I have just been released from my contract! After weeks of endless telephone conversation i eventually cracked.....started f'ing and blinding at them until they eventually gave in and cancelled my contract without buying out!

DO NOT USE AOL!!

i agree if you thinkin about changing to AOL.........DONT!!!!!

there cons and have worse customer support ever

just 2 weeks ago they took 5 payments out of my bank for no reason at all so rang them up and they wouldn't give me any answers to why they did this so ive just cancled my direct debit with them from my bank

they say you get unlimited speeds which is a lie i could use download up to 25-30gb's a night but now i can only do this once or twice a month which is a joke they cap my download limit from 1.2mbps to 60kbps after that

and im constantly getting cut off from aol and always ringing them up about it and every time they saying my account has been blocked by accident because of new stuff there using over there (same reason every time)

so what im saying is that there full of B0LL0X

Rybo89CFC

i am with AOL, i am happy i can live with capping for 4 hours out of 24. is a lot better than being with a provider that gives you full speed but says no more than 60GB a month

From talking to them today I have learned:

AOL now monitor usage based on "time" online and not by bandwidth usage. They say Ofcom told them they had to do it this way.

Everyone is being capped at this time from what i was told in online help just now to make sure service is good for people with a large distance from their exchanges.

Apparently we were all informed of these changes in december.

I disagree,
At least with a solid cap you know where you stand. E.g, using your example, with a 60GB cap you can only download 60GB. However, with FUP's, you do not know the terms the ISP defines as "fair", so what I would think is fair, may not be what the ISP thinks is fair, and so you could be having download speed issues, and think its a fault, while actually its just your ISP being "fair".

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i am with AOL, i am happy i can live with capping for 4 hours out of 24. is a lot better than being with a provider that gives you full speed but says no more than 60GB a month

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How absurd.

How do you know you will be capped 4 out of 24 hours tomorrow? Or the day after? How do you know it won't be 24/7 going forwards?

At least with a clearly specified hard cap you have some idea of what to expect for your money.

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How absurd.

How do you know you will be capped 4 out of 24 hours tomorrow? Or the day after? How do you know it won't be 24/7 going forwards?

At least with a clearly specified hard cap you have some idea of what to expect for your money.

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With all due respect that is absurd also.... How do you know the provider with a hard cap wont lower it the next day???

I agree with the poster, if AOL are only throttling for a few hours in a 24 hour period and your use is heavy, stay with them, you wont find better for heavy use for the price unless perhaps you start to look at LLU or cable options.

Edited by deleted (Mon 16-Apr-07 17:05:26)

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How do you know the provider with a hard cap wont lower it the next day???

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Because to do that they need to change the T&C's, meaning customers can leave if unhappy.

You can't do that if tied into a long term contract with an invoked FUP, as the T&C's always contain a clause which allows for this to be changed as and when the ISP sees fit.

You simply cannot trust any ISP once they start traffic shaping, as it gives them a licence to pull on the throttle more and more at any time. Its fine if you're on a 1 month contract but if not then its a death trap for any moderate/heavy user.

I just contacted aol today as my download speeds were reduced from 6000kbps to 170kbps.

I have had this ultra-slow speed for just under a month, i didnt know anything about aol capping speeds, when i told them my problem they said i had went over my monthly limit of 60gb and my internet speed had been capped.

I was furious, i have never recieved any emails,letters or telephone calls about this but they are saying i agree'd to their terms and conditions, which i never. today is the first i have heard about this motnhly usage.

I spoke to another person who said i only used 17gb in the last month, and when i asked why my speed had been capped she just kept saying its aol's policy.

After spending an hour talking to people who had no clue as to what excatly was going on, i asked to speak to a supivisor i was put on hold for twenty mins and then the phone went dead they just hung up on me.

They said i couldnt cancel and my speed would come back on within a month.

I signed up to a twelve month contract on the platinum package which stated speeds of up to 8mb and unlimited usage.

I was going to cancel my account in dec 06 after 4 years because of inconsistent speeds, the women offered me the platinum package and unlimited broadband for 24.99 plus a wireless router since aol was the only service i could get in my area with unlimted usage i accepted. surely that person knew aol were going to be capping there users when she offered me the new contract.


And now BT have just started a new unlimted package of speeds up to 8mb for 22.99 a month, typical.

Im really sick to death of aol, i knew back in december i should not sign a new contract.

sorry your completely wrong. An ISP will only throttle during peak hours.. if they done any longer periods of time it would be suicide for them and they know that. 4 hours out of 24 is nothing, after all why would u want it unlimited all day.. well unless ur some1 who doesnt go outside then i see why.

i would rather have a throttle than a monthly cap.

by the way there is NO SUCH THING as unlimited, they do put a limit on it although it is higher than other providers and most of their customers do not reach it