To cancel your AOL account, just call 1-888-265-8008. (The automated system responds to the word "cancellations" and then asks for your phone number.) You can also cancel your account online by going to cancel.aol.com and logging in with your screen name and password. (Since AOL doesn't staff their phone lines around the clock, this may be your fastest option!)

You can even mail your cancellation to AOL at PO Box 65100 / Sterling, VA 20165-8800 , or FAX it to 703-433-7283. You need to say specifically that you're cancelling, give your full name, phone number and address, and either the primary Billing Contact's AOL screenname or the last four digits of the current payment method.

It sounds easy - but watch out. If you phone AOL, the staffer who takes your call gets a bonus if they can talk you out of cancelling. ("In many cases, 20% of the people decided not to cancel after talking to us," Steve Case once admitted.) According to some news articles, there were some staffers who'd pretend to cancel the account, but then ignored the cancellation request simply to earn their bonus. (One reporter even published an internal AOL memo AOL reminding staffers that "Your integrity is worth more than $6.") Insist that your representative provide you with a cancellation number - and then watch your next credit card statement carefully!

This gets a little tricky, too. AOL bills your credit card on the same day of the month that you opened your account, so cancelling simply means that the billing shouldn't happen the next time that day of the month arrives. (And there are no "partial refunds" for the unused portion of the month!) This means your next credit card statement could still include the last charge from AOL, billing you for a month. But if the date of AOL's billing is after the date of your phone call, they may have "lost" your cancellation request.

And this happens more often than you'd think. Hundreds of people have said AOL simply continued to bill them after they've cancelled their account. (One technology magazine joked that AOL was like the roach motel, where customers check in - but they don't check out!) If your experience is unsatisfactory, you might even contact your state's attorney general. In 1998, problems with AOL cancellation procedures late 44 state attorneys general to restrict AOL to a 50-point agreement which included strict rules for how AOL should process cancellations.

You're not alone. An AOL account gets cancelled every nine seconds, and AOL has lost nearly 20 million customers over the last six years. If you follow these instructions, you can join them!

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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