Lumen Technologies

First off, this complaint could be in the categories of Billing, repair, sales, as well as service as all have been lacking.

Our business has been with Centurylink for approximately a year out of a 3 year term with significant issues occurring throughout this time. After multiple FCC complaints we are left with several significant issues unresolved that impact our business every day. In addition to this, our account representative and his direct supervisor will no longer respond to requests that we are unable to process through the general Centurylink call in system. At this point we feel we are left with no option but to pursue additional help from the Revdex.com.

We submitted a formal complaint to the FCC on February 26th, 2018 and received a response on April 2nd, 2018. Though one item was addressed in the initial claim, there were several outstanding items that were either left unaddressed or were not addressed completely. A follow up FCC complaint dated June 27th has seen no additional resolution. The following claims detail only the remaining unresolved issues.

Claim #1: Centurylink forcibly added items to our account that were not quoted or discussed. In our FCC complaint I attached substantial proof of this claim.

Claim #2: Centurylink grossly misrepresented the taxes, fees, and surcharges we would incur for our services as the basis for our switch from then current providers to Centurylink. The response to our complaint received states that “Centurylink is not able to and did not try to quote the exact fees, taxes, and surcharges that are assessed with services; they are simply passed along as they are assessed by the various government agencies. I have offered substantial proof of the following:
a. They knew what we were previously paying in taxes fees and surcharges. Not only did I send them previous bills to show what we were then currently paying, but our previous service was through a Centurylink wholesaler (Windstream).
b. They explicitly represented their offering as being “similar to what we were currently paying.”

Here is a summary of the misrepresentation:

Total internet: $113.98
Total phone: roughly $460.37 (varies depending on phone bill #3)
Total monthly costs: $574.35 compared to our anticipated monthly cost of $492.92
Total monthly taxes, surcharges, fees, and hidden costs: $150.04
Previous monthly taxes surcharges, fees, and hidden costs: 77.93 (what was known by Centurylink and represented as “similar to what they would charge.”)
Total discrepancy: $72.11

Claim #3: Centurylink did not address the static issues we have had and continue to have. This issue remains open with no definitive resolution at this time. The exact nature of the problem was that any call from our office to any number at (customer deleted) had severe static. Both parties are on CenturyLink’s system, so the call never exited their network and probably had some optimized routing as a result. Their Complex Translations group received the ticket to fix and they were very uncommunicative. We were told this issue was resolved after the first occurrences in January & February of 2018 but have had continued instances of static on 6/27 (multiple) 6/29, and 7/9. Our internal phone system was thoroughly checked and acknowledged by Centurylink as functioning properly. Also of note is that (company deleted) accounts for roughly 90-95% of our business in a given year so this really is something that has a negative impact on our business relations.

Claim #4: This goes hand in hand with claim #1, but some items may be separate. Our monthly internet price in total is $113.98 in total vs. the quoted price of $89.99. This shows up as $278.99 with $165.01 in seemingly arbitrary discounts so it is next to impossible to tell exactly how the additional $23.99 came to be or what was missed in the quote. In my calculations below I am assuming $23.99 to be either taxes and fees that were understated or a large discrepancy in price quoted as compared to the price we see. The office plus cost of $25 would fall under the category of hidden fees that did not appear in our proposal (refer back to attachment #1) and was never discussed.

Claim #5: We have had a request in to port our renters fax number in to Centurylink since February 23rd, 2018. We have essentially been “blacklisted” from Centurylink support at this time. Our account rep as well as his direct supervisor no longer respond to my repeated requests. Centurylinks structure only allows them to perform certain tasks such as porting over a fax number. Since I am unable to simply call their main support dial in to achieve this port, I do not have an alternative option but to go through our account rep. I have additional email documentation of the general unresponsiveness in addition to this example if necessary, but I do not believe it is an overstatement to use the term blacklisted at this time. I have sent the entire email chain showing no substantial progress from 2/23/18 through 8/13/18 to the FCC and the MN attorney general all the while Centurylink continues to sit on the forms I have submitted at their request.

What this complaint boils down to is a years’ worth of Centurylink not keeping their promises when it comes to cost structure, service provided, as well as adding necessary services (Claim #5). This has impacted both our consulting firm (service issues with static) as well as our commercial rental property (inability to respond and take action on a fax port). The impact on our business simply cannot continue without action. So far I have done absolutely everything I can through the FCC and continue to be brushed off and igored by Centurylink. Please let me know if there is additional information I can provide related to any of these items.

I bundled DirectTV and Centurylink in 2016. I canceled my DirectTV service on the last day of the billing cycle. DirectTV bills are always prorated. I discovered through DirectTV that Centurlink paid for my bill for the next billing cycle, a service that is canceled, placing me in arrears with Centurylink where Centurylink is demanding money from me. It's not my fault nor my problem that DirectTV did not communicate with Centurylink about the cancellation and I should not be punished for it. If anything Centurylink should demand their money back from DirectTV. I am currently stuck in a fight between DirectTV and Centurylink and I shouldn't have to be. Centurylink also added a 90% late fee on top of what I don't owe.

I ordered online a basic phone line for my summer cabin in Pine, Colorado on 6/3/2018. During the order process, I was asked to select a phone number which was ***. I did and let everyone know the number so that they can contact me there in the summer. Thursday 8/9/2018, my contractor was trying to call me and the recording said my number has been changed but no new number was given to my contractor. He called me based on the number shown on his caller ID and got a hold of me. He told me my number is really ***. I have never received any kind of communication from Century link that my number has been changed and yet I have been paying the phone bill without the ability to use it. I am requesting a refund of all payments made (totaled $113.73) for a phone line that I cannot use because Century Link changed the number without telling me.

WE are being billed by *** and Centurylink 2 weeks apart for our internet service for a total of $70 a month. I only get a bill from Centurylink. I have no ideaa why *** is billing us, since Centurylink informed me they bought out ***. We were on a promotion where our internet only service was $35 a month. and when our promo period was up, the bill slowly climbed up to $45, then $55, and now $70. When I contacted Centurylink as to the double billing, no one has been able to explain it. I was not informed in writing or email that my bill was being split into 2 payments nor told why. The billing has been deceptive for over a year and I would like a refund of all the *** charges incurred since 9/2017.

I requested service monday 8/6 was told I would have service by 5pm 8/7, 5:03pm 8/7 rolls around I still don't have service I unplug their equipment box it and make ready to return 8/8. 8:00am 8/8 I leave my apartment to find the centurylink truck in the parking lot apprx 9:15 I walk into the century link office hand them the equipment explain to them I did not have service when promised I would like a refund after 10 minutes of I can't find your account I get our records show you have service we can't refund your money. They need to see when service was established before telling me I had service at the time I disconnected the equipment. I would like my money back but at this point have written it off to a business that the only way they can make money is stealing it so whatever.

I became very ill four months ago. When I was able to contact Century Link I sent an email explaining that I wanted to cancel my service because I was only getting paid once a month and could not afford the bill any longer. I was getting behind on my payment and thought I could get caught up that way. No response. Then I receive an email stating my bill was past due, I got on their chat line three separate times and was told they could not help me. I tried calling and waited on the phone for twenty minutes with still no answer, I did this three times. I sent them a letter, no response. Then I get an email saying that I can make three payments of 135 and my bill has to be paid by August 20 or they are turning me over to the collection agency, I answered the email only to get one in return telling me I cannot contact them. My bill has been going up and up for four months now. The only response I get from them is that my bill is past due and they suspended my phone service. MY cell phone service is very poor in my area and I cannot get a signal to call them and now my home phone is turned off and they are continually charging me month to month. No one seems to understand or even try to help me. I got online on the contact us section but there is no where for me to write anything to them about my situation. I tried to avoid all of this from happening but feel I am being ignored and now my bill is so high I cant afford to pay it, I am very stressed over this and I am under a doctors care and he tells me to avoid stress at all costs. I have a sister with stage 4 cancer. I have tried everytyhing and hate the fact that you try to contact business's and can't I feel that I should not have been charged from the time I sent the first letter to them plus I am very upset that I am being treated this way after being a customer for many years just because I became ill. I was on disability for several years and managed to pay my bill but this last bout of illness caused me to get behind because I was bed ridden. I have tried everything I know to do.

On 6/26, at 9:31 am Central time, I contacted Century Link about my bill. The first person said he couldn't do anything, and he transferred me. The young lady I spoke with listened to my needs, as I told her that our internet kept dropping and I wasn't going to pay their $60+ that they billed me for internet when it didn't work. I told her we had to keep turning the modem off and on, and then it would work, even though they told us numerous times that it wasn't the modem, but that it was a line issue. I told her that we thought it was the modem and that we didn't want to pay the $99 for a tech to come out and tell us what we already knew. She informed me that it sounded like a modem issue and that we could get 25 mbps internet now, and that she would have to send us a new modem, but that with all the issues, she wouldn't charge us for it, especially since we had been a valued customer for almost 7 years. She also stated that we should purchase the promotional insurance and if we still have problems, to use it so we wouldn't have to pay for a tech, then we could cancel when it was fixed. She informed me that our new bill would be $40 plus a prorated charge for the previous bill. All of this was stated on the phone call and recorded. When my bill came, I was charged an extra $160 for the modem and installation. I called on 7/26/8 at 5:15pm and was told that they would file the complaint, have the supervisor review the call, and then I would be contacted and that it would take 72 hours. On 8/6/18 at 8:46 am, I chatted with Aaron G on their online chat, and was informed that it hadn't been processed, but was noted on the account and would be reviewed on that day and that it would be expedited to the team to handle. On 8/9/18 at 9:17, I chatted with Garvin D, who informed me that nothing was noted on the account and that I would have to talk to the retention team on 8/10/18. I called Century Link on 8/0/18 at 10:03 am, spoke with Larry, who transferred me to the Retention department. I was on hold for 40 minutes, so I hung up and called again, and spoke with Denise, who informed me that people make mistakes and tell customers the wrong thing, but that they charge for those services and that they wouldn't credit anything. She also wouldn't listen to me when I told her to go back and listen to the first recorded conversation, and she kept talking over me, which made me upset. She put me on hold and only credited the installation fee of $60.

CenturyLink says they can't fix my phone for 20 more days-disgusting company and disgusting group of people-has been for the 4 years we have been with them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been trying to obtain internet service for 7 months. Each time I try to explain that a line will have to be trenched from one spot to the next (approx. 50 yards) they tell me they will send out a tech and get me set up. This last time, yesterday 8/9/18, I had an appt for a tech to meet at my house between 10am/2pm. at 115pm I called to chk status. CenturyLink CS dept (Nancy) then told me "they aren't coming" So not only did I take the day off of work, but they did not show and did not give a courtesy call to at least let me know. They told me they have to have an engineer come out to evaluate. OMG, I was told this in Feb/March and nothing ever happened. The engineer refuses to follow up, and has given no reason for ignoring the situation. (Engineer is Michael C) I was told that since it is "private property" they have to have permission from MCDOT. I waited 6 months and Michael stated he hasn't been able to reach MCDOT. I literally called, got the letter of permission, sent it to Michael, all in less than a day! All we need is for CenturyLink to trench from an existing line in our neighborhood to the line on the next street (about 50 yards) and then not only myself, but 8 other homes can actually have internet/phone/cable! Why is this such a difficult thing to do or to understand? My entire street of 8 homes would really appreciate if you could actually get this done before Fall.................... especially since we have been trying diligently for 7 MONTHS!!!

I have internet through Centurylink service, the service is very unreliable and is often down during peak hours. I often work from home and can't get any work done because of an internet outage, over the last two days it has been out for at least 12 hours. I have called several times and the customer service agents keep hanging up on me. I am not belligerent on the phone nor have I used foul language.

THE WORST! This big company has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. The customer comes LAST must be their motto. I have gone through hell with these people about billing, erroneous charges, service changes, etc.. The onus is always on the customer to make sure they are not getting screwed. Although there are a few nice folks, the "notes" they put in your file never seem to stay there. You end up on the phone for hours and the online help is even worse.

I have been lied to about my bill not increasing after changing services. Fees are completely hidden. ISP service was interrupted for 4 days after dropping the TV component from my profile causing me to lose precious time as I work from home. Their promises to call you back never happen. I have just been charged for $330 for non-return of equipment when I was never sent boxes in which to return them. The list goes on an on.

I absolutely never write negative reviews but I hope this gets someone's attention and keeps others from selecting Century Link for ANYTHING.

refuse to repair my service. my service went down 08/09/2017 im sick of buying new modems for them to brake and I refuse to pay another $99 for another modem. if they can not resolve this im going to terminate my service and move on. my modem is damaged and I refuse to keep on playing this game of buying a new modem every time you turn around. I think they damaged the modem there self every so often. im to the point where I have 5 other internet connections and if they are not willing to keep me happy I will just terminate them as my provider. I dont care. I refuse to pay another modem buying fee when they are trash and brake . fix my service or im shutting it off. no im not paying for a shipping fee I will just shut it off.

I canceled my CenturyLink service on May 16, 2018 because I was moving. I called a CenturyLink representative to cancel my service and to request instructions on what to do with my CenturyLink modem. I was notified that I did not need to return the modem because I owned it. Based on this rep's express instructions, I did not return the modem. Days later, on May 19, 2018 I received an email notification from CenturyLink that I owed $105.99 for the modem. I again called and spoke to a different representative who informed me that I did own the modem and I would not need to pay the $105.99. In July, I received a notification in the mail that I owed the $105.99. I called CenturyLink and escalated the call to speak with Andrew, a supervisor. Andrew reviewed my file and saw why the previous two representatives had wrongly thought that I owned the modem. He informed me that despite the fact that on two different occasions, two different employees misrepresented key information to me, I still owed the $105.99. I argued that as a consumer, I should be able to rely on CenturyLink representatives to give me accurate and trustworthy information and that I relied on that information to my detriment. Andrew acknowledged my position but refused to do anything about it citing to company policy. This interaction demonstrates that CenturyLink has a policy of not taking responsibility for the mistakes of its customer service representatives when it knows its employees made those mistakes and chooses to pass those mistakes onto its customers.

CenturyLink arrived on July 11, 2018 to install new service which included running a new phone line to the house. In doing so, the technicians either accidentally or intentionally removed a string of commercial grade outdoor lights that were hung in the backyard. The technicians left without informing the property owner of this removal or the fact that the removal caused about a dozen large, glass light bulbs to shatter in the backyard, leaving pieces of glass, some small and difficult to see, all around the backyard where the property owners and their dog regularly spend time. CenturyLink referred the property owner to the company that handles their damage claims. After initial contact, property owner left upwards of seven voicemails for the claims representative without receiving a phone call back. Property owner reported this to CenturyLink and was placed on hold, at which point CenturyLink terminated the call and did not call back.

Signed up for service in March. Activated service in April. From the time I activated service I didn't receive the full service I paid for. My internet was constantly going in and out every day until the month of July, when the 5th tech came out and replaced everything, causing me to have to call off work 3 times bc I work from home. I called customer service to speak with them about a credit for the months that I was only recieving half of the speed that I paid for. I was transferred to 3 different departments. Then placed on hold for 60 mins. Had to call back jus to be transferred 2 more times and placed on hold another 30 mins for agent to confirm issues with tech support for the 3rd time. Agent returns to tell me he can't help me I can't speak to a supervisor and that I need to call back tomorrow bc tech support needs to do some more digging into my acct but they don't know how long it will take.

I have had problems with Centurylink responding on phone calls and even after being for the bill, Centurlink dodnt start back my service for 2 days. Additionally the internet site didnt work on paying a bill and their staff didnt call on the phone and their website also didnt work repeatedly. Additionally I have had problems with their billing 3 different timea in 4 months and also didnt have any respond from Certurylink 3 different times in 4 months.

I have there service for a while. I eventually wanted to keep internet but discontinue prism. I called and asked if there would be an early termination fee if I cancled. The rep said no that I was on month to month. So I cancled my prism service. A few weeks later I got my bill and there was a 240 dollar early termination fee. I called right away and was bounced around departments and when I got to the correct one the rep told me *** OFF and hung up. If I knew there was going to be a fee I woulndt have cancled and now I'm with another service for TV.

If you can choose a different internet provider than CenturyLink, I advise you to do so. CenturyLink will nickel and dime you to death. They are expensive. You would never know that they are a 21st century communications provider; any change to your service takes days to enact; payments are archaic and usually include a $3.50 surcharge; the wait time to speak to agents is long and no one listens/responds to what you have to say - they stick to a script. I don't remember them being this way in 2012 when I first started service with them. They used to value the customer but not now. I suspect the employees may be underpayed and undervalued. The executives are highly paid.

I have a very long story as others do. To write a little, they said I could have service, and did credit evaluation, which would affect my credit score. Three weeks later after I spend more than 3 hours on the phone, 12 hours waiting for two technicians they promised to send in two different occasions, I found out I could not have service. All they say was "I am sorry" behind computer screens. Horrible experience.

I was supposed to have internet service activated on July 24th. Centurylink can't figure out how to update the address even though I have given, on multiple occasions, the assessors description. Ironically I had internet service for 2 days, but customer service says my account is on hold. Someone at Centurylink needs to actually look into this and not read from cue cards.