An incredible video from CNBC shows an AOL customer trying to cancel his account, but a phone rep won't let him do it. What customer Vincent Ferrari got when he tried to cancel his account was a lot of frustration.

It took him 15 minutes waiting on the phone just to reach a real, live person.

And, what happened next was recorded by Ferrari on audio and lasted about four minutes:

CLOCK READOUT - 00:00

AOL REPRESENTATIVE: Hi this is John at AOL... how may I help you today?

VINCENT FERRARI: I wanted to cancel my account.

AOL: Sorry to hear that. Let's pull your account up here real quick. Can I have your name please?

VINCENT: Vincent Ferrari.

CLOCK READOUT - 00:30

AOL: You've had this account for a long time.

VINCENT: Yup.

AOL: Use this quite a bit. What was the cause of wanting to turn this off today?

VINCENT: I just don't use it anymore.

AOL: Do you have a high speed connection, like the DSL or cable?

VINCENT: Yup.

AOL: How long have you had that...

VINCENT: Years...

AOL: ...the high speed?

VINCENT: ...years.

AOL: Well, actually I'm showing a lot of usage on this account.

VINCENT: Yeah, a long time, a long time ago, not recently... CLOCK READOUT - 01:47

AOL: Okay, I mean is there a problem with the software itself?

VINCENT: No. I just don't use it, I don't need it, I don't want it. I just don't need it anymore.

AOL: Okay. So when you use this... I mean, use the computer, I'm saying, is that for business or for... for school?

VINCENT: Dude, what difference does it make. I don't want the AOL account anymore. Can we please cancel it?

CLOCK READOUT - 02:21

AOL: Last year was 545, last month was 545 hours of usage...

VINCENT: I don't know how to make this any clearer, so I'm just gonna say it one last time. Cancel the account.

AOL: Well explain to me what's, why...

VINCENT: I'm not explaining anything to you. Cancel the account.

AOL: Well, what's the matter man? We're just, I'm just trying to help here.

VINCENT: You're not helping me. You're helping me...

AOL: I am trying to help.

VINCENT: Helping... listen, I called to cancel the account. Helping me would be canceling the account. Please help me and cancel the account.

AOL: No, it wouldn't actually...

VINCENT: Cancel my account...

AOL: Turning off your account...

VINCENT: ...cancel the account...

AOL: ...would be the worst thing that...

VINCENT: ...cancel the account.

CLOCK READOUT - 03:02

AOL: Okay, cause I'm just trying to figure out...

VINCENT: Cancel the account. I don't know how to make this any clearer for you. Cancel the account. When I say cancel the account, I don't mean help me figure out how to keep it, I mean cancel the account.

AOL: Well, I'm sorry, I don't know what anybody's done to you Vincent because all I'm...

VINCENT: Will you please cancel the account.

CLOCK READOUT - 03:32

AOL: Alright, some day when you calmed down you're gonna realize that all I was trying to do was help you... and it was actually in your best interest to listen to me.

VINCENT: Wonderful, Okay.

CLOCK READOUT - 03:39

"I've never ever experienced anything like that," Ferrari told CNBC.

He recounts how the AOL representative - as a last resort even asked if his dad was home.

"I think I could've put up with everything, but at the point when he asked to speak to my father, I came very close to losing it at that point," said the 30-year-old Ferrari.

Ferrari then posted the call online, and the response was tremendous.

AOL sent him an apology and said the customer service rep was no longer with the company.

Yeah the rep was acting in self-interest. WOW!!!

internet nazis

where did victor post this on line.

Yo Jon ...

... I've missed your posts. Haven't seen you around much.

Shoot me an email, I'd like to send you a little something ... I'm hoping you could use a little diversion.

[email protected]

been there done that....

AOl is evil..........it gets into your hard drive, and you can't get rid of it.

I had a similar conversation when I was trying to explain that I didn't want my new Dell to have the "free trial" AOL software on it. I finally had to tell them, that if it was on it, I would ship the PC back to them.

dkeage

heard it on the radio this morning. that loser "john" also made him sit through legal mubo jumbo telling vincent that if he wanted his account canceled he had to listen to his bs or he would have to call back at another time.

never liked aol...

nine

I had almost the identical conversation with AOL when I went to cancel my previous long term account and a trial one I had set up on my lap top for emergencies/vacations.

I too was on the phone for some time and the same questions were asked. And I to repeated over and over that I wanted the account/s canceled. That I didn't use them. I don't need them. I am with another provider. They tried every trick in the book to try and convince me to stay.

They are horrible. And so is their software.

When I was in college, my Dad bought a computer for our house and had me set it up..........I hadn't touched a computer in YEARS, was clueless about how the internet worked, and had NO IDEA what I was doing when I inserted the free AOL disc that comes free. Signed up, but never DID get it working right.

Long story short............I finally notice that something is taking money out of my checking account every month and narrow it down (by making a call to the bank). This is after about four years.......I was a dumb kid who couldn't manage my money.

AOL had been tapping my account for four years......without on single byte of data transferred with their software.

They had NO record of me ever actually using the software, but could not be compelled to refund more than one month's fee........$40.

My fault?..........yes, but I won't ever use them.

Andy,

You are a very young chick if AOL was around when you were in college. OR a very old graduate.

Tried AOHell a few years ago when I was in a pinch. I suspect herpes and AIDS are easier to get rid of. Finally shut down the VISA card to stop unauthorized charges. A year later, they called to tell me they'd have to stop service (which I had quit long before) because my card was being declined. DER!

Check your credit report pacman. U probly owe return check fees.

Compay.....I'm guessing it was around 1997.....when I got my first job out of college.

And I thought I was the only one to call them AOHell! Never had 'em, never will. I don't use any of them. When I was on dial up I had MSN. they were ok when they started, but then they started mimicking AOHell. That was just after I got a cable connection and cancelled them.

AOHell had a class action lawsuit filed on them because people couldn't get rid of the software without wiping their hard drive. I don't know how it ever turned out.

I did have a similar experience with Comcast. After a year of digital cable I realized I wasn't watching a single station available on digital. I called to cancel and the woman kept trying to get me to keep it. She offered lower prices and I said "NO". She offered more and more and more. I kept telling her "I don't use it, I want to cancel it".

I spent at least 20 minutes on the phone with her asking her to cancel it. I still got billed for the next 3 months...and at full price to boot! I had to go into the store to get them to cancel it for good and get the bill taken care of.

Unfortunately, I have no choice but to continue using them for my tv and Internet. But if I move into the Tacoma city limits, I'll go back to Click. Faster Internet and both the tv and Internet are cheaper.

yep,. they lied and stole from me too, about 10 years ago

And that would explain why every AOL disc I have ever received has gone into the trash can, unopened.

i have always used them as frisbees. i hate getting a computer with that crap on it. its the first thing i uninstall and clean sweep.

========================================

Author: snowwolf777 Date: 06/23/2006 12:35 PM

every AOL disc I have ever received has gone

into the trash can, unopened.

========================================

I like BeatDragon's idea of pasting cigar bands on them, then using them as drink coasters ...

Drathaar, if you move into the Tacoma city limits, you won't have to worry long about what you're using or watching. Someone will break in and steal it within a few weeks.

Lived in that armpit my last three years of school. My car was broken into, I witnessed a few crimes, someone was shot seven times right behind my apartment, an old lady was mugged right after I moved in, etc. And that was seven blocks North of the police station. Only place I ever lived where running for one's life is considered regular exercise. 98402, where I lived and when I lived there, had the highest crime rate by zip code in the state. My car insurance nearly doubled when I moved there.

Tacoma. The City of Density.

So you understand my dilema pacman! What neighborhood is that zip from? The only time EVER my car has been broke into was in Tacoma, the N. End even. That's supposed to be relatively safe. Luckily, they're a bunch of amateurs and my radio survived the attack 🙂

Battered and bruised, but still working.