If any of you have ever used AOL, you’ve probably experienced the dreaded cancellation phone calls, and how difficult it sometimes was to actually get the rep to cancel your account. I used AOL back in the end of the Dial-Up days when I was out of town and needed to get online on my laptop. Most hotels at that point didn’t have Ethernet wired throughout and sometimes I just needed to get online to keep things afloat.

In a recent $3 Million dollar settlement AOL has agreed to make it easier for customers to “get out” if they want to. AOL had originally paid employees bonuses of up to $3,000 if they were able to keep customers from canceling. As part of the settlement requires, AOL will now make it possible for subscribers to cancel online, without having to talk to a phone rep.

AOL has been loosing business steadily since the dawn of high speed internet.  I’ve never really been a big fan, and I find it amazing that they’ve been able to keep so many customers for so long. The biggest reason that most people stay is the fact that they don’t want to have to change their email address. AOL has quite a few members who have had their @AOL.com email addresses since AOL first started up. People are afraid to lose their email address. Oddly enough people don’t have a problem moving from house to house in the meantime and getting a completely new physical address. Strange, but what can you do about it. Some people just like to keep things a certain way.

Source: Yahoo