MCI Mail and EasyLink Updates

We here at 2600, and apparently many of you, have been having problems with two of the biggies in the e-mail business - namely MCI Mail and Western Union EasyLink.

Let's start with the EasyLink tale.

Many many months ago, we saw a great big ad someplace inviting us to sign up for this wonderful electronic mail service.  There were no minimum charges of any kind and there was no fee to sign up, so we gave them a call.  Only after they got us started did they bother to mention that there was a $25 monthly minimum after the first three months.

Because of this, and also because of the fact that their prices aren't that great, we stopped using their system.  Since the service we signed up for was advertised as "free," we were under no obligation to cancel the account.

Sure enough, after the third month had passed, we received a ten-page bill for $25.  That's right, a ten-page bill.  They believe in itemizing your use of the system in as many different ways as they can think of.  The fact that we didn't use the system at all didn't stop them from itemizing our non-use.

Every month, like clockwork, that EasyLink bill comes, with $25 more added each time.  It's well into the triple digits now.  Occasionally we get a mailgram asking why we haven't used the system in such a long time, but we have yet to get a letter asking why the hell we haven't paid our bill.  In addition to these charges for answering a misleading advertisement,. we get plenty of solicitations to use their many other expensive services and even to get an additional account.

Finally, the EasyLink people, or machines, have been kind enough to send us roughly 20 pounds of Western Union directories and user guides.  In fact, we often receive duplicate directories together with the useless bill.  What a big pile all this stuff makes!

As an addendum, you may note that EasyLink still offers free accounts with no minimum usage in most of their advertising.

And in the Other Corner...

But our real trouble is, or was, with MCI Mail - those other bozos.

Last month, we told you about how our account was inactivated.  In fact, we later found out through our own detective work that our account was "accidentally" deleted instead of being reactivated.  Whoops!  We were also told that the slobs at McMail were sorry.

They also added that all of our inbound mail for the last month and a half was destroyed (they don't keep backups, they claim, seemingly proud of the fact).  When we asked about recompense for us or for our correspondents for lost business and for those who were charged for mail that wasn't ever received, they insisted that they did not charge for mail that wasn't read.

We doubt that this is true, but we cannot get a hold of their billing records or records of the mail that we did not receive, so we cannot prove otherwise.  But we can advise you not to pay for any mail you may have sent to us, because odds are we never received it.

Remember, they assured us that they couldn't give us the deleted mail or any other information, so you are the only one who knows if you sent us anything.

By the way, if you request a refund, you'll probably have to make a voice call to a human since their customer service mail account (MCIHELP) has also been deleted for your inconvenience.

We raised quite a stink about this escapade, and even sent a letter to the president of MCI!  It took him three business days to read his electronic mail and all we got out of him was a copy of a message he sent to the president of MCI Mail, who had apparently "explained" the situation to him.

It read:

"Thanks for the info.  There must be hundreds of them.  My condolences."

This pretty much confirms our suspicions.  MCI Mail has a blacklist which they've developed through reading their subscribers' private mail.  If they see anything they don't like, or if you get mail from someone they don't like - bang!  You're on the list.

Of course, there's no way to prove this.  Electronic mail is very easy to reseal.  What's more, they're not breaking any laws because they own the system.

We managed to get a new account that's now working, but we don't plan on keeping it and we don't advise anyone else to subscribe at this point.  Starting next year, MCI Mail will be charging a yearly fee of $18 as well as charging for access to their 800 toll-free dial-up.  Perhaps E-COM will soon have company.

Trick of the month: MCI Mail allows you to send Telex messages all over the world.  But if you send to a nonexistent Telex in some remote country, it will eventually come back and say that the Telex couldn't be found.  When that happens, there's no charge!  And you just know they've gone to an awful lot of trouble!