Customer support Vs. Customer
Now this is cool :) They love you SO that they won't let you go!
AOL customer support vs. Vincent :)
It took him 15 minutes waiting on the phone just to reach a real, live person. And then ...
And, what happened next was recorded by Vincent 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: I wanted to cancel my account.
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : Sorry to hear that. Let's pull your account up here real quick. Can I have your name please?
VINCENT: Ferrari.
CLOCK READOUT - 00:30
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : You've had this account for a long time.
VINCENT: Yup.
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : 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 REPRESENTATIVE : Do you have a high speed connection, like the DSL or cable?
VINCENT: Yup.
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : How long have you had that...
VINCENT: Years...
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : ...the high speed?
VINCENT: ...years.
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : 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 REPRESENTATIVE : 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 REPRESENTATIVE : 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 REPRESENTATIVE : 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 REPRESENTATIVE : Well explain to me what's, why...
VINCENT: I'm not explaining anything to you. Cancel the account.
AOL REPRESENTATIVE 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 REPRESENTATIVE 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 REPRESENTATIVE No, it wouldn't actually...
VINCENT: Cancel my account...
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : Turning off your account...
VINCENT: ...cancel the account...
AOL REPRESENTATIVE : ...would be the worst thing that...
VINCENT: ...cancel the account.
CLOCK READOUT - 03:02
AOL REPRESENTATIVE 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 REPRESENTATIVE : 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 REPRESENTATIVE : 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
------------------------------------DONE
"I've never ever experienced anything like that," Vincent 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 Vincent.
Ferrari then posted the call online, and the response was huge ...
AOL sent him an apology and said the customer service rep was no longer with the company. Anyway, no customer support loved me so that they didn't want to let me go, most of the time they just blow me off...
