Online reactivation of an account or service

• US 7,831,441 B1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Issued: 11/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Donegan, Thomas Neal, Swann, Allen Thomas, Juneau, Brad Joseph, Tobin, Patricia Carter, Kochetkov, Dmitri Vasilievich, Weiss, Gregory John, Bishop, David Crane
• Primary Examiner(s): CAMPBELL, SHANNON S
• Application Number:
  US12/163,285
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 705/5, 705/1.1
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Responding to an account reactivation request includes receiving an account reactivation request from a former subscriber having a deactivated account and automatically accessing stored account information related to the deactivated account based on the account reactivation request. The stored account information is compared with a reactivation standard to produce a comparison result. Based on the comparison result a response to the reactivation request is provided. The receiving, accessing, comparing, and responding may be performed by a computer without interaction between the former subscriber and a service representative.

Claims

1. A method of responding to an account reactivation request, the method comprising:

receiving an account reactivation request from a user having a deactivated account;

based on the account reactivation request, identifying an attribute of the deactivated account of the user;

comparing the identified attribute of the deactivated account of the user with account reactivation criteria;

based on comparison results, determining an eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request received from the user having the deactivated account;

determining, by a computer, whether the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies a first threshold score and a second threshold score;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the first threshold score and the second threshold score, responding to the account reactivation request with a first response;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request does not satisfy the first threshold score or the second threshold score, responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response; and

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the first threshold score, but does not satisfy the second threshold score, responding to the account reactivation request with a third response that is different from the first response and the second response,

wherein responding to the account reactivation request with a first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account without requiring acceptance of an additional condition by the user,

wherein responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting the additional condition, the additional condition being a condition placed on a reactivated account that was not placed on the deactivated account, and

wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting the additional condition comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting a payment method that differs from a payment method required by the deactivated account.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving, identifying, comparing, determining, and responding are performed by a computer without the user interacting with a service representative.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

responding to the account reactivation request with a first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account; and

responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response comprises rejecting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

responding to the account reactivation request with a first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account and offering the user an additional benefit that is in addition to reactivation of the deactivated account; and

responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account without offering an additional benefit.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein offering the user an additional benefit that is in addition to reactivation of the deactivated account comprises offering the user a service or account upgrade.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

responding to the account reactivation request with a first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account without requiring acceptance of an additional condition by the user; and

responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting the additional condition, the additional condition being a condition placed on a reactivated account that was not placed on the deactivated account.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting the additional condition comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting a service or an account downgrade.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting the additional condition comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting an agreement to provide a guarantee of payment.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:

responding to the account reactivation request with a first response comprises reactivating the account with the same terms of the deactivated account;

responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response comprises rejecting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account; and

responding to the account reactivation request with a third response that is different from the first response and the second response comprises reactivating the account with terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein:

responding to the account reactivation request with a first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account and offering a reward for choosing to reactivate the account; and

responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account without offering the reward for choosing to reactivate the account.

10. A method of responding to an account reactivation request, the method comprising:

receiving an account reactivation request from a user having a deactivated account;

based on the account reactivation request, identifying an attribute of the deactivated account of the user;

comparing the identified attribute of the deactivated account of the user with account reactivation criteria;

based on comparison results, determining an eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request received from the user having the deactivated account;

determining, by a computer, whether the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies a threshold score;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account with the same terms as the deactivated account; and

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request does not satisfy the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account,

wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting an altered payment condition.

11. A method of responding to an account reactivation request, the method comprising:

receiving an account reactivation request from a user having a deactivated account;

based on the account reactivation request, identifying an attribute of the deactivated account of the user;

comparing the identified attribute of the deactivated account of the user with account reactivation criteria;

based on comparison results, determining an eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request received from the user having the deactivated account;

determining, by a computer, whether the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies a threshold score;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account with the same terms as the deactivated account; and

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request does not satisfy the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account,

wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting a trial period for reactivation.

13. A computer system comprising:

at least one computer; and

at least one computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one computer having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one computer, causes the at least one computer to perform operations comprising;

receiving an account reactivation request from a user having a deactivated account;

based on the account reactivation request, identifying an attribute of the deactivated account of the user;

comparing the identified attribute of the deactivated account of the user with account reactivation criteria;

based on comparison results, determining an eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request received from the user having the deactivated account;

determining whether the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies a first threshold score and a second threshold score;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the first threshold score and the second threshold score, responding to the account reactivation request with a first response;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request does not satisfy the first threshold score or the second threshold score, responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response; and

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the first threshold score, but does not satisfy the second threshold score, responding to the account reactivation request with a third response that is different from the first response and the second response,

wherein responding to the account reactivation request with a first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account without requiring acceptance of an additional condition by the user,

wherein responding to the account reactivation request with a second response that is different from the first response comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting the additional condition, the additional condition being a condition placed on a reactivated account that was not placed on the deactivated account, and

wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting the additional condition comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting a payment method that differs from a payment method required by the deactivated account.

14. A computer system comprising:

at least one computer; and

at least one computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one computer having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one computer, causes the at least one computer to perform operations comprising;

receiving an account reactivation request from a user having a deactivated account;

based on the account reactivation request, identifying an attribute of the deactivated account of the user;

comparing the identified attribute of the deactivated account of the user with account reactivation criteria;

based on comparison results, determining an eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request received from the user having the deactivated account;

determining whether the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies a threshold score;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account with the same terms as the deactivated account; and

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request does not satisfy the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account,

wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting an altered payment condition.

15. A computer system comprising:

at least one computer; and

at least one computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one computer having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one computer, causes the at least one computer to perform operations comprising;

receiving an account reactivation request from a user having a deactivated account;

based on the account reactivation request, identifying an attribute of the deactivated account of the user;

comparing the identified attribute of the deactivated account of the user with account reactivation criteria;

based on comparison results, determining an eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request received from the user having the deactivated account;

determining, by a computer, whether the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies a threshold score;

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request satisfies the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account with the same terms as the deactivated account; and

conditioned on a determination that the eligibility score associated with the account reactivation request does not satisfy the threshold score, accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account,

wherein accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting terms changed from the terms of the deactivated account comprises accepting the account reactivation request of the deactivated account conditioned on the user accepting a trial period for reactivation.