KNARLY: Earthlink support is worse than Earthlink Spamblocker.

I was stupid enough to wonder if Earthlink Spamblocker had any sensible logic built in to it.. like duh.. what was I thinking. As I was reading the blurb on their site about spamblocker, a "How can we frustrate you" type window scrolled onto my screen, and offered me live support. Well why not.. that should answer my question quickly.

35 minutes later..

Chat InformationWelcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly.

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Chat Information'

Ancic Q' says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?

me: I'm building a helpdesk application and want to understand your spamblocker better so that my product works well for your customers

Ancic Q: Sure, I will assist you.

me: If one of your customers sends an email to someone@somedomain.com, then is someone@somedomain.com automatically unblocked?

Ancic Q: Please visit to the given below link to know more about EarthLink Spam Blocker.

Ancic Q: http://www.earthlink.net/software/free/spamblocker/

Ancic Q: Is there anything else I may assist you with today?

me: Yeah.. you can answer the question.

me: .. it's specific, and isn't answered on that page - I already looked

me: ( jeez )

me: .. to ask you the quesiton is a different way, if you send an email to someone@somedomain.com is it automatically added to the personal address book

Ancic Q: If someone@somedomain.com is sending an email to EarthLink user and the sender email address is not listed in EarthLink users Address Book it will be caught a suspect email it wont get into EarthLink users Inbox.

me: That's great.. now perhaps you can answer my question rather than answer a different one..

me: .. if YOUR CUSTOMER sends an email to SOMEONE@SOMEDOMAIN.COM is SOMEONE@SOMEDOMAIN.COM automatically whitelisted in some way, or alternatively is your software completely retarded?

me: .. in other words, if your customer sends an email to SOMEONE@SOMEDOMAIN.COM is your software inteligent enough to realize that probably your customer is probably expecting a reply - so why put them through the misery of your torturous spam blocking system..

me: .. and no hurry. I've got all day. The only other thing I really should get done before lunch is paste this conversation to my blog.

Ancic Q: Earthlink use can send an email to any email address.

me: Holy crap. You don't get it do you. I've asked the question three different ways, and you either don't understand it or you don't want to answer it.. let me try again.

me: So.. your customer Jack sends an email to Jill. When Jill replies, does she get a spamblock response, or does the email go straight to Jack? As Jack has just emailed Jill, it would make sense if Jills email address was automatically considered OK

Ancic Q: If jack send an email to Jill the email will lands in Jill's Inbox, if Jill reply to Jack and her email address is not listed in Jack address book Jill's email will be caught by Suspect email folder.

Ancic Q: Jill will be getting an automated response that her email is caught by Suspect email folder.

me: OK.. that's clear. Now the BIG question is, if Jack sends an email to Jill, then wtf does Earthlink not add Jills email to Jacks list of accepted email addresses?

Ancic Q: Yes, Jill will be able to receive Jacks email.

me: Christ. There should be one of those KAPTCHA things with the screwy letters that you have to type on this support system, so that I know that YOU are a real person!

me: I know JILL will be able to receive JACKS emails.. I'm asking why JACK can't automatically receive Jills.. considering he just sent her an email so obviously knows who she is.

Ancic Q: That's the feature of SpamBlocker, unless and until Jills email address is not listed in Jack address book jack can't receive her email.

Ancic Q: spamBlocker works by eliminating most spam before it ever reaches your email inbox. As soon as new spam is detected, software rules are written to block it from reaching your account. These messages are then sent to the Known spam folder (a holding place for caught spam). From the Known spam folder, you can review and determine whether you want to move the message to your inbox, send it to EarthLink for review, or delete the message. Best of all, because this is an online folder, you don't have to wait for junk email to download before you can read your real messages.

me: Do you realize that you just told me that "unless Jills email address is NOT listed in Jacks address book jack CAN'T receive her emails.." Hang on.. my brain has just melted.. that's a tripple negative..

me: Do you not think it would benefit all of mankind if it's assumed that if Jack emails someone, then if they reply, that reply is not likely to be suspect?

Ancic Q: I am sorry for the typo error.

Ancic Q: unless Jills email address is not listed in Jack address book jack ceive her emails

me: I mean.. if I emailed you right now, and you replied and got a spamblock would you not think "Not only is this guy a rude asshole, he is also a fucking idiot.. I just emailed him.. why is he treating my reply as potential spam"?

Ancic Q: Please ignore the above statement.

me: Don't worry.. I've ignored most of them..

Ancic Q: I would suggest to contact him to add your email address in his Address Book.

me: Really? Do you use earthlink email? Do you always add people to your adress book, or do you just let them suffer spamblocker, even though it is you trying to get an answer from them?

Ancic Q: If EarthLink user add your email address in his address book he can receive email without any objection.

me: You know what.. I'll go now.. I'll let you off the hook. It's just too painful for me.. As someone who develops online applications, it's very painful to witness just what shitty specifications big companies like earthlink build to.. They have an opportunity to build things touched by millions, but don't bother going the extra mile to actually make them not shit. Sad. Have a good day ( or probably night where you are ). Bye.

I understand that Earthlinks users are typically the bottom feeders of the Internet Pond, but that doesn't mean that they should hire support staff of the same caliber.