The reader wrote:

"When we moved to Florida 10 years ago, we had three phone lines put into the house by BellSouth -- a dialup for my wife, a dialup for me, and a voice line for everyone. Over the years my phone line became the DSL line, which I had through DSL Express. I installed a network, and all was good. Then I decided we didn't really need three phone lines any longer. This was the first mistake."

"I went onto the BellSouth website and the only line that qualified for their DSL was the one I was currently using for my DSL. So I called customer service and explained the situation, telling them I wanted to drop the phone number on my line and to transfer the voice line number to that line because it was the only one that passed the loop test. She said 'Sure, let me test that line...' When she came back on, she said that I qualified for their new 6.0 MEG service and if I got their complete package -- since we also use Cingular, which they bought -- we could actually save money. I said great, let's do it! Strike two."

"A few days letter the techs showed up to move the lines and switch the numbers. My DSL Express was still working once they made the switch. They came back a while later and said they had to fix something. Once fixed, my DSL stopped working. We called and BellSouth said my new DSL modem should arrive the next day and I would be up and running. I set us up on dialup for the interim. (My wife works from home setting up training sites for various companies on the web -- she was NOT a happy camper.) The next day our modem did NOT arrive, so we called. Oh, our order had been cancelled because the local switch was not provisioned for 6.0 DSL! Did we want the 'regular' service instead? Yes. 'OK, you'll receive your modem in 4-5 business days.' Now my wife was REALLY unhappy."

"The next day, our phone line is dead, so we call BellSouth again. 'Oh, yes, we show that you're moving and wanted this number disconnected!' So now my wife proceeds to explain what we ordered, versus what we got ... 'Uhhh, let me get my supervisor ... I'm sorry, ma'am, you can't have DSL, the switch in your area has no more free slots!'"

"So my wife said, all right -- cancel everything. I want it returned to the same condition as it was before you sold me a bill of goods that you can't deliver. They said they couldn't do that because the phone number they disconnected is no longer available. Fortunately, I hadn't yet gotten around to calling DSL Express to cancel my old DSL service. I just had to call them and have the service reset because the line was on a different phone number. Oh, and they had to come to the house to fix the wiring problems the phone company had caused. Apparently BellSouth installed a DSL/POTS splitter and pinched one of the wires. Did I mention that BellSouth also tried to make us pay for the first service call to the house when they switched the lines, and for the second service call to come straighten out the mess they made the first time? They finally did credit me for the service calls and we have two lines instead of three. And our DSL is working great -- but not with BellSouth."