Yesterday while I was watching the “Today” show, a man was interviewed concerning his many attempts to cancel his AOL service. I had the same experience recently, but with a few variations. I first called one of their many numbers and talked to what I like to call a non-person – automation. This voice had me verify my name and address and then asked for my security code which was a favorite movie. If I ever named a favorite movie, it was around 10 years ago and I have no memory of that anymore. I have trouble remembering what I did a week ago. So I answered “none” to which the non-person replied that that was not the right answer. So then I was asked for the last 4 digits of my credit card by which I paid for their services. The non-person then said she was sorry, but that wasn’t right! I was then transferred to a live person where we repeated the entire procedure again with the same outcome.

This went on for 5 more calls to various AOL numbers, always with the same outcome. I got to the point where I was nearly hysterical and would shriek that I hated movies and that they had been taking my money on that credit card for years, so why couldn’t I now cancel? But that was not to be. So I canceled my credit card and got a new one with a new number. I figured that now when they went to charge me, they would have a problem. I could see them calling me to ask why they couldn’t bill me, and I would say “WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE!!!!

But I still wasn’t satisfied, so I called my credit card company and found that my bank had merged with another bank several years ago, and I had been issued a new number. That was what was causing the problem. Apparently when something like that occurs, all bills are just transferred to the new number. So I called AOL again and went through the entire process with the non-person and then onto the live person. I passed all the tests except for the movie, but I did get the last 4 digits of my old card correct. So I was on my way except for the fact that I couldn’t get a cancellation number until after I’d listened to all their promotional jargon. After about 15 minutes, I practically begged for my cancellation number which they gave.

I am now waiting to see if I get a call if they’re unable to bill me for one final time on my new credit card number which they don’t have. I’ll be ready for them!