I pulled the plug on CIS

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Ned

Ned

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After 25 years of continuous membership, I cancelled my Compuserve Classic account today.  70040,612 is no more.  I wasn't offered any incentive to stay, no cheaper plans, no free months, nada.  He only asked why I was cancelling and I told him that the only reason I had kept the subscription until now was for access to usenet.  Since AOL/CIS shut down their news servers the other day, I had no more reason to stay.

Why do I feel relieved? :)  I am now using teranews.com for my usenet access.
 
Ned

Hopefully you won't go through the issues that some folks have gone through after they thought they'd cancelled. One key thing is not to re-visit in the first 30 days; I've heard stories of an automatic rejoin (billing) from folks who've done that.

BTW which phone number did you use?
 
I have removed all traces of CIS from my computer.  No chance of anything accessing the account.  I also changed the credit card information to a cancelled account.

I used the 800-848-8990 number.  The one given for cancellation, 800-394-1481, is no longer in service.  Hold time was less than a minute.  It took longer to get through the menus than it did for them to answer the phone.
 
Ned said:
After 25 years of continuous membership, I cancelled my Compuserve Classic account today.

Ned,

I wasn't on as long but we canceled our classic account two days ago. Not sure what experience you had but Pat was on the phone for over an hour trying to get it canceled. I feel the same relief you do. :)
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Ned said:
I have removed all traces of CIS from my computer. 

Ned,

Not sure that makes any difference. Our account was being charged to a number that had been changed by the credit card company a long time ago. Apparently they just kept accepting the charges from Compuserve and billing to the new number. Obviously, it's time to cancel that credit card!
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The whole cancellation only took about 10 minutes.  He didn't even offer an incentives to stay.

I changed the credit card to a cancelled account before calling.  We'll see what happend next month.  If there's a charge, Discover will be put on the case.  I have the cancellation number from CIS if necessary.
 
Ned,

You got a good one.(G) Glad it didn't cause any heartburn. Pat was ready for a drink after her ordeal. Good thing she's not a drinking woman.(BG)

 
Jim Dick said:
Pat was ready for a drink after her ordeal. Good thing she's not a drinking woman.(BG)
Click to expand...

I bet you helped her with that  ;D
 
Hi Ned,

After 25 years of continuous membership, I cancelled my Compuserve Classic account today.  70040,612 is no more.

I think I must be up around 20+ years on CIS.  It's the only ISP and e-mail address I've ever had in all those years.  When business travel took me to SE Asia I was happy to be able to do my e-mail via a local call to a CIS node.

My primary use for CIS is for e-mail (a couple of forums there) and as an ISP when I'm on the road in NA.

I don't think I want the hassle of breaking in a new ISP :); I can put up with the CIS idiosyncrasies :mad:.  But I may have to change over when CIS goes belly up, and that may be sooner rather than later.

Ciao,

Doug
 
If you need dial access, CIS is as good as any ISP.  Since I don't use dialup anymore, it served no purpose after they shut the news servers off.  I still have attglobal if I need dial access.
 
So, what's a good dialup ISP for a fulltimer who could be just anywhere?  The reason I kept CS was because I thought, with its affiliation with AOL, it had to have the best phone coverage of all.  I see a service called PeoplePC that says it has twice as many phone numbers as AOL, but for all I know, they're all in big cities.  Normally when I'm on the road I use my Verizon service cellphone to retrieve email.  After 9pm and on weekends minutes are unlimited.  I've learned to live with that just fine.  And I can dial around the US.  However, Verizon doesn't have data coverage at all of its affiliate locations, such as Yakima WA.  Then I need a local phone # in order to use the campground computer line.  Thus, I need an ISP that has good local # coverage in remote places.  My annual CS dues are expiring in a couple months.  I'd like to be settled with a new ISP by midJune, so I can start having fun getting CS to stop charging my credit card for the canceled service.

--pat
 
For alternate access when not in cell range, I feel it is good to have an ISP with nationwide 800 number access. I am in same situtation with Verizon, but have found infrequently I have to go to campground office line and as I don't carry around all the local numbers or if I did I may not be able to identify exactly the town closest. So I just use the ISP 800 number and get my mail. If I am going to be there a while, I may go to the ISP directory and get a local number so I don't accrue 800 number surcharge on subsequent dial ups at that location. My ISP is Earthlink and I have been most pleased with access. Another issue with ISP selection could be  online storage. Earthlink give me a bunch for my webpages of photos.

Bob
 
One of the advantages of most RV Forum rallies now days is the availability of a satellite connect via wifi though one of the Framilys Satelite connection.  At Moab there will be more than a halh dozen internet satellite systems.
 
Pat,

I've used PeoplePC all over the country and here at home too.  I live out in the country where no broadband or fast internet service is available and peoplepc even has a local number that i use here.  I'd do some checking with them if I were you. They are only 11 dollars a month and like i said i've never been anywhere they don't have a local dial up number to use.

Now I wonder how much PeoplePC is gonna pay me for that plug..................lol
Good luck.

John
 
Hi Pat,

I used to have Earthlink when it was free with my new computer for six months. It worked great. We dropped it when the free trial ran out. During the conversation with Earthlink they said they had a sister company called People PC. It was only $9.95/month but I could get it for $8.95. I tried it for awhile but found it was very slow compared to Earthlink. They will sell you an accelerator for another $10/month so your costs end up close to Earthlink.

Most of the time when I'm on the road I use Verizon Express Net. I really like that but can only use it after 9pm and before 6am and on weekends. I'll be looking for another land line provider soon as we will be parked for 5 months during the summer.

 
My brother is on my CS account as well.  We'd both have to change internet addresses with everybody.  It's not the hardest thing to do, I guess.  I would love to avoid some of the spam I've accumulated over the years.  I wouldn't want a combination of a slow cellphone connection (14.4) and a slow PeoplePC.  I'm amazed at the misrepresentation of the fees when they more than double price to get the service at an acceptable speed.

It is gratifying to know that PeoplePC's phone numbers adequately cover the U.S. 

Earthlink, if I recall, allows multiple users, but the price seems to be the same as CS.  I don't see any incentive to change, unless there's a significant price improvement.  I don't use any of CS's services other than the email and internet access. 

Another major issue is the ability of the ISP's software to recognize my cellphone as a modem.  CS's ver. 7 severely limits the select of modems, and I have written to them for non-existent help.

--pat
 
Pat

If you have Verizon and a compatible phone, there are ways to access the internet and your CIS email without using dial up. Check out    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InternetByCellPhone/  and download the Verizon tutorial. This will give you access speeds over your cellphone equal to or better than dial up landline. You will be able to surf the net at no charge all weekend long and after 9PM week nites.
 
BernieD

I downloaded and read the Verizon tutorial.  I have had all that equipment for years.  Shall check out my CD to see if it has the Verizon access software VZAccessMgr.  There's a guy in the official Verizon store here who is quite helpful and honest about what is available.  In order to get this tutorial file I had to open a Yahoo email account, so I already have email access.  This is going to be interesting.

--pat
 
Pat,

I've been using Verizon's Express Net for a couple of years now. It sure is slick when you need access on the road. In fact, I'm on it right now!!!

 
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