Earthlink on mail and passwords: a follow-up

Rob Kennedy replied: "Earthlink's claim is simply not true. Step one in requesting online help from Earthlink is entering user account information, in several specific fields, on a secure web page. Shortly after sending the message, I received an automated reply - including password!"

Colleen Thompson wrote: "Maybe Earthlink does not include your password when you write tech support about your regular email, but I have a web site with Earthlink which uses their Mail Control Panel to manage email aliases, and every time they send me an email confirmation of changes I've made, it includes my web site password. I would not mind except they never send it to me (though I have asked them to do so), but to someone else in our organization who has to forward the messages to me."

Forrest Johnson describes a situation where his password was included in a snail mail letter (which does not exactly contradict Earthlink's statement, as it pertained only to email): "I'm a Mindspring/Earthlink customer. They recently informed me that they were offering DSL in my area, so I signed up. A few days later I received a letter in the mail detailing my request. It listed my account name and password. What's worse is that they hadn't even sealed the envelope."