[TriLUG] Earthlink Tech Support

[Joel Ebel]

For anyone wondering what the quality of Earthlink's tech support is, or 
anyone just looking for a joke, here's a rather hilarious exchange I had 
today with Earthlink's tech support chat system.

Joel Ebel


'Spenser G' says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I 
help you today?
joelebel at earthlink.net: The mail relay: 
smtpauth04.mail.atl.earthlink.net [209.86.89.64] appears to be listed 
in: http://dnsbl.sorbs.net/ So if my mail is routed through that relay 
and the recipient uses dnsbl then email from me gets rejected.
joelebel at earthlink.net: Here's a copy of the listing. It just got on the 
list last Friday.
joelebel at earthlink.net: Address: 209.86.89.64 Record Created: Fri Feb 18 
20:54:09 2005 GMT Record Updated: Fri Feb 18 20:54:09 2005 GMT 
Additional Information: Portable Display Currently active and flagged to 
be published in DNS If you wish to request a delisting please do so 
through the Support System.
Spenser G: Please hold on while I go through your issue.
Spenser G: Are you not able to send / receive emails?
joelebel at earthlink.net: If I send mail there is a chance it won't go 
through. It happened to me today with several emails in a row.
Spenser G: Let me know the email program and version you are using (like 
Total Access, Outlook Express, Outlook etc.).
joelebel at earthlink.net: Let me be clear. I'm well aware of what the 
issue is. I'm not asking for your assistance in solving my problem. I'm 
informing earthlink of a problem they have on their end. From one system 
administrator to another.
joelebel at earthlink.net: I'm using Mozilla Thunderbird. But that is 
irrelevant.
Spenser G: Kindly hold on for a moment.
joelebel at earthlink.net: sure
Spenser G: Thanks for being on hold.
joelebel at earthlink.net: no problem
Spenser G: I am sorry, but I do not support technical issues with 
Mozilla Thunderbird.
Spenser G: Please try to send the emails using any other email programs 
and contact us back is you have problem.
joelebel at earthlink.net: I repeat. This is not an issue I'm having. This 
is a problem with an earthlink mail server.
joelebel at earthlink.net: How can I get this information to someone who 
knows how to deal with it.
joelebel at earthlink.net: I could very easily reproduce this using Outlook 
Express, as well as any other mail client I might chose. However, doing 
so is not a good use of either of our time.
Spenser G: Please send the email using WebMail for testing purpose.
Spenser G: You can log into "WebMail" page from the below link using 
your EarthLink complete email address and password.
Spenser G: https://webmail.earthlink.net/
joelebel at earthlink.net: Thank you. I know how to use webmail. This is 
not my problem. Would you like me to repeat my problem?
Spenser G: Since you are able to send the email using WebMail, it 
clearly indicates that there is no problem with EarthLink mail server 
but with the email program.
joelebel at earthlink.net: Who can I call to speak with someone who 
understands how email works?
Spenser G: Since the issue is with the email program, we cannot provide 
any assistance in this regard.
Spenser G: Kindly let me know, if you are still with me.
joelebel at earthlink.net: Ok. Well, just so you know, there is a problem 
with one of earthlink's servers. I'm smart enough to deal with it, but I 
thought I would be courteous enough to let you know about the problem 
before it was a problem for others who couldn't deal with it so easily. 
But if you chose to ignore it, then it will only cause earthlink more 
troubles.
Spenser G: Kindly hold on for a moment.
Spenser G: Thanks for staying with me.
Spenser G: I will escalate the issue to our engineers to resolve the issue.
joelebel at earthlink.net: Thank you.
Spenser G: You're welcome and thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. 
Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.
Chat session has been terminated by the site operator.