Netscape-AOL Sign in Problems

For a couple of brief periods I had been an AOL member. The software and price always made me cancel before my free periods ended. Anyway, some time later I had went in and changed the email address of the last sign in account I had used to the then current ISP's email address I was using. This worked fine, and I was able to access the nice mynetscape page I had setup and the rest of the forum features, etc.

I have now switched to cable internet, finally getting myself off dialup. (Hurray!) So, I tried to signin so I could change the email again and also use the Netscape services every so often. It will not accept the User Name or Passwords. I tried opening a new account and it tells me the user name is in use. Yeah. By me! But it won't accept my sign in.

The help site explains that if I am an AOL Member there is a human to talk to at an 800 number, but as I am not all I can do is have them email me my password. This wouldn't help as I am no longer at the address they have, but even if it would I couldn't even access that service as it states it isn't available at this time!

I suppose I could use a totally new name. I'd prefer the same though. Is it because they deactivate accounts that are unused for a certain amount of time? But if that is the case, why do they still have it as being used?

AOL does things weird!

 

Whatever is happening is not weird at all. And, it does not matter if you are an AOL member anymore.
I happened to be an AOL member, and signed up with my AOL username and password. Next day, I found that I had gained a @netscape.net account with the same username and password as my AOL account.
So, every AOL, or Compuserve member past and present has an equivalent @netscape.net account. If you want to change the password only for the @netscape.net, you are out of luck. But, you could do that if you are an AOL or Compuserve member, and change the password there. But the the password will have to be the same as AOL, etc.
Also, you cannot have any Webmail username with the same AOL name belonging to someone else. I just learned this yesterday, and it makes sense if you have started doing things this way, but it is crazy.
I was feeling the way you do, and that's why I started with the "itismine" series of usernames, which I no longer use.
So, you have only one choice. Try a new username, and see if Webmail accepts it. Take what they give, and don't argue.

 

Westside,

Thanks for responding.

But it is weird!...Yes it is!

Heh, heh. You see, I haven't been changing any passwords or doing anything at all except letting them know what my new email addresses are so I could keep open the communication lines for stuff like, say, buying the latest Netscape cd and book. (No, I don't do that anymore but that's just an example.)

And, of course I don't mind taking what they give. I don't understand why the interface will acknowledge my username exists (when they won't let me create it again), but will not let me in by accepting the password when I type it in. It's as if AOL is punishing me for changing my email address from an @AOL.com address to what my last ISP was. I did this using the username that was the one from my aol account so I could continue to access the mynetscape.com that I had setup nicely without redoing it again.

And now, when I want to update it again, or even log on to the Netscape service at all, it won't recognize me. And that is what is weird.

I suppose when I get to it I'll just open a new account with another name. But wouldn't it be better for them and me if we could continue the relationship as the same name? I mean, for historical continuity. For them to keep track of stuff I buy and use so they can flash or email me advertisments, whatever?

It just seems I'm cut off from my account (and I don't mean aol, as I'm not a member anymore, but the Netscape.com account). And I don't think that serves them or me any purpose. It just seems like incompatence.

 

Dennis, I have a contact at AOL, and I sent him the following e-mail. I understand how you feel.

Mark,
I was able to set up, in every way, my account which I did not know I had, i.e. the one with my AOL username, thanks to your explanations. This made it simpler for me to respond to a question posed at webboard. The link is below. It shows the confusion and aggravation brought by a situation which did not exist until recently. The number of questions of this kind have skyrocketed, and there is nothing more than an evasive statement at the signon location, about possible problems, but no warning to a hapless user likethe fellow who sent the questions. There must be a way to correct this situation, and, to make people aware. http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=38387

I don't expect any immediate results, but people will get sufficiently confused that they will give up on Netscape Webmail. May be there are too many users, but this is hardly the way to do it, and many users have a significant number of e-mails in their Inboxes, and the 30 days or you are out rule, is not fair to such people.

fp

 

Thank you , Westside, for the help. I'll hold off on creating a new account in case the response will direct me how to reactivate the original account. If they insist, I'll just create a new one. So, they deactivate for non-use, eh? That's okay, as long as they free up the username as well. I doubt anyone signed up under mine, so the one that exists is probably the one I had. The deactivation just disables the ability to sign in with my password.

You'd think they would make it easy to come back.

 

Dennis,
I was extremely upset when they instituted the 30-day rule with loss of mail, because the non-use is more likely than not a server rather than user glitch.