EYAL GOLDSHMID

Computer Help: Can I get help from AOL on a case-by-case basis without a membership?

Eyal Goldshmid
Special to TCPalm
Are you willing to put up with advertisements to keep your AOL Mail experience free, or would you prefer to pay for an upgrade to remove the ads from your interface?

Q: Is there a way to get AOL support on a case-per-case basis if you are not a monthly subscriber to their premium services? I keep receiving the following message and am not sure what to do: "We couldn't access this account: AOL. You might need to update your password or give the account permission to sync to this device." Any ideas? 

— Anonymous 

A: AOL offers email-based support for all subscribers, both paid and free, via this URL: https://help.aol.com/contact.

To contact them, click on the "Email Us" link found on the aforementioned link and email them with your issue. Responses may take a few days to arrive but they will eventually get back to you.  

If you cannot use your email account due to this error or other reasons, then try connecting with Customer Support via the information on this page: https://help.aol.com/articles/account-management-contacting-aol-customer-service-support.

For a quicker response, utilize AOL's "24x7 Live Support Plus" option, though this is part of their Premium subscription service and will cost you $9.99 per month to access. (The first 30 days are $4.99, it should be noted, as part of a current sign-up promotion.) Paying this fee includes upgraded account features like ad-free email, ID protection and such.

AOL itself does not offer an a la carte support option, however the $4.99 promotional buy-in for the Premium account does allow you to use their Live Support Plus feature immediately after signup  and this is far less expensive than any a la carte option you will find out there from AOL or elsewhere. Heck, even the standard $9.99 per month rate is less than any known regular service call cost.

Given this, it may be worth spending that just for the tech service. Plus, you can cancel your paid membership subscription and revert to your free account any time after signing up  and cancellation should have no impact on your email account, if that is a concern for you.

Having said all this, it should be also noted that research on the message above shows that it relates either to an authentication error that your email program is having when it attempts to log into your AOL email account. Simply put  there's a good chance the issue may be caused by the program you are using to access your AOL account and not AOL itself specifically.

The following page on the AOL Help website offers several solutions to fix this issue just expand the plus signs found there to access the various steps to follow: 

https://help.aol.com/articles/fFix-problems-reading-or-receiving-aol-mail.

If those options do not work, then try using the solution provided by "Andre for Directly" on this forum page on the Microsoft Answers site: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/sync-error-when-i-open-my-aol-mail-account/1e7396dc-47be-4bec-8195-6c3bca6074dc.

Untangling the web 

youtube.com/recollectionroad 

The site also offers some short films detailing cultural highlights of America's recent past such as an overview of high school life in the 1950s.

Do long-closed establishments like Shakey's Pizza Parlor or Steak and Ale spark fond memories for you? If so, then you may enjoy this nostalgic YouTube channel, which lets you revisit these establishments —  albeit virtually — through a library of short 10- to 15-minute documentaries. On hand are retrospectives of formerly popular restaurants, like those already mentioned, once thriving store chains — A&P, Montgomery Ward — and services that slowly became obsolete due to technology or other means  — drive-through Fotomats. The site also offers some short films detailing cultural highlights of America's recent past such as an overview of high school life in the 1950s.

Contact Eyal Goldshmid at egoldshmid@yahoo.com.