By Gary Kirchherr
Faithful readers of this column know I'm no fan of America Online. And now I have lots of company, thanks to AOL's flat-rate-pricing debacle.
I quit AOL in 1995 when I became fed up with the arbitrary censorship of its chat rooms and bulletin boards. Around that time Internet service providers had just begun operating in Holland. ISPs offered local phone numbers. They offered excellent customer service. And they allowed Web-surfers to use any software they chose. All missing from AOL.
But the real ISP advantage -- until recently -- was cost. For the $20 to $30 a month ISPs charge for unlimited access, computer users could spend as much time online as they wanted. Obviously this was a far better deal than AOL's $3 an hour -- and Ameritech's $6 an hour for calling the AOL number in Grand Rapids.
This forced AOL to compete with online ISPs with its own flat-rate pricing.
Suddenly, AOL is all over the news. Seems that a lot of AOL customers want to take advantage of unlimited use. But AOL didn't have the resources to handle this when it launched the pricing plan, and now company officials are shocked -- shocked! -- about the problems its customers are having logging on.
This fact has not escaped the fact of attorneys general from across the country. Representatives from AOL and 20 attorneys general met last week to discuss the concerns. But New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco isn't satisfied -- he's threatening to sue AOL unless it promises refunds and stops promoting pricing plans it can't deliver. This would be on top of a handful of class-action suits AOL members already have filed against the company.
AOL for its part is promising to upgrade its system, but they won't be complete for months. Meanwhile, AOL chairman Steve Case is saying he won't issue refunds.
The story is getting interesting. Stay tuned.