AOL free. A question.

[killmeplease]

I have to go out of town for an extended stay. I have cable at home, but I'm staying at a hotel and want web access for the short stay (2 weeks)

Can I use one of those god-awful "Free AOL" Cd's and dial up to a local number without having to sign on to a contract? Is there a better way?

Anybody do this?

 

[pyonir]

netzero

 

[chiwawa626]

howbout netzero?
well just sign up with aol then just call em when ur done (before months over) and tell em u quit..

 

[jsbush]

netzero works good.

 

[killmeplease]

Netzero? Is that one of those "banner all the time" ISP's? I'll check'em out.

 

[kulki]

dude I wouldnt recommend aol. Its a pain tyo be put on the hold for an hour just to cancel your account.

 

[pyonir]

<< dude I wouldnt recommend aol. Its a pain tyo be put on the hold for an hour just to cancel your account. >>



i called and cancelled the other day...no hold time at all. the guy tried everything in the book to get me to stay. he quit when he asked if i knew about the educational chat rooms, where i could talk to real professors. i said, "Doug, i work for a university. so i can talk to them in person." it was like pulling teeth getting my cancel confirmation code.

 

[killmeplease]

I see how the AOL thing works now. Kinda like a "free issue" for a magazine. You basically subscribe, then jump through hoops to unsubscribe. That's helpful.

The Netzero thing seems about right for what I need.

Appreciate all the help.

 

[killmeplease]

One more question. Netzero says 98/ME/NT only. I assume it's XP compatable.

Am I FORCED to install this crap?

 

[kamiam]

<< One more question. Netzero says 98/ME/NT only. I assume it's XP compatable.

Am I FORCED to install this crap? >>

if you think thats crap, just wait till you see what AOL installs...ROFLMAO

 

[wyvrn]

I used AOL for a week cause of AT&T @ home fiasco. Well it actually was a pretty fast connection. Got the job done, and I had no problem disconnecting my account. AOL even sent a very respectfull letter offering to keep my username for 6 months in their system, in case I ever changed my mind.

Hmm..

 

[killmeplease]

<<

<< One more question. Netzero says 98/ME/NT only. I assume it's XP compatable.

Am I FORCED to install this crap? >>

if you think thats crap, just wait till you see what AOL installs...ROFLMAO >>



<shudder>

I guess I'll just plan on reformatting the notebook after my trip.

 

[UltraQuiet]

<< AOL free. A question. >>



Overpriced.

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

Try MSN 30 day free trial.

..ew

 

[mrCide]

uh, i don't know what you guys are talking about. i've signed up with aol like 3 times in the last couple years.

first time after a month i just called to cancel, 'yeah i'm done with aol' after maybe 5 minutes of hold time, didn't pay. second time i signed up and called to cancel 'but sir you have 3 months free still' 'um ok..' i call again 2.5 months later to cancel 'yeah i'm ready to cancel' 'sure no problem'

no hold time no hassle..

 

[NakaNaka]

I would much rather do AOL than Netzero. If you just need it for a couple weeks it definitly gets the job done.

 

[DAWeinG]

AOL's pretty tricky... You sign up for that 1000 hours thing and when you're about to cancel... They pretty much cajole you into taking one more free month. You keep saying you want to cancel and they just ignore you... Damn them!

 

[tm37]

I once joined AOL for ONE NIGHT. Joined at about 5pm canceled at 11PM!:Q

Tha lady was really shocked and Said"You haven't even used it one day!" I said Yeah but I really didn't like it.

I had download my ISP Install from Pacbell. This was about 4 1/2 years ago!

 

[JediHacker]

With Netzero you will never get on...

 

[killmeplease]

<< Try MSN 30 day free trial.

..ew >>



If they offer it, they are hiding it pretty well.

 

[sohcrates]

yeah, i signed up for AOHELL when my cable modem went down for one day

I called about a week later to cancel it and it was awful...the lady just would't do it

I basically had to get all pissed off with her and she finally gave me my cancel code or whatever...

what's up with the cd cover saying "no credit card required?"

it very well DOES ask for all that info....false advertising?

 

[wyvrn]

<< yeah, i signed up for AOHELL when my cable modem went down for one day

I called about a week later to cancel it and it was awful...the lady just would't do it

I basically had to get all pissed off with her and she finally gave me my cancel code or whatever...

what's up with the cd cover saying "no credit card required?"

it very well DOES ask for all that info....false advertising? >>



Yeah that is one thing that pissed me off. I think it gives you the option of calling them and giving a checking account or something. Easier just to put the credit information in.

 

[sohcrates]

<< [
Yeah that is one thing that pissed me off. I think it gives you the option of calling them and giving a checking account or something. Easier just to put the credit information in. >>



do you think they'd really know if you put in all fake info? i didn't see any immediate credit check go through...

 

[yakko]

<< I guess I'll just plan on reformatting the notebook after my trip. >>

Why?

 

[cavingjan]

I actually still keep my old AOL account active for when I travel. I have the old $3.95 for 5 hours a month plan plus a bunch of unused hours from a couple years ago so it covers when I'm gone.
Any of the freebies will require that you install their software.
Does your cable company have a backup phone system? @home in Philly had a deal with another ISP to allow phone connections. This was the @home right outside of Philly so I don't know if it was them or the cable company itself. There were a lot of IT people in the neighborhood that needed that type of service.