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maxintosh · Jun 30, 2007, 11:56 PM

My screenname, which I have had since 2nd grade literally (I had the beta version of AOL, my father worked for the company early on) all the way through college graduation, has suddenly been "suspended" after we cancelled our AOL service. Apparently they suspend your AIM s/n after you cancel your AOL account? This is absolutely ridiculous.. I love this screen name and now, poof, gone.

My mother can't get her AOL Webmail on this address anymore either.. Does anyone know how on earth to get it back?

Thanks...

KeriVit · Jun 30, 2007, 11:58 PM

Why would you get to keep a screen name if you cancel the account?

maxintosh · Jul 1, 2007, 12:01 AM

We cancelled the AOL account, not AIM which I was also registered for. It seems that if the two were ever linked, then cancelling AOL also kills the AIM account. AOL is mostly getting rid of their paid services anyway.

KeriVit · Jul 1, 2007, 12:05 AM

Excuse my ignorance... doesn't AIM stand for AOL Instant Messenger?

EDIT:

OK, I have an AIM but it is linked to my .mac name... so if yours is linked to your AOL name....

maxintosh · Jul 1, 2007, 12:09 AM

AOL is/was a paid dial-up service that nobody used past the 1990s...
AIM was their free instant messaging system that I used entirely separately after, say 2001.

KeriVit · Jul 1, 2007, 12:16 AM

Yes, but if I am correct AIM is limited to a AOL MEMBER, .MAC MEMBER, etc. I'm aware of wha AOL is, however, I'm trying to figure out the link to AIM. I know I can only talk to my mom via AIM, she has AOL - I have .mac. Messenger, Yahoo- no go. She has kept AOL even though she switched to comcast, she pays extra to keep her AOL aact solely for her AIM.

Therefore, my thought is that you cannot use AIM w/o AOL or .Mac or whatever else the option is- this is the same with yahoo and messenger.

zro · Jul 1, 2007, 12:19 AM

You can have an AIM screen name without AOL service, however it seems to be their policy that when you terminate AOL as your service provider, they terminate screen names associated with the account.

There's no reason they couldn't let you keep the name for AIM, they just don't.

maxintosh · Jul 1, 2007, 12:19 AM

That's not true, you can sign up for AIM and AOL Webmail for free now. (Actually, AIM has always been free, but they recently made AOL mail free as well.)

And after canceling our paid service, we could use AIM and webmail fine for about 3 months. And then suddenly, poof.

Kerrigan · Jul 1, 2007, 12:29 AM

KeriVit, you're definitely not, eh, conversant with what AIM is. You do not need to have an AOL account to have AIM. It is a free service which has been around for ages and does not require an associated AOL dialup account. Many people still use AIM today and I imagine that less than 10% are connected to AOL's dialup service, which is why it's a bit unfair that maxintosh should have his be canceled.

IceEnclosure · Jul 1, 2007, 02:53 AM

I had IceEnclosure as my aim name for quite a few years and then poof it wouldn't work.

I got on some aol help forum and conversed with a tech who looked into it and said he didn't know why but the act. was closed or something and the screen name might be avail again in a long time (he said possibly a year).

irunat2am · Jul 1, 2007, 06:48 AM

Same thing happened to me when we got rid of AOL..but that was AGES ago. They told me the names don't become available for 6 months, then it is available again.

That was a long time ago, though, so try and get in contact with somebody from AOL and ask them how long it takes.

Good luck :/

TETENAL · Jul 1, 2007, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by KeriVit

Yes, but if I am correct AIM is limited to a AOL MEMBER, .MAC MEMBER, etc.

No, it's not. Both are free.

She has kept AOL even though she switched to comcast, she pays extra to keep her AOL aact solely for her AIM.

That's dumb. She can get an .Mac for iChat for free or (if they always "suspend" the AIM accounts for AOL users who cancel the service – which they really shouldn't by the way), then she can at least get a free other AIM account.

Big Mac · Jul 1, 2007, 07:19 AM

That's strange to hear because I thought AOL even started giving people free access to the account screen names they used to have for email and AIM purposes. Like others said, try calling them. At the very worst you could reactivate the account with a $3.99 a month plan.

Big Mac · Jul 1, 2007, 07:41 AM

This thread is talking about AIM accounts based on screen names that were originally registered as AOL login screen names, not AIM accounts that people created for free.

andi*pandi · Jul 1, 2007, 07:43 AM

I signed up for aim before I had .mac (before there was .mac) and still have it. I've never had AOL.

ghporter · Jul 1, 2007, 08:49 AM

Your AOL screen name goes with AOL. Totally and completely. And it's LOCKED with AOL-they won't release it. I have an AOL screen name that is completely unusable for AIM because of this very issue. So I came up with another screen name for AIM, and all is well.

While AIM is connected to AOL, it doesn't require AOL membership, so AIM lets you use either an AOL screen name or an AIM-specific screen name. But as I said, AOL won't release your AOL screen name so when you cancel your paid AOL subscription, your AOL screen name goes with it. Their ball, their back yard, their rules...

KeriVit · Jul 1, 2007, 09:39 AM

That's all I was TRYING to say.

highstakes · Jul 1, 2007, 09:46 AM

There may be some truth to the 6 month limit (or longer?) thing, I couldn't use my old AOL names for AIM. Then few years back I tried to log in with my old name and everything was alright.

Angus_D · Jul 1, 2007, 03:24 PM

AOL suck. This is not news. Move along now.