Help - Breach of Contract

Hello Everyone, i'm back,

Its been a while since I've been on here, but im hoping one of you geniuses can help me with a problem

Long story short, I have Broadband with AOL

They have not supplied the service for 3 Weeks

I have spent Over 7 Hours on the Helpline trying to resolve the issue, *(honestly, they are useless)

I have had an engineer round to check the line - he advised its 100% ok, So they sent me a new modem.

I reformatted and reinstalled windows, I even tried connecting with a different PC, but still have the same problem and errors

Finally i have established and advised that the problem lies with AOL, the reason being my IP address only has a 30 second lease, then it expires, making
it impossible to access the net.

Still after all this time the refuse to cancel the contract, they just keep saying i have 6 months left.

I have tried looking through the Trading Standards to find something about this, Can anyone help,

I would like to find something that confirms they are in breach of contract, as i don't wanna pay for a service i can't use.

First of all, I hope you are getting your correspondence in writing,
or at least email. If not do so as a matter of priority.

Once you have done that, make another (documented) attempt
to get things sorted out.

Then threaten to get the computer press involved.

It works. I had a problem with some kit delivered by a company -
it was the wrong kit. They ignored my emails for a month. I sent one
more threatening them with the computer press. In one hour I had an RMA.

To do this you need the documentation trail though.

Another alternative is to talk to a lawyer.

Trading standards wont be able to help you.

Documentation of phone calls can be confirmed when by phone bill turns up,

They refuse to deal with anything unless you call the helpline, (which i've already spent many hours on) at 8p a minute

I managed to get hold of the email address for Cancellations, , i have recorded and kept all receipts,

I've emailed to advise that i refuse to call the helpline anymore, as it is costing me a fortune, and they can't resolve the problem.

Currently i have sent 8 emails!, each one titled with the #1 # 2 # 3 etc but each response each just tells me to call the helpline, and that my contract still has 6 months left. (these are not altermated)

Its a joke, they won't even look at the account unless i call. (and thats already proved pointless)

Always get the names of the people you are speaking with as they are representatives of the company and what they say is a direct correlation of what the company should do and provide.

If necessary record the phone messages and inform them that you are recording the conversation.

If they refuse to provide you with service, consult an attorney.

First and foremost do everything in your power to resolve the situation.

On a lighter note, i spoke to a guy in the Cancellations department last Friday, he sounded Asian, he said his name was Elvis.

He was no help, and didn't even sing a tune!

You could try asking for a level two tech. But this is a perfect example
of why you go with a real ISP

However, your best bet may be to send one more email detailing calls
made to the "help" line and stating that unless the matter is resolved
within 48 hours you will be contacting the computer press, to see if they can
sort the mess out.

(those are the words I used)

Another thing to bring up is the Better Business Bureau. That usually gets companies shaking in their boots.

I'll try that,

but would you believe me if i said, I've been through to level 2 tech, 3 times. Honestly

And the last call to level 2 tech lasted over 2 hours, problem still unresolved.

They said they would call me back on Saturday 17th, but still no call.

From reading your posts I don't see why they would let you cancel your service - they checked the line and determined it was A-okay.

What do you mean by:


And why does this only effect you and no one else?

Lastly, before you go to a lawyer do you have any proof that it is AOL? Or is just a hunch.

Either way I hope you get this fixed! Good Luck

Here is a brief summary of the main bits thus far. To be honest, i stumped, i'm failry sure its a AOL error , but i'm not 100%. what do you guys think

-------

Basically what happed is,

My modem broke 3 Weeks ago,
AOL sent me a new one
When i connected the new modem it did not work
I spoke to level 2 Tech Support and they advised that i couldn't get an IP address, and put it down to a fault on my PC.
I then reformatted and reinstalled windows.
This did not fix the fault
Later i realised they had left both MAC Address labels on the back of the modem
I called them to advise
Level 2 Tech Support, updated the AOL system with the new modem mac address
This did not fix the fault,
I borrowed at friends Laptop, and could not connect, receiving exactly the same errors.

Later I found out that if you turn on the modem when the PC is already booted, then quickly do a cmd ipconfig /all, it will find the IP address but
the config advises something similar to this

IP address connection 192.***.***.***

Lease Starts: 05:16:15

Lease Expires:05:16:45

um, is that not a local address? And if it changes every 30secs not much point in ***ing it out