SC - Deerhide help (kinda-sorta on topic)

[Philippa Alderton]

>  But I still think AOL is
>ultimately responsible, regardless of their protestations of innocence.
>
>Phil & Susan Troy



I would tend to agree.  It seems the norm here for ISP's to blame 
everything on the users Computer.  When I joined Bigpond (better 
rates for a whole lot more time) everything was hunky dory until I 
started having massive problems with my Email.  I checked and 
rechecked all my settings, up to and including reinstalling the Email 
software, then in a desperate attempt to get to the bottom of the 
problem, I phoned their customer support service asking if there was 
any major problems on their end since I couldn't find one at mine.

The answer was a most emphatic "No, it's not our problem.  You must 
have set your software wrong."  This was the answer to everything. 
For two days I couldn't download my Email.  I got to see how many 
were on the server waiting for me, but I couldn't get to them.
In a fit of desperation I tried calling again.  Again it was "It's 
not our problem".  Finally after the fifth phonecall, the person on 
the other end of the line said he'd look into it.  He left me on hold 
for half an hour while he checked.  It was possible there was a 
large, unwarrented post jamming up my system.  No that wasn't the 
problem.  There was no problem there, so once again it must be my 
fault.  By this time I hadn't been able to check my Email for three 
days and I was getting miffed.
Finally, when the message waiting counter reached 500 and I'd done 
everything possible aside from dismantle my computer to have a stern 
word to the gerbil.  I phoned again.
Finally I got someone who was willing to say more than it was my 
fault.  He'd look into the problem again.  Meanwhile he gave me a 
couple of options to try.  I logged on and tried them out.  They 
didn't work. I didn't expect them to really.  I gave up for the 
moment, went and made myself a cup of tea and tried to clam down 
because my temper was rising well beyond boiling point in 
frustration.  I was married to a computer programmer and I myself am 
fairly literate when it comes to computers.
Two hours later I tried again only to find that all 500 odd messages 
had vanished from the system.  This was the last straw.  I phones the 
Customer support line again.  And finally they admitted there might 
be a problem with them.  They couldn't figure out where they put my 
messages, or why they had vanished. One moment, according to their 
files they were sitting there, the next they had gone and no record 
of them being downloaded which I could have told them was obvious 
since I couldn't get in anyway.  There was a major problem with their 
server and had been for the last three days.  People had been working 
on it.  In the end I didn't even get an apology for the grief they'd 
put me through.
And the service I've had from other service providers hasn't been 
that great either.

It's corporate policy to never admit to your clients that there is a 
problem.  So don't believe everything AOL or any ISP tells you.  Take 
it all with a grain of salt.

_A'adeema