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Disconnecting
At the moment, Earthlink is running scads of TV ads showing the hapless nerd beseiged by guys in business suits who pull the plug on his computer, shower him with junk mail and peper him with tennis balls. At Earthlink, the ad says, they don't tolerate any of those service interruptions or spamming or pop-ups. So I thought it would be easy to cancel its service, which I actually acquired back when my account said Mindspring. But Earthlink's ferocious defense apparently only applies to paying customers, not to departing ones. Most ISPs, unlike more regulated phone companies, don't send monthly bills; they simply bill membership to a credit card. Thus, it's not simple even to find a phone number to call when you want out, and you sure won't find any little cancellation box on the home page.
When I got through at 8:50 a.m., I heard the usual chirpy recorded message urging me onto the site's website, where, the voice assured me, all my questions could be answered. There was, however, no prompt or icon or command on the customer service or tech support page for cancelling membership.
Back to the phones. I got to the menu, which didn't give an option for cancellation, but did give one for sales and service. That had to be the one, right? Wrong. After waiting on hold for 20 minutes, Diane told me there was a special customer service department for cancellations. She switched me to it. Fifteen minutes of bad music. I had that familiar, sinking feeling one gets upon entering the land of customer support, tech style. You can get in anytime, but you can't always get out.
Then a tech support rep came on. Can't imagine why you were switched to this department, he said. But I've been on the phone for half an hour, I said, taking the slightly more pleading voice one uses in the second stage of Phone Menu Hell -- the point before you really lose it, while you still hope some decent soul will ignore company policy and treat you right.
"Tell you what," said Steve the tech, his voice getting a tad chillier. "Why don't I stay on with you while we switch you over?" Great, I said. He vanished and wasn't heard from again. In the world of customer service, lies are the currency, and broken hearts abound.
Twenty-five more minutes, and a customer service rep from the first department popped on. A veteran of too many of these conversations to recount, I asked to speak to a supervisor immediately. One (allegedly) came on. Oh, he said, I was in the wrong department. So I did that thing where you recount your sorry travails in Tech Support Hell while they sometimes pretend to care.
"I've been on the phone for an hour," I said, the fuse having been lit. "It only took me five minutes to sign up. Why not make it possible to cancel electronically?"
Can't do that, he said, for security reasons. We have to verify your identify.
"But you let people sign up online, verifying or not verifying?"
"That's different," he said. It sure is. Cash flows in rather than out. After a few minutes (maybe three) on hold, I was told I needed a special devision of sales that cancelled subscribers. The supervisor switched me over. I expected to end up back in regular customer service, but didn't.
At 10:04 a.m., Cindy came on to ask for my name and PW. I didn't have the latter, as I hadn't used the service for a long time, and the PW had vanished into Password Hell, the bottom of a desk drawer stuffed with the detritus of old accounts, ID codes and issue and support reference numbers from countless tech issues and tech support pleas and brawls.
Cindy said Earthlink had no record of my ever having been a customer -- no name, address or credit card on file. I relayed to Cindy how impressed I was that they hadn't skipped a single month of billing me for the service, even though they didn't seem to know I existed. Yet I did have my credit card bill and assured her I was looking at a monthly charge of $9.95. Eventually it occurred to me that the account might be in my wife's name along with mine. The computer seemed willing to compromise on this point. Cindy said my service would be terminated. Was there anything else she could help me with?
Throughout this ridiculous waste of time, a voice kept popping up saying all calls might be monitored to ensure good service. I hope so. I also hope the people monitoring it have a lot of time and stored memory and a high tolerance for generic pop. I wonder if these people ever think about the irony: they spend all this money claiming to want to make life easier for people, yet they make what should be the simplest things nearly impossible.
The AOL call, initiated at 10:25 a.m. was shorter but weirder. This behemoth spends even more money touting how easy and customer-friendly the service is. That is, after all, the ads say, why they're Number One. But there's no keyword on AOL -- which has a keyword for everything -- for cancelling membership. If you root around in customer support for a while and keep typing in "cancel service" at every prompt -- I'm talking two or three browser moves and about five minutes, just enough to discourage the rushed, confused or distractable -- you eventually reach a page that offers an 888 number for cancellation of membership.
Getting the number of course, doesn't mean getting a human to answer the phone, which required another 20 or more minutes. The world's easiest-to-use and most wholesome online service doesn't fuss much about departing customers, either. At this point, I seriously considered saving the cancellation of AOL for another day. Maybe cancelling two ISPs is just too cumbersome for one workday. But then, there was Hemos and the invoices.
A gruff Brian answered the phone. "Can I help you?" he said, sounding as though his feelings were already hurt and he was spoiling for a fight. I assumed I had to be misreading his tone. I said I wanted to cancel.
"Why?" he asked. "We need to list a reason." Wondering why that was any of his business and eager to finally get off the phone, I mumbled something about having switched to cable. "You can piggyback AOL on cable," Brian interrupted. "That's not really a good reason."
Did I need a really good reason, I wondered? Had I missed something in the fine print when I signed up? What if something personal had happened, like a broken-off love affair? Or maybe I was broke, or been driven mad by pop-up ads and spam?
"Is there any complaint about the service?," he asked abruptly. I hadn't heard this brusque tone from customer service people, usually trained to hold onto a syrupy, we-are-here-to-please-you voice that probably causes them (and you) to later go home and torture their pets.
No, I said, I was happy with the service. I had finally switched to cable and wanted to cancel, that's all. What was the point of dumping on AOL, which I hadn't even been on for months? That would just generate a sugary phone call in a couple of days, pleading for re-consideration.
"You're sending out mixed signals here," Brian insisted, none too warmly. "This isn't really a good reason for cancelling. We can talk about adjusting the pricing, because there are different plans, if that's a problem, and since we can piggyback on cable and you have no complaints, I'm afraid I just don't understand. What am I supposed to write down on the form? You're not making any sense."
Contrary to the atmosphere on Slashdot, I don't particularly enjoy arguing, but Brian flipped my trigger. What would a 70-year-old user say under those circumstances, or a kid, or somebody who didn't speak English very well? Or somebody who just didn't want Brian jeering at him in a voice that vacillated between rude and intimidating?
It was outrageous and I finally lost it. "Look, Brian, I don't have to give you an unmixed signal, a good reason or any reason. I want you to cancel the service right now. Got it?"
"Your service is terminated," he said sharply at 10:50 a.m. AOL hung up on me! Things can't be all that rosy at the world's largest communications company. Brian was feeling -- therefore transmitting -- too much heat. But I was finally disconnected.
The morning did bring sharply into focus that this disconnection business is a horror, along with the way tech businesses often treat their customers, even as they spend fortunes taking out expensive ads claiming otherwise. Nobody should have to spend that much time cancelling two ISP's. It's so discouraging and so unpleasant that hundreds of thousands of people undoubtedly find it easier to pay relatively small monthly fees to avoid it. Which is almost certainly the idea.
So at the least I propose that ISPs be required to send monthly bills, listing numbers to call or websites to visit so that users can cancel on the phone or online. that means, of course, that ISP sites must offer electronic cancellation (if you can get on with a PW and ID, why can't you get off with them?) -- a button to push to cancel membership. It obviously ought to be as easy to cancel as to subscribe. Finally, AOL, of all places, and other sites should not dare be insulting, intimidating or browbeating to customers who want or need to disconnect. (Something Earthlink didn't try, I should point out -- though it took an outrageously long time there and the site didn't make the process simple in any way.)
In a world where it ought to be a universal right to get connected instantly, you ought to be able to get disconnected without calling a lawyer, a hit man or the FTC.
Never ever go to the "place" in automated call routing hell for canceling your account. Go to the "place" for past dure bills. I've never had to wait on hold there, and they can cancel your account for you. My business requires that I open and close many ISP accounts and that's always worked.
For those of you that want to attempt to cancel your AOL account like Jon Katz, the number is listed on this page.
Interestingly, Earthlink also has the phone numbers to cancel just about any popular Internet service (except for themselves of course) here.
The quality of tech customer service has been steadily declining over the past five-six years. For certain sectors, ISPs and telcos, the quality is simply atrocious. There are multiple reasons at work here:
1) New technologies (i.e. DSL for the RBOCs, cable internet for CATV carriers) have hastily cobbled together support structures that do a poor job of responding to customer needs. Education of the support techs seems to be as poor as education of the customers, leaving a huge gap in the working knowledge required to troubleshoot and rectify problems.
2) Corporate cost cutting. When Ameritech outsourced their IP support to Convergys (a spin-off of CBIS) a couple of years ago, the marked rise in on-hold times along with the decline in quality of the staff (working knowledge of telephony infrastructure) caused our corporation to switch to another IP provide.
3) Scripting. Support staff railroad you into a narrow set of options and if your particular problem doesn't fit into the right slot, you are relegated to a black hole of call-backs by higher level of support that adds days if not weeks to the resolution of your problem.
These issues have gotten so bad in the past couple of years that it is amazing that we have high-speed IP access at the consumer level at all in the U.S.
I had that wonderful experience with Compuserve way back when. My ID didn't work, but the billing was still on my credit card.
I'm still in therapy for my experiences trying to sort that mess out. :-)
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
The easiest thing in the world is just to send them your cancellation in registered mail so you can prove that they received it.
Then contact your bank to stop payments to whatever entity is siphoning from your account.
End of problem, if they don't comply they are on the wrong end of the criminal law.
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
I've heard similar stories to this one, where it takes an obscene amount of time to get a human to say "okay, we'll terminate your service", but the bills (or charges, in most cases) keep coming! In perhaps one or two cases, these being rather rare, the persons eventually had their banks change their credit card numbers to rid themselves of the monthly charge.
Keep a close eye on your next two bank statements. Make sure they actually stopped taking money beofre you believe youeself safe.
Not sure about Earthlink or AOL but I have never had trouble closing an account. Tips 1. Hit 0 on the first menu.. there is almost never a Cancel service option in the voice menu and 0 usually sends you to a human right away. 2. Go to the billing departemnt.. They are the ones usualy in controll of closing your account. 3. Can't get them to stop billing you.. call your credit card company and have them stop accepting the charges.. The ISP will come looking for thier money and at that point you will have someone to talk too.
EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
I'v ehad little trouble closing credit card accounts in most cases. I started a collection during college, then decided a few years later it was too complicated managing all the accounts. (Mind you, I didn't get into any debt trouble, though! I pay my cards off every month.)
Usually I just tell them I'm reducing my credit exposure, and belive it or not, most CSR's fully understand, since they know most credit card companies give you more credit than you can afford.
I've cut my load down to five cards, and I'm looking to cut further.
I am the evil aardvark!
Credit card companies are used to dealing with business who make it hard to cancel recurring charges. They know what to do, and in this case they are your allies. Good Luck!
. Tips 1. Hit 0 on the first menu
Pretend you are on a rotary phone, don't press any buttons. You'll be forwarded to a recptionist, and they'll forward you directly to the department you ask for. You still get to wait on hold, but it's less jumps.
10. TERMINATION.
You may terminate your account at any time and for any reason by providing notice of intent to terminate to EarthLink by:
- registered or certified mail, return receipt requested addressed to EarthLink Inc., 1375 Peachtree St. Level A, Atlanta, GA 30309; or
- telephone calls directed to Accounts-Customer Service at (800) 719-4660, option #2.
Email termination of your basic Internet access account will not be accepted. To terminate DSL service, you must call (888) 829-8466. To terminate Web Hosting and/or Business Services, you must call (800) 237-0148. Your termination will only be complete upon your receipt of a cancellation confirmation number from EarthLink. Charges to your account will stop accruing the day EarthLink provides you with a cancellation confirmation number. Based on your billing cycle, charges accrued prior to your termination may apply after you receive a cancellation confirmation. Email cancellation requests will not be accepted. If your account included space on EarthLink's servers, anything stored on this space will be deleted upon termination.Without prior notice, EarthLink may terminate this Agreement, your password, your account, or your use of the Services, for any reason, including, without limitation, if EarthLink, in its sole discretion, believes you have violated this Agreement, our Acceptable Use Policy, or any of the applicable user policies, or if you fail to pay any charges when due. EarthLink may provide termination notice to you by: email addressed to your email account or by US Mail or courier service to the address you provided for the Services. All notices to you shall be deemed effective on the first (1st) calendar day following the date of electronic mailing or on the fourth (4th) calendar day following the date of first-class mailing or deposit with a commercial courier service.
Sections 3, 4, 6, and 11 of this Agreement shall survive termination of this Agreement.
That's really not a problem, although your own CC may not be forthcoming in providing this information unless it's clearly criminal from the beginning. (E.g., the way I "signed up" for some porn sites, for the first time in my life, while literally on a ship at sea without internet access.)
The first letter to your CC is a dispute saying that the account has been cancelled. The second, when they rebill you, is a criminal complaint of fradulent activity. This gives the bank a lot more authority to stop the charges.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
"They usually offer another free month"
.. I forgot to pay last month .. could you cancel that charge and give me another two months free?"
:).
This is actually quite useful. I've had free AOL for the last two years or so. Each time I call to cancel, they give me another free month or two.
"Would you stay with AOL if we gave you a month free?"
"Well
"No problem."
Believe it or not, that actually happened
ATT Worldnet seems to make it easy. Of course I haven't tried it but plan on doing so later this month (moving to cable).
Click on Member Services from http://my.att.net and you get a link to "Thinking of canceling your account?". Not bad eh? Click on that and you get the following:
Close My Account
PLEASE READ ME FIRST
If you have your heart set on leaving us, please remember to gather all your personal belongings before you go. For example, for each E-mail ID on your account, consider retrieving:
Any e-mail stored on our AT&T WorldNet Mail Servers (you can use AT&T Message Center to view and delete them, or you can download them to your local e-mail client).
Any material you wish to retrieve from Personal Web Pages @ att.net
No one, including yourself, will be able to view or access this material once your account is closed.
Premium services, (for example The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition) which may appear on your AT&T WorldNet Service bill will be canceled along with your AT&T WorldNet Service. Other paid services such as newsletters, stock reports, on-line gaming services that you may have subscribed to are your responsibility. You may choose to cancel these services or provide them a new e-mail address.
To continue with your request to cancel your account, please select the item from the table below that most closely matches your most important reason for leaving AT&T WorldNet Service. We value your opinion, and hope to win back your business some day.
I am experiencing technical problems with your service.
Too many busy signals, dropped connections or no connections.
Trying other Internet Service Providers.
The Internet is hard to navigate, I can't find what I'm looking for.
Other Internet Services offer more / or different features.
I prefer browser or filtering software offered by other Internet Service Providers.
I want to use the same service as my friends and family.
I found a better price plan with another service.
I don't have enough time to use the Internet.
I cannot easily reach a live representative to help with my problem.
I would like better support from your online tools and support
I have multiple AT&T WorldNet Service accounts and I don't need them all.
My connection speeds are slow, or I plan to use Cable Modem or DSL.
There is no local number for AT&T WorldNet Service.
I am moving internationally.
I have internet access at my workplace or college.
Not bad, IMHO.
My name is Edward and I work for earthlink customer service, I won't try and defend earthlink as for the transfering around to different departments (although if you can provide me with the names of the reps you spoke with I will be more then willing to 'look into this for you') but, as with any phone tree for ISP's, there are usually only 3 options to select.
1)Technical Support (handles technical issues *obviously*)
2) Customer Service (handles billing and account maintenance - cancelling would be account maintenance)
3) Sales (obviously handles the setup of new accounts)
Each of our 3 divisions has access to different databases (to streamline the 'customer experience' by letting reps focus on specifics).
As for the hold time - I have a LCD display that allows me to see how long someone has been on hold. For the past month now our hold time hasn't been over 10 minutes in customer service (if you call during peak hours *8am-5pm PST respectively). If you call after of before peak hours our hold time is next to nothing (if we even have a hold time at that) Our Tech support line hasn't had a hold time for at least 3 months now.
As for account verification - we accept the last 4 digits of your credit card, calling the account holder back at the phone number listed on the account, a secret word (which the user sets up at time of initial signup), or the last 2 characters of the password (after which the user would be required to setup a secret word).
I can't speak for AOL on these matters (for obvious reasons)