Earthlink false advertises and practices deceptive billing. I joined Earthlink on October 12 from a CD promising one month free.
Later, two checks bounced from my checking account when the money was in the bank. After a run around with my bank, they tell me Earthlink put a $25 authorization on my account which withheld my funds.
When I finally got through to Earthlink after 12 minutes of holding, the customer service rep said there was nothing his company could do but offer me a month free (which I was already receiving a month free). I told him that was going to do nothing for my checking account or my credit card bill (one of the checks was to my credit card company). He also told me that everyone knows that when you are asked for a credit card number there will be an authorization on the account or there would be no use in asking for it. I told him why I assume that was true when there was no mention on the CD, literature that came with the CD, or installation instructions that mentioned anything about an authorization fee. He acknowledged that this was probably true but still could do nothing for my problem. I asked to speak to his supervisor.
When his supervisor came on the line, I told him my problem. He told me the options that they could do were severely limited. He said the only thing he could do was send faxes to the by bank asking them to waive the charges and that I should call my credit card company and the store the other bounced check was to and talk to them about my problem. He said that they could not send money to others. I could not understand this and certainly doubted the sincerity of his words because I was pretty sure this had happened before and was clearly their mess up.
On November 12, I looked on the website to find an invoice for current charges. I wanted to know when I would be billed. There was no invoice or billing statement. I wanted to make sure the money would be in the bank to cover any new charges. I cancelled my service on around November 19. Three days later I got a notice from my bank stating I had been charged overdraft fees because of a $21.95 debit.
Immediately, I knew that this was Earthlink.
I looked on the Internet and sure enough in my Earthlink webmail account was an email from November 14 with an invoice dated November 11 where they charge my debit card. First, they charged me a whole day ahead of time. I thought it was certainly strange that this charge did not show up on November 12 when I looked at the invoice. What happened to billing someone first and letting them know when charges will be taken out and besides, what happened to my free month they promised me when they first messed up?
This time I thought I would get results from email. So, I email invoice.inquiry. They sent an email back the next day stating it would take 24 hours to get a response to me. When they finally did respond, they said that I had already paid for service that month, the records did not show any free month due, and they told me they were sorry for the mix up and that billing is done on the 11th of each month.
I am very dissatisfied with Earthlink's service. Because of them, my credit is messed up, I have a bounced check on my record, and an now out of over $150 for one month of service.
If you have ever, or am currently, considered Earthlink for your Internet service—think again!
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