December 01, 2007
Voortrek Tech Bleg
Capt. LLama is going through a tech upgrade around their house, and has asked me, his son, for advice on a topic that is delicate: how exactly does one extract oneself from AOL?
They're going the cable modem/wireless route, which I've got a handle on what they need. But the big question is, if you cancel your AOL service, can you keep your AOL email address? I've pointed out that it is awfully expensive for just an email address, the key being not having to send around an announcement of the new address to a free account on yahoo, gmail or the like. I don't think he uses the AOL IM features so that's not a problem I believe (although easy to remedy, as ou just install their IM software separately).
Advice/suggestions are appreciated, keeping in mind that Capt. LLama is a regular reader so keep your AOL jokes to a minimum.
Posted by Steve-O at December 1, 2007 10:04 AM | TrackBackSir:
I just went through this routine. My wife is the AOLaholic and can't seem to warm to any other interface... so when we switched to cable, we phoned AOL at their service number and asked them what to do to downgrade to a level just one step above the free service, this way she not only keeps here e-mail address but still gets to go to all the customary stitching, jewelry and other boards of interest. I think we are paying $10 a month for this priviledge.
If all you want is to keep the e-mail address, I think you get that with the free AOL service and there is a way to switch to it online. Expect to also make some phone calls when nothing happens the first or second try, their customer service was not much to call India about. Also, I think you get much more advertising and pop ups on the "free" service, that is the trade off versus maintaining a minimum paid service.
Hope this helps.
Edward
Posted by: Terrapod at December 1, 2007 12:10 PMGmail has integrated chat if he needs the IM. But it only works with other Gmail users. That said, there are other free IM interfaces he can use - Yahoo for one.
If you need an invite, let me know.
Posted by: jen at December 2, 2007 04:22 PMIn addition, IIRC most of the free e-mail services (I'm pretty sure including Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail) all include utilities for importing your email address book from the sinking ship.
Posted by: Boy NamedSous at December 4, 2007 02:15 AMI kept AOL at the cheapest level for years, because I wanted to keep my email address, etc. Then, about a year and a half ago I decided it wasn't worth it at all and called up to cancel entirely. To my surprise, I was informed that I got to keep my same email address, etc., with no problem at all. I just go to aolmail.aol.com and access it just like a Yahoo or Hotmail account. Free email, same account name, no problem.
Posted by: House of Payne at December 4, 2007 06:59 PMÅÉDz»áÉç ļ½ð 䌧Ȯ ¤½¤ó¤Ý24 ¥½¥Ë©`“p±£ ¥¢¥á¥ê¥«¥ó¥Û©`¥à¥À¥¤¥ì¥¯¥È ¥¢¥¯¥µ¥À¥¤¥ì¥¯¥È ³ö»á¤¤ ³ö»á¤¤Ïµ Èý¾®¥À¥¤¥ì¥¯¥È ¥¼¥Í¥é¥ê ×Ô„Ó܇±£ê“ ¥¹¥Ë©`¥«©` ×Ô„Ó܇±£ê“¡¡±ÈÝ^
Posted by: DD at June 19, 2008 12:42 AM ×Ô„Ó܇ ±£ê“ ÒŠ·e ¥Á¥å©`¥ê¥Ã¥Ò ÕϺ¦Õß Ý”ÈëëjØ› ¥¢¥¹¥¯¥ë ȺñR¡¡¥Ï¥¦¥¹¥á©`¥«©`
ˆÎÓñ¡¡¥Ï¥¦¥¹¥á©`¥«©` ¸¡šÝÕ{–Ë ˆÎÓñ¡¡²»„Ó®b
³ö»á¤¤Ïµ¥µ¥¤¥È ³ö»á¤¤¥µ¥¤¥È
¥¥ã¥Ã¥·¥å¥Ð¥Ã¥¯¡¡¼´ÈÕ
²»„Ó®bͶÙY
ȺñR¡¡¥Ï¥¦¥¹¥á©`¥«©` ˆÎÓñ¡¡¥Ï¥¦¥¹¥á©`¥«©` ¸ßÖª¡¡²»„Ó®b Ôu¡¡²»„Ó®b ËÉɽÊС¡²»„Ó®b Ïã´¨±h¡¡²»„Ó®b ¸ßËÉ¡¡²»„Ó®b ²»„Ó®b¡¡ŽÚu ŽÚu¡¡²»„Ó®b Œùɽ¡¡²»„Ó®b ÙUÙJ ȺñR¡¡²»„Ó®b
¥¢¥¹¥¯¥ë ²»„Ó®b¡¡–|¾© ¸¡šÝÕ{–Ë
ˆÎÓñ¡¡²»„Ó®b
ËÉɽÊС¡²»„Ó®b Ôu¡¡²»„Ó®b ÖÎòY Ò°Éú„ÓÎï ¥¹¥Ë©`¥«©` Ý”ÈëëjØ›
Ò°Éú„ÓÎï
Image courtesy of the lovely and talented 