Complain about a product or service

Earthlink

Earthlink • Tech Support • Cancellation disputes • Billing problems • "Free" trial • Other offers • DSL cancellation • DSL installation • DSL speed • Mailstation

Earthlink is big all right. By most reckonings, it's the second largest Internet service provider after AOL. Unfortunately, it shares many of AOL's bad habits -- the most notorious being the near impossibility of cancelling the service.

Below is a sampling of recent complaints. Click the links to the right for more.

Kim of Redlands CA (04/29/08)
I received a bill from earthlink stating that I am past due on some account they claim to have with me. I don't use earthlink. I am quite aware of every account that is legitimately in my name. So, of course, this is fraud. I tried to contact Earthlink, but I cannot get past the pre-screening on the phone and online because I don't have an account type or user ID registered with them. So, I faked a user ID by typing [website] and randomly choosing an account type and I finally got someone on live chat. He said he couldn't help me with that problem and referred me to the telephone number above... which doesn't work!

Any company that let's itself be duped by a criminal fraudulently creating an account should have all of the burden of fixing it. It seems that the only person who can't get into my account without sufficient proof of my identity is me!

Marc of Vancouver WA (04/22/08)
Our intranet service was terminated in Dec. 2007 (Earthlink has an expired credit card on file) we had always paid by check. When we contact them they said we had not made a payment with our credit card. When we tried to explain we paid by check they just kept saying our credit card was denied. We then contacted another person and we faxed copies front and back of cancelled check deposited by Earthklink. We kept getting calls.

Finally in late January I contacted them again (got a very nice person but did get her name) she reviewed our account back to January of 2007 and told me everything was paid in full. I thought it was finally over. Then the first of April I get a notice from CCA (earthlinks collection division)saying that we still owed for one month but couldn't tell which month I supposedly owed.

Between my wife and myself we have made no less than 10 call to Eathlink and or CCA with aboslutely the worst customer service I have ever experienced. No one seems to be able to give you any information or will accept any information from you. I have just mailed copies of the checks to CCA and faxed them to Earthlink Accounts Receivables in hopes that this can be resolved. I will never do business with Earthlink and I will do everything in my power to let everone know how hard they are to deal with.

They still say I owe them $21.95 plus some kind of pentalty.

Marilyn of Plainfield IL (04/16/08)
Have repeatedly tried to cancel their service. Requests are ignored!!

Tonya of Remlap AL (03/30/08)
I first signed up for DSL service with Earthlink on March 28, 2007 for 6 months for $19.95. I had already been a dial-up customer with them, but now DSL was being offered in my area. When July came around, I started being billed for $39.95 so I called and found out that a new promotion had started when I signed up for 3 months for $12.95 so that's the promotion I was under. I just thought to myself, I can't trust Earthlink. That was so deceiving.

So since July I have been waiting for March 30 to come around so I could cancel. I called a few weeks ago to let them know I did not want to be billed for another month as I would be canceling on the 30th. I was advised to call back on the 30th or be charged an early termination fee. That was fine. But supposedly the rep made a note on my account not to bill for another month. My Earthlink modem for DSL just happen to go out on Friday, 3/28, so I was without internet service. I called AT&T and got service on the 28th of March and found out I didn't have to have phone service. Well, this was great I thought. I can save some money so I canceled my phone service on 3/29/08.

When I called Earthlink today, 3/30/08, to cancel my service, I was informed that I owed $149.95 due to my phone service being canceled. I pitched a fit. I said if you want to get technical, I haven't had internet service since Friday anyway. The rep and I talked back and forth and she was nice enough (I'm being sarcastic) to take off $99.95 so I still owe $50.00. I was given a confirmation number and told I wouldn't be billed for another month, but I said I hope I can trust you because I haven't found anyone at Earthlink so far that I can trust. There were no notes on my account about calling and the rep said I could cancel on the 30th. Consumer beware!! I sure hate to lose $50.00, but I guess it's a lesson learned the hard way.

I'm being charged $50.00 that I shouldn't have had to pay. I do not have the money to waste like that.

David of Los Angeles CA (03/27/08)
In June of 2007 I expanded my Eathlink service to DSL, home phone, and home network. I have had DSL since 2004 with them. I was having problems with not being able to get a dial tone on my home phone intermittently since June of 2007. I would use live chat (since the phone didn't work) and would be put through the same process each time which would disconnect me from the live chat but never fixed the problem. In February of 2008 the problem with no dial tone got so bad I was missing important phones calls because they would go directly to the message center. I went back to AT&T on my home phone service but this caused problems with my DSL. I have spent over 6 hours on the phone in the last 2 weeks, been cut of four times and was told that the DSL was not available at this time and they would call me when it was available. I canceled all my service with Earthlink.

I will have to pay over $200 in early cancellation fees for services that they can't provide. It's worth it not to have to deal with their customer service again.

Lori of Seymour IN (03/11/08)
My daughter ordered and received a Dell Computer. In the package she received was software to install for EARTHLINK. She installed it because it was free for 6 months and set up an email account. I told her she would not need it since her college had internet service on campus, and we already had internet service on our home computer. She de-installed it from her computer. Three weeks ago we received a call for her to set up payment arrangements. I told them she did not, and had not, used it. Their records show her only use was in August when she set it up and de-installed it. She had to call in person to make sure it was canceled. She was told even though she received it and it said 6 months free, there was a $21.95 installation fee. Strange since that is not mentioned. I have never had this kind of service from any other internet provider.

Buyer beware. I told her to uninstall it in the first place because nothing is free anymore no matter what the advertisement says. She was sure someone couldn't legally mislead someone in this way. I was right. It is unfortunate in today's world that we cannot prosecute when false advertisement exists. It seems there must be some kind of gray area for false advertisement. It is really such a shame that a young person just starting out learns the hardest life lesson first. Even though you try to teach them that there are honest people out there, the first thing they encounter is this.

They wonder where all these class action law suits come from. It's not the money. By the time it gets divided out there is not money left. It is not the amount you are out, it is that companies are allowed to practice business in this way. If you will look this up you will see there are many complaints out there for Earthlink.

Doreen of New Milford NJ (03/05/08)
I noticed on the most recent amex bill a charge for $21.95 but I canceled their service over a year ago. Amex got 90 days worth of charges back for me, but I was told I had to work through earthlink to get the rest. Well, that was a joke b/c nobody could even verify that I was a customer, but yet they could charge me. They claimed to not even have the credit card number in their system. I was told it was an active account after they finally said they found it. Now I would like to know how I would have an active dial up account, as now that we have FIOS, I think I would know.

I need them to take every charge off since I've cancelled, it may be as much as $300.00. Let's see if anyone calls me back like I was told they would YESTERDAY, in 30 minutes, HA!

Wendy of Lubbock TX (03/01/08)
I had my equipment installed on Jan. 26, 2008. The installer called Earthlink to let them know my satellite speed was very very slow. After the installer got off the phone, he told me to call Earthlink back on the 27th and let them know that the sattelite is still slow. I did call the following day, and all Earthlink wanted to do was clean out my browsers, turn off my anti-virus, and turn off my computer. None of that worked, so then they ask me to do a speed test--9 total for the whole day. I've tried that, nothing worked. I called Earthlink back the following day and told them to cancel my account, and all they ended up doing was switch me to tech. support. I have called every single day since, and no one will help me at all. I have been called a vulgar name.

I have asked for a supervisor; they wouldn't let me talk to a supervisor. I asked for a manager--wouldn't let me talk to a manager, either. I have asked for a corporate number; no one would give it out. To this day, they will not let me cancel without paying them an early termination fee. I refused to pay the termination fee due to the fact that they do not know how to take care of the situation, do not provide correct support for the internet, and am being called names. I am not getting the service that I had requested, so therefore I see no reason for me to pay a termination fee. I would like to have this situation resolved as soon as possible. I am tired of calling them to cancel; I am tired of them cursing at me. This has got to stop.

Suzanne of Philadelphia PA (02/29/08)
In February 2008, I lost the ability to receive incoming calls through my Tru Voice service, and then I lost complete phone service AND DSL capability. Technical support kept me online for over an hour, and still the issue was not resolved. This was only the first of three phone calls and two online chats. As of writing this letter to you, I still have NO service. I requested cancellation and was told I would have to pay a termination fee of $149.95. This is insane! I have NO service. It is unbelievable that no one can straighten out my problem. This only leads me to believe that Earthlink does not wish to be bothered.

I have no phone service, no internet service, and I cannot cancel my contract.

John of Appleton WI (02/29/08)
I canceled my Earthlink dsl service. I called a few times and asked to cancel my service. I received the Earthlink dsl box from UPS. I am waiting for the return address label to send back via UPS. Over a month has gone by, and no return address label yet. I called Earthlink again about the return address label, so I can ship the dsl service box back to Earthlink. Earthlink said I would receive it via UPS in 2 to 3 days. It's been about a week now, and nothing arrived to me yet. What can I do ? I think Earthlink is a scam artist.

I talked to Earthlink people, and many of them sound like they are in India. After telling them I had canceled my Earthlink DSL Service and  am still waiting for the Return Address Label to send back the Earthlink DSL Box, they put me on hold. Then they tell me this and that, and ask me a few questions, which has nothing to do with my situation. I again told them I canceled my Earthlink Account, including the cancellation of my Earthlink DSL service. Nothing came back via UPS. Now what am I supposed to do? Please help me. Thanks for reading this.

Scarlett of Philadelphia PA (02/29/08)
After canceling my service (2.8.08) and making it explicitly clear that I wanted to move on to a new ISP because of their POOR customer service, Earthlink continued to occupy my DSL line for weeks. In essence, they prevented my new ISP to provide service. I called back to confirm that my service had been canceled (2.13.08). After I realized that simply asking Earthlink to cancel my service was not enough and that I had to explicitly ask them to 'release my DSL' line, I called back to do so. I formally asked Earthlink to release my DSL line on 2.20.08, which can take 5-7 days to do. In the meantime, my intended ISP keeps calling and leaving messages for me that the line is not yet released. In some ways, I feel like Earthlink has purposefully kept me from moving on to a new ISP, although I had asked to terminate with them on man, many occasions.

I am in academia and rely on working from home at least 1 day per week and in the evenings after leaving the office. Not having internet access from home has prevented me from doing so for the past month, which is critical. Not to mention, I have to take 1-2 hours out of my day each time I need to call Earthlink and/or Verizon to check the status of my order! Why does switching ISPs have to be so antagonizing? When one wants to switch long-distance phone companies, for example, the new phone company does all this leg work on your behalf. Why isn't this true for ISPs as well? It would be in the best interest of the new ISP to get the matter resolved quickly, and they would have the resources (and time!) to do so--not to mention, I know I have already paid Earthlink for service up to March 2008, which I know is non-refundable. My being held hostage and in essence prevented me from moving on, is completely unnecessary and is wrong, especially since they have on record all the times I asked them to terminate my service.

Vivian of San Francisco CA (02/28/08)
To begin with, the DSL/phone service Earthlink sold me never worked. The phone disconnected every few minutes, and 10 hours (literally) on the line with customer service did nothing to improve the problem. This was in December. Since December, Earthlink has illegitimately charged my credit card twice: first for a second month's service ($69.95), then for an early cancellation fee ($159.90), even though they have on record that I canceled during the month in which it was allowed.

After three phone calls, they refunded the first amount. They still have the money for the cancellation fee, however, though they claim they will refund it on March 7. However, they promised on two separate occasions at the beginning of January that it would not be charged at all, then on a third that it would only be charged if I did not return the DSL equipment. In the meantime, they would not allow me to remove my Visa information from the account. They charged the fee before the equipment got back to them (even though they could see it was with UPS). They then promised, on Feb 15, to reverse the charge within 7-10 days. Now they're saying March 7.

Yesenia of Simi Valley CA (02/28/08)
We opened an account with EarthLink in December because they advertised that their Internet speed we could get would be as high as 6.0 mbps at anytime. Because our phones and fax are with Vonage we needed the highest bandwidth available. We ordered the 6.0 and got 1.5 instead. After two months, after having them attempt to fix it, their technical installation professionals advised us they could not service our area due to them being 1400 feet away, and the signal would not reach. They even sent their tech. over here and again we were told the same thing.

We had no choice but to cancel their services today. On the phone, a person who claimed to be a manager, kept arguing with me. She wanted to send someone else to check our Internet, I explained to her, earthlink tech support advised me it would not be possible and to try Time Warner, when she heard that she told me I would be charged cancellation fee. I explained to her the only reason I had to cancel was because they could not give me the service they promised. I did not break contract, they did and then want to make me pay for their lack of ability in my area!

I have lost many customers over this ordeal, as I could not use my phones or fax so many times. On top of that I am being charged cancellation fees and no one in their company wants to review my account.

William of Jackson MI (02/26/08)
I tried Earthlink which came with a 6-mo free trial on my new Dell computer. I used it temporarily (7 or 8 days) until AT&T could hook up my DSL. Now they won't stop billing me through some company called Bill Me Later. Dell should not put their trial service on computers as they try to defraud consumers.

I don't owe them anything, but they will not stop billing me.

Daniel of New Port Richey FL (02/20/08)
I purchased a mailstation from Earthlink several years for my mother to keep in touch with her grandkids. She passed away last year, and I called Earthlink to cancel the mailstation service on 9-2007; however, each month I was continued to be charged. Each month I would call; they would apologize and tell me it is now canceled and gave me a confirmation number. The following month I was charged again, and they told me it was never canceled, and the confirmation number I was provided was invalid.

Now is it Feb. 2008, and each month the same issue. I called them today, and they informed me they could not issue any refunds for past months but to be assured the account has now been canceled and only a month credit will be applied; and they gave me another confirmation number. I am very upset that they can get away with this!

?

Mara of Chicago IL (02/16/08)
Earthlink misrepresents the ability to provide high speed (or any speed) internet access. It provides inadequate internet and telephone service. Technical Support is fraudulent and useless: they refuse to direct me to mac support; enforce beginners troubleshooting even though everything has been tried many times; transfer to someone else who cant help so you have to start over again; claim that department is closed? to get rid of you for the day; put you on hold and either hang up or never come back.

When I try to cancel my account (stop paying for non-service) customer service refuses to cooperate: claim they can't cancel; try to talk me out of it; refuse to transfer to a manager or supervisor or transfer to a person who claims to be a supervisor but can't do anything at all; transfer to anyone else just to get rid of you; threaten absurd cancellation fees; put you on terminal hold.

These are my demands: 1. Cancel Account. 2. Please send confirmation number. 3. Send Earthlink supplied return shipping address to return equipment. 4. Do not charge cancellation fees. (Earthlink broke contract by not providing service.) I have written 17 letters to Earthlink and filed complaints at the BBB, FTC, FCC, and Illinois Attorney General.

I have paid $80/month since 3/2006 for very little service. My phone was off when I needed to go to the hospital. I had no service the last 2 months. I have spent hours dealing with this. Earthlink still refuses to cancel my account; they threaten me with a $150 cancellation fee. I do not know yet what they will do to my credit rating.

Jacquee of Atlanta GA (02/15/08)
I severed a six year relationship with Earthlink in January 2007 after repeated service complaints about DSL speed, with no resolution. I maintained both DSL and web-hosting accounts with them. Technical service reps could not resolve the issue over the course of a year, even after sending out a new modem. Frustrated after a year of paying for high speed DSL and getting only regular dial-up speed, I canceled the email service. The company billed my credit card for early termination fees, which I successfully challenged. In response, Earthlink took my website off-line and have since refused to return the files. More importantly, they have retained control of the domain name, leaving me unable to use my own business domain name. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and FCC.

In negotiations through the BBB, after first denying having control of the domain name, Earthlink later acknowledged having registration rights, but refused to release it because I violated Earthlink policy by taking the charge back. Negotiations were suspended at that point. I contend that I did follow proper procedure by notifying Earthlink in writing of the disputed charge for the e-mail account. Having received no response, I moved forward with the only protection available to me as a consumer by disputing the charge with my credit card company. Earthlink did not follow its own policy requirement to inform me (the consumer) of the termination of service. Its important to note that I canceled only the email account, on 1/8/07. I became aware that the website account was canceled on 3/30/07 when I contacted the company and was told my website had been taken off-line. They refused to release the content of the site unless I reinstated the credit card charges.

As a small business, my website served as an important marketing tool. Having it disabled for nearly a year has taken a tremendous toll on my business. I cannot afford to re-create all of the content from scratch. More significantly, I am unable to launch a new site as long as Earthlink retains the registration rights to the domain name and the status is locked.

Matthew of Los Alamos NM (02/13/08)
I had service with earthlink for over 1 year (they initially require 1 year contract). I then was offered new equipment (new modem) from earthlink. I got the new modem, then canceled my service a few months later. Earthlink then tried to claim that since they sent me a new modem, I was now bound to an additional year contract. I never agreed to this additional year, either verbally or in writing. Eventually, after discussing it with a customer service rep, they agreed to cancel the contract without charge. Then, I suddenly received a bill for $135 and also a notice from a debt collection agency for early termination of contract. I am currently disputing this bill, because Earthlink is trying to claim a contract where none existed.

Thomas of Vallejo CA (02/11/08)
I paid my Earthlink service contract in full. But I needed the DSL taken off my line to install a local DSL. I asked to have Earthlink remove their DSL service from my line, but told the representative that I had sent my check in for the full amount on January 17; and my service contract ended on January 30. I just needed the line clear. They billed me for $149 early termination fee--even though they were paid for the service.

The Earthlink representative told me they would get a supervisor and then put me on hold. After 1/2 hour I hung up.

Mark of Silver Spring MD (02/06/08)
I have been an Earthlink subscriber for almost 8 years. Sure, their technical support has always been iffy, but I know what I am doing and was able to make it work. 10 months ago, I upgraded to the up to 8.0 and telephone service. I wasn't stable at 8.0, but at 6.0 I was up 98 to 99% of the time and I got a tested speed of 4.8 to 5.4 consistently. Suddenly, at the end of December I started losing my connection several times a day, this slowly increased to 10 to 15 times a day! Finally, I gave in and called tech support. After hours of novice troubleshooting techniques - ALL of which I had done numerous times on my own, they said that my loop length was too long and they needed to downgrade me to 3.0. When I asked them to explain why 6.0 had worked fine, they just kept repeating that I would have to downgrade. Wanting to get SOME work done, I agreed reluctantly. Well, it improved. It only drops 2-3 times a day now and I only can get a speed of 1.8 to 2.3. After hours more of the same bone head technical support they wanted to downgrade me back to 1.5! No way!

Well, finally I bullied my way through to a Level 3 technician AND then to his supervisor! Finally, someone who didn't just read down a script. He actually read my file, said that he didn't understand why the Level 1 people had downgraded me, and he arranged to send technicians out to check the lines and the connections. The problem is, this took HOURS, DAYS, NEARLY TWO WEEKS of constant phone calls, hour long holds, frequent disconnections. After working with computers for nearly 35 years - I know my stuff and can out talk the low level support people. The average person is hindered.

Bottom line, it still isn't fixed, and Earthlink support is TERRIBLE. AND to add insult to injury, in the process of dealing with this I reviewed my last couple of Earthlink invoices which I just hadn't read yet and found out that they had added PC TUNE and FAMILY CONTENT to my account (nearly $11 extra a month)! I didn't order these, I never heard of these, and I certainly would never order PC TUNE as I don't now, nor have I ever OWNED a PC (Windows) and PC TUNE doesn't run on a Mac! There has got to be something better out there. I just kick myself when I think about how I could have set up permanent email addresses long ago, so that when I finally get so frustrated that I dump Earthlink, I wouldn't have had to deal with informing hundreds of people about my email change!

Untold lost hours of productive work and time with my family. Delays to work production. Years off my life due to stress.

Stephanie of San Jose CA (01/22/08)
I've had no service for 3 weeks. Responses vary from the server is out to turn your modem on and off. I get different responses. I've tuned up my laptop, I've replaced my cat-5 line, I've replaced my router, not to mention 5 days worth of calling, live chatting. It appears it's either their server and or the line coming into my house. I've cleared the bush from around the wire from the phone line - but I am not knowing of whether or not it's coming in. Earthlink has the worst customer service. They have however, allowed me to use the dial up which means hooking up to the phone line as in the old AOL. That is not what I want.

I've lost 3 weeks worth of lost work as I am a special needs teacher and do my not at school time work online. I do my stock and other counseling online. I've paid $200 to have my laptop checked; I've had to purchase a verizon netcard to do some of my work in the meantime; I've spent at least 5 hours JUST communicating with earthlink, - and no one really knows how or what to fix. I even requested a newer modem as mine was 7 years old. There is no connection from the wall to their modem.

William of Norwood MA (01/22/08)
I signed up for a promotion that required me to use their TrueVoice service for 6 months and then I would receive 25,000 frequent flyer miles on Northwest Airlines. A year later, I realized the miles were never deposited to my account. To date, I've made 10 phone calls over 3 months time. Each time I'm told that this needs to be escalated with a form to a department that can deposit the miles. Several reps gave me their unconditional assurance that it would happen this time. Twice I have requested to speak with a supervisor, each time I've been told they are busy but they will schedule a callback within the next 30 to 60 minutes. Both times it failed to happen. As I write this, I'm awaiting a response on my third request for this action I also have an e-mail message into their VP of Customer Service--so far, no response on that, either.

It's taken about 6-7 hours of time so far, between all wait times, follow ups, dropped calls, etc. I have logged each and every phone call, including who I spoke with and any reference numbers I received. I recently switched my TrueVoice service to Verizon, but I haven't officially canceled the Earthlink service because this matter is still unresolved, and I did not want to add another hurdle to the process. It will be an issue if this drags on and I find myself paying a monthly fee to a company just to resolve a customer service issue. This has been extremely frustrating.

Lou-Ann of Philadelphia PA (01/22/08)
I signed up for Philly's Next Big Thing, Earthlink Wifi around August of 2007. From the start, I experienced poor & mostly non-existent service. I canceled my service finally in the beginning of December 2007. Upon returning my equipment, I was stilled charged the $69.95 non return fee. After dozens, if not not more, calls to the reps, I spoke with someone who told me that rest assured, I could expect the full amount returned to me within a couple of days, and that it just needs time to process. I waited, and waited some more. Nothing. I called back only to deal with a rep who told me that I should have received $19.95 back & should wait a couple more days to receive the rest of the money back.

Baffled, I continued to call and try to contact a supervisor that would give me some clarity. Finally, after long waits and being disconnected by accident, I was told that I will indeed receive my full refund in 7-10 days. Long story short: Avoid Earthlink at all costs.  Why dod you think they only charge $12.95 a month?  It's not worth it, you get what you pay for.

Loretta of Pacifica CA (01/17/08)
On Jan. 4, 2008, we had a terrible storm blow through here. When I got home from work that evening, I realized my phone/DSL service was not working. I figured it was due to the storm and didn't bother to report it until the next morning. I spent about an hour on the phone with a technician in India who conducted a number of tests. Of course, he could not figure out what was wrong and told me a supervisor would call me within an hour. I never received the call, and by Monday morning I decided to call them again. The technician ran tests again, couldn't find the problem and opened a trouble ticket, and told me someone would contact me. After several more phone calls and tests, on Wednesday 1/9, I received a call on my cell phone while at work. This tech wanted to run all the tests again. I explained that I was at work and could I call him when I got home, which I did. He ran the same stupid tests again, and guess what...no solution. He finally said he would have to send someone out to my house, which he did. Covad showed up the next day and told me there was a break in the line (duh), and that he would have to have AT&T come out to fix the line. Today is Jan. 17th, and I still do not have service. I have a contract with EarthLink and I don't want to pay an early cancellation fee, or I would just cancel the service and sign-up with AT&T. And judging from some of the other complaints I read on your website, I foresee big problems cancelling the service as well. Please help. I'm at my wits end.

Liz of Amity Harbor NY (01/17/08)
I have been an EarthLink customer since October 2002 but there have been recent events that are causing me to regret my decision for maintaining such a long relationship. There have been issues that make it obvious that this corporation does not value my standing as a customer. I am writing this because I have been on phone support and online chat support with a myriad of Customer Service and Technical Support representatives and have not had my issues resolved in a satisfactory manner. Over the past two weeks, I have had six separate problems with the security and integrity of my account. I have spent numerous hours trying to resolve these matters only to have them redevelop again and again. Yesterday, my account was deactivated twice by EarthLink; I was not given advance notification of these actions but had to find out the hard way.

The following is a summary of my situations: 1. On or about January 3, 2008, I contacted EarthLink due to web domain profiles that existed under my account that were set up without my knowledge or authorization. 2. On January 11, 2008, I contacted EarthLink again regarding additional web domain profiles that existed under my account; again set up without my knowledge or authorization. 3. On January 15, I contacted EarthLink due to problems logging on. This was due to unauthorized access that included changing the account password. 4. Again on January 15, I saw a $65 balance that was applied due to another web domain being set up without my knowledge or authorization. 5. On the afternoon of January 16, 2008, I contacted EarthLink due to my inability to log onto my account and the message that my account was inactive. After spending 45 minutes on the phone, it was reactivated. 6. On the evening of January 16, 2008, not even two hours after having my account reactivated, I found that my account was deactivated AGAIN. Currently, my account is still not active and I dont have the slightest idea of when it will be reinstated. I have been told that my account has been deactivated due to fraudulent activity; I have never committed any type of fraud and I resent being treated like a criminal and essentially being put out of business. I was told that it will take up to 72 hours for my account issues to be resolved; this is absolutely unacceptable.

My husband has lost thousands of dollars in fees due to this action by EarthLink. There is a good chance that he's lost a few clients due to his inability to send or receive e-mail. All of my leads are transmitted by e-mail so there's irreparable and immeasurable damage caused to my business.

Cindy of Montebello, CA (01/09/08)
I spoke to countless people at Earthlink disputing my balance due. Each time I was told my bill would be $14.94 for one year (2008) and then $19.95 for the remainder of my service. Earthlink keeps sending me statements for $22.23.

I'm tired of calling and emailing them. I cannot believe how horrible their service has been. Each person I have talked to apologizes and says they will take care of it, but that never happens. 

Philip of Glendale WI (01/01/08)
Here's a copy of a letter I sent to the CEO of Earthlink regarding cancellation of DSL services after I couldn't stand it any more.

Dear Mr. Huff: Heres the history: I was advised by your service representative on September 16, 2007 that we could get DSL service on the above two telephone numbers. I placed the orders and we received the two modems four days later. I installed the modems but was never able to connect either phone line (separate computers) to Earthlinks DSL services, despite at least 15 phone calls to your representatives in the Philippines and India. On September 30, 2007, after another frustrating attempt, I was advised that it was technically not possible to connect our telephone lines to Earthlinks DSL. Therefore, I canceled our services which in fact, never got started in the first place, within the 30 days notice as required by your rules as posted on your website. Attached is a copy of the cancellation letter I sent by certified mail along with evidence it had been received within the required time frame. I also am including evidence that I returned the modems.

In the meantime I have repeatedly been billed, both on my credit card and by direct invoice from Earthlink a total of $581.98 for services I never had. I have been billed on separate occasions $149.95, $158.35, $44.25, $44.25, $168.53, $3.70 and $12.95. I have indicated to my credit card company that all charges from Earthlink are fraudulent as are all charges invoiced to me directly from Earthlink. Because of my prompt and timely cancellation I do not owe you any money and you should clear my account accordingly. I am sending a copy of this letter to the Chairman of the Board of Earthlink, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center and Senator Russ Feingold in the hopes that this matter will immediately be resolved.

The have tried to collect $581.98 for services I never had!

Waiel of Philadelphia PA (12/20/07)
I have tried for many months to get my wi-fi service fixed. This is a service in partnership with Feather wi-fi. Its an initiative to set all of Philadelphia with wi-fi service. I am getting, and have always had a very poor signal. The customer support line is in India, I think. I get nowhere after talking to 3-4 different people who all ask the same annoying account questions before I then have to explain again what my issue is. I finally got a local number, with a pin number, to call so I don't have to wait on hold for 30 minutes only to tell my story to 3 different people. So, at this point it seemed that I was making progress. I opened a technical complaint ticket with a technician here in the states. The issue was never fixed after numerous more complaints.

I just tried again to contact them and the pin number I was give was suddenly inactive. I was forced to call the standard customer service line again (1-877-943-4435) which I've come to realize has no direct contact with offices in the states. To my dismay I came to find out that the complaint tickets I opened with the state side tech office were suddenly closed with no stated reason. Every time I asked to speak to a manager to file a formal complaint, I would get bounced to someone else would ask me for all the account info AGAIN. Or, I would get I'm sorry sir, all the managers are on calls. I don't know what to do at this point. I'm at my wits end. This company's customer service is as bad or worse than the actual internet service they provide. All I want at this point is a refund of my money, make sure upper management is aware of this shoddy service, and to make sure other Philadelphians do not fall victim to this horrid internet service.

As a result, I have not been able to work very efficiently at home as I am a freelance graphic designer. Also, I am seeking a full reimbersement of all fees billed to me

Jenny of Simi Valley, CA (12/16/07)
I signed up for Earthlink internet service, but canceled 5 minutes after I ordered it. They assured me it would not be shipped nor would I be charged.

A week later it arrived and I was charged. I called and they promised me a refund and a shipping label to send it back. I did get my money back but no label ever came. I called several times, it still never came. Then I was charged again.

It has now been 2 months and 15 phone calls.  Every time they say they will send a shipping label and refund my $99, but they never do.

Christine of Galena IL (12/05/07)
For the 2nd time, it took more than 2 hours to update or edit my credit card billing information. The first time, our credit cards had been stolen. I spent 2 hours on the phone, much of it trying to get the woman on the line to understand that I couldn't give her the security code on the back of the credit card because the person who stole it still had the card. I ended up giving her a credit card number that I didn't want to use. For some reason that she couldn't explain, that one would work when another wouldn't. This time, since that card was expiring, I foolishly attempted to change my billing info online to the desired card. I was shuttled back and forth between representatives, was repeatedly told to call the toll free number (which I refused to do because I'd already invested more than an hour trying to do something as mundane as updating my credit card number) and it wasn't until I demanded the name of a person that I could contact with a complaint, that I was given to a supervisor who couldn't understand the phrase home address. I'm not kidding. And that was fully 45 minutes after I requested a supervisor. Service this outrageous is virtually no service at all. Earthlink ought to stop claiming that they provide customer service.  It took 3 people and 2 1/2 hours to update my billing at THEIR request.

Mirlande of Orange NJ (11/26/07)
As of July 2007, I signed up with Earthlink for home telephone and Internet services. They had an unlimited long distance service plan which I signed for. I gave them my debit card number to open the account as per their request, but I did mention to them that I did not want to do automated payment. They charge me $1.00 per month for non-automated payment. About three weeks later, they withdrew $177.00 from my account without my permission. It is a violation of my privacy on their part.

When I contacted the company, the rep. said that the person who I spoke with the first time gave me the wrong plan, so they started charging me after 500 minutes. After I repeated myself to him, he said he will update my account by giving the right plan with unlimited long distance and will stop the automated payment and credit the money to my account. He did update the account but failed to give the credit for the money that was taken out of my bank account. Ever since I have been trying to speak to a Supervisor in order to rectify the problem for about 2 months; no Supervisor from the company had contacted me. They disconnected my service on 11/23/07 for non payment because as I always told them I won't make any payment until I discuss the matter with a Supervisor so an adjustment can be made.

I had returned checks and paid overdraft fees because of unexpected withdrawal from my account. I have to use my cell phone during the days because I don't have a home phone. All of that stresses me out. Please help.

Cheryl of Denver CO (11/19/07)
My DSL and Home Networking has been down off and on for over 14 days!  They keep guaranteeing that it will be fixed, but nothing ever happens.

Marcie of Seattle WA (11/17/07)
Earthlink offers $100 to any existing customer who refers a friend to join Earthlink. I have NEVER referred anyone to Earthlink, not even for $100!!! I like my friends too much. We are longtime DSL customers of Earthlink, then 9 months ago got Voice service, we signed a 1 yr. contract unfortunately. That is when everything went downhill. In the beginning our DSL went down a few times. We have never had a clear phone line. Quite often experiencing an echo, static and dropped calls. Then most recently our phone went out for 7 days.

Awful customer service, long wait times online and on the phone, being transferred and then dropped, having to call them for info rather than them calling me, on and on and on. And thats just the customer service end. The service has been totally unreliable and shoddy. And because we signed a contract, we cant get out of it unless we want to pay high fees. I thought a contract was an agreement between 2 people. One to provide a working service and the other to provide payment on time. We did our part, they did not do theirs, but that does not seem like a reason for them to let me get out of my contract.

Esther of Porterville CA (11/13/07)
In September I signed up for the home networking service with Earthlink and canceled within 2 or 3 days. On 10/27/07 my credit card was charged $124.00 for a router that was never mailed to me. It was mailed to someone in Milpitas, CA. I live in Porterville, CA. I called CITI Card to dispute the charge, and Earthlink disconnected my DSL service.

I believe Earthlink would have continued charging me for the mistake they made.

Christina of San Bruno, CA (11/11/07)
I brought a new computer with the new version of Vista on it.  I would get the internet working and then my computer would die.  Microsoft asked me to contact Earthlink because there was a compatibility issue with their program. 

I have since learned from other Earthlink clients that using the Vista program they are unable to use their E-Mailing service.  I had also asked Earthlink to cancel my services since I was unable to use the Internet and E-mail without their program freezing my computer.  Earthlink refused and I've had it with them.  For 9 days I tried connecting and getting them to help me - nothing worked.

I finally changed over to a cheaper and better service without any problems. 

Kyung of Culver City CA (11/02/07)
Since I switched to phone/dsl bundle, i've had virtually no internet service or at best, intermittent service. I spent many hours talking to the technicians trying to fix it. Finally, I gave up and switched to ATT. They wouldn't release my number for 2 weeks and when I called to ask that it be released earlier, they cut my phone service off which means my phone number has been given away and that I would have to pay installation fee to ATT. I have never had such an aggrevating experience with incompetence as I've had with Earthlink.

Kimberly of Helotes TX (10/28/07)
I signed up with Earthlink digital phone service in June of 2006. I canceled the service on 7/6/2007 after a year of horrible, garbled, unintelligible phone service. On 7/29/2007 I was billed a $300 cancellation fee for early termination. I have been fighting with Earthlink since that time to have the charge removed. Four separate individuals have PROMISED me each time that they would credit my account. As of 10/28/07 my account has been turned over to a collection agency for nonpayment!

I have also had Earthlink internet service for years which I have paid through my local cable company. Today my email account was deactivated which baffles me as that is not part of my phone service. Earthlink is totally unscrupulous, and I have filed a complaint with the FCC today. I dread all the hours of fighting this will cause not to mention the potential damage to my credit rating. NEVER do business with Earthlink!

Adam of Fort Lauderdale FL (10/05/07)
I have never been satisfied with their service, and always felt as the misrepresented themselves. I have now been trying to cancel for over 6 months. Beginning in March, now we are in October. Every month I am charged again, and I have to call to get a refund. Every phone call takes about an hour. They deny I have ever cancelled, when I give them a confirmation number, (which I have 2 of) they tell me they have no record of the confirmation number, or tell me I never cancelled. I even had one supervisor tell me I was a liar! He then told me Earthlink never issues refunds, but I received a refund a month earlier. I just want to cancel my service and have them stop charging my account! This should not take 6 months and 7 hours of phone calls to India! They should not be allowed to get away with this.

Beverly of El Cajon CA (09/26/07)
In June of 2007 I called earthlink and asked about services and the lady I spoke to suggested that she take all my information and when or if I needed the services I could call and they would have all the information . I told her I did not have a checking account and she suggested a family member. I gave her my sisters . Well they took out 173.00 and change from the account . I called and explained that they did not get my permission to do this and they agreed to give me back 149.95. I waited about a month and called back.the lady said it would take 7 to 11 days. well it is the end of September and I called the first of the month.

The man appoligized and gave me a conformation number . He said It would take 7 days but he would do it in 3 days.I told him that they took money out of the account and I do not have any of there services. He agreed to pay me what was taken out of the bank. So the new amout to be refunded was 157.00. I have not heard anything . It seems like every time i call they extend the time.

Muang of Redding CA (09/26/07)
I have moved to a new address and requested earthlink to switch my internet service, was told it will take about 10 business days on 8/17/07. I called back after the 8/29/07 to check and was told it will be up and running by Thursday after 5pm, on Friday 8/31/07 still no internet service, I've spoken to earthlink representative, was told it will take another two weeks, that would be on or about 9/12/07, but since I already paid for dial up, I can get dial up in the meantime, I couldn't get dial either.

I called again and again for for a week on a daily basis, but on Thursday, September 4th, 2007 I found out that my contract was terminated by earthlink and charged $ 149.95 on 8/31/07 without my knowlege. I called, spoken to earthlink representative, I was told that she will request a refund for the $ 149.95 and will not further charged me. The next day I found out I was also charged $26.90 for monthly fee. I called again this and spoken to another representative, was told she can not refund the amount of $ 149.95 because I didn't finish the contract for one year, but I told her I did not cancel the contract; earthlink did that on their own.

I was told because they can not provide me internet service at the new address, so they cancelled it and charged me the $149.95, but will refund me the $ 26.90 only. I did get the refund of $ 26.90, but not the $ 149.95 which, was taken out of my debit bank card. They didn't send me a bill or let me know about it; they took the money ASAP after I've spoken to them on 8/31/07 asking why I still didn't get internet service yet. I feel they should at least warn me about this charge ahead of time. I will never use earthlink again. When I called for help, I'm being transfer to India or somewhere where I don't understand their english.

Paulette of Dallas TX (09/25/07)
I requested home service and dsl from earthlink back in june 07.after giving the repersenative my zip code I was told that dsl was offered in my area. phone service was coonected in july 07. dsl was never connected because i received a phone call from earthlink re. stating that it could not be offered.natashia told me that due to cancelation not my fault i would not be charged a early cancelation fee. my accout was debuited in the amount of $163.32.i called and was told a check would be sent out on july 30. 07 the check never arrived.

Ellis of Sherman Oaks, CA (07/30/07)
I get billed every month $21.95 for dial up usage. I don't use dial-up.

I contact them every month and spend at least 3 hours on the phone to get my credit. I get disconnected at least 6 times in each 3 hour period. I talk to people in India who can't help me and keep transfering me to other people in India before I get disconnected and have to start over again 6 out of 10 times.

No one can tell me why I am being charged for a service I am not using.

Rachel of NY (07/02/07)

I was solicited via phone by Earthlink spring of 2006 for their digital phone service. Unlimited local and long distance sounded appealing, along with one month free. I got the equipment two weeks later and when I received my first invoice, I noticed that the one-month free began from the moment I agreed to switch to their service--not when I was actually able to use it.

When I called about this, they conveniently didn't understand my argument. I tried discussing it with two different people and didn't get very far. Not long thereafter, my friends and family started complaining of the echoing and faintness of reception. I spent much time with tech support. Over the last year, I have had two or three different ata adapters sent to me because they are incredibly unreliable-for whatever reason--and I end up without a dial tone.

The reception has always been lousy, and so the last time I didn't get a dial tone and made three different attempts to remedy the problem with tech support, which handles multiple callers at one time (which wastes everyone's time) I decided to cancel the service. I contacted Earthlink the next day to let them know that my new provider (Cleartel) would contact them and that since I hadn't had a dial tone since June 6th, I expected to no longer be charged for the service. I was assured that there would be no problems and no more charges.

On June 19th, when I still had no phone service, I contacted Earthlink again and had to somehow go through my whole story again with another person, and was assured then that everything was in order. On June 29th I contacted Cleartel because I still didn't have service. They told me that Earthlink had only released my number as of June 27th. I called Earthlink again and had to start over once more. Once again, I got the scripted politeness of a person somewhere on the other side of the world that I had to explain this to, again. She couldn't understand me and I couldn't understand her. I asked her to slow down her speech so we could communicate. I finally asked to be re-routed to the States.

Finally, I spoke to a man in Texas who seemed to understand and agree with my frustration as to have no had a home telephone for 23 days and that it was wrong that Earthlink took so long to release my number. AGAIN, I was assured that all would be fixed, that I could maintain my original number, and that there would be no problems with switching it over to my new provider. I have just received a message from Cleartel stating that they are having problems activating my service. Earthlink had no problems taking business away from AT&T to give me shoddy service and support that was sub par. Now there are these huge obstacles preventing me from going elsewhere?

Yolanda of Brooklyn NY (07/02/07)

I had tried to get this service installed in April of 2007. I was given several dates where installation was to occur but did not. One of those days my landlord stood home from work to allow entry and the technicians did not show up nor did they call to reschedule the installation date.

I had to increase the minutes on my cell phone to help control the cost of offsetting the installation of the phone service. My cell phone bill was over $400.00 dollars and my landlord lost a day of pay.

Tibor of Margate FL (07/02/07)

Sent FedEx package indicating that Earthlink billed over $560 for a conversion from dial-up to home phone-DSL. They continue to bill my credit card and I have placed a stop order on my card.

Nicole of Canyon Country CA (04/19/07)

On February 7th or 8th, 2007 I decided to get a bundle package (dsl internet and home phone services) through Earthlink and made the call. My first experience with their customer service should have been my last, considering that the person who I set up my account with was very hard to understand and evidently couldn't comprehend what I was saying most of the time. About two weeks after I had signed up for service they told me that the service could not be turned on without someone coming to my home. I had already received a package from them that was supposed to enable me to activate my service on my own.

A week or so later they sent me an e-mail saying that someone would be at my home to set up my service on March 13th between the hours of 8am and 12pm (over a month after I first signed up for service). Since there was no way possible that anyone could be present for them to service my home, I called to tell them that this would not be a good time.

I was also outraged to see that aside from the initial payment of $39.95 for the equipment I received, they had charged my debit card $19.95 on 3/12/07 for installation fees. WHAT INSTALLATION? Nothing had ever been installed.

I called to cancel with Earthlink. They canceled my account after they made me wait while they researched if I had received any service. Finally she told me that they would be sending me something so that I could mail back the equipment and I would be refunded for it. She gave me a conformation number and I hung up the phone thinking that Earthlink was finally out of my life. Unfortunately this was not the case because I found another charge on my bank account on 4/13/07 in the amount of $110.00.

Coleman of Milner GA (04/12/07)

We cannot cancel our service with Earthlink. They have been notified twice via mail requesting cancellation. We have received no reply. The only way to speak with a live representative of the company is to act as though you are opening rather than closing the account. The live person promptly switches the call and no one else will answer. I simply want to cancel the account and stop the draws on my bank account.

Kevin of Seattle WA (04/10/07)

I spoke with an Earthlink representative in early January and told her to close my account because I was moving and no longer wished to pay for internet through Earthlink. She persistently tried to keep me with Earthlink, offering repeatedly to renew my account after my move. I told her in no uncertain terms that I was not interested, and that I wanted my account closed and balance refunded. She told me that my account would be closed and that I would be refunded my remaining balance of approximately $40. After just recently receiving my bank statements (January - March) I have found that she renewed my account against my wishes, withdrawing monthly payments from my checking account, and that she had failed to refund my remaining balance.

William of Ferndale CA (03/09/07)
Tonight I was unable to send email to any person whom I have personal or business dealings with that uses either Earthlink or PeoplePC as an ISP. When I did send mail I got it bounced back with the message it had been rejected because my ISP, Suddenlink.net, was a Zombie PC ISP or a spammer. The bounce message included directions for reporting this but those directions did NOTHING. Talking to Earthlink Support had no solution that worked.

Everything that Earthlink support told me to do did not work.

Lori of Tupelo MS (03/03/07)
I bought an earthlink Cidco Mailstation they have been telling me for 3 weeks that they can not activate because their system is down and give it one wk and they will call me back to activate and they will not call or activate this--if they say they will they should if they can not activate it they should tell me that as well.

Nimalka of Vienna VA (01/29/07)

An Earthlink representative called me on the 13th of October and offered me True Voice services. At the time of this offering, I used Verizon for phone services and Earthlink, Inc for DSL services. I subscribed to Truevoice services offered by Earthlink, who also informed me that I would first receive a new modem and that the phone and DSL services would be connected after that. I specifically asked if there would be any loss of service and was told no.

On the 26th of October, my Verizon phone services were disconnected. I had not received the modem. As my phone services were discontinued (at Earthlink's request according to Verizon), I also did not have any DSL services. I was able to log on to my e-mail from work the next day, and read an e-mail from Earthlink which said: "We're writing to confirm that on 10/26/06, you requested to cancel the following service(s) for account number…..:" I had not cancelled this service - it had been done unilaterally by Earthlink, who later acknowledged that this was a factual error.

After many phone calls and e-mails to try and get my number back over the next few days, I decided to cancel the DSL agreement with Earthlink and subscribe to Verizon for both phone and DSL services. Earthlink released my old number to Verizon on about the 14th of December and the new number was restored to me on the approximately the 14th of January 2007.

Jim of Bellingham WA (01/29/07)

I have cancelled my dialup Earthlink account multiple times, by phone and in writing, since July of 2006. They continue to charge me. I called on January 6, 2007 and talked to "Susannah" who verbally confirmed that I had not used the account, did not owe any amount at all. In fact, she arranged a credit to incorrect charges. She also assured me that the account was finally cancelled in good standing.

Earthlink states that calling by phone is the only way to cancel service. Despite three different calls (July 2006, October 2006, and January 2007) and written communication to cancel, they continue to send bills. I have documented over 4 hours of time spent dealing with this and have had to replace one damaged cell phone battery that drained catastrophically during one call.

Marcia of Pottstown PA (01/28/07)

We began having problems with our DSL service the beginning of January. I contacted Earthlink and spoke to numerous technicians who I could barely understand. After about a week of going back and forth with them they decided it was our modem that was bad. So we waited another week to get the new modem. Upon installing it we have the same problem as before and also a new problem. Now I can't get into our main account because it says we have an invalid username and password.

I attempted to explain this new problem yesterday to another technician that was extremely hard to understand only to be put on hold for 30 minutes so I could speak to a senior technician. I finally hung up. Then at 11:55 and 12 midnight I get a call from "Sam" an Earthlink technician. I was not pleased to say the least. So now I have a technician coming on Tuesday to check the line.

What really has got my anger up is the fact that I was duped into signing up for another year so I could get this modem free. Also I was told that I would receive the first 6 months at a reduced rate of $35.99 and $39.99 thereafter. However when I was able to access my account there is no mention of the reduced rate. I so badly want to cancel this service out but upon reading other accounts of people not being able to cancel service I feel like I'm stuck now. Is there any help for me out there?

Laura  of Oakton VA (11/14/06)
Have tried to cancel internet account 4 times to no avail. Found out today that they should have issued me a confirmation number to get the account cancelled. They have continued to charge my credit card monthly for over a year and are refusing to give a full refund. This truly is fraud.

Phil of Long Beach CA (11/13/06)
I've been an Earthlink customer since 1998. I recently upgraded to dsl. Right after I got online, the modem failed. I spent one week + wityhout service after spending hours on the phone with some person in the Phillipines, blaming everything but the Earthlink equipment finallyback online. Being charged for 3.0mps + speed. It barely makes 1.5 mps. Now it's a half hour wait. Can't do this anymore. Unresponsive. Too long to get somebody. Too many push one, push two, etc . What happened to tgruth in advertising. Don't go this way. I believe they make it difficult for customers to get satisfaction.

Clarence of Chicago IL (11/07/06)
We signed up for Earthlink 3 weeks ago to take advantage of a promotional Phone/DSL combo package. Well, 2 weeks ago the account started, the Modem arrived and I installed it. After 3 days on hold with their support in the Philipines, we had a Covad (Earthlink is reselling Covad service) tech come out to inspect the lines. After his 3rd visit, the phone still doesn't work. We've been without phone for over a week now. The only reason he DSL works is because the DLINK (the wireless router company) helped me troubleshoot the router and modem.

We work out of our house and have not been able to take phone calls, faxes, or make phone calls or send faxes. We have lost 2 weeks of work because of Earthlink.

Jennifer of Ogden, UT (10/19/06)
I disconnected my service in July 2006.  It took forever to get them to cancel my account, as they kept trying to convince me to keep Earthlink.  In Oct, I received a bill from them and found out they had continued to take money out of my account since July.

When I called I demanded they return my money, the "supervisior" said he needed my current credit card to put the money back into my account. I was hesitant to do this, after my experience but he said this is the only way I could receive my money back.

This morning when I checked my bank account, I found they had deducted MORE money from my account, rather than giving me a refund!

Nancy of San Francisco CA (09/07/06)
I have been a DSL customer of Earthlink since 2001. About 2 months ago, I decided to consolidate and transfer my phone to their business thinking it would be easier to manage billing wise. Weeks ago, my DSL service died. I figured it was some temporary glitch and waited until the next day only to find it still not working. I made countless phone calls and after 3 days finally got a hold of someone to issue me a trouble ticket. Well, 20+ phone hours and and 2 no show technician visits later, I still have no resolution.

I became so frustrated with thier non-existant service that I resigned. They informed me I would have to pay a fee for breaking the contract I had recently entered with the phone transfer and even though I feel that is unjust as I've been with them since 2001, I am so distraught I just want to go elsewhere, so I will pay. However a week ago 8/30 when I both resigned and signed up with another carrier, I was told the transfer would take a few days. One week later, I call the new carrier and am told Earthlink wouldn't give up my # until 9/13! They made me wait 2 weeks. In the meantime, my work/life is impacted as I use my DSL at home to communicate with clients as well as look up information on the web.

Paul of Pasadena, CA (08/26/06)
I subscribe to Earthlink for e-mail. Recently they offered faster speed service, without explaining how it would work. Nevertheless I requested the faster speed at an addtional cost of $20.00 per month (to my basic monthly cost of $20), not realizing how complicated it would be to operate for an 84-year old customer like me.

When a package arrived, with the necessary equipment, it became obvious that the changes and installation involved would be quite beyond my capability, and I returned the equipment with insured postal mail.

Earthlink has now advised me that instead of reinstating the original $20 per month, they will continue to permanently bill me the $40 rate, as it could not be reversed despite the return of the equipment.

Brian of Portland OR (08/08/06)
Since starting my account with EL in Sept. 2005, their continued service has been anything but that. Unreliable service, long telephone waiting time, and ultimately being sold a service that could not be delivered.

After hours of phone and having tech support come out to my home, the result is that EL sold me a service outside of the boundary of their hub. The 3.0 service requires that the hub be no longer than 18,000 feet from the linear hub. My house is 21,000 feet.

This seems like an open and shut case, but EL said the company that came to measure stated that the house is within range - contradictory to the statement made by the technician that came to my house.

I have paid over $600 for the previous 12 months of promised service by EL and have not been able to use the service.

Viet of Tarzana, CA (08/05/06)
I had EarthLink's Cable Internet service. After receiving the promotion rate at $29.95 a month, when I called to cancel the service, EarthLink told me if I would continue the service, they would give the same rate for another 6 months. So I agreed.

They continued to charge me at the regular rate of $41.95. Everytime I called I had long waits, talked to a different person, got different stories, but all simply said there was nothing they could do.

K of Palm Bch Gdns, FL (07/24/06)
I uploaded the Earthlink Total Access CD into my laptop and it damaged the TCP/IP protocol. Now I can not link to any websites and it is unusable. I will have to spend my money and time trying to find someone to fix it!  It will cost me 10 times as much as what I thought was their bargain monthly deal in order to fix my laptop.

I was on the phone for over 10 hours at different times with their techs but they finally said they can't help me. I sent a letter to their corporate office and they never responded.

David of Albany, OR (07/23/06)
I signed up for Earthlink's 6-month free trial internet service through Dell, and when the initial 6 months ended I kept the subscription for a couple of months and paid the $21.95 per month fee. I called Earthlink on May 2, 2006 to cancel my service.  They assured me that my account would be closed and said that I owed $21.95 as the final payment, which I gladly paid on my Mastercard.

I received another bill 2 months later for $43.90 so I called again and was told that when I had made my final payment, they activated my account again using my Mastercard to withdraw the payments.  This was without my authorization, in fact I had cancelled my card. 

Again, I was assured that this would be taken care of but now the amount I owed was $68.12!  I received another bill showing a credit of $43.90 but I still owed 24.22 because they could not charge my Mastercard!

Wilson of San Francisco, CA (06/21/06)
Earthlink DSL didn't provide the service they said they would. Their DSL service couldn't reach east coast web sites. ( I actually had someone come to test the DSL service for me). The DSL service also couldn't reach web sites from foreign countries like Japan, Korea, China, etc. The DSL had trouble staying on for more than 10 minutes, and the equipments was faulty and malfunctioned.

I made several phone calls to the tech center to complaint about it, but it never helped.  Funny thing is, I couldnt even go to their own website to read anything.

Ann-Louise of Buckeye AZ (06/01/06)
In the last six weeks, my Earthlink dial-up connection has degraded to the point where dropped connections and interminable download times are common. I have repeatedly called Earthlink tech support for help. I have been told that I had a Bad number and given another number to call. A few days later, when I tried to connect through the Bad number, it worked fine (relatively speaking, of course). I have a 56.6k modem, and my connection speeds have varied between 16 and 26k. Never higher.

My modem tests OK; my phone line has been tested and found to be OK. I have taken my computer down to a neighbor and the computer performed OK. My service gets worse every day. I was a Hawk client, when Earthlink bought Hawk's dial up service. Our monthly payment is $9.95, significantly less than other Earthlink customers pay for unlimited Internet service. I wonder if Earthlink is trying to drive us away. Although I've had polite customer service from Earthlink, everyone I talk with tells me something different, and it sometimes takes hours over several days to troubleshoot the problem. In any case, the problem not only persists but gets worse every day.

I run my business out of my home. It literally takes me hours to do online what used to take me minutes. This monring, in the space of an hour and a half I was dropped five times. It took this site more than 5 minutes to load. I end up working weekends to make up for lost time. It's difficult to estimate how much this off-again on-again service is costing me in dollars, but in time, with the dropped connections, slow downloads, frequent called to tech help, and running around to neighbors to check performance with their phone lines, the interruptions in my work week have added almost 40% to the number of hours I have to work.

Mark of Nokomis FL (05/12/06)
As with other complaints I've read, I have been charged by Earthlink since my free trial that came with my Dell expired, over a year ago. I e-mailed them, telling them i didn't like there service and didn't want any subscription after the trial period. Well, after being in and out of the hospital for the last year, and someone else was handling my affairs, I didn't realize till today I'm still being charged for a service I didn't want, nor have I used for over a year. I haven't called Earthlink yet, but will demand a refund. I'll keep you informed of the outcome of my endeavors. Its bad enough this company keeps slaming people, but in this case, they slamed a terminally ill, handicapped person. Should make for a good news story. Film at eleven.

Tiffany of North Hollywood, CA (05/11/06)
Earthlink dropped my internet service in order to "migrate" my service - whatever that means. It has been down for 3 days now.

I have been on the phone with various departments (tech support, billing, TRON) trying to fix the problem.  Each person would make me run through the same protocol - unplug the modem, wait for 10 seconds, restart the computer.  Nobody seemed to know what was going on, but it looked like it would be out from 4-5 days.

I decided to cancel my service but they wanted to charge a $150 early termination fee. I was furious. If they can't hold up their end of the deal and provide me with steady internet service, then it should be my right to cancel at no cost!  I believe they just try to wear the customer down, and if that doesn't work, they bully them with threats of early termination fees.

Fran of Sachse, TX (05/08/06)
4 week ago my DSL went down and I still have no service.  I have lost 3 weeks of work and have cell phone bill over $300 to keep phone line open.

Naser of Novi, MI (05/06/06)
I tried to port my number over to True Voice, but after a month of trying to set it up with their tech support, and a hardware swap, they never managed to get it established.  I decided to opt out and a month later I am still without my telephone.  I am stuck with over a $50 bill, even though I never got a dial tone.

Philip of Long Beach CA (05/02/06)
I've been an Earthlink customer since 1998. I have dsl account to which I bundled Earthlink wireless service in Dec. 2005. The Samsung A560 sucks. It cuts off incoming audio besides not ringing at phone but sending everything to voicemail. They also told me I would be getting FREE incoming calls.When I get the first bill in February, I get almost $50 overage charges---No free incoming.

They won't respond to emails, but tell you to call in , where there is NO RECORD of what was said. Very convenient...No record. I asked to cancell my wireless because of the fraud stated in the terms of service. They not only charged me for a new month in advance, after I had a cancellation number, but also $175.00 in early termination fee. I will now sue them in court. They are a typical 21st century corp. who exploits their customers, feeling that the effort won't be worth the law suit. Have I got news for Earthlink.

Kimberly of NC (03/27/06)
My husband decided to switch our phone service to the Earthlink True Voice. It was set up on 3/16/06 however the service did not work. He sought support from Earthlink numerous times, but each technician was no help in the solution and would tell him to call this number or that. He would, only to be told to contact someone/somewhere else. One tech told him they would get it fixed, then call us on the phone. That never happened.

Finally, on Monday, 3/20/06 he told them to disconnect us from this "service", and we would go back to our previous phone carrier - Alltel. As of now, 3/27/06 it has been 7 days since we told Earthlink to cancel our service with True Voice, and we still do not have a landline phone. The former carrier (Alltel) has told us that Earthlink still hasn't released our number back over to them, even though they kept telling us (either cell phone calls or live chat) that the account with their service was cancelled. They even sent us a label to send the equipment back.

So in all total, we have been without a landline phone for 12 days. Earthlink will not release our number from our former phone service carrier, and therefore, we can't connect up with Alltel again until Earthlink does this. I tried the Live chat on the "True voice" page, but it says it is busy....you must CALL. How can I call with no phone service!?! I have spent all of my cell minutes on the phone with Earthlink already, with no results. Earthlink has really sunk to new levels. Since all of this happened, I checked out Earthlink True Voice on the internet and see numerous complaints about it. I just wish my husband had checked it out before jumping on board.

Geraldine of So Dennis MA (03/11/06)
I cancelled my account for internet service with Earthlink on 5/8/05 due to my e-mail never working. I used earthlink for all of three hours total even though I remained a paying customer much longer than that in the hope that technical service would fix the problem . However, I noticed on my Bank statement that I am still being billed $21.95 monthly for this service that I had cancelled 10 months ago.

I had a lengthy conversation with three Earthlink customer service persponel this evening. Jas, David and finally Betty/Supervisor. She offered me $98.78 which is half of my requested refund. This conversation took fifty-seven minutes of my time. Mind you I'd like to add that I had several lengthy conversations with Earthlink representatives last year from the beginning of my account with them, always unsatisfactory.

Today (3/11/06 5.30pm -6.27pm) I was informed by Jas that I had cancelled the account on 5/8/05 and he confirmed with a confirmation #. The other two reps after that had no record of this, a prime example of the inadequacies of Earthlink personel. Consumers can be guaranteed that Earthlink is way inferior in their capacity to take responsibility and accountability for inefficient communication and documentation.

Marsha of Marietta GA (03/06/06)
We have been doing business with Earthlink for the last 7 years. However, recently I was made aware that an account created back in October 22, 1999 was not cancelled as we were promised. When changing from one account to another the original account was never closed. Regardless of the fact that our firm has had numerous conversations and been assurred that this account was for another service connection, as we have several in our company, we have discovered that this is indeed false and in fact the account was never canceled and therefore never used.

Upon learning this, we have canceled the account. We are expecting that Earthlink will credit the overbilling difference.

Walter  of San Diego CA (02/27/06)
Here are the bullet points:

1. Customer of Earthlink for about 4 years
2. Ordered DSL in August, was effective in September, billed in August, billed for Modem at $99 that was supposed to be free
3. Finally got DSL working late in September and was asked about a home networking router at about $7.50 per month. Agreed
4. Two weeks later received a PC card that I never ordered and the router never showed up.
5. Called about 3 or 4 times no router, cancelled order and was told if I cancelled I had to pay a $140 cancellation charge - never got service
6. About 2 weeks later I received the router along with a Return Material Authorization to return it. I did immediately.
7. I have been billed for the router and for the home networking service every month since September and have never had the service
8. Dec 05 filled complaints with my credit card company and BBB of Atlanta.
9. Jan 06 got a reply that I would be credited $121 and change - credit never happend got a new bill for $122.00
10. Contacted credit card company and they said we made a mistake and you are only getting $19.95 and if you don't like it you have two working days to make a new claim and by the way it takes us three days to acknowledge a FAX and you probably are too late
11. BBB sends me a memo mid February from Bill Quince (dated 20 Jan 06) that says he will credit everything back except the router which hasn't been acknowledged as returned yet (in three months)
12. 23 Feb 06 Earthlink shutdown my e mail and DSL service without any notice
13. 25 Feb 06 I returned to US and called Earthlink. They said if I pay them $140 approx they will reinstate my service in 3 to 5 business days.
14. 27 Feb 06 I call Bill Quince - too bad you are stuck because our accounts automatically suspend service - he doesn't have time to get involved. 15. 27 Feb 06 Atlanta BBB sorry I have been out of the office and can't get to your problem for awhile - send us an email. (email sent 26Feb06)

So here I am with my business on hold because I don't have any DSL or e mail service

Marilyn of Detroit MI (02/23/06)
One day I received an offer from Earthlink to upgrade to high speed internet. I responded to the offer and I started having problems with my email which was probably due to the fact that high speed internet was NOT available in my area. Several calls were made to Earthlink. Despite my objections, they demanded that I give them my password and other information. I gave them the information that they requested but the service did not improved. After a month, I stopped the service and automatic withdrawals from my checking account.

Christen of Tucson AZ (02/13/06)
I called Earthlink to cancel my membership (they were taking 21.95 out of my acct every month) because my computer was not working.The Customer Rep said no problem and told me I already had a 21.95 credit. He told me they would probably not refund the credit, but would I like to use it for a year of email service for $21.95? I agreed to that because we probably would need all of our adresses when we got our new computer. He gave me my cancelled subscription confirmation # and I told him to please take the Visa card number I had off that acct and never to run it again due to the horror stories I have heard about still being charged after canceling. He said no problem and that was that.

I checked my bank acct the next day and I was -175.00 because Earthlink ran my card for $239.40 a whole years worth of service. I called Earthlink immediately and the CR told me it was an accident on their end and he would get my card refunded immediately and not worry about it. He said they would fax my bank a letter saying it was their fault. I called my bank then and filed a claim regarding the unauthorized payment and they said they could not refund any of the overdraft fees until Earthlink put the money back in.

I called Earthlink back and this time the CR told me it would take 3-5 business days before the money would go back into my acct. No one at Earthlink cared - they basically kept saying they understood and that was the best they could - it was a mistake. They were still trying to sell me their services and get me to sign back up. I told them after this no way.

Mary of Chicago IL (02/10/06)
I have a credit coming to me from a slam that I caught before it went too far. Two months worth of a service called CallWave that I never used or wanted. Just because they mentioned it to me doesn't mean I wanted it and I had told them over and over again by phone, email, web chats that I had no use for the doggone utility. But they just went on ahead and began to charge me for Software I wasn't using.

All this technology and the knuckleheads can't tell one has not downloaded some kind of software and is using it? Driven Greedy sobs. And that credit that I have coming to me...well I can't get it back because I discontinued the dial-up service with them. And I'm never going to stop bothering them about it or talking about them in a bad light until I die. It's the only way I can shut up anyway. Hey! Earthlink!!! I want my credit coming to me.

Terri of Center Ridge AR (02/07/06)
I have had service with Earthlink for many years. For the past three years I have had satellite service. On 9/15/05, I called EL and requested my service be discontinued. I work through VPN and they cannot provide me with a stable - static IP address for which to work through. I then called Direcway and requested to be hooked up with them, as I have DW equipment. They told me they could not do this, because it showed I was still a customer of EL.

I have gone back and forth like this since September 15, 2005. I have continued to receive satellite service throughout that time, though I was not charged. I have documented dates and times that I have called into Earthlink to get this resolved. That number is 31 times, but if you count the times I called in and never got to speak to anyone, but got disconnected, that number is 47.

I cannot believe I put my faith and life's blood into a company that, not only cannot successfully transfer a phone call without disconnecting the caller, but cannot get a satellite connection interrupted. I was told today, by Earthlink's installation department, that they were escalating the problem and expediting it immediately. I was also told the same thing on 2/1/06 by the installation dpt.

Today I was told this would be resolved in 7 business days, which is what I was told a week ago. I am putting Earthlink on notice that they have until 2/16/06 to have this matter resolved, or I will not be calling back, but will be scheduling an appt with my attorney to file a law suit. I am losing my job over this, as I work at home. I'm sure it wouldn't do any good, but I don't know where else to turn. It makes me ill to see Earthlink's commercials on TV, promise all of this excellent service and dedication to the customer. That has not happened in this case.

Susan of Edinboro PA (01/31/06)
Called to cancel DSL services on 12/6/05 and was told no more charges but that accoujnt would be active until 1/1/06. I asked how to return modem and was told that I did not need to return it. On 1/3/06 I was billed 52.99 and spoke to a supervisor who told me that I had been charged because I did not return the modem. She told me to return the modem and I would be issued credit. I asked why I was told that I did not need to return any equipment when I had first called in, and she said that was an error.

Doesn't matter that a company representative (Crystal) had told me that, they were not going to honor it. So after they issued me a return authorization (which took a week) I sent the modem back UPS. The UPS site told me that it had been signed for on 1/20/06 by earthlink. No refund has yet been issued so I called today to ask why. I spoke with Eric who told me that a refund would be issued 7-10 days from TODAY, 01/31/06. He had no idea why nothing had been done until we had called to question it.

Virgil of Portland OR (01/27/06)
We wanted to cancel our account. So my wife called and tried to cancel it. They required that we have our password and fathers middle name. When I signed up I did not give them my fathers middle name and could not remember what I told them. As for the password we could not remember it either as we never needed it, we put it in when we first got the account six years ago and never needed it because it was in the computer. We just clicked the button and it logged on automatically. I couldn't find it anywhere. They refused to cancel our account.

Finally I got a hold of someone named Megan who told me to send a certified letter requesting cancelation. Also she said to write an explanation and we would not be billed for the time of the dispute. I did so that day and got my confirmation from the post office. Jerome M. Bryan signed for it. Then we got another bill. I called several times and no one will talk to you unless you have the password and fathers middle name. Then it went to collections. I tried one more time to resolve the issue today 1/27/2006.

Finally got the lady to put me through to a supervisor. But he only recounted the procedures policy and rufused to acknowledge anything and said he did not have the authority to resolve my contesting of the bill. I asked him if he worked for earthlink. He said yes, so I asked him to connect me to some one who did have the authoity. He said he could not do that. I asked him if he was an employee of Earthlink. He said they had a partnership with them. So I asked if they were a subcontracter and where he was located.

He said yes they were a subcontractor and located in the Phillipines. I realized that he had no authority and no one he worked with had any authority to do anything but offer apologies. They can only follow the procedure contracted to them by eartlink which is very convenient for Earthlink as they don't have to deal with anyone. And obviously don't care what happens. I am sending my payment off to the collection agency after I finish this. I'm assuming that my credit rating will be dinged and I will be out the money I am sending. I have my postal verification of the certified mail and a copy of the letter which I am making sure gets put back into the file cabinet. Very poor company to deal with.

Anica of Aptos CA (01/14/06)
I received a free 6 month trial of Earthlink with my Dell laptop. I was told I needed to cancel on Dec. 25th in order not to be billed via direct deposit. When I called on the 24th to cancel I was told the money had already been direct deposited from my acount on Dec. 22nd and that since this was before the agreed upon date I would receive a refund.

I was also offered two free months of Earthlink at this time. Several days later I received a letter from the bank saying I had incurred an overdraft fee of $23 from the direct depositing that had occured. Earthlink then direct deposited me again on Jan. 4th. I now have $46 in overdraft fees and am demanding that Earthlink refund this to me. I have called Earthlink three times and also tried to straighten this out via online customer service and they have refused to help me with the overdraft fees.