Lumen Technologies

I just spent 37 minutes on the phone with Centurylink, most of which was spent on hold while the person who took my call relayed information to a "dispatch center." I was not allowed to communicate directly with the dispatch center. We have been paying for High Speed DSL for 3 years at our current location, and we get about 1.5 mbps, which is definitely NOT high speed. This is not something that is specific to our home, as our neighbors have the same experience. Several of us have called to schedule a service call and invariably we are notified that they need to cancel/reschedule and we never get a repair tech. We had a tech scheduled to come tomorrow, and I received a call today saying that they needed to reschedule. We are not available on the day they wanted to reschedule and I tried communicating that with the person who took my call. However, since I was unable to speak directly to their dispatch center, I cannot be sure what was told to them. Centurylink is our only option for landline phone and internet in our area. If we had other options, we would definitely cancel our service with them.

Do not use auto-pay. They will charge you inappropriately for things and then fight you tooth and nail to avoid "refunding" you (and their "refunds" aren't usually refunds, they're credits to your account or a VISA gift card).
Do not "transfer service" during moves. Have them close your original account and create a brand new one - you'll get better service if you appear to be a brand-new customer.
The first time I moved while using CenturyLink (April 2011), I was told that a new modem would be shipped. I explained that I already had a perfectly good CenturyLink modem and didn't need a new one; the representative said her manager could override the system and prevent a new modem from being shipped. This did not occur and I received the modem. I called CenturyLink and they provided me with a code to hand-write onto the return shipping label and had me ship it back (at no cost to me). However, apparently their scanner couldn't read the code when it arrived back at the warehouse and I was charged, via auto-pay, over $100 for the modem. I called them to dispute the charge; eventually they had to send someone to the warehouse to physically locate and validate that the modem HAD been returned. I was not refunded the price of the modem; my account was credited, which amounted to about 2 months' worth of free internet service.
On October 31st, 2017, I moved from Minnesota to Idaho. On November 4th, I contacted CenturyLink to submit a move order and transfer my service accordingly. The representative with whom I spoke informed me that they would have to create a new service account under my name in Idaho (due to crossing State borders) and therefore could not transfer my existing service (a promotional deal for 5Mbps for $20/month). My only pricing option was the "price for life" promotional deal, which was a minimum cost of $45/month, regardless of speed up to 20Mbps. So he set me up with the 20Mbps, since that was the fastest speed available for the $45/month price. However, he said, I wouldn't be able to get service until November 14th - TEN DAYS later. He was adamant that there was no way around this scheduling issue. He also said that they HAD to send me a new modem; I already have a NetGear modem because I have found CenturyLink's modems to be designed to fail 14 months after purchase (thus requiring the customer to buy/rent a new modem at full price - usually in excess of $100), and after going through 5 modems in less than 6 years, I switched and my NetGear lasted over 4 years. He said to reject the package when it arrived via UPS and there'd be no issues.
On November 14th, the modem arrived via UPS and I rejected it as instructed. However, by that evening, I still had no internet service. I called CenturyLink's tech support. They told me that my modem, a NetGear DM200, could not support their "VDSL with vectoring," the implication being that the vectoring was a bonded VDSL line, which that modem explicitly doesn't support. I was told I had two options: buy a new modem that supports it, or downgrade to 1.5Mbps ADSL without vectoring. I didn't need the 20Mbps, and really didn't need even the 5Mbps, and I did not want to buy a new modem (having just had to buy one early in October due to an unfortunate and unavoidable encounter between my phone line and a lightning bolt), so I requested the downgrade. However, they were not able to submit that order at that time, because my original order hadn't been completely closed out by the computer system yet; I was instructed to call back the following day.
On November 15th, I called in from work. The woman I was connected with after my initial dial-in (I had gone to tech support and I needed to speak with a different department) apparently was having technical difficulties with her phone line and could not hear me; she disconnected the phone call, stating "customer unresponsive." Since I was at work, I decided to try using the chat service instead. The woman I was connected with on chat, Rachelle H., was the most arrogant and condescending person I have ever had the misfortune to encounter in any customer support department ever. First, she informed me that the VDSL with vectoring was single-line VDSL, so obviously, that couldn't be my problem; I asked her if she could solve the mystery behind why I couldn't get service and gave her my modem model (NetGear DM200). She promptly informed me that I was wrong, because NetGear only makes cable modems, not DSL modems. She did eventually agree to submit the order to downgrade my service to the lower speed.
On November 16th, I still didn't have internet access. It occurred to me that they probably had to set up a new username and password that I would need to configure in my modem, and I had not been provided with that information. So I called tech support again to get that information. That technician informed me that I was still on the 20Mbps speed; I asked why, when I had contacted them yesterday to change it. He looked up the new order and found out that it was scheduled for November 30th - FIFTEEN DAYS later. I told him that was completely unacceptable, I'd already waited 12 days, and if I had been a brand-new customer, there was no way they would have made me wait that long. So he asked a supervisor, who was able to help him get the order moved up to November 17th. They also gave me my credentials, so I went ahead and updated my modem's configuration with that information.
On the evening of November 17th, I still did not have internet, but had an engagement elsewhere and was not able to wait around on hold for 10+ minutes to speak with someone.
On the morning of November 18th, I called tech support yet again. I spent 2 hours on the phone with a technician. At that point, I found out that Rachelle H. had not only scheduled my order for fifteen days out, she had NOT scheduled it for the 1.5Mbps ADSL without vectoring, she scheduled it for 1.5Mbps VDSL WITH vectoring. So even though the order was processed on the 17th, I still did not have internet. The technician did some Googling - which I couldn't do because I had no internet! - and found out that the DM200 modem SHOULD support vectoring with firmware version 1.0.0.44, which IS the version my modem is running. So she spent a great deal of energy and contacted a couple of other technicians in an attempt to get my internet up and running, but all to no avail. She finally said, "Well, I haven't seen any ping on the line, so it might be that there's a fault somewhere. What did the technician say when he was out on the 14th?" I said, "What technician?" No technician had come out to my home on the 14th, and in fact, the original representative who set up the move implied that one would not have to be sent out to my physical location. So we scheduled a technician to come out on November 20th (the earliest available date).
On November 20th, I had to leave work early in order to be home for the the technician. The technician called me from the pedestal/main switch for our neighborhood and said, "Well, your line is apparently damaged. I've tried all thirteen spares that are available here and they don't work, either. So we're going to have to have a repair crew come out tomorrow to work on it." I suggested that he might inspect the end of the line at my house, just to be sure that at least the two ends were functioning, even if the middle wasn't. He came over and checked things out - and found a massive wasp nest in the exterior phone box. He cleaned that out and that appeared to resolve the issues with the line itself, but my modem still couldn't register a signal. He attempted to set me up with a CenturyLink modem (he had one in his truck and hooked it up to confirm that a signal was entering the house). I told him no, I don't want one of their piece of garbage, planned-obsolescence modems. I want the ADSL without vectoring service that I was promised. He said he would come back the next day, November 21st, and switch me over to the ADSL as I was originally promised.
During this time, I had discovered that I was charged for December's service on my Minnesota account - I was on auto-pay. On November 21st, I called CenturyLink yet again, this time to ensure that my Minnesota account was disconnected and that I would be refunded the December charge. The first person I talked to said, "Sure, no problem, but I can't do that, the financial services department has to do that, let me transfer you." That woman said, "We don't issue refunds for legitimate charges. You'll need to talk to someone else about disconnecting the account and back-dating it in order to initiate the refund," and transferred me to another person. That person said, "Well, it wasn't closed because you signed a 1-year contract for the promotional deal. If I close it, you'll be charged a $200 early termination fee." I asked to speak to his supervisor. He refused. I asked again; he replied with, "I can handle any questions you may have." I said apparently not, and asked again to speak to his supervisor; he replied, "Well, let me see if I can find you a better deal, let me put you on hold." A few minutes later, he came back and said, "Let's bundle you with DirectTV! For only $35/month, you get 150 channels!" I explained that I no longer live at that address NOR do I have a TV, I don't want DirectTV, and I still wanted to speak to his manager. He responded, "Oh, but TVs are so cheap, you can just go buy one," and started going on and on about how great DirectTV is. I asked repeatedly - over 20 times - to be connected to his manager, and each time, he did one of three things: ignored my request; talked over me about how great DirectTV is; or told me he could handle any questions I had. I finally swore at him, which got him to stop yammering on about DirectTV, at least, and he said, "If you do that again, I'll hang up," and I said, "So connect me with your manager, like I have repeatedly asked you to do." He finally said he would talk to his supervisor. He came back and said, "My supervisor has authorized me to send you a $200 VISA gift card if you sign up for DirectTV, so let me get that started for you!" I asked him what part of, "I don't own a TV" didn't he understand, to which he replied, "Oh, TVs are cheap, you can use the gift card to go buy one!" and then said he was going to put me on hold again. I yelled at him not to put me on hold, but he didn't listen. So I hung up.
I then called back in and selected a different auto-attendant menu option, which connected me with a representative who could assist me with disconnecting my accounts. I informed him that I wanted both the Minnesota account and the Idaho account disconnected, effective immediately. He informed me that there would be a $200 early termination fee. I asked to speak to his supervisor, and he promptly obliged. I explained to the supervisor - rather forcefully at this point - the short version of what they've put me through in the last three weeks and that I refuse to pay for services that I cannot receive, and I wanted my accounts terminated immediately and I would be going elsewhere for internet service. She informed me that I would ALSO be charged a $200 early termination fee for my Idaho account, to which I pointed out that they did not hold up their end of the contract and therefore, they could not rightfully charge me a termination fee for services never rendered. She argued with me some about it, but eventually agreed to close the accounts - including back-dating the Minnesota account so I would be refunded for the December charge. Their little prompter made her tell me that "the final bill" for each account would be mailed to my address in Idaho in seven to ten days. I fully expect that I will receive two $200 bills - they cost me well over $400 in time away from work, travel back and forth, and time spent on the phone; not to mention that when I first moved, I was still job hunting (which is almost an exclusively online activity in this day and age, so they were interfering with my ability to find a new job).

Horrible service booth internet and agent wise. Bills paid on time but our internet will go out until we open investigations into where the money actually went. (All of which was cashed and taken out of our account). Very inconvenient as I work from home. If we didn’t have a contract we would absolutely switch providers

Colorado Springs. Wednesday, 15 November 2017: We experienced an outage that included telephone service, Prism TV and internet service. I checked CenturyLink's outages page where there was a report of a know outage in the area. Because my mother is elderly and uses oxygen, we consider telephone service vital to her wellbeing should an emergency arise. CenturyLink promised to send a technician the next day to resolve the issue.
Thursday, 16 November 2017: The following day a technician did come out to fix the problem but because he was dispatched to fix the telephone issue, did not fix the other issues. That day, we were finally able to use telephone but not Prism TV or the internet.
Friday, 17 November 2017: I checked the CenturyLink web page for outages and saw a report that there were known outages. I called CenturyLink and was told that there were no known outages and that the technician that had been dispatched the day earlier was only sent to fix the phone and was only a specialist for the phone issues. The outage was due to be fixed in 24 hrs.
Saturday, 18 November 2017: We checked the CenturyLink web page for outages and the systems check showed all clear. The only service working was the phone. I chatted with CenturyLink and they said there was a known outage and denied that a work order for all three services had been submitted.
Sunday, 19 November 2017: Calls received a response that there was a known outage. After going through the recorded messages to report issues to CenturyLink, we got a message that there was an emergency in the building, please call back later.
Monday, 20 November 2017: I checked with the outage page and did not see any messages with known outages. I used the chat to report the issue and spent at least an hour going through a process of trouble shooting and was eventually told that the was a problem with our modem/router. An appointment was scheduled with a technician for Tuesday, 21 November.
Tuesday, 21 November 2017: The same technician that had been dispatched on Thursday came in and said he was trained to resolve issues for all three services. We were told that there was a known outage. My mother was very angry and he said he made several phone calls and spoke with a supervisor to elevate the issue and promised to resolve the issue and return later this afternoon. At this point, the issues remain unresolved.

I am being charged for equipment that has been returned using a UPS shipping label provided by Centurylink. I am also being charged a cancellation fee that I was told I would not have to pay upon speaking to a representative. I have contacted this company multiple times and no one seems to have any record of any of this. Their customer service is awful. I have spent multiple hours on phone calls and online chats, with no resolution. Upon one interaction, the representative stated the equipment had been received, and would be taken off my bill. That never happened. I am being taken to collections for over $900, most of which is related to these two issues. It is disappointing to deal with a company that has employees that will tell you anything to get you off the phone, yet they are giving incorrect information.

I signed up with Century Link on 11/3/17 and received my modem on 11/7/17, with a note that said my service would be active that day after 5pm. It was not. In fact, it took several phone calls for them to even activate it. Even then, my internet still didn't work. I told them I felt like it was a wiring issue because my house is older. They came out 11/9/17 and left cut wires exposed and the cover off the box outside for 5 days.They eventually fixed the outside wires but then internet still didn't work. I have now spoken to a total of 20 people between 11/7 and 11/20, and I still do not have internet. The technicians have been scheduled to come out several times but have not shown up and have not contacted me to let me know they wouldn't be there. When I call to complain, I get passed around from one person to the next, eventually someone promises it will be taken care of ASAP, and the cycle continues. I do NOT recommend them to anyone! The only reason I am giving them 1 star is because 1/2 star isn't an option. Hands down, the absolute worst customer service I have ever experienced. They have also made NO effort to correct the issues, even after denied requests to speak to someone higher in the company.

Ordered internet because they are the only provider in my area. Was sent a confirmation email which detailed that my modem would be sent to me prior to install date of Nov. 9, 2017. When I hadn't received it prior to that date it took 3 phone calls of over 20 minutes each to find out that my installation date had been pushed back to the 21st. Today is the 20th and the modem is not here. Three more phone calls(was disconnected twice) and I find out that it hasn't shipped yet. The representative said I would have it tomorrow morning. I asked for a tracking number from the shippers, but he said they didn't have one yet. It I could call UPS. I asked how they could tell me I would have it by morning when it hasn't shipped out yet...no answer. I asked how I was supposed to contact the shippers without a tracking number...again no answer. I feel like this company knows they are our only option for internet service so they don't care. They focus on providing better service in areas where they have competition and we get what's left. Not acceptable!

In May of this year I purchased a Modem from Century link for $119.00. I moved and transferred service in July of this year and every month they charge me $9.99 for the lease on the modem that I bought to avoid the lease cost. I have spent over 6 hours on the phone with them and they tell me that it is taken care of. I have emailed them each month about the least being on my bill again. They have taken it off my bill and told me it would not be a problem again. This months bill had the $9.99 charge again. I again emailed them and received an email back from someone who said they didn't know how to remove the charge or who I needed to contact.

I have to call customer service on a monthly basis to get my bill corrected. Over priced for the slow internet offered. The only reason I use them is they are the only provider in my subdivision.

They offer unreliable service at ridiculously slow speeds. Anytime there is a problem, we go through a nightmare trying to contact customer support. My bill increased a whole $30 and now I pay over $100/month for only 3 Mbps internet and a home phone.

I canceled my account, and now am being charged for two active accounts

I ordered centurylink internet service in july, 2017. After an unexplained cancelleation by my tech I decided to cancel my service and requested a refund in early august, 2017. After multiple calls with customer support I was led to believe my refund was processed and I would have it anywhere from 1to3 business days to a whole month according to two different supervisors. The month of September passes and no refund was deposited to my card. I filed a claim with the fcc that got me nowhere. The most recent communication from centurylink was an automated email to confirm my account even though it has been closed since august. I received these emails the first and second week of November . All I would like I my $75 refund I we promised in August

Startung from the top, century link has missed an appointment and then claimed they had no record of it despite an email with a confirmation number, rescheduled our initial installation appointment 4 times resulting in 6 weeks of delays, had the technician come to our home finally complete the installation amd have it work for 3 hours and then quit. Now we must wait two more weeks for them to come back out to fix it. This has been the absolute worst experience I have ever had as a consumer. Every department and century link employee we have dealt with has been completely incompetent. I would not recommend century link to my worst enemy.

Beware! CenturyLink’s installation team has the absolute worst reliability when it comes to showing up at their scheduled time. We recently moved and had scheduled to transfer our CenturyLink internet and home phone service to our new home. CenturyLink failed to show up on 3 separate agreed upon times in the past 3 weeks. They keep telling me their technician is overbooked. They require you to be home for a 4-hour timeframe and then they don’t come. I’ve had to make arrangements to be away from work on 3 separate days in order to be home for them to come and install their services and they don’t show up. They push the install out 2 or 3 days and expect you to be home again and again. Not acceptable! We’ve had service with them for 20 years but are cancelling because they don’t respect our time.

Centurylink is the only internet/wireless provider available to me butI have been unable to watch programs on my *** for some time now because there's not enough bandwidth. Speaking to the customer service rep just now, I was told there is "congestion" on the line and the congestion is widespread and has been ongoing for several weeks. When I asked for credit for service I'm not getting, I was told I would see a $5 credit on my next statement -- though I am paying *** and others much more than that for their service but am unable to access it because of this problem with centurylink. Additionally, I was told that the congestion is ongoing and they cannot say when it will be resolved. This is unfair and upsetting. Especially as we have no other option here for another service provider. This is not the only problem us islanders are having with centurylink. Many cannot even depend on their phone service.

I would never use this *** company ever again. Why can a company get away with cheating and stealing from their customers, why is there no law to put these people in jail or out of business? We had the highest paid internet speeds which never gets to where it should be! We dropped them from cable and now my internet is even worse, everything lags from pages, load up, searches, and videos are almost in watchable buffering ever 20-30 seconds which didn’t happen until we dropped the cable tv portion we were getting from them.. And yet it seem we as chimera can’t do anything but get bent over, makes you wanna go postal! *** this company

Century Link's much publicized "price for life" does not apply to current customers who are paying less than $55. I was paying $33 with tax and suddenly my price doubled to $78. When I called the Century Link billing office I was told that I could have a "price for life" at $55 or I could accept yet another "promotional price" of $41 with tax which will expire in one year. The bottom line is that loyal customers are paying more to help fund Century Link's new publicity campaign to reach new customers or get others to switch their service from competitors.

I have had some internet issues and whenever I call in I get transferred around and hung up on excessively. When I do get a CSR they only want to trouble shoot the same thing over and over and over. They do not want to send people out to look at the lines or modem. when you finally threaten to cancel is when they make the effort to get someone to you. Now this then takes 3-4 weeks before they get someone to you and then you get a 5 hour window to when they can come. Like your time is not valuable. I mean I take time off of work fro this ugh
they just don't seem to care. Then when you try to cancel they have your *** in a contract that you do not recall getting.

CenturyLink has charged me payment for my phone that is out of order for last few weeks and the put in a wire line that is above ground in which is causing harm to family and pet due to being step on and/or trip on.

After 10 years of loyality, we just had to switch. We called to cancel a year ago because we just could not get internet speed we needed. They told us to upgrade, it was available and the technician would be there and fix it. We called, they tried after 9 months we had to switch. No one had the notes that happened a year ago, or the tech visits or calls. So they decided to bill us a penalty for the last three months. Mislead after trying so hard to stay with them, many hours, and here is your bill we mislead you to believe you could cancel because they had not paperwork, tracking, or other records.