Earthlink Customer Service (long, highly personal)

The BBQ Pit
1

An email I just wrote and sent to support@earthlink.net, service@earthlink.net and robinsonmr@corp.earthlink.net:
In June I requested DSL from Earthlink. I was told my system requirements, and was told all I needed was an Ethernet card. The person I spoke to said they’d arrange to send me an Ethernet card, and that I’d receive my hardware and self-installation kit within 7-10 business days. I did make it clear at this point that my computer was a Macintosh.

The Ethernet card came within a few days and I installed it on one of the PCI slots of my computer. The software that came with it had no Macintosh drivers. I figured that was just because it was plug and play. On June 29 my checking account was charged the price of the card, $24.61, by a company called Geo Graphics.

The self-install kit never arrived, so I called DSL Support on July 20, 2001 and spoke to Belinda at 4:38 p.m. She couldn’t account for the delay but promised I’d receive the kit within 7-10 business days.

It didn’t come, so I called back on August 2, 2001 and spoke to Kyle. He couldn’t find any record of my talking to Belinda, but he gave me confirmation number 28780714 and said I’d have the kit within 7-10 business days. I told Kyle I wished to complain about the service I’d received so he gave me the name of a manager, Jeff Flach, and the number (888) 829-8466. This was not a direct number and I was never able to find anyone at that number who had heard of a Jeff Flach.

I did receive the installation kit on August 10, 2001. I installed the DSL modem, the filters, the software and tried to connect. I was unsuccessful.

On August 11, 2001 I called DSL Support and spoke to John. He determined my DSL phone line was not working. He gave me reference number 29059173 and said he was forwarding my ticket to the people who liaison with BellSouth to resolve DSL line issues like mine.

I heard nothing for many days, so on August 20, 2001 at 5:55 p.m. I called back and got Casey, who transferred me to Sean with the DSL group. Sean could not find evidence I’d ever spoken to John. He told me he’d open a ticket with BellSouth (which John said he had done), speak to them and then call me back.

At 6:32 Sean called back. He said BellSouth “made some changes” to my account and I should re-try the DSL modem. No joy. Sean said he’d talk to BellSouth again and call me back again.

He called back later (after I’d gone out) and left a message saying it should work now. The DSL light on the modem was on now for the first time, but I still could not connect.

August 24, 2001 I called back and spoke to Zack. Zack determined that I’d been sent an Ethernet card that was incompatible with my Macintosh. He told me I’d be sent the right card, and gave me confirmation #29493887. He also put me through to Customer Service, who credited me a month’s service for my inconveniences.

By September 10, 2001 I had received no Ethernet card and still had not connected using DSL, nearly three months after requesting it. I called DSL Support at 6:05 p.m. and spoke to Scott. He put me through to the voicemail of Meghan Robinson, who Scott identified as the person who handled my request on the 24th. I left her voicemail explaining everything I’d been through up to that point.

She never replied. On September 12, 2001 I called DSL Support again and spoke to John Utterback. I explained that my new Ethernet card hadn’t arrived and asked him to check the status. He told me Earthlink hasn’t provided Ethernet cards since March, and NEVER provided them for Macintoshes anyway. He gave me Meghan Robinson’s phone number and extension and I left a second voicemail.

She never responded, so on September 14, 2001 I left a third voicemail for Meghan Robinson.

She never responded, so on September 18, 2001 I left a fourth voicemail for Meghan Robinson.

She never responded, so on September 20, 2001 I left a fifth voicemail for Meghan Robinson. This time I asked that if she is not the right person to be calling, to please forward my message to the right person.

She never responded. Meanwhile, I bought a new Macintosh, one which had an Ethernet card installed, and on September 22, 2001 I finally got a DSL connection.

I remain unsatisfied, however. I have received very bad treatment from Earthlink, which I feel needs to be addressed.

Moreover, I still have a useless Ethernet card which Earthlink has not attempted to buy back from me, as it fairly should.

And there’s the matter that I was given false information on several occasions, and promises were made that were never kept.

All of this is so far below the principles declared in Mindspring’s Core Values and Beliefs that I have trouble believing Earthlink contains that former company. I hope you can put my mind at ease.

I look forward to your prompt response.

2

I don’t know what else to say than “Damn, that sucks!” I hope you get a prompt answer. When (or if) you get an answer, I for one would be very interested in hearing what they had to say.

Good luck!

3

I’m a former DSL tech support agent (not with Earthlink) and I can tell you that your situation could have been a lot worse.

You should have never gotten your Ethernet card through them in the first place. For one thing it wasn’t free, and you could have gotten both a better deal and more information at a local store about what’s compatible with your setup. And it definitely shouldn’t have taken two freakin’ months for them to figure out your card isn’t working. They could have determined that in five minutes.

If Earthlink is anything like my company was, you shouldn’t get your hopes up about those emails you’re sending. Oh sure, you’ll get a sweet and friendly auto-reply apologizing for the poor service, blah de blah etc. But whoever reads them (if they’re actually read) will not care one bit.

Your best bet would be to (1) call tech support, (2) ask whoever answers to transfer you to a supervisor, (3) ask the supervisor to transfer you to his/her boss. (Our supes at this point would refuse, and give out only the corporate address.) With each person you talk to, make it very clear that you will either cancel (if you’re not under a contract), or sue and/or contact your state’s attorney general (if you are under contract). Don’t lose your temper, since they’ll drop the call the second you do.

It will probably take more than one call, but you should eventually reach someone who gets paid far too much money to speak to customers. They’ll likely refund you for the Ethernet card just to get you off their backs.

Oh, and keep writing down those ticket numbers. When the Tier 1 agent takes your call and you start rattling them off, the agent’s blood will boil. :slight_smile:

4

I think there must be a hitherto undiscovered law of nature that makes it impossible for good customer service or tech support to coexist with DSL.

5

Sorry, Max Harvey, your post wasn’t up when I started mine, and I didn’t preview.

No offense intended. (I am going to hazard a guess that you didn’t work for BellAtlantic or Verizon DSL divisions).

6

My family was so happy with its regular dialup Earthlink service that we decided to get Earthlink DSL. BIIIIIIG mistake. After jerking us around for 8 months, 3 failed installations, being charged three times for “terminating” service we NEVER received, and credit card fraud, we FINALLY got ELink DSL to leave us the hell alone.

Regular Earthlink is great. Earthlink DSL is the world’s biggest ripoff – I have yet to hear from someone who has Earthlink DSL and hasn’t been anally raped by the company.

7

I just received the following email from Sean M. at Earthlink “Electronic Support:”

"Hello (Fiver),

Thank you for e-mailing EarthLink Technical Support.

I have read over your email, I apologize for all the difficulties you have had with receiving our DSL service. I do see at this point that you are able to make regular, reliable dsl connections. I am glad of that.

I credited your account for another months service. This credit should be viewed as our reimbursement for the NIC card you purchased. I do not see any specific notes from when the card was arraigned for, nor do I see any billing on our end for a card. You also stated a billing through another company by bank draft, as you pay us by check I am also not sure how we could have arraigned for the billing of the account. That is mostly just an FYI for you.

I have passed along the information about your difficulty contacting without representatives to to resolve your issue to the respective supervisors for action. I hope the remaining balance of the months credit will in some way help to make up for all the inconvenience you have suffered.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us."
I guess how I got that Ethernet card in the first place, and how my checking account was charged for it, will remain a mystery, but otherwise I reckon this was an acceptable resolution to the problem. I don’t guess I’ll pursue it any further.

8

Actually, I have Earthlink DSL and it wasn’t too much trouble to get it set up, but I was migrated over from another ISP and all the hard work was already taken care of. My service is faster than my previous service, and I haven’t noticed any problems.

Now don’t get me started on Internet America.

9

Congrats Fiver,
I am glad it seems to have turned out okay. DSL activations can be a mess. I work customer service for Verizon (ex-GTE not Bell Attlantic thank you very much AHunter3). It could have been much worse.

It’s great that you took down all the names of the reps you talked to, the dates, the times, and notes. I learned that trick working for customer service and it came in handy with the Toys “R” Us Xmas fiasco 2 years ago.

I hope you enjoy your DSL. Me? I went for cable :slight_smile:

10

I want cable.

But the resident tech nerd of the house is out voting me.(Le Sang. This is you.) Even though we can’t get online about half the time.

I so want cable.

But I spend most days here on campus where they have actual, real, always on, internet service so I deal. Its just a PITA.

11

Bad, Bad Earthlink! Sad, Sad Fiver!

Happy Fiver now, or should I send out the whores? :wink:

For the record, I have cable. I don’t think we even have DSL capabilities in my area.

12

I’ve heard cable can be really slow, much slower than DSL, if many people in your neighborhood also have cable. Does anyone know how that works?

13

Certainly not to question Fiver’s or anyone else’s experience with bad Earthlink customer support, as I’ve heard complaints from many different people, but my personal experience with them has actually been really good.

I’ve been with Earthlink since their early days, '95 or '96. Never had a major problem with them, and the few times I did have to call up customer support, they were friendly and knowledgeable, and the problem was fixed pretty quickly.

Got DSL from them about a year ago. It took about two weeks longer to get it up and running then they estimated, but as I understand, this isn’t unusal with DSL, no matter which company you go with it. My DSL service went down for the first time last week. I called them up, they did some testing, told me they had to write up a trouble ticket, and that they should have an answer for me within 48 hours. It was back up and working within 36. Yay, DSL!

From what I understand (and I’m hardly an expert), cable and dsl have about the same theoretical topspeeds. But yes, your cable line is shared by all the people in your neighborhood, so the more people that are online at any given time, the slower your connection will be. Not so with DSL, which is for you and you alone.

Hope your problems with them work out, Fiver. I just hope our money isn’t being channeled to the Scientologists…