6pm and 12 midnight so be warned
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| by Rob W, 23 February 2007 |
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Likes
1) Unlimited downloads
2) Quick connection (on platinum)
3) Being able to haggle with AOL when i was about to leave (same as Greg)- worth trying anytime!
Dislikes
1) Software can be slow (mainly on start up) and a bit crashy - (VR is better but still buggy)- and all together doesn't work great (for me)
2) having to sign up for a 12 month contract- this is common but i wish all ISP's would stop it.
over all 8/10
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| by Xypher, 16 January 2007 |
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I use their AOL Silver Broadband service on a Mac even though it's not officially supported. Unlike my Windows counterparts, I didn't need to install the full software suite. I just had to download a tiny dialer after waiting for my line to be enabled. The modem was recognized instantly. What can I say. I've been with AOL for 6 years from Dial-Up onwards and their ethernet service is always excellent and stable with no downtimes, cut-offs, usage limits etc...Also, the operators are very friendly which makes a hell of a difference. Must be the U.K's number one ISP. They've just upgraded my speed to 2mb at the same tariff. The free wireless router rocks. I won't go on, if your an Apple user just lie and say your using Win XP etc...and wait for the package to turn up. Then go to this link for the Mac software and follow instructions. Good luck!
ftp://download.newaol.com/mac/AOLConnect.dmg
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| by Xypher, 16 January 2007 |
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Also forgot to mention the Silver package supports home networking and you can use your AOL account at up to 2 addresses, so you can safely surf at home or work........
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| by Paul L, 09 January 2007 |
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Im on AOL Silver. My download speeds are terrible. The AOL software is terrible, it crashes a hell of a lot. Customer service is terrible when you get through to an asian call centre and you can be on hold for ages on the 0870 number! Ive only just started getting some decent advice finally after luckily getting through to an Irish call centre (and thats 1 month before my contract ends!) The only good thing about AOL is the unlimited useage. If I cant haggle a really decent price with their 8mb platinum package then I will definately been moving on!
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| by Greg, 08 January 2007 |
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No problems installing AOL Gold, and good download speeds. Unlike some providers we looked into initially they don't slow your connection down the longer you're downloading. I.e. if you're my other half and have missed an episode of Grey's Anatomy (not me), and you need to download it (legally).
The other positive is that they are surprisingly easy to haggle price on if you threaten to leave - we went from £24.99/month to £17.99/month in the space of 2 minutes.
There are a few minor downers:
1/ The off-shore helpline if you do run into trouble, but they are surprisingly knowledgeable and helpful!
2/ Initially you have to use the proprietary software which doesn't work on Macs (at least it didn't went we installed on our Powerbook back in August), but with a bit of googling you can get around that and even use good old internet explorer.
3/ Finally not the easiest to do internet connection sharing unless your on Gold or above (not supported for Silver if I recall)
8/10
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