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AOL Agrees To Pay $1.25 Million For Preventing Users From Canceling

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 24, 2005 - 7:17am.
Dulles, Va. -- America Online has agreed to pay $1.25 million in penalties to settle an investigation brought by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has brought various high-profile cases against the securities industry in recent years. The complaint was brought by Spitzer's office after it received hundreds of complaints from former AOL users who said they had difficulty canceling their AOL service -- even when they talked to the company's representatives on the phone. Spitzer's office said that AOL rewarded employees who were able to retain subscribers who called to cancel their service. AOL had minimum retention rates that its customer service personnel were expected to meet. Under the agreement, AOL said it would no longer have "save" percentages for its employees, which Spitzer's office said encouraged certain employees from making it difficult to cancel. "This agreement helps ensure that AOL will strive to keep its customers through quality service, not stealth retention programs," Spitzer said in a statement.
tags: Deals | AOL | Users | Canceling |