Is it still safe to play AOL with their own CD for a free month or so?

[MichaelD]

I'll be going on a business trip this month. I no longer have a dialup account; I need internet access or I'll die.

AOL still sends me CDs in the mail (the one month free, cancel with no obligation thing).

Can I play them for a month or so and get away scott free? Will I be able to access things like my boxes at home? (I don't know what ports,etc AOL blocks)

Thanks.

ps
This had better not get locked...not that I can do anything about it, but it's not like I'm doing anything wrong. AOL advertises the "cancel at any time" themselves!

 

[nakedfrog]

I used it for three or four months and never paid them anything. Every time I called to cancel, they gave me another month. Finally just had to say "NO, I just don't want it at ALL any more, even if it's FREE!"

 

[Gurck]

I doubt it, most people claim their cards were charged after they cancelled...

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Gurck
I doubt it, most people claim their cards were charged after they cancelled...

I've heard both your claim AND nakedfrog's claim. Obviously, my concern is getting charged for it.

IMO, "One month free, no catch" is exactly that.

 

[tami]

you have 45 days now, i believe.

i cancelled a temp account i made awhile ago (september) and i haven't gotten charged.

 

[Gurck]

You could stop payment with your credit card company should it happen, but it seems like a hassle.. you have a notebook, I assume, and a wireless card? Why not see if there's anyplace where you're going that offers free wireless access, iirc some Starbucks do.

 

[Farkshiatdamn]

give them a one-time use cc#

 

[xSkyDrAx]

I had a friend that was able to turn his free 1 month into a free 1 year

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Gurck
You could stop payment with your credit card company should it happen, but it seems like a hassle.. you have a notebook, I assume, and a wireless card? Why not see if there's anyplace where you're going that offers free wireless access, iirc some Starbucks do.

*ding* Correct. However, I don't have complete control over where I wind up staying...kinda hard to explain. Corporate makes reservations far in advance...sometimes I get over like Rover, sometimes I screwed, blued and tatooed. :Q

Gotta have the dialup in reserve, JIC. It sucks but it's infinitely better than nothing.

 

[Xionide]

I did it and never got charged. Took me over an hour to cancel tho after being accused of creating a fake identity on other times when I called. Worth it? Maybe. But if I had the money I would just pay for a company that has a lot of numbers to dial into.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

AOL software is like herpes for your computer. Once its in, its NEVER out.

Keep those CDs where they belong... as coasters.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Xionide
I did it and never got charged. Took me over an hour to cancel tho after being accused of creating a fake identity on other times when I called. Worth it? Maybe. But if I had the money I would just pay for a company that has a lot of numbers to dial into.

Agreed...to a point. I used to have NetZero. They have a minimum 5 month signup. Where the HELL they got FIVE (not 3/6/9/12 like you would figure) is beyond me. $10/mo plus connection fee. No thanks.

My company has OWA; I can get to my company email, but that's it; ie. no web access. :roll:

 

[glenn1]

I'll be going on a business trip this month. I no longer have a dialup account; I need internet access or I'll die.

Why not use an ISP that's not a complete goatfu*ck instead and won't hose your OS install, something like Access-4-Free?

 

[deftron]

Stay in a decent hotel that has broadband

 

[Skiguy411]

What ISP do you have at home?

I know Road Runner has dial access for free.....

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I don't have complete control over where I wind up staying...kinda hard to explain. Corporate makes reservations far in advance...sometimes I get over like Rover, sometimes I screwed, blued and tatooed. :Q

Originally posted by: deftron
Stay in a decent hotel that has broadband

...

You could take access4less.net into consideration, it's $6 a month and no hassles or malware.

 

[deftron]

Didn't see where you didn't know where you'd be staying..


Whats your ISP now ?
Alot of cable companies and DSL isp's offer a dial up number
for reserve to use if you're traveling or your cable goes out, etc...

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: deftron
Didn't see where you didn't know where you'd be staying..


Whats your ISP now ?
Alot of cable companies and DSL isp's offer a dial up number
for reserve to use if you're traveling or your cable goes out, etc...

Hmm. I have QWest at home. I'll have to check them out. Maybe they have free dialup? BRB.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Funny that you have an issue with NetZero.

They own Juno and state that they provide up to 10hrs free each month.
I am able to access their system from most parts of the country.

 

[Zeeky Boogy Doog]

someone my friend's dad worked with got free internet for about 3 years through the cds, he stoped doing it becasue the company started paying for it

 

[BannedTroll]

I didn't get charged. I did however get yelled at by a I nice Indian lady who insisted that I was somehow robbing AOL by trying their service and cancelling when the trial was up. She said I couldn't do that. Of course you may be able to avoid this by answering the "why are you canceling" question with something other than " honestly? because AOL sucks but I needed some free access".

 

[KingNothing]

Whenever I'll be staying in a hotel for several days I always sign up for a free AOL account. You can get local access numbers anywhere and it works great. Don't know about port blocking though, only thing I ever try to do is check e-mail, get driving directions, etc.

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Can I play them for a month or so and get away scott free? Will I be able to access things like my boxes at home? (I don't know what ports,etc AOL blocks)

I don't think that term can be used anymore after the Petersen trial

 

[Stark]

yes, you can sign up and get the free offer and cancel.

i did it when i first got my laptop (1 year free), but of course I didn't cancel until month 13 when I notice a $30 charge on my CC. They got me, and I think i only used the service once (for access on a business trip).

 

[MichaelD]

Well, as I expected, there's no clear answer on any of QWest's pages. I.E. to the question "I am an existing home DSL customer; does my account come w/free dialup access for when I'm traveling?"

I sent their TS an email...hopefully I get a reply back. I've had to call them in the past over billing issues and was on hold 30 minutes each time. :roll:

If Idon't get an answer I'll just snag a handful of AOL CDs.