CenturyLink Reviews

Updated on 09/19/2015: Cancelled my service on 20 Aug 2015, was told that I was paid up to 9 Sep 2015. Turned in equipment on 8 Sep 2015. Now I receive a bill for $151.04, $16 disconnect fee, and another month's service. Was told by century link that the girl made a mistake, saying I was paid until 9 Sep. Also charged past due of $24.40. Never get involved with CenturyLink. TJ, Las Vegas.

Despite several house service calls and phone calls to the company, it was never fixed. I called to cancel our account and was told I would have to pay around $200 to cancel or $4.95 to place it in vacation mode until my contract date was up (did not know I had been placed in a contract either). I agreed to the vacation mode. I called back a week later and was told that the vacation mode had not been placed and that I owed $350 for the modem, wiring, etc. I told the customer service representative that our internet had never worked. She was apologetic and said she would take care of everything. The only thing she took care of was our contract.

We no longer have CenturyLink but still have a $350 bill. I thought the bill had been taken care of, but a month later (August) I received a bill in the mail. Baffled, I called back, waited forever on the phone to talk to an actual human being and it ended up being someone in the wrong department. I was transferred to Mary in the correct department who stated she would have my bill disputed and that it should be credited back to my account by the 13th. I just checked and I still owe $350. What makes it worse is that at least 2 out of the 4-5 people I have talked to have said they would call back and follow up with me. No one has called yet.

The customer service is horrible. They lie to their customers and their services barely work, if at all. I should not have to pay for something that has never worked. Do not get CenturyLink if you have other internet options. If CenturyLink is the only option in your area, go through Verizon and get a Jet Pack. It will work a million times better than CenturyLink.

An important note... I seem to be getting 40 mbps and slightly higher speeds consistently. The rep also cc'd me in his conversation with a CL billing agent about reducing the bill. Well, of course, when the first bill showed up it was $283. I called and reminded them about the conversation (had email proof). A new amount showed up within the week and now is at $212. Both the rep and the billing agent are not returning my messages so all I can do is pay their stated monthly rate of $29.95 until it gets someone's attention. BTW, the eBay seller of the modem refused to take it back. CL, you ARE just as bad or worse than Comcast.

They use a really old piece of equipment to provide internet connectivity. ATX-EDGE unit, which is way past its prime, they have sold service to hundreds more customers than this unit can handle. (There should be a law against this.) The equipment was never designed to provide service to so many subscribers. With so many customers on the same internet connection, (bridged) ADSL, which is like a shared pool of internet, there is no way this company can provide the services for which you are paying and they know it. I cannot recommend this company to anyone for anything.

Sunday May 16th about 3:30 am the cops showed up at my house, waking me from sleep, making me prove my identity and that I was alone - in my own house! Sunday I called CenturyLink again, asking them to simply shut my line off to prevent the 911 calls. Guess what? They cannot do it! It's my responsibility to work something out with the police; if my neighbor or I did this, it would be harassment. For CenturyLink, it's not their problem, even though they keep calling 911 and sending police to my personal residence. Monday, my "original" appointment, after four 911 calls, and three physical visits from police, the tech informed me that he "forgot his meter" and he would return Tuesday, August 17th. He did return on the 17th - spent less than 10 minutes here, left without notification, and nothing has been fixed.

In fact, it's WORSE. I used to lose both phone and internet whenever moisture was too high. Today after the repair with clear sunny skies? No landline at all - I called service again this morning, August 19th and they show a "short on the line" on my phone line, but they are not sending a tech out to look at it until Monday August 24th, which will be TEN FULL DAYS since I reported the outage. Ten days I'll be without phone or internet, and for a man that works from home, that's horrific. The only bright side is we recently got a competitor to CenturyLink - I'm scheduled for a replacement in less than two weeks for four times the speed, at 20% less money. CenturyLink is a horrific company that doesn't even care if their service repeatedly sends cops to your house. Ten days is my estimate before this travesty ends.

So I had to call my manager 5 minutes before I was scheduled to start my job and tell him that I cannot work tonight as I don't have internet. (I live in Iowa and we don't have 24hr Starbucks or anything go get free wifi.) Plus they pulled my credit 3 times for this crappy service. I wish I never had changed my internet service but from my perspective CenturyLink don't care their customers. Many people warned me about CenturyLink service. I should have taken their advice. Very very disappointed by the service. I will never ever trust them again.

I thought it was odd that they wouldn't have let us know that sooner but apparently they have a policy of "call us because we won't call you". Another hour on the phone to get this ironed out. Finally got the new modem after being a week without internet or phone. Then the promised visa rewards card arrived and I couldn't activate it so called the dreaded customer service again and they told me the card was cancelled because I had "disconnected service" before 60 days. I tried to explain that I hadn't disconnected services - that they had done so in the process of trying to port over the old phone number. They then said it wasn't their fault that they couldn't port over the old phone number so the visa card was no longer available. They didn't even take responsibility for leaving us without service for a week.

I think they may also put pressure on their representatives to participate in this illegal activity, calling it "being a team player", paying them as little as possible while the higher-up's rake in billions of dollars. Is this the "American way" of business ethics and principles? One positive thing about CenturyLink; they really make us appreciate the businesses that are honest about their prices! I would rather pay a higher price to another company that is at least honest, than to deal with the dishonest practices of CenturyLink.

I called 2 times before that and chat 2 times online. To get a proper bill and to know what services I am receiving because I wasn't able to pay my bundle service with DirecTV. I've been on the phone with them for 1 hr and 47 min right now. Jerry and Kristy in financial services were the reps that told me I would get credits for service I never received and start up and disconnect charges I never requested. They told me to call back once service was working to receive proper credits and Tina (supervisor) in billing transfers me to financial service and now financial service transfers me back to billing. Of course they do blind transfers without telling the next person what it is about so I end up explaining this difficult story over and over again.

I will get a rep that seems to understand the situation and they tell me something to the effect "I can see several people have messed with your account so I don't want to add to the confusion and will pass it on to someone else" and then I have to relay my story to the next person and nothing is completed. If there is another internet provider in my area, I would completely close my CenturyLink account which I may still do. Warning to others... Like the others on here state, think twice before signing on with CenturyLink. I want to add you're lucky if you even get to speak with a human. However, you're not that lucky because it doesn't seem to get you anywhere.

This company is much like the rest of the big box stores today, no customer service. Large companies continue to drive up consumer prices, and yet, offer no reliable customer service to speak of. I've chosen to boycott, as much as possible, the large conglomerate corporations and will try a local business that appreciates my business. America, stop lining the pockets of shareholders that don't give a crap about you! We work hard for our money too.

So without an exact amount, they want me to send in the Auto Pay document and sign a contract. Without knowing what my bill will be. They say they can only reveal the exact amount after I sign up for Auto Pay and agree to the contract. That's got to be illegal. A jump from $42 to $58 (or more, they won't tell me) is still approximately a $200 increase per year. A hefty 33% increase. That seems highly unreasonable for somebody on a fixed income. There is no competition. I've written a letter to my PA State Senator, Rob Teplitz. You know, I never was late one time on a bill for 5 years. And this is how they treat me. I think I'm being punished for going to satellite for television. After CenturyLink tried to jump my bill for that, too. Perhaps the MOST corrupt company with which I've ever dealt. People who are ripping off people on fixed incomes.

The next month I received another charge for renting it. I called back and got a woman on the phone and she said that they do not sell the ones that are rented. She said she would send me out a brand-new one and that I would just ship the old one back in the same box. My husband hooked up the new modem, took the old modem and put it in the box and shipped back like we were told to do. The next month I got a charge for $106.99 for unreturned equipment. I called to find out if they received the equipment yet was told no, there was nothing showing up in the system, but then the girl said just a minute and put me on hold. A few minutes later she got back on the phone and said that yes, they did receive my equipment and that I will be seeing a credit on my next bill and that they would be having it showing in their system shortly.

The next month I received a bill again with the charges still showing, so I placed a call and they said that it takes a little bit of time for it to show up on the bill, but the next bill will definitely not have the charge on it anymore. The next month I got a disconnect notice saying that my phone was going to get disconnected because I owed them $106.99 that was past due. I had already talked to two other people before this letting them know I was waiting for a credit and they said to just pay the bill minus the $106.99. I called back to talk to them about the disconnect notice and they took my phone off of disconnect and made a note in the system that I was waiting for a credit.

I was talking to another woman who said that yes, they actually do sell the modems that are sent to us originally and that I could've bought it. I did not have to have a new one shipped to me at all. Too many different answers from people working there. Now they are saying again that they have not received the modem and it has now been 7 months since this has all been going on. I have now been emailing a supervisor who is once again telling me that they have not received it. How could they not receive the modem when it is shipped back in the box we were told to put it in? Our contract ends next February and I will be canceling my service with CenturyLink. My mother got CenturyLink hooked up two months prior to me getting ours hooked up and she too has had problems with them. This company is an absolute joke to deal with. Each person that I have dealt with has told me a different story.

So I did, and ended up being transferred around as well and call was also interrupted after being on the line with them for about half an hour. I called back and the transfer game started again. I finally gave up. Cancelling my service right now and have to say that will end up paying about $80 more for the two months I was with them than I would have if I would have stayed with previous internet provider. And those hours that both me and my wife spent on the phone with them, getting angry and frustrated - Priceless!!!

If you think cancelling their horrible service to get rid of this hassle, think again. It has been over a month that I am dealing with strange bills and charges that they cannot explain. And not sure when this nightmare is going to end. It is like is not enough that you suffer through the contract where their fees constantly increasing, 4 times during the one year contract. So they get you indefinitely with cancellation. Save your time, money and sanity and never sign up for CenturyLink.

This company is quick about taking a $14 late payment from its customers. If they cared about their customers in this area, then a phone tree message to all those persons affected would be good company service. The service is deplorable! I wish I had another option for my area with a land line phone and internet service. Also when I signed up with CenturyLink in 2010, I had faster internet service. They have slowly decreased my speed, then have the audacity to send me fliers to increase my internet speed which they lowered. I have had numerous complaints with them for 5 years. With all the complaints on the internet about this company, why hasn't the Telecommunication Department in the USA stepped in to do something. CenturyLink only cares about their shareholders and not the millions of their subscribers.

Finally they hooked me up with a so-called e-com supervisor who said I could not quit them, I was on a contract. Over months I repeated requested to see this contract, which they refused. One response was "we don't know if you are entitled to the information". Months later, I get another response that any phone conversation is considered a contract, but they did not have a copy of the conversation. That being bull anyway, their message says this call may be recorded for training purposes. Ok it does not say it is for contract purposes.

I told them if they refused to let me cancel with them, they were responsible for the bill, and I stopped paying it. They illegally hacked my computer, removed my Google Chrome from the taskbar and implanted an extension that took me to their billing page and I could go nowhere else on the internet. My service was temporarily suspended according to Donna, that required me to make a payment, before I could change to another ISP. They sat on the payment and when they claim service was restored, they either hacked my computer or implanted an extension, on my computer, without my permission and every time I tried to check my e-mail, it forced me to have to reboot my computer.

As a result of their actions, my computer was damaged beyond repair and I had to have my computer replaced. I informed them that I was holding them responsible for the cost of replacement of my computer and they responded with an unsolicited nonsense e-mail thanking me for being a long-term customer signed by Akieem.

Finally, I was able to switch to another ISP, my phone, but they said I would have to call again and cancel my internet. Remember I had cancelled my internet months earlier but they refused to allow me to cancel. I called to cancel my internet as they said under protest, I was given a new account number that I did not request and services I did not request. When I called for a credit, I was constantly transfer and left on hold. I talked to ten different people was transferred, hung up on, and had to call back. Over almost three hours and repeatedly put on hold, only to be connect with a new call and waiting period or just hung up on.

Every one of the people I talked with had my number, not one of them called me back. Two days later I get another bill from them. What good does it do to call them? No good whatsoever, they don't do anything to resolve anything and just make matters worse. I would not ever recommend them to anyone. Seeing one Better Business Report, they had 17 bad customer reviews, one good, and one neutral, that speaks for itself. They care less about their customers and harass them to the point of forcing them to leave, and then harass them some more by refusing to let them cancel. If this sounds familiar to you, don't feel bad, they treat many of their customers this same way.

My next step is to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and you should too. They seem to get results from looking at some of the cases and if they don't offer something satisfactory, deny their offer. And remember to include in your complaint that all records of any derogatory credit report by them shall be remove and a satisfactory credit rating should be mailed to you in writing. Get everything in writing from these people as they cannot be trusted and what they say is not what they do. They will try to distract you with meaningless, do-nothing apologies one after the other that do nothing to resolve any issues with them. I will probably be filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, as I believe that most of their tactics are not only bad business practices, but outright illegal, and customers should not have to deal with this abuse from them.

For a paycheck, people play this game. What else will they do for money? The US in moral decline. Insane to think we pay them for this treatment.

The lady I spoke with today after trying to pay my bill for the last 2 days told me she did not wish to hear what I had to say and that if I wanted to pay my bill from now on I would have to do it online. This normally would not be a problem however the account number that is on my bill I was told today is not my account number and that I would have to use a different account number to pay my bill. I could go on and on with all the issues I have had with them but that would take more time than they are worth. I wish I could use another company but CenturyLink has the contract for our area.

The employees are undertrained and have no administrative powers to actually solve problems. At one point I got into an argument with one of their representatives. He refused to look up my account by my name, insisting he needed an account number and then refused to transfer my call to another representative. Of course some of my frustration stems from the fact that this was probably the fifth time I've had to sit on hold listening to their awful elevator music. Seriously, silence would be better. Now usually I'm not one to gripe, but seeing as my only other choice is Comcast, I feel a little trapped. Where are our options?

They had given me a $22 credit for that last month due to not having reliable internet. After I talked to the representative about the disconnection, I wanted the refund addressed. She said that she had to transfer me to a repair technician. After being on hold for about 7 to 10 minutes, that representative came on the line and eventually told me that she couldn't do anything, that I needed to talk to someone on the Care team. Well, after another 5 - 10 minutes on hold, guess what, she couldn't help me either. She said that I needed someone in Billing. So I was back on hold for another 5 - 10 minutes, and when this representative finally came back with an answer, he said that I had already been credited.

Yes, I had a credit from prior to July 22. After July 22 to August 5, we had NO working internet but that's not what their computers show. I was afraid of this because even with a red light on my modem showing ABSOLUTELY NO SERVICE, when I called the tech number I would get a computer that would say, "We do not detect a problem with your line."

So that's how Centurylink treats a customer that has been with them for 29 years; we can't even get a credit on a bill for probably less than $25 dollars. Well, I hope it is worth it to them because I will tell everyone I can that CenturyLink is a horrible company that does not care about its customers and would rather give them the runaround rather that trying to just help them. I lost an hour of my day today because of them and the only good thing to come of it is that now, after the disconnect, I will NEVER HAVE TO SPEAK TO ANOTHER CenturyLink REPRESENTATIVE AGAIN!!!

We talked to a local service manager and said he would work to try to increase the speed. After about 6 weeks he came back and said he could get us to 40 MB if we would pay the $20,000 it would take to put fiber optic cable into the location. Needless to say we told him no and he said that would be the only option to increase. Unfortunately no other service providers are an option and the Landlord will not allow a satellite dish so we are stuck with the worst company on earth for our internet service.

CenturyLink has designed the system to be like this as they do not account for any type of change within the company and they find themselves in this situation. It doesn't hurt them as they collect the initial payment and have no problem asking for additional fines auto reaped (yes similar to raped). Then threaten to send you to collections if you don't pay for the entire period or just leave it with collections coming after you either way. CenturyLink as it stands now has opened 4 accounts under my name and only one dept can find my address. CenturyLink has a major rudimentary built-in problem with their operations and owing they have enough money to fix it, probably denotes making more money this way and no reason to change or some pathetic excuse for management.

Finally, at this moment I am on the phone with cust serv again and this agent actually is mad enough at the other workers just passing my account on that he is going to go out of his way and try and fix this. He is saying this is routine but the extent of the damage on this is too much for him and put me on hold for another 45 minutes... It should have never gotten to this point unless by poor cust design... oh fantastic. He is saying that I have to pay 75 dollars to clear out the other 3 accounts.

After finally getting through to "John" in customer service, I foolishly began by saying that I was annoyed. He just disconnected me. Phoned again and was finally connected to "Mike." Being a fool, I gave my name & phone number and asked that he not hang up on me as John just did. He hung up, at no time was I abusive. Nor did I raise my voice. I phoned yet again and was connected to "Chris" who, it turned out, was INTERNET repair. Chris transferred me to "Ray" who arranged a service call for me.

After these experiences I decided to report the poor customer service to CenturyLink corporate headquarters. A "Google" search provided phone numbers in Monroe, Louisiana. Both numbers provided resulted in very rapid busy signals. Not ready to surrender, I dialed one of the Century Link new service numbers and was connected to an obviously new employee. I deduced this because he was not only polite and willing to be helpful, but he also made notes on my account and stayed on the line with me while transferring me to "Bruce" in the CenturyLink Escalation Department.

After listening to my complaint, Bruce asked me what he could do about it. That bears repeating -- Bruce asked ME what he could do about MY complaint. I explained to Bruce that, while on hold, I had searched public review sites for CenturyLink and would simply write a review. Here it is Bruce. CenturyLink is abysmal across the board and the instant another option presents itself, I will sever all interaction with this purported telecommunications company.

The next bill came and to my surprise it was not the special price but $65 and change and I might add very difficult to understand how they arrived at the figures. I paid that amount online immediately also! The next bill came, the price was the same amount and there was nothing about the modem I sent back. I called about that, the folks I talked to seemed irritated that I was calling about that modem and if they received it. The next bill came, same amount and no mention of the returned modem!! About this time I am wondering if I made a good decision to change ISPs. I am also wondering about that $351 dollars and change, if that is done to all CenturyLink first time customers and if it is common practice of CenturyLink to say one thing and do another.

I called again and indicated to them I was about to disconnect... She said she would lower the amount to $40 a month, I asked for how long to which she said for 12 months. I said OK. The very next bill came, the amount was $65. I paid that amount online immediately. I called and indicated I was going to disconnect. The bill came, CenturyLink wants a early disconnect fee. The last call I made to CenturyLink, they busy so I was listening to their advertising and at one point their advertisement mentioned something about good customer service That was almost laughable!! After what happened to me, I was talking about this situation to my neighbors and friends, they told me of similar experiences. I was done calling about this difficult situation that somehow needs attention. I do not think this is a company-wide practice but this experience begs that question.

By the way CenturyLink sent me a letter about a unpaid bill, which CenturyLink indicated that it would be turned over to creditors if not paid by a certain date. I called, wanted to know what the amount was for which she said it was for a early disconnect fee. Emphatically I said NO to that. By the way my credit score is on the high side of 700. I am 71 years old, which means I have paid for whatever I was responsible for decades. I worked retail for decades, never have I treated a customer like this. I would have been fired! I would like to resolved this problem. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Despite a couple comments about the number of years they serviced her home, I assisted with providing cross streets and names of her neighbors. I was given a commitment date of June 19 for the service to be transferred. On June 20, I called to inquire of when the service would be connected only to hear the order entry people still couldn't find the house. Each time I call, I became a little more frustrated because each call is taking about an hour and involves a minimum of 3 people, of which no information was shared between transfers. I finally speak with someone else, who assured me they now know where they are going and the service will be connected the following Monday. On Tuesday, June 23, my grandmother called me, concerned that nobody from CenturyLink has shown up, and the phone we setup on the jack wired for CenturyLink still has no dial tone.

Another 45 minute call to CenturyLink and I was told it definitely was connected and that the problem has to be in the home, and that I can have my grandmother check by opening up the network interface on the outside of the home and connecting a phone directly (yeah, right). Since I was working out of state, I would have to wait until the weekend when I come home, then drive an hour to her house to check myself. On June 28, I arrived to check outside, and there was no dial tone. This time I spent 2 hours on the phone with CenturyLink, getting hung up on once, transferred from one foreign call center employee to another until I demanded to speak with someone in the United States. When I finally speak with an American, she found out they connected my grandmother's phone service to a home 20 miles away!! How does someone mistake Maple Place with Flagler Road?!!

They again assured me the service would be connected the next day, as the nearest on-call tech was 100 miles away. I was told the first install fee and first month would be credited back to me. Finally, on June 29, her phone got installed and has worked fine. Somehow, I just knew they would get the billing totally wrong - and I was right. Flash forward 6 weeks: I get a bill for $191. When I begrudgingly call CenturyLink again to find out about the billing, I get the foreign call center who has no idea what I am talking about but reminds me that if I don't pay, the service will be turned off. I escalate to a supervisor who manages to hang up on me. I call back and tell the whole story again. I get told they can't give any credit, and transfer me to "financial services." More hold time. They argue with me.

I escalate and get transferred to repair, who transfers me back to customer service, who says the people who can help me had left for the day. I call back the next day and spend 2 more hours on the phone, similar story. FINALLY, I ask to speak to the CEO, and get transferred to someone in repair, who finally takes care of the needed credits. Long story, but here's the main complaint. CenturyLink's customer service has to be among the worst in the United States. I have over 20 hours of call time invested in simply changing back to them for phone service. They have to fix this! They have to know there's a real problem. I spent nearly half a work week just trying to connect a line with them, at a home that's been occupied by the original owner, in the middle of town, since it was built in 1962. They should be paying me a half a week's' pay for this! Truly awful. Don't take my word for it, look at my account notes!

Today they contacted me saying that if we didn't pay our $333.00 bill, for one month I might add, they were going to disconnect us. I do not really understand why they cannot seem to get us bundled. We have been customers of CenturyLink for well over 15 years, our bill has always been paid when it was due, and never had a problem until we bought our new house and now we seem to have nothing but problems. What IS the problem with CenturyLink??? I just do not understand and feel I need some Consumer Affairs to help to remedy this situation. They have three accounts for us, I have no clue as to why... I do have all the bills that I can scan and provide. Please help us get this situation taken care of. Thank you.

No technician showed up Friday, July 31 nor was one scheduled. After CenturyLink admitted to making a mistake, that there was a mixup with my service because during the pre-evaluation of my house they were unable to provide the 10mb/s I was promised but rather 8mb/s, the scheduled service had been canceled. I was given two choices: they would mail out the modem and I would have to install it myself or I would be charged a $60 fee to have a technician come out on the next business day because there are no installations on Saturdays.

I was able to get the service call for free and on Saturday, I was told the technician would arrive first thing in the morning (closer to 8am from my 8-1pm window) due to the nature of the call. I waited for six hours, during that time I called the CenturyLink 800 number over 4 times and no one could tell me where the technician was, only that he was promised to come out. Multiple supervisors paged and called the technician yet he did not respond to anyone. At 1:41PM (41 minutes after my installation window) I received an email stating the service had been completed, however I was in the house alone --no CenturyLink technician.

He finally arrived at 2:13 pm EST. Upon arrival I showed him the location of where I would like the modem. He removed the phone jack plate & put some wires on the cables in the wall. Then, he went out to his truck & got his ladder. At 3:38pm he advised he had to leave and would return. He finally finished at 5pm. Had I gone with the option of having the modem overnighted to me, this is something I was expected to do???

Then, out of the blue, we get a bill for $183. Apparently, we were under contract, so they billed us for that plus $70 for non-payment (non-payment?!). After waiting for nearly an hour on the phone, I get a rude manager who tells me that they dictate the terms of the contract and customers agree with them, which means they can fail to provide service and customers still have to pay. What's my recourse? "Pay your bill or we'll keep tacking on fees." Terrible customer service. Corporate Greed!

Well the next bill I got on 5/6/15 was for 226.22 dollars so once again I got on the phone with them and asked them what the charges were for and after asking to speak with a manager I was told they pay one month ahead to DirecTV and I also owed then for two months of their price increase before the new 35 dollar charge would come into effect. I tried to explain I cancelled Directv in March and had already sent their equipment back and was told by Directv that I was paid in full. The manager was talking all over me and said I still owed them the money to which I finally said I was done arguing and paid the 226.22 dollars.

At the end of May I contacted CenturyLink to let them know I sold my house and that I had to be out on June 22nd. The gal I talked to said to find the box and send aka the equipment no later than one week after the 22nd and said that I had 109 dollar credit. I sent back the box on the 25th at UPS and was told by the lady at UPS to make sure I do not lose my tracking number as she has seen lots of people who had come back to their office try prove they sent their equipment back.

In July around the 20th I received a bill for 230 dollars so once again I called them and had to explain to the lady I had not had CenturyLink since June 22nd and had sent back the equipment. The next thing she told me they have no proof I had sent the equipment back and asked me if I could provide a tracking number which I was able to do. When I asked her what if I had not had the number she would not give me a answer but said that their records had not been updated. (Not my fault!) She advised me after I gave her the tracking number she had found it and said that I would receive a new statement but said she was unable to check to see the balance.

On 08/02/15 I received yet another bill for 121.37 and an adjustment of 108.67 (the credit I was told I would receive when I originally cancelled). I called them right away and spoke to a male customer service person and told him right away I had a problem with my bill. He looked up my account and said it was for canceling my contract to which I advised him I had no contract and he advised it was for one year. I advised him that I had been with CenturyLink since 2013 so any type of contract would have been fulfilled!

Well after being talked over once again he said he was not in a department where he could help me so after 30 minutes I got transferred. I spent another 45 minutes on hold and got a female service person who I had to explain everything again. She again looked over my account and apologized up and down and finally said I would have to talk to someone in the Loyalty department and again put me on hold. After 1 hour and 34 minutes I had a male answer the phone and asked me to hold, I heard him talking to someone then I got hung up on.

I called back and again, sat on the phone for over 15 minutes and after talking with another female service person and explained to her I need to talk to the Loyalty department and had just spend an hour and thirty four minutes on the phone and got hung up on, she put me on hold where I sat for another 10 minutes until I got hung up on again. I once again called back and found out the departments had closed for the day.

I am writing this to help others not to get scammed by these corrupt companies. I have a credit score of 805 and always pay my bills but I will not be cheated out of my money! My 21 year old son has experienced the same thing with CenturyLink and still has them because he was told he was under a contract! Please let your family and friends know about these scams.

We had also signed up for their bundle service with DirecTV to save the $10 a month. They neglected to bundle our service. We didn't notice this for about 2 years, $240 worth. We asked for a refund, but they refused. Besides all of this, the service is just plain lousy. We are unable to use our cell phones in the house, except in odd places (ie. the bathroom) because of the sketchy WiFi. Do yourselves a favor and save yourself headaches by staying away from CenturyLink.

Issue 1: Service ready site: I told the sales rep that I wanted the $30 internet service. He checked his records and told me that the service was available for my Lot 49-8. I said others here had to dig trenches in order to get a line to their lots. He checked again, and said the service was already installed on my lot from my previous telephone service with Qwest and I wouldn't have to do anything. When the service technician arrived, he informed me I would have to dig a 2 foot trench from the service jack to my house, about 4 feet long. He completed a temporary hookup until I got the ditch dug. I've been told by customer service to call the technician directly when I get it dug and there will not be any additional charge. Can I count on this?

Issue 2: Unlimited Internet: I told the sales rep that I wanted to be able to have unlimited internet so that I could hook up my devices and stream shows that I missed due to horrible satellite DISH service during poor weather. He told me that unlimited was all CenturyLink offered and I would be able to do anything I wanted. I chatted online yesterday with a rep, and he informed me that there was no unlimited internet. I have no idea what my limits are and what it means for my use.

Issue 3: $31 one-time charge: The sales rep told me there would be a $31 one-time charge to initiate the service and he needed to charge my visa at the time he placed my order. I did that and the charge has appeared on my Visa. When I viewed my bill yesterday, I have been billed for the fee I already paid. I went to the chat room again and was told I had to call billing to get this double charge taken off my bill. I can only imagine how awful this experience is going to be and I shouldn't have to be put through yet another negative experience.

Issue 4: Internet Service Only: I told the sales rep that I wanted the internet deal of $30 a month, he led me into a discussion about bundling. He told me the best thing he could offer me was an internet/phone bundle for nearly twice the $30 charge and that was all that was available for me. I told him I didn't have a landline, I used my cell phone only and I was not going to get another phone I didn't need. He said it was part of the package and was at no additional charge, so I agreed. He told me there was no $30 offer, yet others, where I live, have told me they got the internet only line for $30 a month. I found online yesterday that you do offer an internet only package for $30. I now have a phone/internet package which I will never use but I have to pay for it anyway just to get internet service others didn't have to get?

Issue 5: Bundling with DirecTV Service: Since my satellite service is so bad, I suggested I would consider a bundle with DirecTV. I told him that a few years ago, DirecTV came and told me that I couldn't get service on my lot. Last week, the technician told me that was still the case even though the sales rep said there had been many improvements and I most likely could get service now.

Issue 6: Receipt of Equipment: The sales rep said I would be charged $15 dollars to have both the DirecTV receiver and CenturyLink internet modem mailed to me. I would have to go to my mail box site and have these items prior to any service hookup. I found out recently, that only the modem is sent by mail. DirecTV doesn't mail receivers, they bring it with them. I made numerous trips to my mail box location in town inquiring about the DirecTV receiver.

Issue 7: Another bundle offer with Verizon: Spoke with Customer Service and was offered another bundle opportunity with Verizon. A $5 a month savings. I said, sure. She then looked into it and told me I didn't qualify because I had an outstanding account. No, I don't. I checked with Verizon.

Issue 8: Setting up my online account: I called customer service when I couldn't set up my billing account. I told the rep that it was calling for a code I didn't have. The rep gave me a 3-digit code. It didn't work. I went to a chat room and learned it was a 4-digit code that would be phoned to me. How was I to know this?

Issue 9: Customer Service: I now have a number for customer service, another number for billing, a number for sales, and another number for customer loyalty (though it is the wrong number). These are 4 different numbers I have had to deal with in under two weeks as a customer. Really?

Issue 10: A 30 day grace period: The sales rep told me not to worry as I had 30 days from date of install, with no penalty, to accept or change my package. In one of the numerous chat rooms I visited trying to get clarity on what I had and didn't have, the chat rep told me he couldn't change my package because I had locked into a bundle and that I would have to talk to the customer loyalty staff by telephone. He gave me the number. I called it. The woman told me she was sales but could transfer me to the correct number. She did. I hung up after being on hold for over 5 minutes.

Summary: I just want internet service. I want my bill corrected to reflect that service only and the double charge removed and the actual bill resent to me once corrected and with internet only service. I want to know what my internet service will actually allow if it is not unlimited as I was told. I don't want any additional charges for installation when the service technician returns once my ditch is dug.

Finally someone did show up to set it up, and he was very nice and professional I will give them that. But not long after everything was set up our internet connection grew very slow causing the Wi-Fi and Netflix to lag extremely. Also, we had originally signed up for 10mbps of internet and I wasn't informed until the employee was at my apartment that because of their tower locations, we could only receive up to 3mbps of internet. We are completely anti-CenturyLink now and will never do business with them again. Besides fighting this ridiculous bill.

It took them 4 visits to finally fix it this time. Multiple calls where I have to give my phone number repeatedly and convince them that I know it is on their end. Then I notice that my speed is only at 2.5 mbps with dropouts where it used to be 4.5. Call them up on the day after repair about this and they say I only have a 3.0 mbps service so that is OK. Knowing that I pay for 5 Mbps and have repeatedly in the past asked them when they were going to have something faster available I told him he was wrong. After arguing for a while and a long time on hold I'm told that yes, I had 5 but for some reason when they fixed the line they dropped it to 3.

Now I'm really pissed because no one can tell me why this happened, but he assured me it would be fixed in the next morning. The next evening it still was less than 2.5 mbps. Another frustrating call, and now I'm told it can only be changed if I call during the day. Next day I spend my lunch hour with incompetent person who refused to transfer me to a supervisor. Finally they tell me that it will be changed back, but not for 4 - 5 days! They can screw it up in one day but takes at least 4 days to fix it. I asked to talk to a someone that might be able to expedite this, I'm put on hold for another 15 minutes and then the phone is answered by someone who knows nothing about what is going on and is in tech support. I gave up at this time. I have never ran into a company so incompetently ran and no one knows what is going on.

At day 36 they cut my first bill which included over $200 in set top box fees that were supposed to be waived. However, since it's been over 30 days I can't cancel due to hidden fees which I couldn't see because there was no bill generated until after the 30 day cancellation period. It now makes sense why the retention agent refused to give me his name or extension, so he could save his butt and still earn his commission. I had requested him to send me a copy of the bill which he said wasn't possible because "there are two different systems that process it". I even called back the day before install and asked what my total would be again but she said she couldn't access it even though I gave her my order number. The installer could not produce a bill when I requested it either. This whole sign up process is designed to stick you in a contract that you can't break without a $480 cancellation fee. Avoid at all costs.

The inconsistent answers I got each time truly annoyed me. I felt so cheated, manipulated and humiliated by this company! Moreover, it was a huge PAIN to talk to them regarding the bills! Be prepared to get held on the phone for over ONE HOUR because neither the supervisor nor the customer agent is helpful to get your concerns straightened out. I don't understand why it could take them ONE WHOLE HOUR to review the bills for only two-month service periods. Everything should be so clear to pick out in their system. They just enjoyed wasting my time and put me on constant hold. The background on their side was very NOISY. I could barely hear what they said!

One hour later, the supervisor told me that the first bill was overcharged for $35 and he was willing to credit me for that amount in next bill, but that was all he could do. Meaning if I switched to another provider before next billing cycle, I would never get my credit of $35 back to my account! I am definitely tied up by their rules even though I never sign a contract with them. Thank God for the month-to-month term!!

Ok, here it is 7/28, 10-12 has come and gone and nothing. I call customer service, they inform me it is actually 8-1... so aside of taking 7/27/15 off and asking for a few hours in the morning off, now they tell me it is a different time. If customer service is like this prior to getting installed, I can only imagine how it is as an actual customer. Absolutely no customer service, it is very important to me to have a good reliable company as an internet provider since I do work from home. I cancelled installation and currently am looking for a new provider. I seriously do not recommend a company like this to anyone!

After spending over an hour on the phone and paying $104 for the first month & start up fees with my debit card, the customer service girl informs me that oopsie their credit department was going to require an additional $150 deposit from me because of my "credit class." I told her that I was not willing to pay an additional deposit and asked that she just please cancel the service altogether and refund the $104 to my debit card that I had just paid. She assured me that she would take care of canceling the order, refunding my $104 and apologized profusely for everything.

Fast forward to today, still no credit to my bank account for $104 so I called customer service. After spending 15 minutes listing to the lady trying to sell me other packages and deals that may require less of a deposit, and me repeatedly saying "No thank you. Can you please just check the status of my refund." I was told that no refund had been requested by the customer service girl that cancelled the order last week AND that since 24 hours had passed since I cancelled the order, a check would have to be issued to me for the refund, which will take 3 to 5 days to process. That's when I completely lost my **!!! My ex husband warned me not to sign up for anything with CenturyLink because he's had nothing but problems with them & because their service sucks. I wish I would have listened!! I only gave this review 1 star because it's required.

Well, today, which is July 27, 2015, we still hadn't received the modem so I called them. I talked to someone in customer service who couldn't tell me where the modem was so she wanted me to talk to a tech. She transferred me and after waiting for 30 minutes, someone picked up but I guess couldn't hear me so they hang up. I called back. This time I finally get a tech on the phone and he informs me that AN ORDER WAS NEVER PLACED!! I was beyond ANGRY!

He then transfers me to customer support. She says that something must have went wrong when the order was placed. WOW! I said I wanted to talk to a manager. Now at this point, I have now been on the phone on just this call for almost an hour! The manager gets on the phone and tries to give me some crap about how the order got messed up but I wanted to know what they could do about it.

He said they could send a tech out in a couple days to get a basic internet started but all that would be capable of is checking your email and maybe some web surfing. We couldn't even use Netflix with it. He would get another order set up but would probably take at least 30 MORE days to get a tech out. WHAT??? You mean they couldn't let a tech get a little overtime to get us taken care of?? I have spent more than 3 hours on the phone and that was the most they could do? I told him that I would go to Comcast. This company has no clue what customer service is and I would never suggest anyone to use them!

After calling, they stated that it was because I had only set up autopay but not paperless statement. Never once was I told to go online to make an account to switch over to paperless, nor does it state under the promotion that this needs to be done. This clearly demonstrates the scheming and scamming side of this company. I was charged $10 for a piece of paper every month that stated that autopay charged my credit card. Absolutely ridiculous. I am outraged! Nevertheless, I have learned my lesson and will never again do business with this company because of this experience. TL;DR: I was charged an additional $10 a month for internet because I did not set up paperless statement.

After I received my first bill, it was completely wrong. I was being charged the full amount, plus a partial month (where I didn't even have service). There have been a number of billing issues with a little bit of money credited, but not the full amount required. I received another bill on 7/20/15 and the price is still showing higher than quoted ($104.95 + tax). This is $153.95 - 39 credit -10 credit. So my total bill is now 108.76.

I called and spoke with 3 representatives (included the cancellation department and the escalation team). And they said there is nothing they can do to fix the price. There is nothing in their system to give me the price originally quoted. I have spent approximately 10 hours on the phone with billing issues in the past 3 months with minimal resolution.

I have now cancelled my other service, paid them 59.99 for installation, 15.00 for activation and am now being charged approximately $20 more per month. I also know that your company has spent several thousand dollars sending out contractors to bury new fiber for my service. I have been lied to in order for the rep to make a sale and now I am locked in at a rate higher than what it should be. I feel this is a bait and switch tactic used by the sales rep just to get a new customer to sign up.

Then when the scheduled date came, NO ONE, showed up or called us, then they called several days later and rescheduled another week later and after the appointment time frame passed my wife calls CenturyLink and is told the service guy cancelled our service. He showed up and tested the lines and decided the line was exhausted and never even knocked on my door. When we setup the initial service I explained to the salesperson I needed internet for my job and he assured me we would get service. This company needs to be forced to fix their services. I am very disappointed in everything about this poor company. Now I am getting a bill sent to me for nothing and they want me to pay for the DSL router to be returned to them. My next letter is GOING TO THE BBB AND MY STATE REPRESENTATIVE!

I've requested to have it emailed to me multiple times, never get it (and yes, I checked my spam folder). I can have it mailed to me in 7-10 business days, which is what I finally opted to do, or I can chat with one of their agents to supposedly reset it. I resisted this option for a long time, as those chats inevitable take 3 times as long as needed to resolve a problem, but finally gave in today. It takes 5-10 minutes to verify my old account info, and then he wants to walk me through starting a new account, which wasn't even what I asked about when we started the chat. Unfortunately, living in Phoenix, there are very limited internet options and I am probably stuck with CenturyLink.

One hand doesn't know what the other is doing in this organization. They just pull fake prices out of thin air! I have now cancelled the telephone service, and downgraded the Internet speed to save money. I'm still waiting for those changes to take effect. I'm not complaining about the CenturyLink service itself. The Internet worked fine, and so did the telephone. But it's not worth the price they're demanding. The CenturyLink representatives are incompetent and are liars and give out misleading information. They constantly try to trick you and play games with you. Do not ever deal with CenturyLink!

She then gave me a phone number to call. I asked her if they were not the same company, just different departments and she reluctantly said "Yes". I then asked her if it was good customer service to just give me a number to call after waiting as long as I had. She said she would transfer me but no one will answer at that number because they are closed. Haha! Now, I was really mad and asked for a supervisor. Yep, you guessed it she hung up on me. So, in the meantime while waiting on that call to be answered I tried their chat contact medium and that was almost as bad. The person at first tried to tell me that I should add DIRECTV to my new pending account and have my original account closed.

I called CenturyLink recently to terminate my 'slow' Internet connection and was transferred to the wrong department I was told and they transferred me to Retention. I spoke to a man who told me that there would be an early termination fee of $200. I told him I never was told by the person who set up the Internet Promo plan who knew of my situation that there would be a $200 termination fee when I terminated the Internet service plan. He also said that I signed for it. That is false! How could I sign the supposed document by speaking on the telephone? I asked to speak to his Supervisor and was eventually transferred to his Supervisor who was no better to deal with and even said something like the person who set me up in Retention did tell me that there was an early termination fee.

I am sure that no such thing was said since I was wanting to end Internet service with CenturyLink in a few months and that would conflict with my plans of terminating CenturyLink's service and the person in Retention also knew my plans of wanting to terminate my service, I am sure. I asked to speak to the Supervisor's Supervisor but she said that it was not possible. Eventually, she would do nothing, I hung up approximately one hour after I called. I called CenturyLink again and then spoke to a woman who asked me for my phone number which I had just entered. I told her I had just entered it three times but she wouldn't go any further and she hung up before I did give the phone number again around 15 minutes later. At one point, I was told to call 1-800-603-6000 and they could possibly waive the early termination fee.

I called the supposed Business Office phone number above at 5:05 p.m. I was given earlier and the auto answering device malfunctioned (second time today) and was eventually told the wait time was five to seven minutes. At 5:22 I was disconnected. At 5:24 p.m., I called again and spoke to a man, and explained the issue and he said that I need to talk to Billing instead and was transferred there at 5:36 p.m. so that was more wasted time since it was the wrong department. After waiting for a while, a person answered and I verified that the early termination fee was $200 and eventually I asked to speak to their Supervisor since they refused to waive the early termination fee. I was told that they can't take calls and then they transferred me to an Escalation Specialist at 5:57 p.m.

At 6:05 I started speaking to Aram, ID Number **. He told me that he would not waive the early termination fee. He also said that the Retention specialist (who set up the Internet Promo) told me that there was an early termination fee. I disagreed and said something like, "When was that written?" thinking it could have been possibly written in letter. I do know that the Retention person who set up the Promo, did not warn me in my hearing that if I did terminate the Internet Promo plan with the special price which they got for me, I would have to pay up to $200. The Escalation Specialist did finally say that the termination fee is up to $200 since it is prorated.

I also did object to CenturyLink calling my Internet service plan of 1.5 Mbps (1.5 million bits per second) down and 896 kbps up "High-Speed" which a person normally doesn't get anyway--a person can get up to 20% less and it is still called acceptable. Bits which are used to describe data transfer rates are an inflated value to make ISP's look like they offer higher "speeds" (actually data transfer rates, it is not a measure of the actual speed of the data) than they really are. When you divide the above values by bytes--the normal designator used to show file size, you get much smaller numbers. One byte equals eight bits so the down "speed" becomes 187.5 kBps and the up "speed" is only 112 kBps!

CenturyLink disagreed with me and told me that the Internet plan was High-Speed! Also, with both plans, the 7 Mbps, which is the "fastest" and the "slower" 1.5 Mbps one, the up "speed" is the same--only 112 kBps. Since there was nothing more to discuss, the call was ended at approximately 6:25 p.m., I believe. So spending approximately two and one half hours on the phone was wasted time.

It would be helpful if: CenturyLink would provide higher Internet "speeds" in the area. When a Retention person is aware of a customer's need to change their ISP in a few months, as a result of their "slow" service then they should NOT give them a Promo which locks them into a year's commitment. Retention should plainly tell people that if the Promo plan is terminated early there is an early termination fee of up to $200.

A customer should not be disconnected, transferred to wrong places, or be told to dial a phone number for a department that cannot help them. Their automated phone system would not think a person said something when they actually said nothing therefore delaying the process or creating a problem with getting connected possibly with the correct department. A CenturyLink person should not falsely say that I signed the Promo agreement or commitment for a year when I did in fact not do so. I request that CenturyLink address these issues soon.

My home phone still won't allow me to make long distance calls. I keep getting a recorded message saying I need to dial the one first even though I dialed the 1. Months later I still can't make a call long distance unless it's to a cellphone. I called a tech guy and they will need to schedule a service call for more money... I'm about 3 months in suffering with the slo-mo internet then I get offered the faster speed, get this... at a higher cost, so I pay for the speed, like a sucker. My bill goes up every month. After 10 months my $89 bill has crept to $165 and is never the same amount month to month. Not sure why that is. If you have another option for internet service, phone or cable I would suggest you use them instead.

Their customer server is completely **. Not only do they outsource American jobs to India (which the Indian reps are actually nice), the reps they do have here are ** and treat you like **. I called Monday, waited on hold for a total of 2-3 hours, all while being transferred randomly, and being hung up on right after I give them my info (happened twice!). Finally got a hold of someone today, and he said he didn't have to help me do anything because I was in a contract, and I said "Wtf, why am I in a contract", and he said "because when you agreed to your new deal that is an automatic contract" and that if I wanted out of my contract he would be happy to charge me for all the discounts they gave me over the last 10 years. DO NOT JOIN CENTURYLINK EVER!!! Save yourself the issues and join someone else's internet!

Well today I separated with CenturyLink and feel some relief. The divorce won't take place until tomorrow but I have already talked to DIRECTV and they were very easy to talk to. As soon as this divorce takes place, my husband will finally be able to watch the news. CenturyLink has been worse than a bad marriage. Thank you DIRECTV. I'm staying loyal to you!!! Hallelujah no more 2 hour runarounds with CenturyLink and a huge saving on money!

We cancelled CL due to horrendous errors on their end from day one (May 5, 2015). We were told by Irene in the Escalation Dept. in Phoenix that when this was cancelled they would credit our acct. to a zero balance. We were not aware that CL was still servicing the line until they disconnected the phone on 7-17-2015. They maintain that we owed the amt. no matter what. Supervisor in the collection dept was very rude (to say the least) his name is Ben. We paid the bill in the amt. of $298.28 in protest.

I have totaled up over 7 hrs. on the phone either on hold or talking people who kept telling me "this was out of their scope" to be able to assist me. I was transferred over and over and the call was disconnected many times. We want to dispute this entire situation and are trying to find the easiest way to do so. Conf. no. of payment on 07/21/2015 in the amt. of $298.28. This is for under 3 mos. of their phone service.

Thus, I waited as advised and called in June when I had moved. We discovered that my new place was not able to have CenturyLink at my new place. Thus my service was cancelled and I reconfirmed there would be no penalty and I would not be charged an early termination fee. This was June 24, 2015. On June 30, 2015, I got a bill in my email stating I had a bill of $91.81. Imagine my surprise! I logged into my account and discovered that they were charging me the early termination fee of $119.80, which was supposed to be waived due to my reason for canceling was because my new place was not equipped or contracted for CenturyLink service.

I called, and spoke with several agents. One of the agents claimed I did get service at my address but she thought I lived in Phoenix, when I live in Gilbert. I tried to explain to her that I was not a Phoenix address - there is actually a street name the same name in Phoenix and Gilbert and it has the same street number - confusing, but not confusing when using the correct address with the correct zip code. As a result, I had to call back and speak to another agent, who used my correct address and discovered what two previous agents had that my new address does not get CenturyLink service. This agent processed a refund for the early termination fee, gave me a confirmation number, and I assumed it would be taken care of, and I would receive my refund for overpayment for the June-July bill when I did not have service.

I received another bill today, July 20, 2015 stating I still owed and was late paying a bill for $91.81...thus I had to call and discover the agent did not file the reimbursement of this invalid early termination fee correctly and I was still being charged. In addition, the regular agent could not handle the issue and passed me to a supervisor. The supervisor, whose name is Michael, employee number **, was unbelievably rude and intimidating. His behavior was absolutely unacceptable in the conversation and was extremely aggressive. He told me he would not speak to me if I interrupted him; which I did not, but then when I asked questions for clarification about this entire debacle, he refused to answer - instead just sat silent and would not respond.

When I questioned his presence, his response finally was that he was not going to respond to me or speak to me unless I stopped interrupting him and that my questions were irrelevant because I already had the answers. However, I told him my goal was clarification because I know the calls are recorded so I want to be sure I am getting the same responses from each agent to document them. I forgot his name mid-conversation and when I asked him his name, he refused to give it to me, stating the same line - "I will not answer until I have finished what I am doing and you stop interrupting me." I said, "I was not interrupting you, but attempting to gain answers and you will not respond." I had to ask 14 times to get his name.

He also demanded the tracking number for my modem, which I returned and tracked and discovered it was delivered today, July 20, 2015 at 3:08 pm Kansas time, which meant they had had it for 5 and a half hours by the time I called. Regardless, they had a different tracking number altogether - and I figured it out -it was the tracking number to send me the information; but the tracking number for the return was the same on my receipt from UPS when I dropped it off as on the CenturyLink paperwork they sent along with that label. It is ridiculous that this information is missing on their end when it is on their paperwork. Thus, I know I will likely need to call again and may need to contact my bank for a fraudulent charge as they might charge me when they should not.

It should not be this difficult to cancel the service and receive the correct charges and/or refunds. I did not do anything wrong, nor did I violate the policy because I had to move where my money could afford and it happened to be where CenturyLink does not service. I am appalled at the supervisor behavior because the supervisor should never behave in that intimidating manner. He also hung up on me stating he would not talk to me any longer because I was asking questions I already had answers to.

It is my opinion, but I would think this is part of customer service, that I have the right to ask the same questions to determine that I am getting what I need to get done - otherwise I do not know what the agent did on the other end as I cannot see him. I want to be sure things are processed correctly and efficiently as they have not been previously and I am worried I am going to receive yet another bill and will have to call again - this is time consuming and frustrating as I often have to wait on hold for 30-40 minutes to speak to an agent. CenturyLink needs to have better trained employees, an easier process for cancellation, an option for employees to easily waive the early termination fee when applicable, shorter call times, and appropriately mannered employees, especially supervisors. I would have considered returning to CenturyLink in a new home, but due to all of this, I will find another option when I move again.

Meanwhile I still had the Centurylink (CL) equipment. Fast forward several months and my credit report shows a collections from CL. No problem, my fault for still having the equipment. I call CL to pay the collections amount. They initially cannot find an account with my name, addy, etc. but I explain that I have the equipment, blah blah blah. They find my account and advise me that they will send a UPS sticker so that I can mail the equipment back. I said I won't pay the balance due until I'm sure they've received the equipment. Fast forward a couple weeks, no UPS sticker. I'm on the phone again right now with CL and they cannot find an account for me. Seriously? I've got your ** equipment. You sent me to collections. There is no store in the area for me to return equipment to. I am willing to pay my bill and they can't find it. LMAO!

I then called back first thing the next morning and they said they would have to send someone out that afternoon and before so I took off work, no one ever called or showed. So at 830, I called again and this time they had the tech who was supposed to come out. Call me, he was very rude and said there was no way he was coming out. He didn't have time. He would be out some time tomorrow. When I asked him if he could give me a time frame so I wouldn't miss a whole day of work he said “no” because that wouldn't be fair. Yet it was fair. I had to miss two days of work because of them.

So I took yet another day off still, no one showed. I then called and insisted to speak to a manager. He promised me someone would be out that next day and they would call 30 min in advance to make sure someone was going to be home so I wouldn't have to miss another whole day of work. Finally, the next day I got a call saying someone was on the way over. So I left work early and I get to the house and the technician had it fixed before I got there. He told me it was something they should have been able to fix the first day I called. I shouldn't have had to go through all of that. Well everything was ok for a few months and now we are having the same problem again. If I had really any other options for internet service, they would have one less customer. Unfortunately, where we live we don't have much options.

This week, I noticed Comcast had a great deal on internet and TV package which I needed. Comcast speeds on internet are much faster but it costs the same if not less than CenturyLink. I called to cancel my account and was suddenly told that I was on a 12 month CONTRACT and would have to pay an early termination fee if I canceled. I told them I never signed or agreed to a contract! When I first switched to CenturyLink it was because they did not make you sign a contract. And now I am being told that I made a "verbal" contract, though it was never explained to me that if I canceled it would be an early termination fee?!

I have had problems with my service with CenturyLink ever since I have had it. I explained that they would shut my service off due to past payment without first informing me, multiple devices COULD NOT run at the same time without lagging, and my service would randomly go out due to problems in the area. This is horrible customer service. After being a customer of theirs for 3 years I would never expect to be treated this way.

Response from CenturyLink: "Thank you for contacting us. We promise to do everything we can to evaluate and address your unresolved billing issue to meet your expectations. In review of the account, the request to disconnect was not placed until 07/13/2015. Unfortunately, as services were not disconnected until this date, the bill is valid. In order for an account to be disconnected, you must speak with a representative to have the account closed. As stated, this was not done until 07/13/2015 and therefore no credit is warranted to the account as charges are considered valid for an active account. CenturyLink appreciates your business and values you as a customer. Our goal is to provide you with excellent customer service."

As they used to say, if I had an option, I'd leave CenturyLink in a heartbeat. Why would I ever want to subscribe to MORE services when they are charging me an outrageous amount for the tiny amount of service I currently use? I'd complain to the Utility Commission but I seriously doubt that would do any good. Bottom line is that CenturyLink DOES NOT value loyal customers. They S-U-C-K!

If we would have been getting 1.5, it would have been satisfactory, but for some reason, CenturyLink didn't even have my physical address in their database. Over a period of at least 5 months, the continually stated I was already receiving the highest speed internet available to me. An almost exact physical address existed in a town 13 miles away and CenturyLink was using that address to determine my service. I have a file of chat records that's close to an inch thick that consistently explained that the address they were using was totally incorrect. Did they listen? Oh NO! They kept stating their engineers had determined that I was already getting the highest speed available for my location.

About two weeks ago, a CenturyLink "escalation" person entered our physical address in what he called the E911 system, and magically our true and actual address showed up in CenturyLink's system database. Within less than a day, our internet speed doubled. It took nearly 6 months of insistent calling, chatting and emailing to get this otherwise minor problem solved. During this entire time, CenturyLink service reps did nothing but regurgitate the same previous erroneous info that was recorded in their system. No one took a new look at it. Everyone simply assumed I, the customer, was WRONG and they, the monopoly service provider was right. Did anyone apologize for all the trouble I had to force my way through to finally get someone to take action? OF COURSE NOT! At least that problem has now been solved.

However, here's a key piece to this horrid story. I contacted CenturyLink's CEO with my complaint. Of course, I never heard from him, but he did forward the complaint to his trouble-shooter, Ms. Kristy **. She was quite sympathetic, and did attempt to get the original problem worked out, but she faced the same monolith as the average customer and had absolutely no more effect than I did. The point is, if a customer has to go to the absolute top of a company and STILL can get no resolution, what does that say about the company's management as well as their people? Basically, the attitude I faced starts at the top and flows downhill. So it is with CenturyLink. But that's not the end of the story.

At the same time as the internet speed issue was dragging on and on and on, the phone problems were just beginning. I mentioned I had elected a phone and internet bundle, with unlimited long distance and local calls included in the package price - $71.90 per month with a $10.00 monthly discount if you chose their "auto pay" billing system. I didn't - I couldn't trust them. Good thing I didn't because doing so means you just let them charge your bank account for the charges. I noticed immediately that I was paying for unlimited long distance and local call package, but I was stunned to see that I was also being charged for each and every local and long distance call made from our phone. That increased our bill quite a bit - perhaps as much as $30.00 per month.

When I complained about that, CenturyLink customer reps said it was because we weren't dialing a "1" before each call. But I and my entire family were doing just that! CenturyLink acknowledges I should not be paying for those calls individually, so I requested credits for each and every call separately and had assistance from a service rep to accomplish that herculean feat. CenturyLink said it would take 2 to 3 billing cycles for the credits to show. Fat chance. The credits have not only NOT shown, but the erroneous billing has continued. In fact, after all the calls, chats and even contacting the CEO's trouble shooter about this latest screw-up, my bill for this month is even HIGHER than any previous bill and charges for the supposedly "unlimited" long distance and local calls has continued without abatement.

I've even contacted the FCC, but CenturyLink seems just to ignore that impotent government agency. I write to the FCC, the FCC notifies CenturyLink of the complaint, then CenturyLink pens a letter to me AND the FCC saying everything is now cleared up, even though it isn't. If anyone reads this and STILL does business with CenturyLink, they have been forewarned and deserve all the abuse they receive at the hands of this miscreant company. There are thousands of reasons CenturyLink should go out of business. Search the internet complaint sites about CenturyLink and you see without a doubt what I say is the absolute truth. The number of "positive" comments about CenturyLink is so small as to be dwarfed by the mountains of negative posts by users.

If CenturyLink weren't the monopoly provider in our area, I'd have nothing to do with anything, person, place or service even remotely connected with CenturyLink. The company has proven to me that it's by far the worst communications service provider in the universe. This has been occurring to me since late January 2015. Historically, comments like mine reach further back into time than you can imagine. It boggles the mind. But don't stop here. Check all this out on the internet. You simply will find it almost impossible to believe - but the numbers don't lie. It's ALL TRUE!

This is not the first time I have problems with the service. I have had nothing but problems since day one and I'm not willing to continue paying for a service that I'm not getting. The employee informed me that I have a contract with them that I signed and needed to obey by. But as of today I still don't have my internet fixed nor a solution to my problem. I want nothing to do with this company ever again. As far as I concern they breached the contract and not me. I'm not willing to continue fighting to get the service that I'm paying for. Besides even when my Internet was working it only worked off and on. It was constantly out. So as far as I concern I'm done with this company. My account # is **.

A friend had a heart attack was lying on floor with landline in hand and no phone signal due to CenturyLink did want to fix his house phone line. So now he carries a cell phone and no more home phone. It's too much of a risk that no phone works from CenturyLink and internet is same way if you live in Mills County Iowa. Their speed test errors out. ping 1469 ms download speed 0.06 Mbps .016 Mbps upload speed and this is a good 1.5 Mbps line cost and they will not improve it. Going on 5 yrs and I within 5 miles of a google data center and I got really no internet. ** and cat shield cable coming from modem to pc. High end pc. No low ball pc. Just CenturyLink is low ball. No service. Really bad service. No other provider in area. And a disable vet on top of it and get nowhere with big companies. They just rip us little guys off.

Guess what problem still there so as of July 1st? I contacted the loyalty dept to cancel my service and request a credit on my bill. I was told by the supervisor that could care less, had a huge attitude and never even asked why I was canceling that she was not able to issue a credit unless she spoke with tech support and could confirm that I was without service for any length of time.

I told her at this point I didn't really care and she suggested that she go ahead because I had nothing to lose. 30 min later she returned to our call with a very, very apologetic voice and expressed that she had reviewed what I had been thru for the last 3 months and she even said she was very sorry and that she still could not issue a credit but after my service was discontinued on Aug 15th that there would be no charge for June or July. At this point I really didn't care, I was just so upset from all I had been thru. So you would think that was it but NOOOO. Instead of cancelling my service on Aug 15th as I requested they cancelled my TV & Internet both on July 15 a whole month earlier than I requested and now they are closed so no tv or internet tonight.

Morning comes and spent another 4 hours working to get internet back on. They had to create a whole new account to turn back on my existing acct (go figure) and I lose any credits that I was supposed to get. Finally 8 hours later it's up and lo and behold now we have no tv. Another 6 hours, more hang ups, disconnects, transfers to 5 different departments to find out why and guess what, they are now CLOSED another night of no tv. I am 50 plus years old and have never, ever begged for anything in my life but today I heard myself begging a total stranger to please, please not disconnect, transfer or put me on hold and just do his job customer service and to please turn my tv back on (billing dept now closed!!!).

I have reached my breaking point and broke down in tears from all the stress and time this has taken from me. I literally couldn't take another minute of this matter and I finally give in. YOU WIN CenturyLink. You broke me to the point that I just don't care anymore but I will be damned if you ever see a dime from me again. I literally will never ever pay another penny and I don't care if you go after my credit, it comes off in 7 years so there. I have just figured it's time I take the same attitude that you do with your customers. You just don't care!!!

This was the type of customer service I received from this company at least with six of their people. I have never been so frustrated with a company like this one. I got different answers from everyone I dealt with. No one could give me a straight answer and no one knew what they were talking about. They charged me a $100 for the installation fee which they did not tell me about that fee. One person told me I did not need the phone jack, another said I did. The service man came out and installed it and said "You don't need this. You can just use wifi." Customer service said I did. This went on with at least 5 reps. One rep said he could take off $50. Called back in because I was charged the $100. Another said they could not take it off because they were out of $50's. So the next person I talked to about the charge said "oh we don't do that."

I finally called and told them to cancel my service. I got a bill from CenturyLink for $233. I called and talked to another rep and he told me that it was not legal in the state of Colorado to reduce the installation fee. I had two reps said they could. I was so upset by then, I told him I would pay the bill just so I would not have to deal with this company again. Their reps were rude, hateful, would not try to help me at all and when I canceled told me I had to pay that money. I did not even have the service and I have paid them $233. I have never dealt with such a company as this and I assure you I never will again. So beware!!!

The following day, someone from CenturyLink came and installed our internet. The very first day, after the technician came and set it all up, our internet quit working. For that entire month, we called customer support for repairs to find out why we could not get a connection, and we were bounced from representative to representative, and from department to department. I was told different excuses ranging from the technician didn't make a simple check mark on his paperwork saying we were okayed for our internet, to we need to call an electrician to make sure our outlets were working properly.

Finally, after one month of calling and complaining, a customer service representative sent out a technician to see why we were not able to connect. Turns out that the router we received had a faulty wire. Something so simple, and only five minutes of someone's time, had to take one month to fix. Not only did we have to wait an entire month to have working internet, we also had to pay for that month's service, despite us never being able to utilize it.

After that was taken care of, we haven't had any issues until now. We received a flyer in the mail about a new package deal that CenturyLink was offering. $119/month for television, phone, and internet. This sounded like a great deal, especially because we have been paying $143/month for just television and internet. We called to see if we were eligible for this deal, and was told we were. The representative informed us that we would be charged a $30 one-time fee, but that we would also be receiving credits for our bill because we switched to a cheaper package. This was okay to us, so we accepted the deal.

Now, three weeks later, I receive my statement in the mail saying that I have a past due amount of $24, and that my current statement is $279, which brings the total amount due to $303. My husband and I paid our last month's bill well in advance, and we paid the total amount due, so there was no way we were late on our payment, and the current amount of 279 was damn near double the amount we normally pay per month. We called customer service, and in talking to the first representative, we found out that the $24 past due amount should have actually been a credit to our account, and she adjusted the amount, which brought us down to $208. Still absolutely ludicrous, and still absolutely not paying that amount when we signed up for $119/ month. She then placed us on a hold to "look at our account," but instead transferred us all the way back to the beginning of the self-help menu.

We finally got to another customer service representative who told us that by putting a phone line on our services, it increases the amount due, saying they would not honor their package deal. Unacceptable. They advertise on their website now $96 for TV, internet, and phone, so we asked that if they would not honor their package deal that we switch to our original package of just TV and internet for our normal $143/month. He declined to let us do this. Instead, he sent us to their "Loyalty Program" department, where the one and only representative that it seems CenturyLink has is understanding of our problem, said that our bill was nonsense, and she saw where they messed our package up. She was able to fix our CenturyLink services to the correct amount, however the first representative that set our deal up for us did not transfer the deal to include our television, so we had to call DirecTV and reset our television package.

This in turn messed our package deal up all over again. After one and one half hours on the phone, we are still no closer to seeing the $119/month package deal. We were told, before getting off the phone, that this month's bill will be about $145, as previously discussed, with the one time fee. Next month would reflect the package deal, and all would be good. I am ready to pay our bill, which, again, is early, and I forgot to write down the exact amount that is due now that it's been adjusted, so I went to the chat option online, as it's always easier to deal with them this way. They had not adjusted my bill online, so at first, the representative that I was chatting with told me my current balance was the $279, but after she reviewed my bill as I requested, she informed me that my bill was $185. That is not the $145 I waited one and one half hours on the phone to hear.

Not only did they increase my bill on a package deal that was supposed to be cheaper, they wasted my time "adjusting" it to a price that they still will not honor. There are only two companies in the city that I live in that offer television and internet, and I stupidly chose to go with a company that was cheaper. Never again will I use CenturyLink's services, and I will always tell anyone that is searching for services to choose any service besides CenturyLink. Once our contract is over, we will switch our services to a company that may be more expensive, but one who values their customer's business, and understands that we work hard to be able to enjoy things such as internet and TV. If I am expected to pay for services from this company, I expect them to honor deals that they make with me, or I will take my services elsewhere.

I moved to a different home and had them set up the internet there (which took 2 weeks for them to finally get it turned on) During this process I made sure several times to ask the agent working with me if I was getting the 30 dollar promotion and if I would continue to get it. I was told that I was. 1 month later I got charged 40 instead of 30. I contacted CenturyLink and the agent FINALLY set up my paperless billing and auto-pay (which I had thought was already set up). The agent told me I would get the 10 dollar credit because I was overcharged. I set up a CenturyLink account because I was skeptical (I hadn't earlier because they did everything for me over the phone).

On my account it showed that I had been charged 40 dollars for the past 8 months. I lost 80 dollars. This is a lot for a newly married couple. I contacted CenturyLink about it and they told me it was my fault for not checking my bill. I agree with them that I should have checked my bill. I told them about how many times I called and was told I was getting the promotion. They refused to give me the credit. I encouraged them to listened to the calls I had made and they would not. I will always strongly recommend in the future that people avoid CenturyLink so that they don't get screwed over like I did. Especially because so many newly-weds are trying to find cheap internet access.

My internet connection is terrible. I have to try repeatedly to get any site to open, I keep getting a "No Internet" error. Tech support was supposed to come this morning to fix it, but no one came. When I called, I was informed that all of the reps were busy and I'd have to reschedule for another day. I'd had enough -- I called another ISP and scheduled installation of 3X the speed offered by CenturyLink for only $5 more, and a MUCH lower installation fee. I then tried to disconnect my service through Live Chat, but have been told I can't discontinue my service that way, I have to call. Hmm, how can I do that without a phone? I'll call tomorrow once I get the new ISP and a working phone.

A month later they tried charging an internet hookup fee (biggest complaint of neighbors) but did back off when I threatened to cancel service. Two months later their billing reflected a $14 above quote bill and no notes to document our discussion. Yes, I am getting services that cost the $14 but that is not what they agreed to. Six months later they add another $5 to service meaning I'm paying $19 more than they quoted for service without taxes. This is more than one person misrepresenting their offerings, it is a system that seems to encourage lies and hides fees and will do anything to sign up new customers without intent to provide service they promised.

I was then told that I had been given an appointment date which was almost one month in the future. Since then, I have been told enumerable false stories, have received phone calls wherein one department doesn't have a clue what the other department is doing. No notes have been placed on my account to tell anyone of the ludicrous amount of minutia I have had to put up with and still haven't gotten the security cameras I was assured would be in place within days (supposedly, from a company called VIVINT who was in some way affiliated with Centurytel). It has been one mistake after another throughout the entire experience, and even now, I am without security cameras, a modem, phone service, or a large unearthed hole in front of my business which was supposed to have been covered weeks ago. I am beyond livid and would like to know if there is anything that can be done to get faster and receptive service to my business?

I told him he was never scheduled to be here to begin with. Needless to say I called and complained to a manager and told him that this tech is never welcomed back to my house. The manager had no clue to why he would even ring the doorbell because he was just supposed to hook up Internet from the street and leave and we would hook up the internet inside our home. Well after trying to hook up the Internet and not getting the green light, I called back. I was then told that a tech needs to get access to our backyard to get to the green box because they are having issues. So I scheduled for a tech to come and I left the rv gate unlocked for him have access to and after I noticed he left, we tried hooking up the Internet again and still no green light. I called back and well, they are still having issues. I then asked if they can communicate with us and at least let us know what's going on.

This went on for three weeks and we had not gotten one phone call. I had to call them each time to find out the status and been transferred multiple times during each call and being put on hold for an hour. I had scheduled for a tech to come out on a Saturday because my husband wanted to be here to talk to the tech. We waited half the day on Saturday before I called them up and guess what? No tech was scheduled to come out. I then called back on Monday to cancel the CenturyLink and spoke with someone in the "cancel service" dept to find out that he only signed people up so I had to get transferred once again. On hold for another 40 minutes, a lady finally picked up and told me I had to talk to customer service. Ten minutes later with no answer, I hung up and called back and finally talked to someone that was able to cancel my service. I told him why I was canceling and he could've cared less.

So fast forward to today. I finally got my bill through CenturyLink with just my directv service and they were charging me for a month and a half which I was fine with because my tv got hooked up on May 29 and their billing cycle starts on the 15th. I was unaware of their cycles but understood. However the bill was about $50 too high. They have a 3 month promotion for starz, HBO, etc for free. Well they were charging me $30 for the first two weeks and credited the full amount for the following month. After calling and being transferred to several people, I was told I get three full months free but because I signed up two weeks before the billing cycle started over that I was responsible for the first two weeks. I asked him "how is that my problem" and told him that I was never told that I would have to pay for that crap for two weeks? Plus every little charge that was included in the $66 package, they were charging me again.

He put me on hold right in the middle of my sentence and transferred me to directv for them to explain the bill to me. Directv understood exactly what I was saying so the next bill will come directly from directv and is giving me a credit of $60 on my next bill since CenturyLink won't fix their mistake. CenturyLink is absolutely horrible in every way but glad to say directv has great customer service from the tech who came out to everyone I've talked to on behalf of CenturyLink.

So I called up CenturyLink and they confirmed what I was afraid they would say, that I had in fact been sent into collections, even though the FIRST rep I spoke to was able to confirm that they received our equipment that we had sent to them, right after it was sent out! After about an hour on the line with several reps, one of them was able to send a notification to CenturyLink's third party collectors saying that the debt has been satisfied, but it will take 30 days to process! So in the meantime, am I still technically in collections? I have heard horror stories about how this sort of thing has hurt credit scores, and that people in similar situations can't get that ding taken off their report.

To make matters worse, my current job is the type that CAN be affected by this. If anything happened to my job as a result of this, furious wouldn't even begin to describe my mood. I may be overreacting, but it is boggling my mind how this could happen, and the possible consequences to my credit score or job are just racing through my mind. At this point I am actually seeking legal advice and am open to anything someone has to offer in those regards.

Today, for instance, I had to call back and wait and repeat my issue FIVE TIMES. I was sent to wrong depts., transferred, disconnected. I work! What a huge waste of my time. This is one of the worst companies I've ever dealt with. Fourth, they are a monopoly! Where's the Anti-Trust lawsuit here? And while we're at it, how about a class action lawsuit. I wonder how many folks like myself, have been overcharged. It's extortion, in a way. I've had it; I'm going to Comcast. I hear they're not much better but I can't imagine any company worse than CL.

This company must be set off from home, doesn't seem to be a licensed company. I am glad that their review on consumer, I rather stay without home tv. I have no energy to go fight everyday with companies because they are hooked up with casino also possibly with government whom allowed to rub customers legally in USA. Each this utilities company are allowed to charged customers triple even more.

On June 11th when no modem arrived, my roommate and I called to inquire, and they couldn't find our account. I spent hours on the phone with various customer service representatives. One informed me my account didn't exist and hung up on me. When I immediately called back, another customer service representative was able to find my account right away and said "everything was on schedule." A few days later when the internet still hadn't arrived and at this point was overdue, I called to inquire, and they again informed me "your account doesn't exist." After being hung up on by one customer service agent and then another woman finally transferring me to her supervisor, Chase, he was finally able to tell me that "Oops, your account has been placed on hold." Chase was unsure as to why this had happened.

So, the reality is that nothing had ever been "on schedule" with my account and I had been lied to and strung along for a week by various customer service representatives who gave me answers to pacify me, but not one of the SIX customer service representatives I spoke with before being transferred to a supervisor ever made sure my account was on schedule. Because of their collective negligence, it was now my problem as the customer to wait another WEEK for the internet to be set up now that the account was removed from "hold" status. As an apology, Chase said he would waive my set up fee and that my first bill would just be the 37 plus tax (which he said was an average of $6.00 a month in my zip code).

On July 7th, I still hadn't received a bill yet. I called to inquire when it was due and how much it was, and a female customer service representative informed me my first bill (which I had still never received via mail) would be $59.95 and was due in 3 days. Wait...what???... When I inquired as to why it had jumped from 37 with set up fees waived due to poor customer service to now 59.95 with no explanation, she began yelling at me, "Ma'am, my job is to answer questions, and if you are going to become reactive, I will not continue this conversation" (she was yelling so loudly and interrupting me that my roommate could hear her across the room). I calmly responded, "It is also your job to provide me with good customer service and answer my questions." When she continued to interrupt me and yell at me, I asked for her name and to speak to her supervisor. She then placed me on hold, and after 5 minutes of tropical music got back on the line and said in a suddenly sugary sweet voice, "Thanks for your patience" and began to ramble about internet speed. I interjected and reminded her she still had not answered my question as to what her name was or answered my request to speak to her supervisor...at which point she hung up on me.

I called back and was finally transferred to a supervisor named Karen who apologized for my poor customer service and informed me that customer service representatives hanging up on clients was considered "client abuse" and she would speak to this employee. Karen also explained that the reason my bill was STILL double the price I was quoted by the last supervisor, Chase, was that, in addition to a set-up fee (which Chase had waived due to them losing my account and therefore delaying set up by an entire week) that there was also an ADDITIONAL modem set up fee.

I explained to Karen that at this point I was still within my first 30 days and the whole process had been such a nightmare that I was more interested in canceling my service than continuing...but the reality is, the industry is monopolized by 2 companies, so whether you pay for overpriced slow speed internet and poor customer service at Century Link or Xfinity, neither are motivated to decrease rates or improve customer services, because the monopoly always ensures they will have customers.

The CenturyLink rep said that the DISH person had called and used our name and S.S. number to open the account and said they would cancel it and take care of the billing. I asked for confirmation but she wouldn't give me any, said I insulted her when I asked a question, then hung up on me. We were then billed for one month's service. Called them back again, first person hung up on me, second person gave me a runaround, transferred me to another person and still they demanded that we pay for a month's service which we never ordered and did not know we had and don't have a telephone for.

But, oh no, they forgot to put Prism TV on it that is separate; what is that all about. So the 168.00 is just internet and cable. My Prism TV is another 88 a month plus the lease fee of the boxes. Wow. Now my bill is well over what I was paying my other cable company. Kdd Littleton, Co, what a scam and their internet is terrible. Don't switch if you have Comcast. Just call and ask if they will put you on a promotion or ask if they have any.

However, they were not cancelled. CenturyLink also told me that I would be charged an early termination fee. I was not told anything about an early termination fee when I originally called for the services. CenturyLink charged me $480 in early termination fees. This is not right. No company should be allowed to work outside of the rules and regulations. It seems CenturyLink makes its own rules.

In essence, she rolled back time to the point where I requested the lower rate and charged me the full amount for the three or four months I had been getting the lowered rate, instead of the early termination fee. I was happy to get it resolved. It seemed fair. I don't plan on going back to CenturyLink, but would under certain circumstances.

Original Review: July 4, 2015

I asked for a lower price on my internet from CenturyLink. They lowered my monthly rate to 19.99 a month. Four months later I decided to switch to Comcast. I canceled CenturyLink and they inform me that I am in a contract and will be charged an Early Termination Fee, which turns out to be 182 dollars. I never agreed to be in a contract and was never told that I would be liable for an Early Termination Fee.

I am worrying and not like if threat me for more cost but I don't see and they didn't tell me after I shocked more that situation. I called different people, work, talked. Two internet now and one week ago, they said one internet. How see their story different cause big problem. I am serious. I must avoid offers discount but I don't see they added two internet and three phone line but I thought one account and they suppose to remove accounts to many.

I have called customer service each time for a credit to my account. I have had at least 9 calls dropped. They say they are having phone issues. Something is completely wrong with that. Each call and subsequent dropped calls takes 30 minutes minimum. I am on over 40 right now. I am posting this using my neighbor's Comcast. No one will commit to giving me a credit for my time. I work from my computer. Without it I cannot work. This is the worst company I have worked with for a very long time.

I guess if I had a severe medical condition I would be dead by now. I also got a letter from lawyers in Tennessee: a collection notice for an overdue amount (they claimed) from 2014. I had never previously been notified of this. The CenturyLink representative I talked to about this was clueless about why or how it happened. I am angry and disgusted. What can be done?

I waited 1 week and on the 8th day I called them and told them about my issue. ** (the repair rep that I talked to) told me that I will have to pay a repair fee if they find something is wrong inside the house. I told her "Why would I pay when it was broken from the beginning and I am not even able to use it?" She just told me it's their protocol. I tried to reason out with her make her understand that it's not my fault that it's not working, It's been like that when the tech left but I just got nowhere with her. Finally I just told her that I just want to cancel the service and she hangs up the phone on me. All morning all I did is make phone call to cancel the account and I talked to ** and others that I didn't get their name but I'm going nowhere. After being on hold for a while they will pick up then hangs up when I tried telling them I want to cancel. I feel they are rude, unhelpful and just lacking of customer service skills.

I finally went to a local store location on the same day but they only told me that they do not do cancellation on the store - instead I got to call a number they gave me. When I finally got home, I called the number they gave me, they told me I do not qualify for 30 day satisfaction guarantee because I got high speed internet and landline, I will only qualify if I have internet only. And that they do not do refund nor will they take back the modem cause according to ** I decided to buy it and not rent it, so I am stuck with it. It's only 8 days old equipment that I haven't even used it yet and all they are telling me is that I'm going to receive a bill. I told them I am not paying something I did not use.

After an hour of being on hold and explaining and tears and sweat I was finally able to cancel the service. Let's just hope I do not get billed. I told them that I am dropping the equipment to a store location and I am expecting a refund for my purchase. They made the whole experience so traumatic and horrible I will never ever in my life will go or use any services that are associated with CenturyLink.

CenturyLink never sent me an account statement, a warning letter, or the shipping label they said they'd send. This is right in line with the kind of service they provided the whole time. I had to pay them $100 to go away. (They would not take the equipment back now even though it was all in perfect condition, boxed nicely waiting for their label.) I switched to them because Comcast was difficult to work with, but I actually went back to Comcast in the end! CenturyLink is the most incompetent company I've ever worked with and it cost me money and time.

Today I am going through previous bills and trying to figure out charges, I am still on the phone 1 hour and 45 minutes later! I have been transferred to 7 different people in 6 departments, asked for a manager around the 50 minute mark and have yet to speak with one! I even got transferred to a man who answered speaking Spanish, which I don't speak! Each person asks for the account number and needs the story but no one can help! I am not ok being overcharged for services I do not even have! CenturyLink could do better, even if it cost more I would go with another company! Oh we paid for higher speed internet and was told when I was randomly transferred to the business department that there is a limit on residential internet even if paying for higher speed. All I have to say is stay far away from CenturyLink!!!

I have a printout of the online conversation and I said I would mail to them if they wanted. I was told the former person I talked to just was wrong. I was told that my August bill will drop to around $50. I asked if I could get that in writing but was told they don't have access to email and were unable to do so. Therefore, I have no confirmation of anything at all. That sounds very wrong!!! Something is not right. Everywhere else you can get a confirmation. Guess I should have recorded that call. This was not my first call to CenturyLink about my quoted internet price. I feel terribly deceived and lied to.

Four months later I received a collection notice for an unpaid bill with CenturyLink. I called CenturyLink immediately and sure enough, another error. But now they can't do anything about it because the account is "closed." Forget that despite having all my contact info for 3 months, they never once tried to contact me. Their solution for the error is to send me a check, which I can then give to the collection agency. I was also told to talk to Customer Care and given a phone number, saying "They can call the collection agency for you." I sat on hold for 15 minutes to be told Customer Care had no idea why I was calling, couldn't call the collection agency and basically seemed really put out that I would ask them to just let the collection agency know that the account had been submitted in error. Terrible, terrible service on all possible fronts.

I've been on hold for 15 minutes as they eat up my cell phone minutes waiting to talk to a representative. Finally got a hold of a rep and he couldn't do anything for me. He ended up transferring me to another person and was on hold for 35 minutes. You have to go through loopholes to find the customer service number. It is not readily available for customers. The website directs you back to other areas of the website. Their online chat with representative transferred me to someone else, then the person I was transferred to said that I needed to call them because they don't do this over chat. Now I'm back on the phone again and still on hold.

Normally ping about 29 to 40, normal download speed at 9-10 mg per sec, upload speed is normally always at .75 mg per sec. They sent a new CenturyLink modem/router but it keep cutting out and wouldn't reach the bedroom computer about 30 feet away so went back to my old Embarq 660 modem with dlink wifi router with great range ability and they were working fine until last night. Speed so slow can't go on internet to watch anything.

I hope a lot of you will not stay with or even start with them after seeing all the complaints that seem to simply not even care about. I called because the service was not working and that my video is buffering constantly - so they sent someone out - well they came and left, I never knew they were here and said I wasn't home! I heard no knock and I am in a small trailer. And of course they didn't bother calling either! So then while I was on the phone making this appointment I asked the tech person if she would have them fix my not being able to go online to my account, she said she's transfer me to CS, I told her they cannot fix a tech prob, she said it was not a tech prob even after I told her like three times the same thing - so she transfers me to CS and I tell the CS woman and then she tells the tech chic like 3 times then finally she says, "Ok, I will get someone to look at it." I never got a call.

He said he would come back later to retest it. At this point I was so upset with the fact that he was arguing with me about doing a shotty job, I told him do not return back to my home. I contacted CenturyLink's escalation department and they said another tech would come out and trouble shoot. The tech came out. The internet worked while he was there and not even a half hour after he left the internet stopped working again. Now keep in mind this is my 3rd or 4th interaction with them. I called them twice and was placed on hold for about 15 mins. I got transferred to 3 different departments the 2nd time around. I called back again and I spoke to a **. I told her I would prefer to speak with a supervisor due to the experience I was having, ** started arguing with me and said that she can't and will not let me speak with her supervisor until I told her what was going on.

I have been in customer service my entire life and I have NEVER heard or been told that I cannot speak to a supervisor. She started arguing with me nonstop and telling me that she will not transfer me to her supervisor, then she hung up the phone on me. I called the escalations department right away and the idiot there immediately tried to sell me a deal with DirecTV. He then transferred me to tech support and I was told a tech would be out the next day. She then proceeds to tell me that if it is not their error that the internet isn't working I will be charged $95. I told her if they charge me I am shutting down my services with them. The next day no tech showed up. We didn't even get a phone call or any confirmation as to what was going on. It has been almost a month now and we have been paying for a service that we HAVE not received.

My husband works nights and he can't be waking up every day for CenturyLink. I WILL NEVER recommend CenturyLink to anyone. Their customer service is poor, no follow through, and they WILL argue with you nonstop instead of trying to resolve the issue. If we are paying for a service, it should work properly. It should not TAKE almost a month to fix. I will be telling everyone I know how HORRIBLE they are. DO NOT use them or trust their services.

There are no 24/7 automated systems to pay bills, check acct, etc. When this was just Qwest the service was great. Since the merge, everything is a mess and the knowledge of the reps is almost nil. I have had Qwest since 2001. No phone number or acct number was ever changed yet they have no record and can't find my account. I no longer like my long distance service with them and am hoping to change providers very soon.

Several months later, they came to install the equipment in my home and said I should have fiber optic service within a couple months. A year later I called to see why nothing had been done with this equipment they installed that had been using power for the past year, yet was not connected to their service. They need more people to sign up they said. Ok.

I was still on Choice Broadband at 32.99/mo. I called to see how much the fiber optic service would cost me. I was assured that I would remain at the same price for 2 years after the migration and that there would be no extra charges for the new service, since I was an existing customer. Also, with Choice being a month to month service, I would not have to enter into a contract.

A few weeks later, they come out to make the transfer. Still no service through fiber optics. Then I receive a flyer in the mail saying that they are discontinuing broadband and they would be out to install the new service. I called to let them know I had the equipment installed already, and to again make sure my plan would not change since my current service was being shut down. No worries, they said. The price is good for 2 years and there will be no contract, installation charges or fees.

The first bill (July 2014) came for the new service. I was being charged $64.27 with $8 related monthly charge and $22.68 service addition and change charge. Also, the bill stated that by accepting Pure Broadband I was entering into a 24 month contract. I let them know what I had been told. They said they were having issues migrating existing choice customers and that I had mistakenly been processed as a new customer. They said what I had been told before was correct, no contract, no fees, same $32.99 guaranteed for 2 years.

Shortly thereafter, I received a bill, putting my monthly charge at 39.99. Called to inquire and was told that was a special discount they had given me for whatever reason and it had expired. After repeating what I had been told, they credited me and put me back at 32.99. Still, I was a happy customer, although seeing what a mess they were dealing with from the migration, I was cautious and inspected every bill after that.

Fast forward to today and I have had countless billing issues, 2 order confirmations for service I did not order, and spent well over a dozen hours on the phone, just to finally get my bill straightened out a couple months ago. I have been told repeatedly that there is nothing they can do, that they can't honor the price of 32.99, just to have someone finally say, "Yes, I see where the problem is, I will fix it for you personally and you won't have to worry about it again."

Yesterday I received another order confirmation for service I did not order. I called, the agent said there was nothing they could do because my 12 month promotion had expired, and that they did not offer any promotions of that sort anymore. I asked to speak to her supervisor, he seemed willing to help at first, but after waiting several minutes for him to check the account, he told me my promotion had expired and that by accepting the promotion for $32.99, it undermined my 2 year price guarantee.

I tried to explain to him that I never agreed to a contract, I was guaranteed the same price for 2 years after the migration, and that he needed to look further into my account to find the issue. He continuously interrupted me, telling me there was nothing he could do unless I purchased additional services. I asked him several times to hear me out, he insisted he had but continued to talk over me. After several minutes of trying unsuccessfully to explain the issue, I asked to speak to his supervisor, he replied, "I am a supervisor, your call was directed to me for a reason".

I asked again to speak to his superior, he replied, "We don't make transfers from here", and "I'm trying to help you but there is nothing I can do to keep your price at the same rate." One last time I tried to explain that I had been guaranteed a price lock for 2 years, he said I gave that up when I accepted the rate at $32.99. Obviously he wasn't listening or understanding the issue.

For the past 9 months or so, I have not been a happy customer, in fact I am irate at this point. I have spent many many hours trying to help them correct their issue, repeating the whole story to agent after agent, just to have to do it all again the next time I get a bill. I have employee identification numbers, names, and phone numbers of just about everyone I have dealt with. I have notes and all my old statements. Their information only seems to go back to the beginning of the fiber optic service, which still shows on their system I signed up as a new customer, when in fact my account should have been migrated from the choice network, which has been dissolved. I am furious I have to take so much time to get this straightened out, just to get disrespected by a company I have been a customer with for several years, and to be told I am wrong, that they never said what they said, and there is nothing they can do.

On my last contact, I was advised that there is no internet service available, despite the fact the company's network connection point for most residences on the south side of my lane is within steps of my home. My neighbor has CenturyLink service next door and that required a new line to be laid through my lawn, which CenturyLink tore up and destroyed just after I had replanted the grass seed. Further to this, I have learned from a friend that works in CenturyLink that I have been "blacklisted" and put on their "do not serve" list.

Upon moving in and setting up, we noticed the Wifi service we pay for wasn't working. My husband called to let them know we didn't have service and was told they didn't service our area because their services are exhausted. He explained the confirmation emails received and they didn't care. "Sorry" was all he got in addition to them telling us we'd be put on a waiting list for when service would be available. Not long after this conversation, we received a $90 termination fee for canceling our plan with them.

My husband called back and explained that we didn't cancel anything and were actually on a waiting list to get service when it became available. This customer service rep said she would "do him a favor" and "get rid" of the bill for us. Good! Since we never should have received it in the first place. He then asked about the waiting list and she said there was no waiting list and that they simply didn't service our area. He notified her that our neighbors use CenturyLink, to which she argued and said it was impossible... Well, it's not and they do. He told her that since our house had just been built that maybe that's why it wasn't showing up... nope she said it didn't matter.

We have had numerous phone calls with them trying to understand the real story as to why they cannot hook up service to our house, especially since we already have the equipment. The most recent phone call my husband made, he spoke to ** and she ended up hanging up on him when he was trying to explain our frustration and need for an answer. I need to add that their office location in our city is literally a couple of blocks down the SAME STREET that we live on. We pass it almost every day and their service vehicles are up and down our street on a regular basis. We have no other option for internet service in our area. Ultimately, we want a resolution and even though they have been completely unaccommodating, we actually still need wifi from them!

After calling and complaining about misleading pricing and inconsistent bills I was offered a promotional price of $19.95/mo for internet service if I signed up for auto-pay. I agreed but soon realized that my bills were around $40 and $50 a month. I called again and complained about my bill and was told that the person I spoke to when I was offered the promotion did not apply it correctly and did not tell me that I also had to sign up for paperless billing in order to get the full discount.

When I asked if I could be reimbursed the extra money I had been paying every month (since it was the representative's miscommunication) I was told "no." To be fair, I was given a credit (very small compared to the extra I have been paying monthly) to my account to make up for the error. This company is incredibly frustrating. I do not appreciate that their pricing is not transparent and that I have to call in regularly/constantly in order to get the price I was quoted. All in all -- save yourself the time, energy, frustration, and money.