|
|
I Am *NOT* A Commodity!Mar 16 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Make sure your provider knows that you *won't* stand for being treated as a commodity! I've had the same internet account for about seven years, with a "smaller" company in the Phoenix area. A while ago (back in September, I think) the owner decided to "grow" a bit by selling off the "residential" users to another company. That company, ClearData Communications, has apparently gone belly-up. Bankrupt. Kaput. They no longer exist. While things were collapsing for ClearData, I made some inquiries, and discovered that my old friends were going back into business to reclaim some of what they felt ClearData had destroyed. At the end of January, we made our final arrangements, and I left ClearData. ClearData's personnel apparently either didn't get the message, or thought that leaving my name on their books would be "good business," as they sold off all of their assets (apparently including their "customer base") to another company, BOSS Technologies. BOSS Technologies is now billing me for two months of service, for which I never had an agreement. They're supposedly under a "shared access" arrangement for the domain in which my "regular" e-mail address resides, but my own ISP doesn't have any access to the server to effect repairs. So, I've been without my regular e-mail since Wednesday morning. I've been calling BOSS regularly to find out when I might retrieve the last of my mail and get off of "their" server, but they don't seem to have any employees who know what they're doing. Even worse, they seem to have an accounting department who is more than willing to stick me with a bill for "services" that I neither agreed to nor want! I'm stuck. I'd *really* like to keep my old e-mail address, but if companies without the foggiest notion of the meaning of "customer service" continue to buy up the customers from smaller companies that *do*, things are going to go downhill rather rapidly for the average consumer. I bought connectivity from SpeedChoice. They were purchased by Sprint, and now my "e-mail services" for Sprint are "provided" by Earthlink. Earthlink's personnel, like those at BOSS, apparently have no idea what "customer service" is. Hint: it's *not* the same "service" that a stud offers to the stock... Now, the original customers from Internet Access (neta.com) have been shuffled off to ClearData, from whom BOSS Technologies has "acquired" them. This is *twice* that I've been affected by the business dealings of my providers. I'm getting a little sick of it. The one thing I would recommend you to find in an ISP would be *service*. Earthlink doesn't provide it - they're more interested in increasing their numbers to look good for their investors. They don't seem to care that income for an ISP should be based on the *regular* users, not the new ones. The new users cost more in terms of support, setup, and paperwork. It's the regular users that actually pay the bills - and they're the *least* likely to willingly be "bought" and "sold" like pork bellies or orange juice futures. We, as users, should insist on being treated as *customers,* and not as *commodities.* When I choose an internet service, it's because I believe that they'll provide service. I do *not* wish to be transferred against my will to another "service" like Earthlink or BOSS, where I'm simply another number in the system (albeit a noisy one - I usually detect network and service problems *long* before the "technicians" at either of the above-named companies!) If you're looking for a new service, make it clear to the salesperson that you insist on a clause in your contract (assuming you go for broadband or cable, you'll probably end up on a contract) that allows you to terminate service in the event of your account being "sold" to another provider. It's pretty much the only way to insure that your "good" provider doesn't sell you off to a "bad" provider (again, like Earthlink or BOSS) and give you a ride through the world of "no service at all."  |
| Read all comments (1)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
