I had a problem with AOL back in 2001. On 11/23/01 a charge for 23.90 appeared on my credit card for online service that I did not order. I called immediately and had the account canceled and checked that the charge did not reappear in the next month; it did not.
However, the charge did come back in the following month 1/21/02 and every month after that. I did not catch it until I was doing my taxes in April. Furthermore, a one time charge of $79.99 also appeared for something called AOL Credit Alert.
Again I called and was told me that they had not agreed to cancel the last time I called but just to give me a "free month". I made it very clear that I wanted both accounts closed. And, again all seemed well (no charges appeared) on the May credit card statement. But in June they were back! This time I did not catch it until November.
This time, I called and really raised hell. The account was closed but by this time they had stolen $268.03 from me for AOL online service I never opened one time and $79.99 for AOL Credit Alert. After much pressure I was told that the best they could do over the phone was to refund 2 months charges and have me write a letter for the rest. So, $47.80 was refunded and I wrote a letter that was never answered. Total loss: $220.03 $79.99 I just wrote it off.
But!..
The very next month 1/20/03 I got another charge for $79.99 from AOL for Credit Alert on the same credit card. And this has become an annual event. I call and complain and get a run around, different 'refund' numbers to call that are always busy. On 1/19/04 I was charged $79.99 and on 2/22/05 $99.99.
Today I called again to AOL and spoke with a polite woman named Carleen. I was assured that the AOL Credit Alert (which Carleen also referred to as Privacy Guard Service) was canceled and me $99.99 would be refunded. I told her that I appreciated her friendliness but that this was the forth time (forth year) that I had made the same call and heard the same story. She gave me a confirmation number HP820850326 and then noted something interesting;
Carleen noted that I had already been refunded for the $1/19/04 charge. Of course this made me wonder why I was still charged the $99.99 the following year. But I went back into my Quicken program to look for the credit. What I found worries me even more.
On 1/13/03, the month after I finally shut down the first AOL online service charges, yet another unsolicited charge appeared from a company called TLG Great Fun. It was for only $1.00 and did not catch my attention even as I was fussing over the repeat $79.99 charge from Credit Alert/Privacy Guard. But on 4/21/03 (the 21st was the day that all of the original AOL online service charges posted) another $79.99 was posted for TLG Great Fun. It was for this that a credit was posted for $79.99 on 6/5/03.
The fact that Carleen from AOL also knew about the TLG Great Fun, the same $79.99 billing amount, the wierd coincidence with the billing dates all lead me to belive that AOL is behind the TLG Great Fun Charges as well.
Moreover, when seen in the whole what emerged is a pattern where an unauthorized charge is made and, and renewed despite protests and cancellations. Even if the consumer resists the 30 days free diversions and get the charge reversed, the account is not dead and the charges repost in the following months. And when you get assertive enough to really kill one account, another one with another name is opened.
Anyone reading this will see that I am not that vigilant with my credit card charges... Or I would have noticed some of the early charges as soon as they appeared. And, I would have really put an end to things after the first repost. But, nevertheless, I do look, I do keep records on Quicken, and I am persistent.
What about all of the people would just pay their credit card bill and file it away... That is what concerns me. This could be a scam of enormous proportions!
PS Yep TLP aka Trilegiant is related to AOL.
Gregg
Ann Arbor, Michigan
U.S.A.
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