Why AOL Can't Understand "Cancel the Account" [1]
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton [2] on
Vincent Ferrari managed to make a recording of his hilarious phone conversation [3] with a customer service representative at America Online, in which the service rep repeatedly stonewalled and ignored Ferrari's request to cancel his AOL account. After the recording began circulating on the web, AOL fired the employee and said he had "violated our customer service guidelines and practices." Shortly thereafter, the Consumerist website reports, "A plain manila envelope arrived on our desk. ... Inside was the eighty-one paged 'Enhanced Sales Training for AOL Retention Consultants' manual" which showed that in fact, "customer service John" was just following orders. The manual instructs employees that "every Member that calls in to cancel their account is a hot lead" and tells them to "retain control by redirecting the Member if necessary."