AOL - softwae routinely dialed my computer into AOL, then sat online until booted out for inactivity. AOL directed me to a patch, which didn’t fix it. AND THEY KNOW A LOT OF COMPUTERS DO THIS – IT’S A KNOWN PROBLEM THEY DON’T FIX. Many more problems that I won’t go into. I cancelled them even when I was getting it for free. Not easy to do that either.
MSN - took 12 emails, 4 phone calls, 3 weeks, and my credit card number AGAIN, to cancel their 30 day free trial after 2 day’s use. Bill Gates probably gives these guys bonuses for stuff like this. If I gave it another week’s trial, they might have billed me for a month (and they still might, I’m watching for it) because cancelling took so long
NetZero (what I have now) - 9.95 a month? I only got a 15-month option, which takes the whole amount NOW, gives me no option to cancel service and get a partial refund unless THEY do something like stop serving my area. AND, you HAVE TO AGREE in the contract to answer their FUCKIN marketing surveys when they pop up. AND it will “autorenew” in 15 months unless I take additional steps to cancel the renewal (which I’ve already done).
When did the fuckin Mafia become the business model for internet companies?
Anybody have one that’s nationwide and you don’t have to exchange 7 emails with UNBELIEVEABLY STUPID corporate autoresponses before somebody on their end even undertands your issues?
Better yet, find yourself a good local ISP. Try the phone company. They’re generally cheaper, more reliable, and less likely to shove marketing crap down your throat than the Big Guys.
Ditto that, set it up through the Dial Up Networking, don’t load the Earthlink CD…I do that and it saves me from having a buncha shit on my system I don’t want.
But then again I use AOL as a back up in case Earthlink farts and I only use AOL 5.0, the other AOL programs suck.
Lucky for me, my Baby Bell is actually profitable, and won’t be sucked into Verizon’s gaping maw any time soon. Their phone service usually kicks ass, their cell service usually kicks ass, as does their dialup, and their broadband. I’ve got eight years under my belt with Fuse, and I’ve never had a problem.
Another vote for EarthLink. Decent customer service (in my experience) too.
Always, always, always, ALWAYS set up your connection through Dial-up Networking (or just do the Internet Set-up if you are on a Mac). There is no need for them to put their frickin’ software on your computer. It just causes grief.
You can usually find a local ISP that only has the configuring-Dial-up-Networking option. Not that you said you wanted a local ISP, but some of them aren’t that bad, and sometimes they are cheaper, too.
Another happy Earthlink customer, since they took over Sprint service years ago.
Never had a problem with customer service or tech support, even when moving across state lines. Now they are offering broadband in conjunction with Time-Warner while still keeping the Earthlink email addies AND being able to access dial-up service anywhere in the US.