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The sad saga of 'Earthstink/Mindsting'
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Alpha-Omega
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Jul 30, 2003 16:52 PDT
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The sad saga of "Earthstink/Mindsting"
and the demise of customer service
By Jim Moore, Editor
You expect a used car salesman to lie to you. After all, you know that
"nice clean car" story about the one "only driven to church on Sundays
by a little old lady" is a crock.
But do you expect it from those you've regularly done business with for
12+ years and to whom you've shelled out thousands? After Enron,
World.com, Global Crossing and Martha Stewart, it seems lying is now
corporate policy. It's the old adage, "You do whatever it takes to
succeed" turned into "whatever it takes to get rich." If that means lies
and deception ... well, go for it.
Mindspring/Earthlink recently fired a quarter of its workers so the big
executives could keep their perks and excessive salaries flowing freely.
What they did was virtually eliminate their customer service department,
closing several service centers and heaping all the work onto the
shoulders of those in its Atlanta office.
The consumer felt the effects immediately.
After being a Mindspring customer since the 1980s, and watching it
gradually deteriorate after it was purchased by Earthlink, I still felt
it was better than AOL ("America Off Line") and most of the others. When
you called tech support, your calls were generally answered quickly and
professional by a friendly service technician.
So in January I referred Earthlink to a friend. Not being very
computwer literate, I was the one who actually called to set up her
account, carefully noting who I spoke to, the date and time and what was
said. In Tennessee, it is legal to record phone calls if you are one of
the parties to the call - and the corporations do it all the time
themselves.
I specifically asked "Otis" (how many of these people in sales or
telemarketing really use their own names?) about the month's free
service Earthlink and its acquisition Mindpspring advertised. Did it
apply to the limited account I was setting up on behalf of my friend?
Date 01/06/2003 - Otis in Sales (1-800-395-8425) at 3:31 pm CST
"Oh, yes," he assured me. "In fact, I'm setting up your referral credit
as we speak. It will be applied to your next month's statement." He went
on to tell me how my friend would receive free unlimited service for the
first month before the limited service kicked in.
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! "Otis" was less than candid, I discovered
a month later when I got billed anyway. The saga of trying to deal with
machines and e-mail rather than real people is one most of us know all
about.
In the "real world" if an employee tells a customer something - even if
he ismistaken - the business owner is honor-bound to stand behind those
promises. When dealing with computer-related companies you quickly find,
as Dorothy would say, "Toto, we're not in Kansas any more!"
My first response was brief and to the point:
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 9:06 AM (my times)
"I was told I would receive a month free for bringing you a new member!
The man I talked to, Otis, told me he had credited my account for it,"
to which I added the necessary accont information, time and date of the
transaction.
Their response was equally brief (except for the canned bit about
looking for help on their web site, which is of no help in a situation
like this):
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 7:10 AM (their times)
"Thank you for contacting us.
"We do not have a record of the referral credit you are waiting for.
Christian H. "
Now either Otis was doing what he said he was doing ... or he wasn't.
It's not really rocket science. I turned up the heat:
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 10:29 AM
"I feel like I was deliberately lied to by 'Otis'. He told me he was
putting the credit through while we were talking. I have been a
Mindspring customer for what - 10 years or more? I would like to
communicate with someone in a more supervisory position on this matter.
Mindspring/Earthlink has the legal obligation to stand behind what it
says.
"If this is the way you believe your customers should be treated - your
company is in for much harder times than you've experienced recently. I
will go out of my way to let everyone know, by person and via my online
newspapers, that Mindspring/Earthlink is not to be trusted ... that
unfortunately, they show no hesitation in lying just to get someone's
money."
Next comes the confusion abnd chaos routine. If the customer won't lie
down and die, you throw the crap at them:
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 2:27 PM
"We appreciate and encourage the referrals from our customers. However,
the account listed to receive the referral is not eligible, because
[the] account [name] is not showing any referee name in our records.
"For more information on the terms and conditions please visit the
following site:
"http://www.earthlink.net/referrals/terms/
"Please note:
"I see that your account does not have a secret word or pin (personal
identification number) on it.
"We would like all accounts to have this information for security
verification purposes in case you ever need to call us.
"Some people choose the last four digits of their social security
number or their mother's maiden name, or some other word or number that
means something to them like your favorite color or birth date, but not
your last four digits of your credit card number or password. What would
you like to use? I will add it to your account.
Also provide us any one of the following security verification:
- Last 4 digits of your credit card number we have on file
or
- Last 2 check numbers that we received from you and the amount of both
the checks."
Satyendra M."
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 3:11 PM
"Thank you for contacting us.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. The person whom you
have referred is not paid the First monthly bill yet. After we receive
the First month bill. As per the referral procedures you will be getting
the free monthly service. Thank you.
Venkat S."
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 4:40 PM
"Because this is an automated acknowledgement, we ask that you do not
reply to this message."
Next, they attempt to confuse the customer, cast doubts on their
integrity and even their identity. OK, I could handle that:
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 6:35 PM
"Do you have a person there named "Otis"? He took the order and set up
the account. He told me the first month was free with unlimited usage,
before it reverted to the limited usage. This is becoming increasingly
complex and discouraging! It seems you are putting as many roadblocks as
possible in the way of a person getting thepromised credit for
referrals. I just got an e-mail saying I was not entitled to a referral
because I had no PIN number or "referee name" (whatever that is).
"In 10-12 years as a Mindspring member, I have NEVER had a PIN
or"referee name" and have no idea what a "referee name" is even supposed
to be. Certainly, I can't find it anywhere in your online help."
Notice they chose to totally ignore the questions. Otis might as well
not even exist. Notice, too, there is no answer to the PIN or "referee
name" questions (since when do we have to have a referee?) and that the
same person nerver answers more than once before tossing it on to
someone else. It's like playing musical chairs, except the consumer is
vastly outnumbered.
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 8:35 PM
"Thank you for contacting us.
"We apologize for the confusion, but after reviewing this situation I
see where you may have been given some misinformation. However, that
doesn't change the end result, in that we cannot provide a referral
credit on a Limited service account.
"We appreciate and encourage the referrals from our customers. However,
the account listed to receive the referral is not eligible.
"The following Internet access plans are eligible for the EarthLink
Referrals Program: EarthLink Unlimited, EarthLink The Works, EarthLink
DSL (aDSL and sDSL), and EarthLink Satellite. The Internet
access-related portions of EarthLink High Speed Home Office and
EarthLink High Speed Gaming are also eligible.
"Please note that a number of EarthLink plans are ineligible for the
Referrals program. The ineligible plans include EarthLink Limited, Time
Warner Cable, Charter Communications, EarthLink Home Networking, and
every plan listed through EarthLink Wireless Services, EarthLink Web
Hosting, and EarthLink Business services. Subscribers to these plans
cannot earn credits for referring new subscribers. Conversely, new
EarthLink subscribers who sign up for one of these plans will not
entitle their referring EarthLink subscriber to referral credits.
"For more information on the terms and conditions please visit the
following site:
"http://www.earthlink.net/referrals/terms/"
Denise W."
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 12:07 AM
"I was SPECIFICALLY told by Otis that this account was eligible for
referral credit. I know because I specifically asked. Are you telling me
that it is OK for your employees to lie and that you bear no liability?
Now, after a string of e-mails in which you never even mentioned it, you
are now falling back on this as an excuse. I can't believe this. I must
consider taking my account elsewhere. I will be sending your PR
department a copy of our review of your service quality for their
comments."
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 12:07 AM
"Thank you for contacting us.
"We apologize for the inconvenience caused. We have checked on the
status the account, and our inquiries show that the account you
reffered has not been billed for first month, and generally referral
credit is added when referred account pays for at least one month
service charges to Earthlink.
"We will add the referral credit to your account in next month.
"If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this matter,
please feel free to contact us again.
Satyendra M."
Ah-hah! Satyendra again. They must have run out of musical chairs.
Well, has this persistence paid off? We'll wait and see a month from
now.
It's odd that, as the technology industry continues to flounder, along
with the rest of corporate America, those at the top seem to think the
answer is to eliminate or cut back customer service - when that's the
ONLY thing that sets them apart from competitors. Virtually anyone can
buy the equipment and go into business as an ISP. But apparently not
everyone can offer customer service.
Certainly, Earthlink/Mindspring - whom I will now forevermore refer to
as "Earthstink/Mindsting" - are not alone.
Have you ever tried installing Microsoft Internet Explorer 6? Don't!
You will never be able to remove it without destroying everything on
your hard drive once it starts going crazy - and with all of its bugs,
you can be assured it will.
Customer service? Forget it! Just a phone call on this brand new
product is going to set you back $250. And you'd better get that credit
card ready because they're going to try to sell you another $1500 in
just phone calls. Not solutions, mind you. Just phone calls. Probably
because they know they're not going to be able to help you and so
they're content just to make a killing off outrageously-priced phone
calls.
I guess poor Bill Gates has fallen on rough times and his billions just
aren't what they used to be.
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