Earthlink on the road
Written: May 31 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Local access numbers across the nation
Cons: Hard to cancel the service!
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| rag47's Full Review: Earthlink |
I normally use a local ISP for my Internet access, but we were going to spend a month away from home, so I signed up with Earthlink, since calling my local ISP would have been long distance.
I have always had good service from my local ISP (and this is a common experience). The only disadvantage is when you are away and there are no local access numbers to call. So I signed up with Earthlink. I used one of their sign-up disks, which says on it you get a free webcam if you commit to a longer contract. This made it sound optional (I only wanted a month's service) but in fact you have no choice when you do sign up. After emailing I found out you don't have to accept the webcam and the longer contract.
The closest access number from Scottsdale was in Phoenix. I crossed my fingers and called it, and it did indeed turn out to be a local call, but I didn't know for sure until the phone bill came. I had no trouble with busy signals - almost always got through right away. The real problem is that it constantly nags you with that little dialog box asking if you want to disconnect. I pored over their knowledge base online and also Microsoft's, and even fooled with the registry but was never able to make this go away. It seemed like you just wrinkle your nose and that *&#$? dialog box shows up.
I found out that, while I could read my regular email via the Earthlink, I could not send email. After calling my local ISP, I found out that this is blocked for security reasons. There is a way around it, but I was never able to get it to work. I wound up switching to a free mail account from Yahoo! instead.
When my month was over, I tried to cancel the service using the Earthlink web site. They've got everything else there (opening new accounts, changing accounts, etc) but no cancel account. I finally tried to cancel by using the general account form, but it didn't work. I had to call their 800 number, go through voicemail hell and wait on hold for nine minutes. And then they kept trying to talk me out of it. I'm crossing my fingers that it's cancelled now.
All in all, not a very satisfactory experience. What would I do next time? Well I could try one of the free ISPs or just make the long distance calls, or try another of the national ISPs. I'm not sure what is best. But not Earthlink again.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
rag47
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Location: Issaquah, WA
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 12 members
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