Earthlink outsources another 1300 jobs -- and loses me as customer

[Eloriel]

Companion thread, in which I tell my sad tale of woe about Earthlink, which I used to recommend highly to people (and even more so when it was Mindspring I was with):
Need a new ISP -- can no longer recommend Earthlink. Ideas?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=1589394#1589724

News item about their outsourcing(discovered while searching for a new ISP):
http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=777AA740-9E67-4B81-9AB9-371773A573C4
Another 1,300 call center layoffs as EarthLink outsources

About 1,300 people are to lose their jobs as EarthLink Inc closes four of its five remaining customer support call centers in four US cities, and scales back operations at the remaining one, the company said yesterday.


----

I cannot TELL you how unspeakably angry I am. Of course, it's like the final straw in a really bad sucky day anyway, but I am just enraged about this.

If any other Earthlink customers want to join me on exiting (tho I'm going to do my research and wait until the end of next week to make the move), there are a few good links for searches and reviews on the companion thread above, courtesy of RodneyCK2.

[Sugarbleus]

1. I hate earthlink. Used it for a short while then dumped it...

Good luck with your endeavors though.. Outsourcing is the bane of working americans... I wish I had earthlink just so I could cut it off along with you. Bastards!!

[Systematic Chaos]

2. Does $15 a month make that big a difference to you?

I don't know if you have Cox Communications in your area, but their value-priced cable modem service is only $24.95 a month even if you don't have their cable tv service. It will be several times faster than dial-up and probably much more reliable. Just a thought.

[Eloriel]

9. That's what I'm paying now,

or close enough. I'll look into it. I'd LOVE to have faster access.

Man, I'm still steamed about this. The unmitigated GALL of these people.

[RummyTheDummy]

16. could you provide more info?

Im a Cox subscriber and pay a lot more than that per month for broadband and i have their cable and phone service.

[mitchum]

3. I canceled my Earthlink service awhile back because of this

See...we can agree on something :)

[faithnotgreed]

4. this got my attention. i have earthlink and will check out isprank.com

[Cleita]

5. So many people told me Earthlink were THE guys,

but from what I understood they were moonies. So unless you believe that person who was recently crowned as the messiah should be in charge of communications like AOL, I dunno. I have actually gone to PCPeople, which I feel iffy about because my local ISP were sort of short on the job.

[LoZoccolo]

6. I like Speakeasy a lot.

Costs more than a bit more, but has great support who will take you seriously and who you can take seriously.

[Pallas180]

7. Good for you. We should all cancel companies that outsource jobs...then

the American people might get their attention and they might find
out we mean it.

[marlakay]

8. Sometimes it pays to stick to the little guys

We use big valley. Small company started in central valley ca but now in the bay area where we are. Around $95 per year. I'm cheap!! But they actually answer the phone and help you and I don't have problems getting on or anything.

[Invidious]

10. Hey those 1,300 will always have a job...

AT the local Wal-Mart for 8 bucks an hour.

[jburton]

11. I used their India Customer Service once

It was a disaster. The staffer had a problem differentiating between Windows XP and 2000. It was only compounded by the language barrier.

I'm now a customer of my local telephone co's DSL service. The call center is in-state (& Union), and the rate is cheaper since it's bundled with my local & long distance service.

Also, if it ever goes down it is given the same repair priority as if the phone service were down. Hasn't happened yet, but nice to know.

[Elwood P Dowd]

12. I've used them for almost 6 years.

The last time I called for tech help, the person knew less about my iMac than I knew. She finally had to get her supervisor, and he was no better. I finally posted the problem on an Apple forum, and someone posted back what I needed to know. I would swear the Earthlink tech help on that last call was in India. While they spoke fluent English, they almost sounded like robots. The American tech help folks were always more laid back and understanding. They would even talk about the weather and sports sometimes.

I hate to leave, but Earthlink is not what it use to be. Now someone tell me who is the best ISP for Apple products? I'm in Alabama. What about BellSouth?

[Eloriel]

13. Go to the other thread for some good links that can help you

research, perhaps. There are TONS of user reviews.

[clu]

14. old news

You probably noticed that the article is dated 1/2004. I lost my job in Dallas due to this outsourcing. My department stayed in-house (business line support), but it's location was moved to Atlanta.

Their CEO gave himself a $600k bonus during a year in which they took a few hits.

[Eloriel]

15. No, I didn't realize it was old news -- and I'm terribly sorry

about your job. Had I quite understood that Earthlink had been going this route I'd probably have made the switch sooner. Not that that would have helped you ... but enough of us doing it, maybe. Again, sorry.

[MadProphetMargin]

17. Good for you. F**K the greedy bastards.

Earthlink sucks, anyhow. What can you expect from a company owned by the Scientologists?