
EarthLink Reviews
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About EarthLink
EarthLink is an internet service provider that offers customizable plans for home and business needs as well as internet security software and digital marketing solutions for small businesses. Its premier service, EarthLink Fiber, gives you access to internet speeds up to 5 Gbps with no data caps or teaser rates.
Visit www.earthlink.net- Fiber, 4G LTE / 5G, and Fixed Wireless options
- Home plans start at $39.95/month
- Home and business internet
- Not available in every state
EarthLink Reviews
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Reviewed Feb. 27, 2006
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
Reviewed Feb. 23, 2006
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.
Reviewed Feb. 13, 2006
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.
Reviewed Feb. 10, 2006
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.
Reviewed Feb. 7, 2006
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.
Reviewed Jan. 31, 2006
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.
Reviewed Jan. 27, 2006
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.
Reviewed Jan. 14, 2006
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.
Reviewed March 30, 2004
I have had the same static IP for the last 3 years and all of a sudden on Thursday March 25 @2.30am, I lost my DSL connection. When I call tech support (In India) on the same morning at 8am, they made me do the normal rookie stuffs like rebooting the modem and rebooting the PC. They said wait for a few hours. so I did. Call back around 6pm the same day. They made me do the same thing all over again assuming that the problem is on my end.
On Friday, March 26, they made me repeat the same thing as Thursday until they finally agreed to open up a Trouble Ticket. So I contacted them on the earthlink trouble ticket 575578 and they said the engineers are working on it. So TRON group called me on Saturday at 4pm. What they did was disabled my Static IP to see if I am able to get my DSL connection. Yup. I was able to but with no static IP. So we played the Activate and Deactivate game with the Static IP all day on Sunday and Monday March 29.
Believe it or not they actually closed the previous ticket without solving the problem. So they opened another Trouble Ticket 576525. On late Monday night, the guy from TRON thinks it might be my static ip been shared by someone else. He recommend that I get a new static IP to fix the problem. So he told me to contact customer service today, Tuesday March 30. So I did. It's funny -- I called the customer Service to request a new IP.
They put me through a phone call of HELL by transferring me from one person to about 15 person. I basically spoke to the people in India (useless) to Philippines (tried to help) to the US. The verdict. they gave me my same IP and still not fix the problem. They are basically pulling my leg each time I call them.I have spent over at least 14 solid hours of phone call and chat with their tech support and it's not going anywhere.
Reviewed March 2, 2004
In the past 3 months we have not been able to use our internet service on several occasions for extended periods of time. Earthlink has tried to fix the problem on each occasion. The problem would be corrected and then would fail again. Each time, Earthlink would come up with some sort of excuse as to why the problem was happening. Eventually, it got to the point where we decided to cancel. This is where Earthlink showed their true colors.
Earthlink refused to wave the early termination fee for something that wasn't my fault. Instead, they wanted to offer me a credit towards next month service. This made no sense because I couldn't use the service now and I didn't want to try and use it in the next month. When I asked if they could count my credit towards the early termination fee, they said they couldn't do that. They could only give credits towards services, not fees. This by far was the worst excuse or explanation I have heard in my life.
Reviewed Feb. 10, 2004
I have spent several thousands of dollars on Analysis Software and data feeds to support my investing activities. I have purchased a subscription to an online Options analysis database. I have not been able to use any of these things for a month and there is no end in sight.
Reviewed Feb. 10, 2004
If they're not going to honor their offers, they should not be allowed to advertise them.
Reviewed Feb. 7, 2004
We noted Earthlink billed credit card for internet service. When we contacted Earthlink they stated account was under 'Manuel Cruz'. Earthlink refused to provide any further information and they refused to provide refund. Furthermore they would not provide explanation as to why they charged credit card when name on account did not match. An 'identity theft' police report was filed with Torrance Police but Earthlink indicated that they required a court order to address issue.
Reviewed Jan. 29, 2004
First of all, it was cancelled. It is not my fault the call was not noted and the cancellation was not generated. Secondly, the reason I cancelled was because of the poor service. There are numerous notations of calls related to technical problems with the Earthlink service. The "agreement" between Earthlink and myself was breached early on by Earthlink. The contract was rendered void when I did not receive the service promised in the Earthlink sevice contract.
The customer service representatives I spoke with were shameless in their arrogance regarding the fact that they would not remove the charge. Is this the image Earthlink wishes to project to potential customers? Is this what customers should expect when deciding whether or not to try the "free" trial with Earthlink?
Earthlink breached their contact with me before I ever cancelled the service. I have been robbed. Maybe Earthlink is not concerned about the possibility of class action lawsuits. It is, after all, the "small" people like myself who keep Earthlink up and running by purchasing this product. I may not have purchased this product of my own free will, but I do have communication skills and I will never reccommend this product to anyone. If this charge is not removed I will not give up on getting this issue resolved. I will not go away.
Reviewed Dec. 20, 2003
I called Earthlink to cancel my DSL service in order to switch to Verizon. Sales rep provided competitors promotion and promised will give me $29.95/month offer. She said she couldnt change the price on November because the invoice has been billed. I received the bill in December and price still remains $53.50.
I called on 12/5/2003 and tried to get the credit back. Another rep told me that was previous sales reps fault, there are some procedures errors that the sale rep should have contacted me about when offer was rejected but she didnt. I still couldnt get the discount rate. I wasnt happy about that and asked to cancel the account and get my money back. They charge me the service to Jan 6, 2004. This sales rep refused my request. He canceled my account immediate but I couldnt get my money back, even prorated portion, that AGAINST EARTHLINK POLICY. I was very angry.
Reviewed Nov. 6, 2003
A representative named Ronda took over. She started asking when did I ask for the cancellation because they have no records of the request. But she assured me that the matter waresolveded. After speaking with Ronda on October 27, 2003, I received another letter requesting a payment of $47.90 by November 15, 2003. This letter also stated that if I want to dispute this amount please call them before November 15, 2003.
This is why cancellations should always be submitted in writing, preferably via certified mail, return receipt requested. If Loomis had done this, he would now have proof that he had made the disputed cancellation.
Reviewed Oct. 26, 2003
I feel they were deceptive in offering both rebates in order to get the sale. Now I have a one year pre-paid contract with earthlink already charged to my account and, in addition, I have found the Mailstation VERY limited in its use for emails.
Reviewed Oct. 5, 2003
I ordered Earthlink DSL. I was sent a router from UHP, it was no good - the POST (Power On Self TEST) failed. Earthlink put me through all kinds of nonsense before shipping me another modem. The new modem worked perfectly for about one month, but now, when I upgraded to the 2004 software, it allows me to surf for about three minutes until I again see the "Server not Found" page which has become my primary purchase from Earthlink! Unplugging the Modem and killing the task Panel get me another 3 minutes online.
I wish to find someone who can write a consumer experience meter, which will log the time the network actually feeds data, which is what we really pay for, taking into account congestion at popular sites, so that we can really create a measure of how our service declines. We could use such a rating for a class action lawsuit. Stereo manufacturers didn't advertise RMS power levels until they were forced to. Let's get busy! We just pay, we no longer surf, we're too busy. Earthlink has made DSL into Dialup Simulator -- Loser! -- and I no longer wish to fulfill my contract!
Reviewed Sept. 10, 2003
Numerous calls have been made to this company and they always say the check will be coming in a week. I called in July, I was told that It would be 4 more weeks. My call in August, they said it would be received Aug. 26th, that it had already been mailed. My call to them on 9/10/03, I asked to speak with a supervisor who tells me they want my credit card number. Since I am looking at the sales slip, with the last four numbers of the credit card, I gave them those four numbers and they tell me they do not agree with those numbers, therefore they will not even speak to me about this rebate.
The numerous times I have called they even gave me a case Number which is 58778507. They will not honor that number and would not accept my credit card number as they say it is not the number they have on file, but said they would speak to me if I gave them my pin number, Which I have no idea what it is, and I must call from my home phone. (I called from work but gave them my home phone number). The bottom line is they do not want to honor the rebate, and they have been giving me one excuse after another. This has been since February. Again, the credit card number is not incorrect. My relative has already paid Discover so it had to be correct.
Reviewed Aug. 31, 2003
They were always sympathetic and very apologetic. However, they never sent the check and I would get billed again the next month. Finally, after almost a year They stopped billing me. (I had threatened them with legal action.) And I was assured that I would get a check within 10 days for the entire $241.45. I never did receive a check but they did credit my credit card for $87.80. That is the equivalent of 4 months charge, not the 11 months they owed me. I will make one final phone call to them and if I don't get real satisfaction in a reasonable time I will seek legal recourse. I'll say this for them though. They are the most polite rip-offs I have ever seen.
I figure they owe me $153.65. It is not the money, it is the principle. I hate getting snookered by anyone. If everyone would raise hell with them about getting cheated, maybe they would improve their system and methods.
Reviewed Aug. 29, 2003
I was incorrectly billed for dial up internet access services for over two years for an account that had been canceled. I was able to provide a confirmation number that corresponded with the cancellation request and was told at that time (~ 10/0/02) that I was to receive a refund of $546.70 because records, which have since been lost, confirmed there was no account activity for the period in question. This matter has persisted for over a year now. I have a detailed log that shows on numerous occasions that the employee/supervisors I spoke with agreed that I am owed the money I seek. Each time accounting fails to make payment, however.
Some 15 days after my last contact my records were "mysteriously" cleared and I am finally being told that I will not receive the remaining funds. I feel this was intentional and is a deceitful practice.
They stole money from me, promised to give it back on numerous ocations, and then reneged. It is being lied to and feeling that a company the size of Earthlink is inetionally giving a former customer the run arround that bothers me most. I would not be writing this if they refused the refund request initially. I want the $327.20 that I am owed by admission of Earthlink themselves. Somehow I am sure that Earthlink would have no trouble locating records that showed I owed them money.
Reviewed Aug. 9, 2003
Earthlink/Cidco has not met their agreement with me and I should not have to keep mine. When I called directly to Earthlink, they told me they do not take responsibility for Cidco and that they are a separate entity. Now I better understand the stalling by Earthlink and my being told to just be patient by complaint dept after talking to Chief Investigator of the Orange Co Consumer Fraud Unit in Orlando. I am sending them my complaints and I am also working with San Francisco's ABC TV consumer affairs dept. My husband and I are going to also cancel our Earthlink monthly usage.
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2003
I called June 19th, 2003 to cancel my service, but when July came around the internet company turned around and tried twice to take 21.95 out of my checking account. Well at the times they tried I didn't have the money in the account to cover it so I was chared an overdraft fee. They did this on the 15th and the 24th of July.
Well when I called and informed them about this mistake they told me that they could request a refund for the 21.95 that they were trying to take out. I told them that they never got the 21.95 but I was charged 28.00 each time they tried. So I wanted my 56.00 not the 43.90 they are wanting to give. Ms. Freeman told me that it is up to my bank to return it to me. The bank says that it is Earthlink's responsibility to refund it since they caused the problem in the first place.
Reviewed June 20, 2003
The time consuming phone calls talking with different representatives of this company explaining to each and every one of them from the start and never any resolve. I am tired of dealing with Earthlink and think they owe me compensation to make things right.
We suggest Linda pay Earthlink every cent it is demanding. Then, she should turn around and sue them in Small Claims Court for the payments wrongfully collected, service not rendered, expenses incurred in fightinig the wrongful billing, etc.
Reviewed Jan. 4, 2000
I strongly urge anyone to just find a local ISP and go with them. Dealing with big shot ISP's...ie Earthlink, AOL, Compuserve...etc. is just a big headache. First of all Earthlink's ad on the "free" cd they sent in the mail was very misleading. Clearly it states that you can have e-mail for anyone in the house, web page hosting, unlimited dial up access for only $19.95 a month.
My wife and I use the internet a lot, and my wife has a few message boards too, so we need at least 4 e-mail address (one for me and three for her, one personal, two for the message boards for all those darn SPAMers). So I set up mine and then went to set up hers, to find out for each additional e-mail address would be $4.95 a month...when on the ad it says e-mail for the entire family...everyone in the family (and most ISP's give up to five). I then called Earthlink to confirm, and a rep said, "yep, $4.95 a month for each additional...all that means on the ads is unlimited dial-up for $19.95."
So I said that we needed the additional e-mails, but didn't want to pay for it. To which the rep said,"Sorry, it $4.95 a month for additional...do you want to cancel?" (to me that is odd that is given right off the bat) So I said of course. I was then transferred to a "retention" rep who only asked me, "so, the message says you want to cancel, right?" I said yes and the rep then said OK DONE! and hung up.
I called back to get a confirmation number on the cancel...names, etc, and then recalled to reconfirm. (I work for a credit card company and see companies like Earthlink and AOL charging accounts up to three to four months after original cancellation and will only refund after much fuss). And you guessed it, on my next bill was a charge for $19.95.
I immediately called Earthlink, by passed the front line reps and got to a sup. The sup did credit my account immediately and no other charges have shown on my bill. Unless travel and internet go hand in hand with you...then no need for a national ISP. Go with a local dial-up server. Much easier, and you don't have to go through a "network" of reps to correct a problem.
Reviewed Nov. 26, 1999
After buying a WebPCJr from Microworkz my wife and I used the included software (and preloaded links) to sign up for our 1 year of free internet service through Earthlink. After having a problem with our bank to get us our banking statements to our new address, we discovered months later that Earthlink was charging us for the internet service.
Earthlink's total charges were from June to October for a total at $19.95 a month. The total was almost $100 dollars. I would like either Earthlink or Microworkz to refund me that money.
Microworkz has a hard time delivering on its promises and has recently been sued by the Washington Attorney General, so this is hardly surprising news. Michael should send a certified letter to Earthlink vigorously protesting the charge and demanding an immediate refund. If that doesn't work, Small Claims Court is a good option.
EarthLink Company Information
- Company Name:
- EarthLink
- Year Founded:
- 1994
- Address:
- 980 Hammond Dr NE, Suite 400
- City:
- Atlanta
- State/Province:
- GA
- Postal Code:
- 30328
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.earthlink.net