Recently dropped my Earthlink dialup (was on hold for a little over 13 minutes, listening to EL's self-serving recorded messages...) and replaced it with Covad's DSL.
Covad kept me up-to-the-minute with email messages advising of the status of the order and progress by the local phone company.
Package arrived on the stated day and it was plug-and-play from there on.
And, the best part: I had a minor routing problem the next day. Called Covad support, went through two very short, concise voice menus, waited no more than a minute, and was talking to somebody who obviously knew what they were doing and had their troubleshooting scheme down pat. He had me up and running within five minutes - and I learned something to boot.
Hopefully, they'll keep it up at least as long as my one-year contract... -)