The End of a Nineteen Year Affair

Well, it isn't really an affair, but almost. I had been with AOL for nineteen years and today I cancelled it. The person that answered the phone was patient as asked me many questions. One of the most odd questions was, "Who is the account holder on this account? I told her I was and she said, "No, there is someone else as the account holder." My question, since I know it has always been me on the account was, "What name do you have as the account holder." Her reply, "Oh, I can't give out that information."

She could not go any further without knowing the account holder's name. Then began the process of my signing in to AOL, trying to find "my account" and once in that screen I would see who the account holder's name that was holding up any further movement. It took a few tries and soon I saw the account holder's name; my first name initial instead of my full name. I am sure she did not see me roll my eyes!

"Why do you wish to cancel AOL?" she asked. I told her that daily I receive a blurb on my computer that I needed to pay $4.95 or they would need to cancel my AOL. "The reason I am calling is to cancel AOL," I told her. She searched and found that there was an outstanding bill from 2012 and that needed to be paid.

I told her I would not pay it and wished to cancel AOL. She said, "If you pay the $4.95 I will then reimburse you the same amount plus give you two free months of AOL. I wondered what part of  "cancel" she did not understand. When I convinced her I did not need the service of AOL anymore, she told me that I could have free AOL but without any support services.  Evidently, I went from an AOL Paid Plan to an AOL Free Plan. So, I guess I  have may have broken up with AOL but we are still friends!

"We refuse to turn off our computers,

turn off our phones, log off of Facebook,

and just sit in silence, because

we might actually have to face

up to who we really are."

Jefferson  Bethke