Right basically my contract with AOL was due to finish in January 2008, i recently changed my phone number, on Friday 12th October 2007 i rang AOL to update my phone number, now without my knowledge i found out that they had put me on an 18 month contract, they informed me that me broadband would be active at the end of this week.

Finally today after loads of phone calls i managed to cancel this order and now i am back on my old contract which finishes in January 2008, the only problem is now is that AOL are saying that my broadband is active yet it is inactive and not working at all so more lies from AOL.

I have rang AOL 3 times to request a MAC code from them over the phone but they refused saying that they could not provide me with a MAC code over the phone and that they would send the MAC code to my master screen name, i threatened them with legal action and ofcom and everything but they would not give it to me over the phone.

Obviously the current situation is i have no broadband even though AOL say it is active and my contract expires in 3 months time.

Now if i rang BT Wholesale tomorrow and asked them to remove AOL's marker from the line would this enable me to get broadband from another ISP or would AOL block it? as obviously i have tried to get a MAC code but i cannot get one from them and i want this situation sorted out asap.

If i could not do that then the only other thing i could do is to maybe get BT to disconnect my line and for me to get BT to put a new line in my house so that it would be a fresh line with no markers etc.

I know BT Wholesale can remove markers but would that totally remove my AOL service from my line?

I need some big help on this, some people have helped me quite alot so far and i would like to thank them, if someone could help me resolve this situation then i would be very grateful.

I am sending recorded letters to AOL and OFCOM tomorrow regarding the situation with the MAC code, although i don't know if it will change anything.
Thanks.

Okay. You can't call BT wholesale, 'cos they only deal with ISPs. You could call BT residential on 151 and cancel the line (or try and get them to do a stop-start, which would do the same thing but would mean that you don't need to get the line reconnected).

The best thing to do however would be the following, and it will take a couple of weeks:

Write a letter to AOL requesting your MAC key and advising of the situation they have put you in. Send this recorded delivery, first class, so you should get legal proof that this has been received Keep a copy for yourself, and one for Ofcom.

Wait 5 days for your MAC to arrive. If it does, all well and good - pass it to your new ISP.

If it doesn't, you have proof that AOL have had your request for 5 days and haven't issued your MAC, therefore breaking the law. Send this to Ofcom. Await results (again this won't be quick, but at least you won't have to do a lot).

Thanks for your message Obrey, your advice is very much appreciated :)

I have another problem which is getting out of hand, the 18 month contract that AOL put me on on Friday, I have rang up several times and i was told that it had been cancelled but when i go on live help i found out that this is not the case so they are lying to me constantly, when my cooling period runs out on Monday i will be stuck on this contract but i have requested it to be cancelled by email over 10 times and i have the emails to prove this, also i have rang them more than several times, i have never known an ISP to lie so much and fed you so much rubbish.
Now if i reported this matter to ofcom saying that AOL haven't cancelled my contract udner the cooling off period despite me requesting it several times, what would they do? as AOL are breaking the law here.
I have sent a recorded letter to AOL today informing them that under the ofcom MAC code regulation as of 14 February 2007 if a customer requests a MAC code it must be provided to them within five working days free of charge regardless of any dispute.
I've sent a recorded letter to ofcom as well informing them of AOL's terrible service and i also told them that AOL have rejected my request's for a MAC code and i told them i would keep them informed of the situation because AOL cannot get away with this forever it is not acceptable, getting away from them is going to take time but it would be worth it in the end just to get rid of them so i never have to use them again.

I think you're worrying a bit much about the 18 month contract for a couple of reasons - one, you don't have a working service so the contract can't have started yet, and two, you don't have any record of you actually accepting this contract in the first place. To be honest I think this will get sorted out when Ofcom step in as well. I'd imagine when they open the dispute AOL will attempt to bring this up provided that they have proof you agreed, and as such it will be taken on as part of the investigation (if not you can raise this to Ofcom yourself, if you haven't already).

Hope that helps,

Well it's a complicated situation, basically i have been with AOL since January this year, Last Friday as i changed my phone number my AOL broadband was not working, i rang AOL to update the number they offered me a 9.99 per month price plan but i was not aware of a new 18 month contract as they did not mention this to me over the phone.
Yesterday i rang up a few times to cancel the 18 month contract, i have spoken to some people on live help today and they have said that there is no notes on my account and that i am still on the 18 month contract.
I spoke to someone on there a few minutes ago and they said that there are notes on my account saying that my account is to be rolled back onto my old price plan and contract and that contract runs out in January 2008, so different people tell you different things and you never know where you stand, they lie so much.
To be honest once i have my MAC code i will still transfer to another ISP regardless of whether i have an 18 month contract with AOL or not, there is nothing to stop me joining another ISP is there? having an 18 month contract makes no difference does it?
The bad thing is AOL are saying that my broadband is active and it is not active, it does not work at all so that is another lie that they are telling me, if they sent someone out to m house they would see this but they insist that the broadband is active surely i can do something about this as well?
I'm not that bothered about the 18 month contract, i just want to get the MAC code get off AOL and get on another ISP.
AOL should recieve my request for my MAC code tomorrow, i've never known AOL to respond to letters even though they say they respond within 5 days.
If i don't recieve anything from them within 5 working days i will write to ofcom again and hopefully they won't take too long to force AOL to provide me with the MAC code.

The one important question i would like to ask is if AOL do not cancel my 18 month contract, they still have to provide me with the MAC code don't they? and can i still transfer to another ISP regardless of the contract?

AOL can charge me for the remainder of the contract whether it is for 3 months or 18 months but they won't get a penny out of me!

The one important question i would like to ask is if AOL do not cancel my 18 month contract, they still have to provide me with the MAC code don't they? and can i still transfer to another ISP regardless of the contract?

Yes and yes.

AOL can charge me for the remainder of the contract whether it is for 3 months or 18 months but they won't get a penny out of me!

This may be a tad unprofessional, but nice one.

Thanks :D

My broadband appears to be back on, bad thing is it is barely faster than dial up, i have done speed tests and it says my download speed is 141KBPS, i am on upto 8MB broadband.
I bet AOL have deliberately slowed my connection right down, it's no better than dial up, surely this is another thing i can report AOL to ofcom for? is it right that if an ISP does not provide you with the speed it says in the contract then can't the contract be cancelled immediately?

Other than making sure that all your used phone points have microfilters on them and that your router/modem is plugged in to the master socket, all I can say is that it's likely that you have recently been reprovided and as such are in the 10 day training period for ADSL max. A restart of the connection should get it going a bit better, if not unfortunately you'll have to live with it for a couple of days until it picks up.

Oh, and unfortunately they'll be advertising the service as 'up to' 8mb, so technically it's not outside their terms. By the time you get AOL to investigate though I'd hope you'll already be with your new ISP.

Cheers,

I have not recieved my MAC Code via email as promised by AOL member services.

I have sent a letter recorded delivery to AOL's complaint managerment team in bristol, also i have sent a letter recorded delivery to AOL's head office in London and i have sent a letter recorded delivery to Ofcom.

I have also sent letters to AOL to cancel the 18 month contract under the cooling off period and informed them that despite several requests it has not been cancelled and that i expect it to be cancelled immediately.

I have also informed AOL head office and the complaints management team that i expect to recieve my MAC Code within 5 working days otherwise i will be contacting Ofcom again and seeking legal advice on the matter, if that does not work then nothing will.

They don't have a leg to stand on regarding the MAC Code, under Ofcom's regulations from 14th Feb 2007 it states:-

*A broadband provider must provide a MAC Code to the customer within 5 working days

*The issuer cannot charge a fee for issuing the MAC Code

*The broadband provider cannot disconnect a customer's service if they have requested a MAC Code

*The provider cannot withold a MAC Code for the purposes of debt collection or contractal issues.