louisd Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 I have an old AOL account that I use because some old friends have it as my only contact. Because I rarely use it I have an old $4.95/mo plan from AOL that only gives me 3 hours. In reading the set-up about using popgate to get e-mail from AOL it warns that minutes are used to check e-mail accounts through that method. Are we sure that this is correct? I've had it running for two days now and my AOL account billing info shows no minutes being deducted. If anyone can verify which is correct, it would be appreciated. --Louis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff G. Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 My information was unverified, but straight from my memory of the red section of http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/305.html : AOL USERS NOTE: I've been told that checking your AOL mail will use one minute of usage on your AOL account. We will check almost 100 times per day, so even if you receive no mail at all, that will be 100 minutes of usage per day or 50 hours of usage per month. If you pay for usage, you don't want to use this service. I think most people get unlimited usage, but if you are paying for a light plan which only includes 20 or 30 hours of usage, don't have us POP your mail or you will be in for a surprise. We are NOT RESPONSIBLE for any charges which result from accessing your email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefft Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 I have an old AOL account that I use because some old friends have it as my only contact. Because I rarely use it I have an old $4.95/mo plan from AOL that only gives me 3 hours. In reading the set-up about using popgate to get e-mail from AOL it warns that minutes are used to check e-mail accounts through that method. Are we sure that this is correct? I've had it running for two days now and my AOL account billing info shows no minutes being deducted. If anyone can verify which is correct, it would be appreciated. --Louis You can be the guinea pig, I guess. The method in which we retrieve your email is supposed to be a method that AOL does accounting on. They should show us actually logged into your account. If you don't see any charges, that's great. I still wouldn't recommend it, though, because AOL could change how they do billing at any time. There's no guarantee this will stay free except for unlimited usage customers. JT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisd Posted January 29, 2004 Author Share Posted January 29, 2004 You can be the guinea pig, I guess. The method in which we retrieve your email is supposed to be a method that AOL does accounting on. They should show us actually logged into your account. If you don't see any charges, that's great. I still wouldn't recommend it, though, because AOL could change how they do billing at any time. There's no guarantee this will stay free except for unlimited usage customers. I confirmed with AOL this afternoon that whatever method popgate uses doesn't seem to be hitting my account. They see the signins that I have made throught their client and even through their webmail system, but nothing from popgate. That's odd and I'll keep an eye on it for the next few days. --Louis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidT Posted July 30, 2004 Share Posted July 30, 2004 I have an old limited-use AOL account ($4.95) mostly for my teenager, and I've been using the "popgate" method for the last several days. I briefly logged into AOL's Help area to check my usage and found that the popgate sessions are being seen by AOL as similar to AOL webmail sessions, and are not incurring any charges. I guess I'll have to wait for my next AOL bill to be absolutely sure, but it appears that the warning to AOL users about using minutes or incurring charges found in the SC FAQ here: http://mailsc.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/305.html and repeated in this pinned item here: http://forum.spamcop.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=13 is not correct. dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisd Posted August 2, 2004 Author Share Posted August 2, 2004 I guess I'll have to wait for my next AOL bill to be absolutely sure, but it appears that the warning to AOL users about using minutes or incurring charges found in the SC FAQ here: http://mailsc.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/305.html and repeated in this pinned item here: http://forum.spamcop.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=13 is not correct. dt 14338[/snapback] I have been using the system for months with no charges, so it appears the FAQ is wrong. --Louis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 DavidT's reference to "webmail access" may be the explanation ...??? Perhpas AOL changed things when they offered up the outside access to AOL e-mail, which was long after that FAQ was written ...???? Wondering if "we" might get a few more AOL users to chime in and ensure that a FAQ change in that warning wouldn't screw someone else up. This is reminding me of the scenario that Yahoo.uk still allows free POP access and forwarding, but the U.S. 'version' requires a paid account for these features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidT Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 DavidT's reference to "webmail access" may be the explanation ...??? Perhpas AOL changed things when they offered up the outside access to AOL e-mail, which was long after that FAQ was written ...???? Don't think so...AFAIK, AOL has offered web access to mailboxes for a long time. Wondering if "we" might get a few more AOL users to chime in and ensure that a FAQ change in that warning wouldn't screw someone else up. Louis and I have tested this issue thoroughly. JT told Louis that he could "be the guinea pig" -- well, he was, and I've run thorough tests to replicate his results. The popgate logins are logged by AOL the same as webmail access, which is unlimited for all users, no matter how restrictive their plan. Louis and I are both on the most restrictive AOL plan, and AOL isn't charging us. Instead of deleting the outdated/incorrect warning entirely, I suppose that a disclaimer could be substituted stating that currently, the popgate method doesn't incur any charges, but because AOL could change it's billing rules at any point, it behooves the user to watch their AOL bills. dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 OK, there's your "webmail" access ... I'm referring to the change within the last year to allow outside POP3 access .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidT Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 OK, there's your "webmail" access ... I'm referring to the change within the last year to allow outside POP3 access .... 14487[/snapback] Ah...I see. However, if you do a little digging, I think you'll find that Netscape users have actually had access to their AOL mail long before the change in April 2004...I don't have time to do the research today, but I distinctly remember this as a feature of Netscape 6.0. BTW, I think the new AOL access is a flavor of IMAP, not POP3. [update] I just did a little surfing, and I was right...AOL customers have been able to use Netscape to access their AOL mail since the last millennium! (2000) Here's a link: http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailfaq/netscape6/ In April 2004, AOL further opened up access, but again, I think it's primarily IMAP access...although there are third party utilities that will convert to POP3. dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ihatespamcopandspam Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Ah...I see. However, if you do a little digging, I think you'll find that Netscape users have actually had access to their AOL mail long before the change in April 2004...I don't have time to do the research today, but I distinctly remember this as a feature of Netscape 6.0. BTW, I think the new AOL access is a flavor of IMAP, not POP3. [update] I just did a little surfing, and I was right...AOL customers have been able to use Netscape to access their AOL mail since the last millennium! (2000) Here's a link: http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailfaq/netscape6/ In April 2004, AOL further opened up access, but again, I think it's primarily IMAP access...although there are third party utilities that will convert to POP3. dt 14488[/snapback] Sounds to me like you guys just need to tell all your contacts your new email address and just drop crappy AOL anyways. You guys paying $4.95 a month for an email adress is pathetic. Give me 2.95 a month and I will give you 20 email addresses. AOL is for people who have never used the internet before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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