Earthlink has borrowed from the AOL playbook before in terms of luring users in with free trial offers and then making it hard to cancel the account. But one reader says Earthlink has added another offensive weapon -- namely, harassing customers by phone.

"My mother is having a horrendous problem with Earthlink," the reader wrote. "Last year, we set her up with a computer. She's in her 70's and not an avid Internet user, so we established an Earthlink dial-up free trial relationship. She never really used it, so when the bill came, she wrote to cancel. But the bills kept coming."

The reader's mother then tried to cancel the account by phone. "Apparently that was an invitation to begin harassing her with phone calls to collect past due accounts. Further phone calls to cancel were to no avail. She continues to receive threatening phone calls and the bills keep coming in the mail. She never even used the service!"

While it's possible the reader's mother may have failed to cancel the account before the free trial expired, what really has the reader upset is Earthlink's unwillingness to honor any of their attempts to cancel the account. "She sent them a cancellation notice more than once, but they continue to harass her about past due bills. She can't seem to shake them, even after my brother called and got assurances that it would be resolved. I imagine the hours and cycles spent by Earthlink to collect have far exceeded the original bill which was for a service that was cancelled and never used."

What trials and tribulations are vendors putting you through? Post your comments about your experiences below or write Ed Foster at Foster@gripe2ed.com.