Any experience with Earthlink mailstation customer service?

shyblonde · Posts: 13 Location: Virginia

Has anyone had to use their customer service? How would you rate it?

Ragman · Posts: 2450 Location: Albany NY

Firstly..you don't specify whether or not this connection is broadband (hi-speed cable modem) or dialup (telephone modem)? I will assume here that it's a broadband connection.

You should know this about Earthlink Customer Service:
"... ongoing customer service and technical support complaints are a concern, as EarthLink has outsourced most of its call center operations."

I searched online for ratings surveys or consumer opinions of Earthlink Customer Service. I have read that they're not highly thought of, to say the least.

See the following link for one person's first-hand experience:

http://reviews.cnet.com/dsl/earthlink-dsl/4864-6539_7-31530215.html?messageSiteID=7&messageID=1480479&cval=1480479&ctype=msgid

"Recent past experience with DSL had following experience. This is based on in comparison to other DSL offerings.

1. Extremely high wait time for any kind of support. You normally are connected to junior agents who keep you on hold for 1/2 hr because they can't find senior agents to help them. The senior agents have following issues below:

2. No authenticity of earthlink policies.

3. No follow up service feedback.

4. Sales team giving false, incomplete, incorrect information to get customers into contract. Customers forced to pay (no-refund) penalty when and if unsatisfied.

5. Incompetent English language speaking support people (No they were not from India). They were found to be rude and had complete lack of knowledge both technically and policies. I had several incidents with proof. Some of the tech support after realising would cut of the chat or cut of the phone, making excuse they are transferring to senior agents.

Avoid earthlink ant any cost.
contact for more details & information: tekexpert@yahoo.com"

*******
A total of 37 CNET consumers rate Earthlink CS as 3.2 out of 10:

http://reviews.cnet.com/dsl/earthlink-dsl/4852-6539_7-31530215.html

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Here's a link to consumer ratings of Customer Support of ISPs:
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/internet/isp/

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/internet/isp/comparison.html

shyblonde · Posts: 13 Location: Virginia

Wow ... so it's not just me!!

Background: I purchased a Cidco mailstation for my mother to use ... these nifty devices were great for someone like her who didn't use the internet except for emails. It was a dialup service. A few years ago, Earthlink took over and then the problems with service began.

Everything that you posted, Ragman, is so true. If I were to relate my experiences here, it would go on for page after page. I consider their customer service abysmal and virtually nonexistent. Between the difficulty they possess in mastering their customer's language, to the pre-scripted robotic answers, it was enough to make a person want to scream!

After months of trying to deal with them, I called today to cancel the account and they attempted to give me their usual song and dance. After transferring me around to various individuals who tried to talk me out of the rash decision to quit paying them for doing nothing, one service rep said he cancelled the account and gave me a confirmation number.

But for some reason, I have a feeling it wasn't cancelled. Just a nagging feeling based on past experience with them. I have never known them to do what they said they were going to do ... but we'll see.

The mailstation customers can not use the Earthlink website for account issues so you are forced to correspond with their customer service via phone.

I was curious if it was a pattern or if I was just an unlucky customer. Sorry others have had problems too but I guess there's some comfort in knowing it wasn't just me!

The good news is that now my mother now has a computer and an email account as well as full internet access. And not with Earthlink!!

Ragman · Posts: 2450 Location: Albany NY

good job, Shyblonde! I hope your mom appreciates your efforts. Well done!

When an ISP farms out Customer Service call centers to a foreign land, don't train their front line CS people other than to repeat a pre-scripted text to follow, they are exporting jobs from out shores. Worse than that, they show they don't care about customer based and only respect and desire profit. The tragedy is that their second line of customer support people if you should get unlucky enough to get them are almost as ill-prepared. By the time your support problem gets to the "third line" of support, that's where the technical expertise really is, if there is any in their Tech Support chain. 98% of problem don't get that far. Hence, the company shows more profit by staffing Tech Support with script readers or non-technical "handlers".

Conversely, these companies can't keep really good technical people for very long because, as corporations, they abuse these people by over working them or underpaying them. Senior level Tech Support often moves on from these positions, if they're good, within a year.

Turn over ... turn over!