Many angry DSL customers of telephone company Qwest and software giant Microsoft claim they've been victimized by delays in getting DSL, by billing errors, or by not being able to get phone lines when they tried to quit the service.

Many of these customers said they signed up with Microsoft's MSN only because Qwest never told them they had any other choice.

Last September, Qwest announced that its roughly 60,000 Minnesota consumer DSL customers who use the Windows operating system would be shifted to MSN, a Microsoft Internet access service that ranks No. 2 to America Online.

In e-mails and conventional mailings to customers, Qwest did not tell customers they could transfer to other service providers besides MSN. Qwest officials said that was because they thought of MSN as the best consumer choice. And Qwest declined to say whether it gets paid by MSN for every Qwest DSL customer who becomes an MSN customer.

Earlier this month, the state Commerce Department said it would investigate whether tens of thousands of Minnesotans have been treated fairly in the switch from Qwest DSL to MSN.

But some DSL customers say they don't need an investigation to tell them that they've been badly treated by Qwest and Microsoft's MSN service.

Jerry Welters, a retired Minneapolis police officer, said Qwest and MSN never delivered on promises to set up his DSL service, which he wanted so he could talk on the phone and access the Internet at the same time at his Minneapolis home.

He said Qwest and MSN made it difficult for him to leave the MSN service by retaining control over his telephone line so he couldn't sign up with a competing local DSL service provider, Goldengate Internet Services.

Welters had been a Qwest customer for years, using low-speed dial-up Internet service through an internal computer modem. But in November, he got an e-mail from Qwest that said it was switching its Internet customers to MSN. The e-mail did not say that customers had the option of leaving Qwest for a competing Internet provider if they didn't want to make the switch to MSN.

"I figured at that point that I had no choice but to go with the flow. So I decided to sign up for DSL with MSN," Welters said.

But while Welters was told by Qwest that the DSL service would be operational by mid-December, MSN failed to ship the modem and software needed to use the DSL service. He called MSN several times, and each time was promised that the modem and software would be shipped.

"They lied to me about when the modem and software package would be shipped," Welters said. "Frustration is not the word for it."

Lisa Gurry, MSN's product manager, said delays in getting connected to MSN's DSL service were related to synchronization of databases and training of customer support representatives, problems that are being remedied. "Customers should now have their MSN broadband up and running within 15 to 20 days of placing their orders, which is similar to the industry average."

When the MSN modem and software hadn't arrived by Jan. 11, Welters called MSN and canceled his DSL service. But then he discovered that quitting MSN wasn't that easy.

When Welters called Goldengate Internet Services in Fridley in response to an advertisement for DSL service, he was told the service couldn't be started until MSN and Qwest relinquished control of his telephone line, a process that Qwest told him could take weeks.

"That's preposterous," Welters said.

Keeping the lines

Brian Elijah, a Bloomington chiropractor who used DSL in his office, also had trouble leaving MSN. He agreed to have his Qwest DSL service shifted to MSN in December, but then was furious over what he said were two daylong DSL service outages.

After six days, Elijah canceled MSN's DSL service but discovered that MSN would not relinquish control of his telephone line for a month and that it would take an additional 10 to 14 days for Qwest to prepare the line so he could seek another DSL provider. After two weeks without an Internet connection, he resumed using a dial-up Internet connection at his office but said it interferes with his business by tying up his telephone line, a problem that DSL had solved.

"They make it hard to leave MSN," Elijah said. "I left messages for Qwest and MSN to call me back, but they never do. The people either are very incompetent or they don't know how to do what they're doing."

Steve Starliper, Qwest vice president of product management for DSL, confirmed that some customers had experienced long delays being disconnected from MSN but said "that is far from the norm." It should require 10 to 12 days from the time a customer quits MSN until he or she can be connected to a competing Internet service provider, he said.

Joe Kaju of Minneapolis had a different experience with the DSL switchover -- billing errors. He already was a Qwest DSL customer but hadn't chosen to be transferred to MSN.

But Qwest shifted Kaju's DSL account to MSN anyway, and then both Qwest and MSN began billing him for the service, each charging the full $47.90 a month. Because Kaju used automatic payment from his checking account, the bill was paid before he noticed the excessive charges.

Despite calls to Qwest and MSN, the double-billing continued for about three months. Both companies promised refunds that never appeared, Kaju said.

In frustration, Kaju dropped the DSL service on Dec. 26 but discovered that MSN continued to bill him for another half-month of service. He also sent an e-mail to Qwest headquarters in which he called the situation a "scam," bad enough to make him want to drop phone service from Qwest.

And he did. Today Kaju has switched his Internet access from telephone-based DSL to a cable TV-based modem and has dropped his home Qwest telephone service in favor of a cell phone.

Needs customer support

Mike Day of Bloomington also had billing problems after signing up for DSL service from MSN. Although he was supposed to get free installation and two months' free service, he continues to be billed for both. Despite MSN promises that the charges will be removed, he now has been overcharged for two months.

"MSN lacks the customer support they need," Day said.

David Olsen of Brooklyn Center said Qwest is threatening to turn over his name to a collection agency because he hasn't paid his DSL bill -- but Olsen has never been a Qwest Internet access customer. Olsen, an instructor at North Hennepin Community College, said he inquired about Qwest DSL in August but didn't sign up for it. Nonetheless, Qwest sent him a modem for DSL service and has been billing him for its use ever since. What began as a $16-a-month charge has grown to $163.70.

"Now they're taking me to a collections agency for it," he said. "My mistake was asking about DSL."

Qwest, which handles the billing for the MSN service, admits to having had some problems with billing, but those have not affected thousands of customers and they have been corrected, Qwest's Starliper said.

"Most of the issues [with the shift of Qwest customers to MSN] have to do with making the MSN databases speak with the Qwest databases," Starliper said. "Where there has been double-billing, we have made sure it was corrected. And we have delayed our original date for migrating Qwest customers to MSN from mid-January until the end of March or early April."

MSN's Gurry said double-billing has occurred in some cases because new accounts were erroneously created when customers called to check on the status of their orders for MSN DSL service. She said MSN would refund any overcharges and is working with Qwest to avoid setting up duplicate customer accounts. She said MSN customers with problems should call MSN customer support at 1-800-826-3110.

-- Steve Alexander is at alex@startribune.com .

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