My father, 80 years old and has never owned a computer, recieved a postcard from AOL thanking him for using his free hours and will now be charged for further service on his phone bill.
I called AOL on his behalf and was informed that someone called from his phone and signed up for service. No one other than immediate family has been inside the house to do this. I asked if they called the number to see if the person living there had actually requested service. They said that they ask the caller at the time if they were calling from the phone to which the service will be charged.
I was then transferred to another person who finally admitted that the account number on the card did not match up to my dad's name but that they would not say who it was listed to. It seems they must protect ripoff artist. The then gave me the number of their fraud department and told me to call them.
During my 15 minute 'hold' time I had to listen a recording of how much AOL is keeping their customers secure on the internet. So apparently you can sign up, use somebody elses phone number as a place to charge the bill to and they will protect you and NOT the poor schmuck that has to pay the bill.
Only time will tell if this problem is corrected, or if AOL will continue to try to rip off senior citizens.
0 comments