Earthlink Uninstallable Software

[Atrocities]

Ok Last night I finally got around to uninstalling all of my old Earthlink crap. I ran my adware program and it identified, confirmed, that much of the Total Access Earthlink software was indeed active spyware. So I had it uninstall it as well.

Now every time I click on a file Windows Installer starts and tries to REINSTALL Earthlink Pop-Up Block, Total Access, and other.

So I go into RegEdit and delete all the Earthlink folders and crap. Reboot, and still I have the problem.

So I call earthlink. THEY HAVE ME DO EXACTLY WHAT I JUST DID. All of this after an hour on hold.

Well I reboot, the guy says my problem is fixed and hangs up. This is what you get when your CUSTOMER SERVICE is located in ANOTHER F**KING COUNTRY!!

Well no my problem has not gone away. It is still here.

I am very displeased about this and how Earthlink is SO DAMN HARD TO GET A HOLD OF, and how STUPID their support staff appear to be.

To me this kind of evasive self installing spy ware program should be illegal and I should be able to BILL Earthlink for the cost of GETTING IT OFF OF MY SYSTEM!.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Start a write-in campaign to your local newspaper.

Or sue them.

[Suicide Junkie]

Probably just easier to copy all your files to another HD, and format c:
Let the computer grind for an hour reinstalling while you check on it every now and then as nessesary.

Spend an evening reinstalling and be done with it...

[Katchoo]

Well, I can't speak for Earthlink, but when I was doing helpdesk support for Rogers & then RoadRunner (both were Cable Internet contracts) we were given a set amount of time to solve the problem in, and if you went above that time you fell into Management's bad books. I was working for a 3rd Party Contractor hired by both Rogers & Time Warner (RoadRunner), and the Company was being paid for the amount of calls we were taking in, not for the service we provided or wether we could actually solve anyone's problems. In fact, if it came between taking the time to actually fix the problem, or getting the customer off the phone as quickly as possible, you'd get futher along with Management (and the Quality Assurance people) a whole lot better by shuffling off the Customer as quickly as possible (as long as you did it professionally).

Chances are the people you're dealing with for Earthlink are in the same boat. The person you get may actually care about your problem and want to fix it, but Management won't allow them to spend the time to do so.

Now let's all worship the might $$ dollar $$.

[Atrocities]

I have to say both guys were rather polite, but I think if they were given a joice, they would chose to mow me down, along with any other American, with an AK-47. Something about us being the vile western dogs of satan or something.

[Suicide Junkie]

What about doing the reinstall, and then sending them a nicely laid out, professional looking bill for your time.
Parts: $0
Labour: $50/hour

They might just pay it...

[Atrocities]

A follow up.

According to the notes on his account, Mr. Christopher was told how to remove EarthLink from his registry. The technician he worked with followed protocol. He removed Total Access from the consumer's Add/Remove Software file and also from the registry.

The consumer was told to contact his computer manufacturing company (i.e. Dell, Compaq) for further troubleshooting.

EarthLink's software is not spyware.

Should you have any further questions regarding this complaint, let me know.

Thanks,

Dani Peterson
EarthLink, Inc.
Dispute Resolution

Spyware
Definition: any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes; also called adware

This is exactly what thier software is doing.

[atari_eric]

So, essentially, it's fraud. The challenge, however, is getting proof that your info is being shipped out of your system by these programs. A very skilled network guru could get a ata capture, no sweat, which would show your info being sent. Also, make sure you get that "EarthLink's software is not spyware" claim on paper - it'll be real easy to claim they didn't say that otherwise.

[Spoo]

I was having the same problem with SBC Yahoo! On top of the obvious spyware (evident from my frequent firewall Messages) their "helpful" programs were causing frequent blue screens of death. I downloaded XP service pack 2 only to get a blue screen in the middle of the install. Needless to say, windows wasn't very happy after that. One reformat later and everything is running smoothly.

From now on, I'm setting up my Internet connection manually.

[Fyron]

Manual is the only way to go...