According to an article at PC Welt, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer received about 300 complaints regarding AOL's customer service procedures (i.e. ignoring requests to cancel service). This past Wednesday America Online Inc. agreed to pay $1.25 million in penalties and will work on changing the incentives the company offers to customer service reps who persuade customers to keep their internet subscriptions with the company. AOL (owned by Time Warner, Inc.; TWX) has also agreed to have their service cancellation requests recorded and verified through a third company. The company will also issue refunds up to four months worth of service to New Yorkers under the claim.
Sometimes it takes a major setback like this for a company to change their policy. Although $1.25 million may not be much to AOL, hopefully it will serve as a wakeup call to make them aware that they have issues that need to be addressed.
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