CenturyLink Reviews

Then a few weeks later, I received a disconnection notice if the $72.82 was not paid. I called and talked to someone with the Qwest office in Salt Lake City. She said she was crediting my account and making permanent notes so this wouldn't happen again. Second month's bill just arrived (remember this should be free service still). No, she did not credit everything from the initial bill so there was an outstanding balance on that, plus second month's service (which again should be free under this deal, which both customer service representatives have said is the deal on our account). This is such a tremendous headache.

It took them a week to get me set up to 5MB, which was the top speed in my area. Meanwhile, I am expected to pay the the price I was quoted for the 7MB. Then I got my first full bill from Qwest - $177.81. Hardly looks like $39.99 for DirecTV and $17.99 for DSL. So I called and the girl whom I talked to said that there is something wrong with the bill. She put me on hold then came back and said it was right. She couldn't explain to me how it was right. I have made about 4 or 5 other calls since then and no one could explain this bill to me. I even had a guy promise to turn it over to their investigative team and that they would get back to me in 5 to 7 days. 2 weeks later, no call.

I called up a final time to cancel and I was told that the $36.99 price was only good with bundles, including home phone service. The salesman should have told me that too. He also told me that it usually takes 2 to 4 weeks for the investigative team to respond. I told him to cancel and now my bill went from $177.81 to $535.80. Most of that is the $200 early termination fee. This is a criminal enterprise and this should not be allowed to continue.

Next day, I left work early to be there. Again, no show, so I called again and was told that the tech would need to enter. So the next day (3rd day), I took off from work to be there to let them in. A tech finally showed. Apparently, the wires were crossed! Anyway, here comes the end of Jan., I got a phone message that I needed to call them if I wanted my services continued. I called and was told that I was 2 months behind on my bill?! I never even got the first bill. Turns out they sent the bill to the wrong address. A copy was sent out, but my services were shut off anyway. I got the copy of the bill 2 days after the shut off. I called and raised Cain. The bill was for over $300, and it was still January. I had to agree to pay the money to get my services back. I asked about the gift card I was promised to help pay for the modem. I was told twice that it was on the way. I never got it.

The next bill (Feb. 2009) was sent to the wrong address again, and I got a call as to why I hadn't paid it. I told them the correct address again, got a copy, and noticed I was charged $96 with a reconnection fee. I called and asked to speak to a supervisor, and I complained that I should not be held responsible for their mistakes and I shouldn't have to pay the fees. And once again, I asked about the gift card ($60) that I was promised. It never came. I received a "Disconnect Notice" on March 18, 2009 (to take effect March 26, 2009). They didn't do it. I had enough of their crap, so I called and said I wanted to cancel services, effective immediately. (At this time, my bill was for $94.19). I was told to wait for the final bill. The final bill came (finally to the correct address) dated March 31, 2009. It says I have a previous balance of $172.26 (?) but my total due is $138.98. I still haven't paid it. Not once did my bill ever come close to what I was quoted during the initial setup call.

The customer service person told me that fee is non-negotiable and refused to transfer me to anyone above him (I asked three times). Apparently, I'll be charged the $200 termination fee no matter what. My plan is to contact the BBB and my Attorney General's Office. I am not sure what else to do at this point. I am very unhappy with Qwest (and that's stating it politely). I'm out $200 because Qwest is penalizing me for switching to a new company (even though one of the services they provide is being discontinued).

Embarq offered me 3 months of free service and even $158.55 for my inconvenience and I said no. I would be pursuing this at higher levels. They would not have paid anyway. They offered a $50 rewards program for referrals and never paid the referral clients they had. Embarq denies they are at fault. Only my family has this phone number. Embarq is unfairly putting out information and harassing people, violating their privacy, refusing to block phone numbers from collections agencies and deny any responsibility for this.

When I had Voice Over IP with Comcast, I never had this issue. I just want my contract, which has been extended without my knowledge by Embarq, cancelled. I will never use them again. They are disreputable, dishonest and they have the worst customer service and consumer affairs departments I have ever dealt with in my 30 years of computer experience. They should be shut down. People should be asked if they want to provide information that is accessible on the internet, not by default have all information posted. There are many complaints about Embarq's policies and practices and yet no one does anything about it. I have reported this to the FTC. I am on the do not call list. I will be reporting it to the Florida Public Services Commission and next will be ACLU.

You should google Embarq complaints and see what is out there from numerous people. We are stuck with this phone company and once they get you under contract, they will never release you and they don't tell what you will be forced to endure. They lie, cheat, do not inform and will not change their business policies. You tell me why they should remain in business without stronger regulation and punitive damages. You need to pursue a class action suit against this company. They should not be allowed to remain in business based on what they put their clients through. You may call Barack and Associates at 321-282-4111 x ** and ask if they have ever called the phone number ** and get any collections client information you need. Also there was a TransWorld corporation, some collections company (multiple 1-800 numbers with extensions out of Texas). Embarq has their contact information on their customer service notes (if they haven't already deleted their information to cover their butts).

I was then contacted by the people who were supposed to help with costs and I was wamblasted by two Qwest employees trying to tell me I had no clue what I was talking about, and that the tech was misguided in what he told me. Furthermore, I was told there was no way that a corrupt file could destroy the hard drive. Gee, what do most Trojans do? What a shocker. Needless to say, I lost a 500G external hard drive, plus one computer with a single hard drive and my main unit which has two hard-drives, which still is not working.

I lost important documents because of the bad seed that was being spread throughout my system. I was not the only one to have this problem in the complex. Then the DirecTV went out, twice within a little over a week. When it went out the first time, I was not told that DirecTV was no longer doing the service calls and they had switched to another company to do their service calls. DirecTV is not even involved except as a front. I have refused to pay any bills until all problems are solved. I can live without TV and I can get internet elsewhere and probably will.

They are telling me that if I try and back out of the contract, they will sue. Ha ha! I hate to let them know, I'm a paralegal, and told them, "Go ahead and sue." I'm losing business and valuable time when my internet is down! Now I am out of work, so they are threatening to cut off services and I told them go ahead, they do it and they will end up in a suit.

Qwest always has been and always will be about the sorriest company to deal with that I've ever seen in my life. I've told them repeatedly their customer service stinks! They really don't care because they think you can't live without them! My bill increased over $75 because I was not told by the original person I signed up with on the phone that within 90 days, I would be charged for free movie channels that I told him in the first place I never wanted. Internet plays a vital role in my business. Qwest won't get a dime from me until everything is fixed!

I'm very computer literate as well so I know all the tech. terms of what I'm offered. She was also rude to my mother on the phone. I then talked to a supervisor after a very long hold who agreed to the original terms I was offered. She said my mother would be receiving a package though UPS on the 30th of March to set up DSL. My mother called them after not receiving the promised package and they told her she had the necessary equipment already and didn't need the package to set up DSL. I had already told them my mother has never had DSL when asked and it was agreed that she would be getting the package with modem and other necessary items to install DSL and it was thoroughly covered in the conversation with the supervisor.

I've already spent several hours of my work day and now I still have to call them back or my mother will be charged for something she isn't getting and should have had set up with the contents in the package. They are also overcharging my mother for service because they offer much cheaper prices to newer customers and don't tell the existing ones. I was told my mother's bill would be prorated but that also hasn't happened to my knowledge since it seems they did not fulfill their agreement. This is not fair and these people are thieves and liars that don't keep their word. What a hassle. I cannot believe this, just to set up a DSL/phone line combo package that is supposed to be a major service they offer.

I then talked to a supervisor after a very long hold, who agreed to the original terms I was offered. She said my mother would be receiving a package through UPS on the 30th of March to set up DSL. My mother called them after not receiving the promised package and they told her she had the necessary equipment already and didn't need the package to set up DSL. I had already told them my mother has never had DSL when asked and it was agreed that she would be getting the package with modem, and other necessary items to install DSL. It was thoroughly covered in conversation with the supervisor. I've already spent several hours of my work day and now I still have to call them back or my mother will be charged for something she isn't getting, and should have had set up with the contents in the package.

They are also overcharging my mother for service because they offer much cheaper prices to newer customers and don't tell the existing ones. I was told my mother's bill would be prorated, but that also hasn't happened to my knowledge since it seems they did not fulfill their agreement. This is not fair. These people are thieves and liars that don't keep their word. What a hassle. I cannot believe this, just to set up a DSL/phone line combo package that is supposed to be a major service they offer.

The reps are never aware or helpful at all. They kept me on hold for hours, and even hung up on me a few times while waiting for them to correct their mistakes. I got fed up with them and asked to disconnect the service, and the CSR advised me to put the order on hold after my computer got out of the shop. The CSR told me that they go back from the date of my complaint, which was the first day I got the service, and gave a credit for the internet. I took the computer to the shop the next morning. The computer people called to tell me that my computer is operational and had no viruses. He advised me not to use the Qwest CD to get onto the internet. I did as I was advised, and the internet was working fine.

I got my bill and inquired about my credit. I got three excuses: 1) they don't have a record of me calling about my issues with the internet; 2) it takes four billing cycles for the credit to show; and 3) it will be on my next bill. I never got the credit.

On February 6, 2009, I called to have the service transferred from one address to another. I received a confirmation that my service would be active on February 18, 2009 at the new address. When I talked to the CSR, she asked what date I wanted the service disconnected at the old address. I told her that day. She said that it would be on the following Monday.

A friend called me at work on 02/13/09, asking me why I have returned their call after the message they left on the phone. It was supposed to be disconnected. I called the number and it was working. I called Qwest and got all kinds of excuses again. Finally, the rep disconnected the service for the next day. I told the rep that I moved out of the old address on 02/06/09, but he kept stating that the disconnection was set for the 18th. Back and forward. The rep made me upset that I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor apologized and told me that they credited me for all the days I did not have service, from 02/06/09 to 02/18/09.

On the 18th, I heard a faint dial tone with static on the phone. I did not think of it not ringing because the number was new. My mother was in town and a family emergency occurred at her hometown. Family and friends kept calling the house to get in touch with her. When I got home, I called the number from my cell and realized that the service was not ringing in the house. I unplugged the cordless phone and put in a regular phone. The phone still did not ring. I called Qwest. They told me that a tech would be at home between 8:00 am to 11:30 am. No one came or called my cell.

I called Qwest, and the recording said between 11:30 and 8:00 pm. I asked to speak to a rep and ask why they changed the time for coming out. The CSR could not give me an answer, except that a tech will be by before 2:00 pm; 2:00 pm came, but still no tech. Next time I called, I was told they were on their way. By 9:00 pm, no tech came by. I called again, and the CSR told me that the tech checked for a dial tone and said the service was working and left. The problem is my phone unit. I asked to speak to a manager and I was told there wasn't one available and that I need to call back in the morning from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday-Friday, and hung up on me.

Monday morning, I called and I told the rep to disconnect my service today!!! She went on to ask how she could help me and apologized and tried to sell me the Direct TV and offer the internet for free for one year. I told her I am not doing anything else with them. She even offered to transfer all my calls from my house phone to my cell phone free of charge. "Okay, go over my minutes on my cell," I asked, "Are you going to pay my cell phone bill?" She said no. She finally agreed that I needed to be credited for the internet issues at the old address for three weeks without service, a credit for the transfer of service from the old address, not having service working properly at the new address, and for the tech not visiting me as scheduled. She said she would get the credit processed and send me out a mailing label for the modem.

I got COMCAST. It costs a whole lot more, but the internet and phone service are working, and the tech came and visited me before the time they were scheduled. My computer and phone unit are working fine.

Qwest is refusing to credit my account for non-working service. Qwest has poor troubleshooting skills and do not honor agreements. They still haven't sent me a label to return their equipment that they are trying to bill me for. I missed calls regarding an emergency at my son's and daughter's schools during the snowstorm. My mother missed her call about her sick friend in the hospital. I was unable to contact my mother and kids during the storm. No one could generally get in touch with me either. They just sent me a bill for $168.00 for the time the service was not working, and for the modem that they did not give me label for.

So, I waited another billing cycle and lo and behold when I checked my Qwest account online, there are a bunch of directory assistance charges on my bill again! How irritating can this get!? I am not even offered details on the numbers I supposedly looked up with directory assistance. I am sure it is somewhere on someone's database but they keep that hidden. I sure would like proof of what numbers they accuse me of having directory assistance look up. My question is how many other people are being nickel and dimed like this? How many thousands of dollars is Qwest ripping off from their customers!?

Let's do the math. I have no idea how many residential phone customers Qwest has. For argument's sake, let's assume they have 1,000,000 customers. Also assume they are doing this to 10% of their customers averaging what I have been charged over the past three months. Hmmm, what does that add up to? 1,000,000 * .10 = 100,000 customers, 100,000 customers * $9.00/mo. Whew, someone is pocketing $900,000 a month in bogus charges in this case. If this is in fact true and they are doing this to others like myself, we must demand to make a loud and clear statement. THIS MUST STOP, PERIOD!

Shortly after, they sent another bill. Billing date on 2/16/09 was for $31.15 more, for a total of $107.15 entitled closing statement. When I went online with DirecTV to check my bill, balance was $0.00 so I called them. They said they couldn't discuss my billing, because Qwest didn't transfer billing services! They are trying to collect services from me for DirecTV plus extra fees for services not rendered. Yet, online, I see that on Feb. 22, 2009, DirecTV billed Qwest $67.98. I called Qwest and asked them about the billing. They said they paid it, and if I send them $39.17 for the balance of the $107.15, that would be all I'd have to do.

Well, who gets stuck with the $67.98? Qwest doesn't deserve $39.17. They've done nothing! And I feel, if and when DirecTV does actually start billing me, I believe I'm going to be stuck with the $67.98. I'm not discontent with having to pay the $67.98, but I am with paying Qwest $39.17 for nothing! I need help. PLEASE!!!

We migrated our phones on January 10, 2009, and at that time I informed Verizon that the fifth cell phone was to be cancelled. Our phone bill now reflects a $100+ charge for wireless services for January and for February 2009. When speaking with several reps at Qwest, the most recent of which was Melanie, she informed me that her supervisor authorized a $60 credit for the two months of wireless service on the account because there was only one phone and not five phones in use at that time. She told me it was my responsibility to deactivate the fifth phone.

I told her I was under the impression that it had been deactivated in January when we migrated the other four phones to Verizon and told Verizon we wanted the fifth phone cancelled. She told me that Verizon could not cancel the phone for us. I asked her how I was supposed to know that. I further told her that I thought it was illegal to charge for service in February when service did not exist in February. She told me service did exist then and I explained to her that we had been informed verbally and in writing that there would be no service effective February 2009. I further told her that I was NEVER informed by Qwest or Verizon, either verbally or in writing that I would have to contact Qwest to have a fifth phone deactivated. I figured the two companies would communicate.

I now sit with a bill that contains $200+ in wireless charges to Qwest in addition to hundreds of dollars in other wireless charges. Qwest should credit our account for charges incurred in January and February 2009. They will not. We have been Qwest customers for 30 years and I am now faced with not paying my bill in full and likely being sent to collection. Who can I get to help? I just want to be credited for the charges that should not have been incurred. One bright note is that the day before yesterday, Qwest deactivated the fifth phone and did not charge a deactivation fee. I'm supposed to feel grateful about this? Please help. Thanks.

Verizon was very helpful and fixed the problem giving me credits due to the mistake. I was told to just wait for next bill and it will have all the credits. Next bill came and it is over a $1,000 now. So here I am again calling back to both places. Verizon told me they are sending notes to Qwest stating that credits have been applied. I then got an automated call from Qwest so I pushed the correct button to speak with a live representative (better off talking to machine) and I was talked to so rudely and talked to as if I were telling a lie and making the credits all up. This lady told me she really did not want to hear what I had to say and more less to just pay the bill or my services will be terminated.

I was very upset so I waited and called back later that evening to speak with a supervisor. I talked to one and tried once again explaining what had happened and what I was told - NOTHING. At that time, I made arrangements to pay my home and internet services by that Friday (called on Monday). Rep told me he had noted that credits were still pending and assured me that my services would not be terminated. Thursday afternoon came and ALL of my services were terminated. I was furious so I called Verizon and they couldn't figure out why Qwest turned me off so they turn my cell phones back on.

I called Qwest and they tried to explain to me how the contract works between them and Verizon. So I asked if they could call Verizon and speak with them to clear this all up and they told me NO! So here I was, calling Verizon back and they said all Qwest needed to do was request their funds back through their treasury dept. Now I called back to Qwest with this information and I asked to speak with another supervisor (as dumb as a box of rocks with an attitude) to explain what Verizon had told me to tell them so that they get paid. He told me NO, he was not calling Verizon and he was not requesting funds.

I asked why he couldn't call and get this all cleared up and why the customer was doing all the communication when they have the contract. Then I went to ask why my services were terminated if I called in for an extension and was assured that it wouldn't be interrupted?? He said he saw that I called about credits but nothing on an extension. This is poor communication within your company so why wouldn't there be poor communication with Verizon? The whole time, they were telling me that the only communication Qwest had with Verizon was through notes.

After a conversation going nowhere and just rude customer service he apologized for the poor communication within their company and to their customers. I asked for his supervisor. This dummy said he was going to have to give me a call back. Now I am hot! How????? All my communication was through Qwest emails, all phones. How was he going to call me back?? Then he went on to ask me if I promise to pay $78.63 that I owed for landline and internet (already made that arrangement) the next morning which would have been the Friday I previously made the arrangement on, he would turn my services back on. I then laughed and said, "No, I will pay what I owe for my landline and internet and you can keep your services and I WILL HAVE SOMEONE GIVE YOU A CALLBACK."

So here I am today (Friday) about to call and try again to get this resolved. This is a no-win situation and they are crooks. How can our local exchange carrier be so unprofessional and what happened to the customer being right and going beyond to assist the customer? All I need/want them to do is communicate with Verizon (that they have a contract with) to resolve this problem.

I called and inquired about the issue and they denied that there was a temporary line running on my property. On another occasion, they said it would be taken care of within the next 4 weeks and it has been 3 months and nothing. They told my neighbor they would fix his Temp Line in 4 weeks when they could go and dig to install an underground line. Qwest is not fixing the issue and that cable running on my property is holding me back on some Landscaping and Fence construction that I need done within the next 2 months.

I completely understand that Qwest wants to provide service to everyone but this line is dangerous! Someone can trip. I have been trying to have Qwest remove it for about 6 months. I feel frustrated because I read online that someone ripped one phone line cable and was charged like $1,500 or more for it. I can't get charged for that. What to do, what to do?

I believe, but am not certain, that my bill was not credited for the down time. I signed up for auto pay and then discovered that Qwest would remove the money from my bank account before they even had sent me notice of a bill and was removing the money almost a month before any of it was due. I called the company in late Feb. of 2008 when I noticed that now the fee had increased over the prior months. I was told that they had incorrectly entered the order and that they would correct it to reflect the price for life, as per their guarantee. I am certain that they did credit my bill for the overcharges back to the Dec. 07 bill.

The service was still poor. My monitor appeared to be going bad - colors would fade in and out and the screen was often illegible and unusable. I took the monitor in for repair and was told there was nothing wrong with the monitor. A service technician for a local computer company came to my house, checked my system and told me the problem was in the signal coming into the house. I continued to try to use the service, despite the poor reception, because of the 2-year commitment affiliated with the price for life issue.

In early 2009, I tried to gain access for my laptop through my wireless modem at home and could never get a good signal, but I could use the laptop at a local Taco John's or Burger King. My IT person from work came to my house, checked the system and said that my modem was blocking access to the system. He also told me that the set-up that Qwest had claimed to be the newest and best was outdated in the 1990s and that the modem that I was paying $5 a month to rent was a piece of junk and could be replaced for $60-$70. I called Qwest on Jan. 29 and tried to disconnect the service. They refused to do so unless I agreed to pay $200 for early termination and denied that I had started the service in 2006. They said they only had a record of starting the service in 2008, despite the fact that I had all the original paperwork and information that came with the modem, including an order number which would verify when I started the service.

I called my technician/installer friend and he gave me the number of his old supervisor to contact about the issue. He also remembered when I had installed the system, despite the fact that he had since retired from the company. I called the number he gave me, left a message, and was called back by customer service on the 30th. Again, they refused to admit that I had started the price for life program in 2006, although now they admitted that they could find that information. They refused to discontinue the service again, unless I agreed to pay $200, despite their own records, because of the way they had entered the information into their system.

I finally hung up on that person when he started to threaten me because I told him their system was a piece of crap and never worked correctly, despite repeated attempts by me to get it working properly. On Feb. 22, 2009, I got another bill showing that the system was still not disconnected. I called customer service again - spent another 25 minutes plus on the phone and finally got them to disconnect the service. At first, they would only agree to disconnect as of 2/24, but after I told them of the complaints that I had already filed with the FCC and state's attorney general, they agreed to disconnect as of 1/31 as previously requested.

All together, I spent well over 1 1/2 hours on the phone and was extremely upset to the point of getting sick over the treatment from this company. Their service was horrible. They placed many roadblocks in the way of getting service, help and particularly in trying to disconnect the service. The quality was horrible. I changed services and was able to connect with my laptop within 10 minutes of being connected on the new service. My monitor is working flawlessly and the connection speed in incalculably faster with what IS actually new and better technology - all for a total price less than the Qwest mess.

Then in November 2008, I get a bill that has gone up to $160. So I called them, and they said they set our postcards notifying me of Sprint no longer providing service in my area. My new carrier will have to be Verizon. I tell them that I didn't get any post card, and that I currently have Verizon (my cell phone carrier and can get reception at my home most of the time). I tell them to cancel my service. The Sprint card stops working in December 2009, so I figure they are going to send my final bill. Oh no, not so lucky. I get another bill for an additional $160. So now, they say I owe them several hundred for nothing! I called and got several people tell me they will issue a credit. Oh, but the system goes down and they say I have to call back to get someone else to credit my account (this was a total scam). I go to my local Verizon office and the nice guy won’t sell me a new Verizon wireless card because it won’t work due the poor reception at my house. Qwest kept this up for the last three months continuing to bill me!!!

I call just about every week screaming for help!!! They promised a credit and closing bill. I finally got a closing bill three days ago and I called because it’s almost $600. I called several more times and get the same scam!!! Then I get a collection notice today within two day of saying, “I'm calling my attorney!!!” How can they charge me for a service that they choose to lose the provider of? The card wasn't working after they switched provider. How can this be legal? I called the collection company who I think is really a subsidiary of Qwest West Asset Management, and she says she can’t help me. Big surprise! I’m not paying this bill. I have no problem paying a termination fee of $200 for early termination back in October 2008 (which I never got until February 2009), but the rest of this is like robbery.

Consequence: Months of stress and distress, threats of ruining my credit, cellphone calls for hours to the billing department with no help, purposely being left on hold for 30 minutes at a time, agitating medical conditions.

The serviceman told me that because of my location, the fastest they could provide was 256. And the sellers of Qwest high-speed knew that. So that was to be taken care of, and the bill was to drop to $14.95 per month for internet service. The next person I talked to told me that the charge for 256 was $29.95 and no deal on that service. Still it did not work, and several calls to tech support had another serviceman come out. He rewired the phone line and installed a new modem. Qwest was supposed to remove the bill for internet back to September. The next bill came, and lo and behold, they were still charging for 1.5 and added a $9.99 charge for changing to 256.

It doesn't stop there. Every time (and there have been dozens) I have called either billing or tech support, I have been told lies. On January 30th, I finally had my fill and told Sarah to remove my phone service and I would keep the supposed high-speed until I found someone else to provide it. She told me that she personally talked to billing and everything would be settled. The phone would be disconnected, the bill would be fixed, and that she guaranteed that since she was a supervisor, it would be taken care of. She would call me with the new standalone phone number for internet. That was January 29th. I called back on February 3rd and was told that she wasn't in and the order was sent. Left a message for her to call back. No call, no change.

I called again today, February 13th, and was told that no order had been sent, that every employee is a supervisor, and that there is no way to talk to any management personnel. The new person I talked to (John) was a manager supposedly, and I found out he is also just a phone person. He told me he just sent out the change order and it wouldn't go into effect until February 16th. He said that there was no other order he could find. After talking to him a second time (he was supposed to call me back in 30 minutes and didn't, so I called him back), I decided to call the billing department. I found out that the people I had been talking to were Vendors, not the phone company, although that's what they tell you, that the new order was on file BUT -- HERE'S A GOOD ONE -- they do not have a standalone 256 internet service.

Bottom-line is, I have been lied to several times by several people; that Qwest employees are untrained, and are told to lie to customers just to get rid of them. I agree with one of the other Qwest customers: if it was the last phone service available, everyone would be better off to do without.

I suggest to people who have Qwest to know upfront that Qwest will lie, that they will all tell you they are supervisors even though they are not, that you would want a local Qwest office and get everyone's supposed names, get case numbers, and record every conversation you have with them. Tell them you are recording right off the bat.

PS: Everyone I talk to looks at the file and is shocked.

If this letter is from a collection agency fishing for info to rip people off, I am not going to call them just to have them dump on my credit which they probably already have. The account number showing is from my 1st number I had which I changed due to idiot wrong number calls. How can I be in collections if I am current with them? This Jack even refused to give me information so that I could contact corporate about this. He was rude, nasty and kept yelling at me to stop yelling when he was the one yelling, not me. I want to file a suit... if anything to get this off my record, clear it off my credit if it is there and to hopefully make public their shoddy tactics and billing. We didn't even change addresses... just the number! I will be so glad when another phone service is available out here.

Then today, I called and they told me the first check was cashed on 11/28, and they won't be sending me another. It doesn't matter that it wasn't me who cashed it...they refused to give my money back. So they pretty much stole money from me. I've reported them to the BBB and am about to file a dispute through my bank to get my money back somehow. This was the last straw...I will NEVER, EVER, EVER have Qwest, even if they're the last phone company on earth...I'll go phoneless!!! They cost me not only the $35.13 they stole from me, but a $20 overdraft fee.

I got up the ladder at the Customer Service Department and talked to Albert, who was of no help at all and barely spoke English and probably didn't graduate high school. He thought it would be a better idea to have me break all my bundles up and find a different provider if I didn't like what they were giving me. Well, let me tell you that I will not be beat. I will get the phone that I deserve, and I will not pay for Qwest's decision to switch cellphone providers. It was their choice to change providers and they therefore need to eat the money for replacing my phone with a comparable replacement that at least comes within 10$ of what I paid for the phone I have now...

On top of this, they kept trying to make me pay for the phone I deserve. Also, the day before, my wife and I had decided we would call and try to cancel one of the phones we are currently using to lessen the monthly cost of our bill...instead of letting us drop one phone, they gave us 1 year of free high-speed internet service. So I don't see why they can't eat $20 to provide a suitable replacement phone, not some cheap crappy flip phone. THIS IS NOT RIGHT AND WILL NOT BE TOLERATED BY ANY QWEST CUSTOMER!!!

It cost me $0.15 per text. Sometimes that has included me trying to text back asking to STOP. Also, it cost me the time to take from work to read the message and the time it has taken me to try and solve this annoyance. It seems as if this service is part of the package I have, so I cannot just accept no texting access of my phone. Why should I get charged for something I don't use or want?

When we moved, we requested a new number. Our phone was turned on today. We called our old number. Our phone rang in our new home. We called Qwest; they told us that at 5pm our new number would ring here. We called our new number after 5. Our phone did not ring, instead a disconnected message played. How many techs have come to our home to fix our DSL? How many techs have treated me like I was the one that was dropped not my Internet? How many more will need to come to fix this problem? I could not figure out why I was not in a rush to give out my new home phone number last week. I guess my sub-conscience knew that I was dealing with Qwest.

P.S. Today, no one has called while we were online. We are hoping a change in location will help our DSL. We have been paying for Qwest DSL since February 2007. Our 2-year contract is over in April. We are paying $26 a month for service (with all of the taxes and fees, it is about $40) plus $5 for a modem, $5 for linebacker.

When I called, I was passed from one department to another, and was finally told that since the technician had activated under a standard receiver, I couldn't get the HD DVR unless I paid another $100. It didn't matter that I had originally ordered an HD DVR. I told them to call the technician who did the installation for me and who told me there would be no problem, that it would be switched out. I told them to cancel the order then, as it was only 24 hours since activation. They told me I would still be billed $450 for cancellation.

This has been so frustrating. I have called and called to no avail. All they care about is their money--doesn't matter if they made the mistake. Qwest sent them an e-mail to try and sort it out also, but that was ignored. They are the worst company I have ever dealt with! Is there any recourse?

After about 3 months of calling, they sent me to collections for the bills for services I never had. I ended up paying them because I did not want to ruin my credit, but told them I did not want any service with them and to transfer my direct TV to direct TV and be billed through them. Another hurdle now was that the bill was in my fiancee's name, who is a truck driver and is rarely home. He has to call every month to authorize me because the people on the phone never writes it down. I have been trying since March of 2008 to get my bill back to Direct TV -- now the last 3 months they have said I have a final bill, and THEY KEEP SENDING ONE. I am now paying them and direct TV, and I can't afford it!

And, I called again today as I have every month, more than once a month, and the customer service lady says she can't talk to me because I am not authorized. I told her I go through this every month for a year, and Shawn always has to call. I asked her to look at the notes. She says because it is a final bill, she can't. I really just want nothing to do with them, but they keep billing me for services and jerking me around on the phone. When I ask to speak to a manager, they hang up or the manager hangs up and nobody keeps notes. It is really the poorest company I have ever dealt with, and I think after a year of paying them, and asking to be transferred back and keep getting final bills and paying both companies, now I have had enough and need help from someone to get this to stop.

Oh, and I have mentioned that for a year, I have had an account number that cannot be accessed for the automated system or internet, so even to pay, I have to call and talk to someone every time and get charged because they won't give me an account number that is accessible. It is a freakin' nightmare!

I said I would prefer to go back to the 1.5 Mbps service since that was the speed I was getting currently anyway. They said that I couldn't do that; it would cost an additional service fee. I agreed to stay with the $49.99 plan. With my current bill that I received today I have been upgraded from the $49.99 plan to the Platinum plan at $59.99 without my authorization and that to change it to the $49.99 plan I would have to sign up for the 2-yr service plan. Needless to say, I am getting reamed here and the only way to challenge it in Colorado is to go through the Attorney General's office who forwards the complaint to the BBB. I feel like this is the Fox watching the Hen house scenario since there is no regulation of Internet Providers in Colorado.

Qwest is obviously on a quest to rob the consumer. Qwest should be forced to have their so called contract to read as follows: a contract is binding between two parties; as a provider we are not able to provide you with a working service and will not be held responsible. You as a consumer are responsible to pay for a non-working service that we are unable to provide. Congratulations, Qwest does guarantee loss of your money, plenty of emotional stress, and a lot of phone calls from our collection service. Quest would be doing themselves a favor by hiring a 3-year old as a customer service representative. At least you would have the opportunity to speak with an honest person!

Finally after all that, I got the higher speed I needed to connect to the internet. Unfortunately, I never actually got anywhere near the 1500 kbps I was promised, instead the speed gradually reduced to from 1450 kbps to 1200 to 900 to 800 finally last month, the top speed that I could generate after unplugging the modem everyday to reset it was in the 600 to 700 range. This is unacceptable!!! Look, I tried to work with Qwest. I think that after a year and half of putting up with this sub-par service that that proves I tried to work with your technical support staff.

Again, after numerous calls to tech support and billing, I have had enough. I cancelled my DSL service with Qwest and have switched back to Comcast, where I am getting 2500 kbps and I am very happy with their product. Now, I received a final bill from Qwest for $211.36 or more depending on whom I speak with in billing. This is outrageous. I demand that this so called cancellation fee be removed from my billing, and indeed since I never got the high speed DSL service that I was paying for. I now want 6 months of payments credited back to my account and a check sent to me in the amount of $135.90. This is the amount my billing shows I paid for DSL that I didn't receive for the first 6 months, $21.99 x 6 months + $.66 in taxes x 6 months = $135.90.

In addition, I am sending a copy of this complaint and bill to the BBB and my local Attorney General's office. I spoke with a gentleman named Jim (no last name given) in Detroit. He works for Qwest and he agreed with me that your company failed to live up to its end of the bargain by providing sub-par service.

I have been with Qwest for many years. On page 4 on my Qwest, it states that ILD is an Enhanced Telecommunications Service. They also stated that the charge for the ILD portion of the bill is for non-telecommunications services and products, and that I do have a right to dispute these charges. It also states that the service providers that bill these types of charges may employ other agencies to collect these charges, even if Qwest has previously adjusted them from your bill. Uhm, that’s rather socialistic. I called ILD to dispute the unrealistic charges and their mail box was conveniently full. This should be investigated ASAP. So, who is in the driver's seat, ILD or Qwest? Are they really in on this together and scamming money from people?

I am on a fixed income. I have a terminally ill husband and need to have 24-7 contact with him whenever I am away from home. I do have a job and need to be away from home to work. We barely make enough income to cover our basic bills and nothing more. My cell phone is not a luxury, but a necessity. Qwest made it easy for me to have my home phone, my cell phone and internet for medical information and contact with physicians and family. Now I will be losing all of that and cannot afford to get a new service, because I will have deposits with all of the services.

The sales person when I agreed to the service had said nothing about either the equipment charge or an early cancellation charge after 6 months service. I also noticed they had not deducted for my Mar 27th-Apr 12th prepayment. I called Qwest again and spoke with a representative. I was told they would look into it and to expect a change in my bill. Two weeks later I received a bill for $252.75. This time I was charged for the Apr 13th-May 12th amount, the unknown $200 amount, minus a discount for my prepaid Mar 27th-Apr 12th service.

I called again asking why they were now charging me for Apr-May service. They said they would look again and send me a changed bill. The 3rd Final Bill which arrived by mail was for $231.56 and according to the statement was due May 2nd. This time I sent them a letter along with a check for $131.33 which was the amount I agreed to pay. I explained why in the letter and asked them once again to explain why they charged me for Apr-May service and to explain the $200 charge. My check was cashed on May 2nd the same day I received a notice from them that my bill was being sent to collections on May 1st.

I called and was told to ignore the collections notice. I waited 60 days for a reply. No answer and I was now shut out from my online billing account. I sent 3 certified letters to the main office to Payment and Billing Inquiries Sr Acct Exec Monica **, Chairman & Chief Exec Richard C Notebaert, and Exec VP & Chief Fin Officer John W Richardson. All 3 receipts seemed to be signed by C A ** 8-14-08. I still have not received a reply except for ads begging me to come back and recently a duplicate copy of the last bill but without my payment removed. I will be sending them another letter and a copy of the payment check that they already cashed.

I began receiving a slew of calls from a West Asset Management. Because I am a rape/incest/abuse survivor and suffer from complex PTSD, I have an answering machine. The company never left any messages as to what it was about and the news had reported of a scam in the area asking for personal information. So I looked up the address for the phone number and sent them a letter, saying if this concerned Qwest, I had an unresolved disputed bill with them and to please quit calling or send their proof. I recently received notification from Experian concerning a single bad credit mark. If this is also due to Qwest, I will be sending them the same letter. Besides mailing cost, I can no longer look at a Qwest ad without reliving all I have gone through thus far.

She said that they hadn't received the e-mail. I asked her how she knew that and she said that she didn't have a record of it. I still have the sent e-mail. I tried to talk to her supervisor, but she said that her supervisor was in a meeting. I have asked her to have someone call me in the next 4 hours to have the charges removed and refunded. I then called Qwest. The representative told me that she has received a lot of calls about that company. All that she was able to do was to remove the current charges from my bill. I would like to see a class action against ESBI and Quest both because Quest allows companies like this to bill without prior authorization.

Embarq bait and switch. Like many consumers, I've recently fallen victim to Embarq's unethical marketing practices in collaboration with DISH Network. Their 12 month Dish TV promotion is a scam. I recently switched service to them from Time Warner Cable on the premise of hundreds of dollars of savings in year 1 of a 2 year agreement. During the qualification process an Embarq rep takes you through a credit approval process that applies to their services but apparently not their partner DISH Network.

After agreeing to all T&C's and having phone, internet, and satellite TV service activated, lo and behold a notice from DISH Network arrives notifying me that I do not qualify for their promotional package due to a credit report from Trans Union. Upon further investigation DISH Network will not reveal what their criteria is for approval or non-approval. (Coincidentally my FICO score is above 800).

I am now locked into a 2 year contract with these jerks, paying $70 more a month than I was promised by a customer service sales rep. I am not a proponent of any type of government regulation. My intent is to inform the general public and let them know to avoid Embarq at all cost including the retention of legal services if necessary. I'm certain that the issue described above has been met by thousands of other consumers making it fodder for a perfect class action suit and teaching these ** a lesson.

They called me back and said no service. I called Qwest once again and they sent me over to Repair and she did a line check and yup line is dead! I asked why the message saying that it was fixed and it wasn't! She said they can do that. I told her it was false advertisement and wrong when it wasn't fixed in the first place. So now they are to send someone over tomorrow the 8th of Nov between 8am-2pm. So when I get home from work I can call again and see if we finally have service. This is all in Duluth, Minnesota. My mom lives in Edgewood Vista (assisted living). I am trying to get this done and I live in Bigfork. That is not right that they can lie and say it is fixed when it is not. So really this has gone on since Tue Nov 4th and tomorrow is Sat the 8th of Nov. My mom is 86 years old and it is a good thing that she is able to use someone else's phone when she needs to.

The Qwest tech who installed it said my computer was probably not capable of handling the higher speed. He was right. It not only was NOT faster, but caused the computer to bog down and run SLOWER. July 2008, BEFORE the 2 months was up, I called and requested to be put back to my original speed, price, etc. I was told no problem. I also reconfirmed that my 2-yr commitment would NOT start all over and I was assured that it would not. LIE, LIE, LIE! I have made numerous calls to try to sort it out and get told something different each time. Sept 2008, I was told that the "Price for Life" was just for the life of the contract. I told her that was NOT what I had been told and the term 'contract' was never used. I know this because I keep copious notes on any call that I make to anyone other than family & friends!

I got nowhere with her and had to give up (temporarily). Oct 2008, I called them again and had the same kind of conversation only this time I quoted Qwest's own 2007 Annual Report which states, "Included in our bundles is our 'Price for Life' broadband offer that guarantees customers one price for as long as they maintain the service" and demanding that they honor that as well as credit my account for the difference between the two prices. Nov 2008, the bill arrived and LO AND BEHOLD, they had NOT honored the "PFL". I did get the agreed upon credit. I called yet again and went thru the whole thing with an alleged supervisor. He then said I did not have a contract so I could not hold them to the "PFL"!!!

I reminded him that it was their person who tried to use the term contract. Also told him that it was irrelevant as I had maintained the DSL service for over 2 yrs and LIFE IS LIFE not 2 yrs. I quoted the annual report again and it still did no good. I'm not with low level employees. I called Corp HQ #800-899-7780 and, not surprisingly, got a recording that no one was available to take my call (in all of HQ?!?!?). I left a voice mail message for Vice President of Ethics & Compliance, Dave Heller.

This sounded good to me, so I asked the gentleman 3 times if there are any other hidden fees or requirements. He told me no, except for the $9.99 installation charge. Since there was a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, I agreed to try the DSL service. It was installed on September 19th. The high speed service was great and we really enjoyed the faster speeds. Imagine my surprise when I received my bill on October 13th and my charges were $44.99 with a $10.00 promotional discount instead of the aforementioned $14.99.

I promptly called customer service and talked with Amy. I explained the offer that was extended to me. She told me that I could only get the $14.99 price if I agreed to upgrade to at least 3 additional features on my existing phone service for an additional cost of $12.00 per month and that in order to get the $34.99 price for life, I would need to sign a two year agreement. Neither of these requirements were mentioned to me with the initial telemarketing call. The two year agreement was not a big deal, but having to add additional features is not an option, since we are not interested nor would we use these options. I told Amy that we really enjoyed the service and would keep it if she would honor the original offer. Amy told me that there was nothing that could be done without us upgrading, that she didn't have a button to override the requirement.

I advised her that I wanted the service disconnected and to go back to my basic phone service. She was not interested at all with trying to retain me as a broadband customer. I told her that I am disappointed and upset with the deceptive business practices that Qwest is exhibiting and that, I do not want any more telemarketing calls (either by phone or mail) from Qwest.

I am very surprised at the lack of assistance I received from Qwest. At the very least, I would expect that she would tell me that they would listen to the initial telemarketing call and if the gentleman didn't explain to me the additional requirements that they would make good on the offer. That to me is customer service. If it's sounds too good to be true.....it probably is. Qwest is a company that just tries to reel customers in with deceptive offers and half-truth promises.

Is this the first time they've had to do this transaction? Or just the first time they've wasted my time with it. My stress and wasted time

As of now, I am backing out any suspicious charges such as the $13.00 of extra local & state taxes.

I'm paying for a dedicated broadband internet connection that does not work. Half the time I can't even contact the internet because every attempt to reach a web page times out.

It has been very frustrating and stressful dealing with all these problems

I asked what my options were at that point and was changed to 2 1-line home plus plans. Well, I just got my phone bill today and it is for $313.29. First, it has me on the 2-line home plus package for a total charge of $84.44 for 8/28 - 9/27. There are charges for $35.00 and $17.50 for line installation charges that I was not told about. $28.53 for line charge from 8/11 - 28 and then $20.61 for line charge from 8/12 - 8/28 - for the same line!

On the internet portion of the bill is a modem purchase charge of $40 I was not told about and a S&H advanced modem charge of $14.99.

I have spent hours on the phone with Qwest. The frustration that I feel is beyond explanation.

With all the times that I called I have gotten different answers and explinations each time, yet never once did any of those people tell me about the activation charges or purchases. I would like to cancel but my husband just bought new business cards that reflect our new numbers.

We immediately cancelled our Qwest Services. Trusting them our services were cancelled, they were not. A month later we were still connected to their services and being billed for outrageous calls. More 911 calls, hundreds of Directory Service calls monthly and now we are getting bills for 3 way callings and Long Distance. * We were using the phone line for internet dial up , never for directory assistance, long distance, 3 way callings etc...

We have tried a handful of times to talk to management over the phone and just today we were told Management would have to call us back another time. Also, they are not cooperating and fully refunding what was billed to our account because they said it looked reasonable. We will be refunded all the charges they have wrongly billed us for. We cut the cable to our home in hopes not to have any more visits from police. One employee told us, Management has refused to credit our accounts.

emotional damage /unsafe feeling with Police/Sherriff want to search your property repeatedly due to Qwest not fixing/delaying their own computer problems. Hundreds of dollars in phone bills that we are not responsible for.

I am retired and a cancer patient I do not need this stress. I am on a very fixed income and to have an 80 dollar bill come when you are expecting one for 28 is really bad. I cant just not pay it, it comes right out of my checking account.

I have about 10 hours on my cell on this issue. I have no service. I am in collections. They have my money on another account they have not even refunded!

the account is still in collections for 211.00

I am now being charge up to Sept.for services I am not recieving from them. I am getting numerous phone calls from the collection agency RPM, daily, night and day, It is beginng to be very depressing and effecting the medication I am taking for depression.

I disconnected two months early of two years since the most recent bundle and upgrade and got charged $200. Shameful. There's no loyalty to a customer who collectively has been with them for 17 years of Qwest/USWest service. Never again in my life will I use them. Never!

While moving to a temporary location was not desired, I get penalized when expenses are already great in the current economic climate.

About a month ago, one of the two phones on my account (both Nokia 6165i) began to crack at the left hinge. These phones were provided by Qwest at a discounted price with what I believed was a one-year service agreement. As it has been less than a year since receiving the phones, they are still under warranty. I was willing to believe, at the time, that this individual phone was defective. Nevertheless, Qwest's repair department refused to replace the phone. Since that time, the phone's damage has become irreparable.

Over a week ago, the second of the two phones on our account began to crack at the left hinge, in the same location and manner as the first phone. Again, the phone is under warranty, and the similarities in the damage indicate a flaw in the design. Qwest's repair department continues to refuse to replace the phones, despite the failure of this poor-quality product. Additionally, the account is locked into a contract through December 2009 (two years from the date of activation), and an early cancellation fee of $200 per phone was threatened when I suggested cancellation may be in order. At this time, Qwest has refused to provide a copy of this contract, and the "loyalty department" has been unavailable with each call.

Since obtaining internet through Qwest, internet access has been neither "high speed" nor "reliable," as advertised. Digital signal is frequently lost at or around 4 PM (a time, I expect, when demand on the DSL is at its peak), and it remains down for hours to days. Multiple calls have been made about this problem, and no resolution has ever been made. One such call ended in a representative attempting to download a "packet" to our self-purchased modem, which destroyed it. After a week of phone calls, a replacement was offered at a discounted rate. This "replacement" functions only with Qwest services, and the "discounted rate" was over $90.

We have had multiple technicians come to our home for this difficulty. At first it was suggested the problem may be with the wiring in our home, but each time a technician enters our home (thereby creating an additional $50 charge), they discover that is not the case. I have learned that the problem may caused by the demand on the DSL lines in our area, but Qwest refuses to admit this fault and continues to provide less-than-adequate service, if any service at all.

In order to better document these repeated difficulties, I have requested a copy of the wireless contract and the notes on my account. Qwest, however, refuses to provide this information. Throughout this process, I have dealt with difficult to navigate phone systems, customer service representatives ranging from hostile to rude, representatives unauthorized and unable to assist me, promised callbacks that never occur, supervisor escalations that leave me on hold for 15- 20 minutes without ever reaching a supervisor, and a general misrepresentation of services. I've moved up the ranks of Qwest about as far as I can reach, and my past two email to Jerry F. and Ed M. have been completely ignored.

All I want is the chance to gracefully leave Qwest behind. But Qwest has damaged my originally purchased modem beyond repair (at a cost of $90), charged me for a Qwest modem that will work with no other carrier (at a cost of an additional $90), and left me with countless hours and days of charged downtime and technician visits (at an unknown cost). Qwest also refuses terminate the wireless contract without an early termination fee (at a cost of $400), despite being charged for one non-working phone, one barely working phone, and sporadically functioning internet access (at a cost of about $140 a month). They have also left me unable to properly document these difficulties and any potential resolution by refusing to send a copy of the signed wireless contract or the notes listed on my account.

They discriminate with service to customers that do not have a choice of carriers. If we had other choices of carriers here they would offer the special!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I waited till mid afternoon the following day and when I tried to activate the feature on my line, I got a rapid busy signal, indicating it was not working. I called repair, as instructed, and a rather snippy woman there informed me the feature was not available to me, therefore nothing was broken for them to repair. I asked why a person in their Customer Service would sell me something unavailable and lie to me about it. her reply? They do that all the time! They get people to take services that aren't available and then those people think we can help them.

So I called back into Customer Service and I tried to summarize what happened. This women interrupted me and said It's not available with Last Call Return! She was very hostile. I said Listen- I am sitting here looking at YOUR WEBSITE where it specifically says it IS free with Last Call Return.... and before I could continue she interrupted again and said I don't really give a [expletive] what the website says! I then requested a supervisor and she said they are all in meetings all day! So I demanded to speak to whoever was in charge - and she hung up on me.

I was employed by Qwest back when it was USWest, and worked for them for 10 years. I have seen poor customer service firsthand and I know that quality enforcement is LAX! Not only was I employed there- my father retired from there and my families history - from my grandfather to grandmother, to greatgrandfather has been with the Bell System! If anyone should be a dyed in the wool fan- it is me! And yet, I think I am switching to another provider, because although I can accept mistakes and delays- rudeness and this level of ineptness and passing the buck is not what I deserve as a customer - and it is NOT what I provided when I was employed there.

Today (Monday) I call in and no one knows anything--and no one will send anything. A person who claimed to be a manager refused to even mail them out to me unless I approved a $5 a copy charge. I explained that I was not going to pay for something that was suppose to be provided for free on the internet. The entire crew at Qwest was rude and arrogant and kept telling me to be quiet and that they weren't going to talk to me until I stopped talking. When I stopped talking, no one said anything--as soon as I asked them to talk to another manager, they told me that I was interupting them again and that they were not going to talk to me any further.

How can you deal with people who can't even type a letter and are not authorized to act. Qwest has about the WORST customer service of any company I have EVER spoken to. I spoke to many creditors on Friday and I must say that all others were especially nice to me and very cooperative. I was able to obtain the information I needed (maybe not as fast as I'd like) in a very friendly, respectful manner that is totally lacking in the Qwest culture.

I may not be able to apply for special treatments due to this negligence. My husband and I are also seeking approval on a loan for a new home (closer to where I can receive treatments of choice).

Tacking them to our legitimate telephone bill gives them authenticity. People who do not check their bills will pay them and not realize they've been cheated. In this sense our telephone companies may be aiding and abetting a fradulent enterprise on the state level. This is criminal, not to add aggravating, and the legal departments of the individual phone companies should be put on notice. Further, on the federal level, I'm sure charges could and should be brought against these companies as they are gleaning our private information and using it to defraud us throughout the nation.

Finally, I read most of the complaints looking for similarities and found I had contacted Wal-Mart to order a DVD only two weeks before my billing surprise, and two others had a Wal-Mart connection. This is criminal activity folks. Shout until you're heard.

Today, Jul 23, I get a letter from Allied Interstate, a collection agency, saying I owe $96.65. I call up to find out what I owe for (as I have excellent credit and pay everything on time). The lady is rude and acts like I should know. She then informs me it's for Embarq. I explain to her that I cancelled my service and spoke with them when I got this bill and I was awaiting the new bill. She then proceeds to tell me that I actually only owe $22.36 and I can pay it over the phone. I don't even know if this company is legit so I tell her I'll call Embarq myself. She continues to be rude and says she is noting that I'm refusing to pay my bill.

I call Embarq. The first guy is very nice and shocked that I was sent a notice as my service was just cancelled a month ago. He refers me to accounts receivable so that I can tell them about the notice. The guy I talked to there said I should have paid the $96.65 and then waited to be reimbursed from Embarq. I was like, are you crazy! I know it takes months for these companies to pay you back. So I complain about the letter and how I have never had a company do this to me and I have moved numerous times. He said the letters were automatically generated. I asked that a complaint be filed about this procedure and he refused to do it. I am just shocked. I have honestly never been treated like this from a utility company before. This guy also tried to get me to pay him over the phone today and I told him absolutely not...that I would wait for my final bill and go over it myself to ensure the final charges are correct.

I guess I should have foreseen this as they had terrible service right from the start. We went for days where our phone line kept cutting out and it took 2 technicians to figure out it was their problem and not ours. Then our internet service with them was very slow for the price we were paying. I just wasn't impressed at all and would never get service with them again.

Now, just this past month, I ran into some financial issues again and was unfortunately late with payment. I had a service interruption, and in contacting a Qwest representative immediatly was informed of the past due amount, which is reflected on my bill .Today I paid that amount (which was also reflected on my current billing) and reported it with the belief that that would restore my service (I was told this by two different Qwest representatives).

I was told today that I owed a deactivation fee of $200+dollars for the OLD account and serviceon the current account could not be restored until it was paid. In my contact with Qwest the past 2 weeks I was NEVER told of this effecting my reactivation, and it is not in fact reflected on my CURRENT billing. I take full responsibility for any monies I legitamately owe, it just seems like a very underhanded way to conduct business.

In frustration I called Qwest financial services today, and the representative even tried to get that 'deactivation' fee taken off (he considered it in his opinion to also be unecessary). But, they would not budge. Now, I have to cough up an ADDITIONAL $200, even though I have satisfied the past due amount that caused the interruption in the first place.

This is the number I use for business (I am self-employed). It has been a very rough summer in the first place (causing me to fall a little behind anyway), but this makes it more problematic for my students to contact me. Had I been informed that this would figure into my current account, it would be differnet. I am disgusted with Qwest, and I will also be filing a report with the Better Business Bureau. Thank you for your time!

Saturday night I call Qwest. They say that they can't hook up the line until the customer calls to disconnect the existing line. No one, including the landlord, knows who or where on Earth the guy on the account is (the name doesn't match the person on the previous lease). For the second time I give them my landlord's phone number and for the second time they say they'll call him and get permission to remove the active line. Monday rolls around. Still no service, so I call in the morning. They tell me that they cannot make outgoing calls so I have to call the landlord to have him call Qwest. I refuse, telling them it is not my problem, they've broken their promise and it's really their problem anyway.

Monday evening I call again, finally get to a person who again takes my landlord's number and ABSOLUTELY ASSURES me that he'll have me up and running by end of day tomorrow, and he'll take care of everything. Elated, I told him if he gave me his address I'd send him twenty bucks. Nope. Nothing. Thursday the 24th and I call in the morning. Again they tell me they cannot make outgoing calls to contact my landlord. After over TWO HOURS on the phone with them, they finally call my landlord and add him to the conversation. He cannot do much except confirm that I am the official renter and he doesn't have a clue who the person on the existing account is. I am also told that the person owes them over $800.

So, basically, I ask them: So you WON'T turn the phone off of someone who not only doesn't live here and you cannot find but owes you money, and at the same time, you won't turn on my service that you promised and I WANT to give you money. While on the phone with them, they attempted to call the old renter and left a message. At the end of the conversation it was made clear to both my landlord and I that a)if they hear back from the old renter they will immediately turn off his service and turn mine on, or b) if they don't hear from him in three days, they will put some kind of order on the account (apparently closing it) and ten business days later my service will be activated, so the latest date would be the 15th of July. Also, the DSL line will take three extra days after that.

Now it is the 18th and no service. It's been over a month. Verizon also offers land lines and DSL to my house address but I'm apparently, despite being a mile (line of sight) from a major Microsoft campus in Bellevue, Washington, in a dead zone. I've had their service since 1999 and currently have three cell lines with them, but they refuse to fix the dead zone. Naturally, I cannot in good faith reward them with more business, especially when the only reason I'm getting a land line is because there's no cell service there. So I'm without communications completely at this address.

What is the cost of my time? My frustration? What is the cost of their lies and broken promises? I am currently out of town on business and I can't even call my girlfriend at home. Why should a large, near-monopoly be allowed to operate like this without punishment?

It is July 15th and they still have not resolved the problem. We have been told by several different representatives that the money was going to be credited back to our account that night or the following day and we still have not been given our money back. This is creating a financial hardship and there is no end in sight as to when we are going to get our money back as every time we are told something it is not the truth. Sooo frustrating. I find it interesting that it took Embarq all of 5 minutes to take the money out of my acct and is now over a week and we still dont have our money back- after several promises of it being returned each day.

Unable to pay bills and now behind.

When I inquired about what was charged they said someone charged a Blue Tooth. I am the only one at this residence. How can some unknown person make charges to my bill without my authorization and why can't ISBI remove this from my telephone bill. They keep promising each month that it will be removed and each month I get a new charge of $14.95 on my bill and these charges that I refuse to pay are now adding up. Embarq says they can do nothing about it.

I am retired and on a fixed income. I do not have the excess money to pay for unknown, unauthorized ESBI charges that are being added to my bill. I will have to do with out a home telephone if they can not stop these charges.

you have to check your bill every mounth and waist a couple of hour each mounth to argue your bill,, the 3rd party ESBI dont even have a address just a phone number that tell you they cannot do anything about it, this is FRAUD FROM QWEST

LOST $234.55 WITH QWEST IN THE LAST 10 MOUNTHS

never use the internet with a phone but they do charge you for it, you have to check your bill every mounth and waist a couple of hour each mounth to argue your bill,, the 3rd party ESBI dont even have a address just a phone number that tell you they cannot do anything about it, this is FRAUD FROM QWEST

LOST $234.55 WITH QWEST IN THE LAST 10 MOUNTHS

Still having problems, so I called again, a second tech. was sent out. He finally figuered out the problem and we had a good connection. A few months later I get a call from a collection agency stating that I had been turned over to collection by Qwest for my DSL service (which was suppose to be bundled with other service). I immediately called Qwest to try and find out what was going on. They told me that my account had been turned over for non payment. I spent 2 hours on the phone with various reps and supervisors. I paid a large payment and everything was paid in full. My account was all corrected and the seperate account was closed so I would be receiving my Bundle discount appropriately.

Seven months later I loose my Internet connection again. Now, I had called and talked with reps when I paid my bill every month just to make sure that all my services where being charged correctly and there was not another account out there that I was not being billed for. No, everything was great I had Internet, phone and direct TV, the only other service they could offer me was Cell service. I informed them I did not want the cell plan paid my bill and all was good(so I thought). When I called and notified them that I did not have an Internet connection. I was directed to Tech. support and they ran several test and could not get an Internet connection. They told me I would have to call in to another department on Monday and order a new Modem that mine must have gone bad.

I called in and went thru billing agian where they reviewed my account and yes, I was taking advantage of great savings with my phone, Internet and direct TV all bundled. Was I interested in the Cell phone plan? Again no. I was then transfered to another rep. who looked into my account and yes I could be sent out a new modem for a charge of $59.99 but I would get a return packing slip to return the old modem and then they could wipe the charge off. I did recieve the new modem and not the return packing slip.

I sat down and went thru the programing of the new modem and still no Internet connection. I called and talked to tech support who went thru several test and did not know why it wasn't working. They transfered me to another rep. who then said that my account had been blocked due to non payment. I was shocked and very frustrated. They then said that they could override the block but I would have to find time and call and check and see if it was left on there from the previous issues. Monday I get a message on my answer machine from Qwest that they were disconnecting my service for non-payment that I had a bill in the amount of $384.93. I instantly called and started to go thru the hole process again.

The 1st rep. reviewed the account and stated she was confused and would need to get help. I was transfered to a Billing Specialist who told me that I had a final bill account that I had to pay before they would turn my service back on but if I wanted to make the payment she would get this straightened out for me. I told her I was not going to pay that huge amount that it was their mistake and they need to get this fixed. She stated she would give me a discount for the Bundle discount credit that I was not receiving.

That I still needed to pay $258.93, If you figue this out that is $43.16 amonth for internet service when I had originally signed up for the Price for life internet with the bundle discount should have been running at $26.99. I told her that I would pay that amount but not any more. She then told me that I had up-graded my account back when I was have issues with no signal. I informed her I did not upgrade my system, why would I have done that. It must have been when the technicians were coming out and trying to get a signal or get the line fixed. They refuse to listen to me.

The next supervisor I spoke with informed me that it was my responsibility to make sure my account was correct and they would not make any more adjustments. I informed her that when I had called Qwest serveral times that their rep. had reviewed my account and told me everything was bundled and paid in full. I had expected that their own employees new how to do their job and not mess up peoples accounts. She then told me, I had agreed to the higher speed internet and that she was not going to credit me the difference. I told her several times that I would pay for the 6 months at the $26.99 but I was not paying more than that. She stated No, I was going to pay for the internet service at the $36.99 which I had agreed to, I did not agree to that someone must have made a mistake (that wouldn't happen at qwest) I kept trying to explain to her that when they had (supposedly) staightened my account and reassured me that everthing was bundled and the other account(that was only my dsl) had been closed and I would be billed for everthing together that the monthly amount(estimated amount my bill should be running) was what my bill had been running why would I think that there was any issue.

If their own employees couldn't see it, and no one ever informed me of a past due amount, why would I think that their was something wrong. She just kept saying that it was my responsibility. I should have taken it off of the paperless billing when I thought there was a problem. (According to her there is no discount for the paperless bill, another rep. that had informed me incorrectly) There are so many things wrong here it just floors me that a company had such awful customer service. How can dozens of their employees look at an account and not notice something like this $384. charge not being paid? Why would it take 6 month for them to shut off the service? Why did I never receive anything in the mail regarding a account being overdue? How is this all affecting my credit report?

Now I have spent literally hours on the phone with people who obviously do not know how to do their job. I have this hanging over my head until I can get someone to help resolve this matter. Qwest refuses to give any number to a higher level supervisor, she informed me that I could write a letter and wait for a response. I wonder how long that will take. I beleive I will be cancelling all of my Qwest services and going with different providers. They don't seem to care if their employees were in the wrong or not if they can get the customer to pay for it. Stress, Headaches and neckaches. Loss of wages from work to try and resolve a connection issues and hours on the phone with reps.

This problem is going on week 2 with no positive results yet. We have tried everything to resolve this problem including replacing the DSL modem but to no avail the problem still exsists. They need to get their act together quickly because they are going to lose yet another customer!

Many phone calls and yet no results. Wasted time and loss of work.

This month, I was charged 29.99 for the DSL service (their new price for life offer) After making another call to the Service Rep, Brad, I was told that they could no longer revert me to my original offer because their price for life is now 29.99. Apparently Price for Life means until Qwest decides to raise their prices! I will be canceling ALL of my services with QWEST!

They leave you on hold, forever, hoping you will hang up! Which I did! I have better things to do with my lunch hour than to be subjected to their customer service (Or lack of)

When that date came, Embarq did not show up and when I contacted them, I was informed that the order had been cancelled because the construction site was not ready on the initial date. I rescheduled the lines to be installed; one main line, with two roll-over lines; a separate fax line and a separate DSL line. Having separate lines was recommended by the Salesperson, as well as signing up for their Business Bundle account. I informed their representative that I was a new business in child-care and needed the most economical system set up because the business will be based on enrollment. She assured me this would be economical for me and said Embarq would waive all installation charges because I was agreeing to purchase the Business Bundle plan.

When I received my first billing - two separate invoices, one for the main line and one for the two roll-over lines, the fax and DSL. To my surprise, the invoices totaled over $700.00 When I reviewed the bills, I noted that Embarq had placed their Business-Bundle on every single line, rather than only the main line. It has taken me more than two months to clear up this problem of getting them to consolidate the bills. Also, I was forced to pay these bills, or be disconnected, and wait to be credited for the removal of the Business Bundles and other charges.

On top of the billing problems, we have had repeated mechanical problems. The main line drops calls constantly and will then suddenly connect to the fax machine, giving the caller the annoying fax ring. I can honestly say that I have spoken to at least a dozen different representatives of Embarq (too many to list) and have still not had the problem taken care of. I have had repairmen tell me they do not know how to fix the problem and don't know what to tell me.

In the meantime, I am losing customers to another Child Care Center, due to the fact that calls cannot always reach us and Embarq basically could care less. I have spent hours on the telephone with repair service trying to take care of this and still the problem is not resolved. I have been on hold for 58 minutes, while typing this complaint, and now am finished and still no resolution. This has been utterly insane and I need some direction of how to proceed from here.

Serious loss of business

When I realized I was still getting charged for it I called and asked why they were still charging me for it and they wanted to know why I haven't given the modem back. There was no note on the account about giving me the modem. By this time I had moved and hadn't the slightest idea where that modem was. In fact, I had a different internet service provider altogether with a different modem as well (Comcast). They said that unless I bought them a new modem ($250) or brought the original modem back that they would keep charging me for it. I had explained all of this to Qwest but they still will not do anything about it and even though I do not have internet through them they have been charging me $3.00 a month for over 5 years. I've called numerous times and got the same routine. I really do not want to pay them for the modem they gave me and if there were any justice they would owe me over $180.00 for over charging me for the past 5 years.

first time out it was the modem, replace the modem still same problem. second was phone lines in the house. replace phone lines and still same problem. third time its the box outside. repair the box outside still same problem.

High fees paid

The phone service went out almost immediately the first week so I had to wait for repair people to come. BTW, the repair and tech people are good--they are just at the mercy of relentlessly terrible management. they are even AWARE of their reputation as the worst customer service in the country and simply shrug it off saying, yes we are aware of that. Hmmm...wouldn't you try to change that? Apparently not.

Now after being told I would have most of the first month's bill waived because of the horrible service, I find I have instead been signed up for optional services not listed, not asked for, a complete mystery for a charge of $61.86 per month! I specifically asked for the BASIC phone service, no long distance, no voice mail, nothing but the basic local phone plus high speed internet. I have no idea what the optional services are and when directed to an on line chat I was given only to tech support who was clueless and suggested I call ( and stay on hold for up to 2 hours) customer-no-service in the morning.

Loss of wages based on waiting for service that never came; loss of business because it took them more than 1 month to get internet to us and I work for myself from home so that was a direct hit to my business.

I called again because I figure I open one of these mysterious collection agency mails and sure enough, Embarq sent me to a collection company. I called Embarq to tell them that I have a confirmation number of my canceling my services and it's paid in full, but they don't have records of it at all. I'm ready to file suit to these guys, who's going to court?

My credit is damaged and their is definitely psychological damage as well.

So we set up another appointment with them and for 11 days no one has come to take care of this problem. Now they are claiming that they are busy because of the storm, which I understand but if they came when they were supposed to then it would be taken care of. Every day I talk to someone to check the status and they tell me that on that day someone will be here to take care of the problem. I am still without a phone and the internet comes on/off every so often. i want to be reimbursed for all the problems they have given me and find this to be an awful company to do business with.

I have gone over in my cell phone minutes because of lack of home phone for so long and will have to deal with that. I deal with my work online and cannot do anything with them.

I did not keep names or dates of people contacted. They told me there was nothing that could be done because it was a voiolation of the contract, they could offer no proff to the agreement of theis verbal contract.

Although the Qwest rep. filled one out for me, the rebate will be only applied for the next 12 months billing, not the first bill, as it only applies after you fill out the rebate form, not upon activation of the service. I find this dishonest and disreputable on Qwest and Direct TV's part. I have lodged a complaint with Direct TV that this is not clear enough, and with Qwest, but neither company would make a commercial gesture to accredit the $18 I will have to overpay on my first bill.

I had a similar experience when I signed up for my DSL with Qwest--they did not give me the one yr. promotional discount that I had signed up for online until I called when there was a mistake on the first bill. Even so, they sent me a $50 gift card and continued to over bill me the rest of the year. Consumers need to be warned to carefully track their bills with this company. I had to spend hours on the phone and will have to pay $18 more on this bill than I signed up for.

When the dsl modem I had canceled the order on arrived at my house, I called UPS and had them collect and return it unopened. I also called Qwest to make sure my order was canceled. It was not, but I received a confirmation number telling me it was canceled this time. Three weeks later I called to double check (given the history here) and when the confirmation number was checked, they said it should have been canceled as confirmed and they would back date the cancellation and remove the charge. However, only a supervisor could do this. The supervisor and her supervisor said it was impossible to cancel the order including the rental for the modem I sent back, since it was likely in a warehouse somewhere and not checked in. This supervisor and her supervisor could not understand that Earthlink had nothing to do with this and just kept insisting I call Earthlink to cancel the service Qwest was billing me for.

They refused to listen to the fact that it was Earthclick that had supposed set up an ISP for me (though no one ever set it up at my house, which they originally called to do). They said that Earthclick and Earthlink were one and the same. Obviously not, since I called Earthlink and they were never my isp, had never set up any service for me through Qwest.

Here's where it stands. Qwest says they have no way of disconnected the internet they never actually connected-- they can only keep billing me for it. I have now spent over three hours on the phone trying to get this cleared up, repeating my story all over again. Doesn't my confirmation number stating that my order was canceled mean anything?

I just attempted to use their live chat feature. When the customer service rep asked me for the security code. I typed it in (from the actual security code I received from Qwest), he said sorry, that is an invalid security number. I told him to forget it and would attempt to talk to another live person. Nowhere on their website or on their bill have I been able to find an actual address to mail them a letter of complaint. To get out of the contract they'll charge $200 per cell phone (we have three). Never again.

Later I called their operator back and she said they called at 8:30, but I told them I wouldn't be home until 10:30AM. No one had called at any time that morning because there was nothing on our answering machine. The operater said the technician would call me back in a few minutes I hung up.

I waited another 1 1/2 hours and they didn't call. I called them back a second time after waiting for them to show up for 4 hours. She kept me on the line for an additional 30 minutes while trying to get a hold of the technician who apparently wouldn't answer his phone. She said he couldn't make it today and they would try to get another tech out before 5PM. and he would try to get fixed for free what ever the problem was.

Lost 4 1/2 hours I could have been working on the problem, I was trying to consult Qwest about. They could have left a message on my answering machine if they weren't going to show up.

Unable to properly run our business. Billing of THOUSANDS of dollars is being delayed. This office generates $10,000.00 to 50,000.00 sales a day, every delay costs us money.

We never received any DVD player, the rebate forms were to be obtained on their website, but none were over $50 (one per customer), and when we called about it, they sent us another form which was outdated. That wasn't a huge concern to us, but then Qwest began billing us for a usage package of 500 minutes a month, along with full charges for land phone, both to include sevice to Mexico (we have absolutely no need to call Mexico), for both my husband and I.

First, our billing jumped to $395.00, and we call C.S. (customer service) and they agreed it was a mistake, and we also called our credit card regarding the error, who also agreed it was in error. However, the billing continues to grow and every month we have to call and correct it, taking hours of our time and frustration. The bill continues to grow monthly, to over $800.00, and this month it is over $1000.00. Our credit card company took our complaint to investigate, and Qwest sent them their billing saying that we signed up for the big package (when we've signed nothing), and yet when one looks at our usage of phone time, we have never gone over 50 minutes of cell phone usage.

Whenever we would exceed the 30 minutes, we were to be charge by minute... we never have gone to 500 minutes as per the package they are charging us for. My DSL modem failed to work, I made 8 calls to the Phillipines (their Tech center) to techs that barely spoke English, and was put through unplugging, replugging, pinging, turning cables around, and nothing worked. On my nineth call, I finally made contact with a tech who knew what he was doing and he provided a Qwest owned password for my modem to start it up! Now it works, but I was without DSL service for a month. Of course they still charge me for that, too. Please help us.

My husband and I are seniors. We are raising three small grandsons, one of whom is disabled. My husband had just finished a course of cancer treatement when we stupidly bought into Qwest's promises of saving money on a bundle. My husband has gone throug a lot of stress with this and it is delaying his healing. I am fed up. I would like to just tell Qwest to get out of my life and I'm through with them. But we rely on our DSL for communication with family. I am researching other services. This has most probably damaged our once perfect credit.

Then Embarq decided to switch to their own e-mail client and quit using earthlink. I had to switch over my email address through their site. I quit receiving bills through e-mail and started receiving late notices in the mail! I called Embarq again and they had no record of my new email address. I told them they should since I changed everything over online through Embarq. My husband and I had had enough. We were ready to cancel everything with them. I called Dish to see when our contract was up. They had us having 18 more months to go!!! We had been customers already for over a year. Embarq when they fixed the bundling problem renewed our contract with Dish as a new customer!

We have switched back to Time Warner and I have been making payments on the Embarq bill that has now gotten up to $250 because they quit sending bills to me. Even though I have been making these payments Embarq sent my account to a collections agency this week. I cried I had to come up with the full amount or make 4 payments with a $7 processing fee attached each time! My advice to all. GET RID OF EMBARQ or DONT USE EMBARQ FOR ANYTHING! Their customer service is well....They really don't have one! I will be writing a letter to Embarq Consumer affairs if I can ever find their address!

The only thing was that she messed up. Instead of noting on my account that I was going to pay my bill by April 21st since I had just paid a bill on March 18th, she noted that I would pay my April billing by March 21st. OOPS! I found this out when I had to call in again on April 8th. Our serivice was cut off not even 3 weeks after we had paid almost $70.00 toward our cell phones. My boyfriend called in and he told me a lady was asking him how much he was going to pay and when so she could reactive our service. I was livid. I had just spent an hour on the phone with these people on March 24th to make sure this didn't happen, and by the way I was told I had to call in every month as soon as I got the bill to make payment arrangements since they could not change my due date back to the 21st and now our service is cut off!! I wonder if thats even legal?

While I was on the phone ready to make a complaint to the supervisor a gentlemen told me how I could save money by switching plans. I asked him about how much our bill would be, and he told me $98 with tax imagine my surprise when I opened the bill today (April 23rd) to see a total amount due of $125!! I called in again and I was told by a representative that there was an $18.00 pro-rated fee for changing my plan. I am planning on disputing this charge since that is not what I was told. I then told him I was fed up of calling qwest every month for something stupid and I wanted my due date changed back to the 21st. I asked him if he could tell me why it was changed to begin with. He told me that it had something to do with the pre-fix on the cell phone and maybe we could change the cell phone number so we could get our due date changed and transfered me to a wireless representative who denied that what the customer service represenative just told me was true and said he couldn't help me then transferred me to billing.

I was then told that yes, the billing due date had something to do with the pre-fix on the cell phone, but that there was no guarantee that the due date would be changed. I told her I wanted my due date to be changed back to the 21st or else I didn't want my service anymore. She told me that I could always pay early and why don't I go online to pay my bill. She told me that I could not pay on the 21st because thats much too long of time between payments. I was sooo mad. Because lady, I don't want to pay 3xs in just about one month for your crappy service!!! And besides that when we moved, your company deleted my internet account and now I can't find the stupid secret code thats supposedly on some letter I never got from you so I can't create a new one! I just simply said I am sorry you can not help me, I see that you do not value our business and I hung up. I don't know what I am going to do now. I don't want their service anymore, but I don't want to get stiffed with a bill for breaking my contract.

So I call after being on hold for more then ten minutes, I finally get a live person they have to transfer me guess this means I have to hang up on you in thier code. I call serveral more times only to be transfered each time. I finally get a person today & she can't find my name or number in thier system am I sure that I was an Embarg customer. I can't help you mam thank you have a nice day. Is this how Emabrq deals with everyone when they don't know what to do? It was a $25.00 bill they can't manage to waive the fee when nothing was used? If you haven't already get rid of EMBARQ worst customer service ever!

They are sending me to collections due to non payment of the service I didn't use.

The 1st months bill was over $296.00 and the 2nd was over $200.00. We were billed right away for the 6 months of HD TV and for the 2 premium channels. My daughter complained and Embarq subtracted $50.00 from the bill.

I have been on the phone with at least 8 people for 20-50 minutes each time. I wrote a letter. Part of the problem is they are charging me for MSN service ($49.99/mo) which I did not order and do not need. Once someone muttered that they were charging me for a second phone. Each person puts me on hold for 15-20 minutes to talk to their expert. Each time they say they will call back. No one calls back.

I am retired on a fixed income. I dropped my phone service to save money. Now I'm paying double for less service. I'm very frustrated.

Now I call to cancel the DSL so I can switch to Cable DSL as the speed is twice as fast and that the Embarq DSL is still slow and keeps giving me problems when I am connected. Come to find out, now they are telling me that there was a 2 year contract on this change, and that there is a $199.00 early terination fee! Which I was never told about or was mentioned about. I called Embarq and they would absolutely do nothing at all to help me, refuse to deduct this canellation fee I was not aware of, would not even try to offer to reduce it or anything at all to work with me on this subject.

Their customer service is terrible, unhelpful, and the people have no friendly helpful service to work with you, they just absolutely don't care. They are polite but totally unhelpful. Not even the manager I talked to try to work with me, she just completely refused to remove the $199.00 fee! I can't wait to have a new phone company too so I can also cancel my phone service with this horible company. Even my neighbors are looking to switch service and cancel Embarq as they are getting the same kind of service, that is bad service.

So far I have probably lost a total of about 12 hours over the phone with all the calls I had to do for problems with my DSL service and connection problems to get repairs done or check up of the connections! Which everytime, they blamed my inside lines or computer, but was everytime, their lines outside the building! Way to much time waisted and and money on my end!

After so many phone calls to Embarq and every customer service rep giving me a different answer I decided to file this complain because 9 days after that order I still with my old speed and sometimes is worse now.

All of the customer services people or the technical guys talking to me have a different answer ( they are guessing because don't kn o where is the real situation or problem) about the problem but nobody can fix it.

Today is Wednesday March 26 and the last service rep guy I spoke with, told me the issue was with the DSL modem that need to be replaced. I got the new modem, Modem was connected and situation still the same and the worse issue is that before when I was on 5 megas plan I was able to surf at speed faster that 6 megs and now my speed is intermitent, sometines coming down to 300 and other times going up until 6 megs. Now I'm worse that before upgrading.

As I said everybody is giving me stupid answers, telling me if the first guy who came to my house ( a contractor) did the wrong connections, that if the DLSM is unable to accept 10 megas downloads and I need to be connected to other DSLAM, that my alarm is conflicting with the DSL ( when the alarm never conflicted before) and now that the modem needed to be replaced because a new firmware will enable that modem to surf and 10 megas. Everybody is guessing. Too much talk and not a real solution.

This is not my first issue with Embarq. When I installed Embarq the first time I had the same issues and take more that 15 days to be resolved thanks to Ann Rochester in the headquarters who took the matter into his hands.

I need a fast response from Embarq.

Now we are stuck with a higher than wanted internet bill for 2 years. We also feel that we cannot trust anything told to us by a Qwest representative again. We live on a fixed income, and this is just not fair to consumers.

They refuse to reimburse me for the cost of the repair and the loss of programs. When we called the morning after we got the virus, the tech said I had a virus; they later claimed they would never say that and all but called my husband a liar. They offered us one month free service; then when we got the bill, they shorted it just enough to not be considered a full month. I have asked them several times to reimburse me for the problem, and they still refuse. On the repair bill the tech put several customers have had problems with Embarq--use at your own risk still. They refuse to even admit that there was a problem. In typical Embarq fashion, they try to find a way to make the problem their customer's fault and not theirs.

My hard drive had to be cleaned ($260). We lost $300 in factory installed programs (ie. Microsoft office) and $300 worth of games that were purchased. Our total loss was $860.00

Economic consequences is that they charged me for twelve months at $15 a pop for something I did not apply for or use.

At that point I told her I was returning the modem, would no longer require the service, and was given an RA number to send it back--which I did via UPS. I was also informed at this time by Nic Miller that because I was canceling within 30 days, I was due a total refund. After the modem was received by Qwest and my phone services were canceled on 1/18/08, Qwest dragged their feet and did not cancel my services until 1/23/08. I was told AGAIN that I would have to wait for the final billing before I could also protest this. After several phone calls to billing to recover my money, I was refunded $59.99 on 2/06/08; and then finally the balance of $45.00 was refunded to my account after another round of phone calls on 2/08/08. Around 2/23/08 I received a bill from Qwest which I didn't bother to open until about one week later because it was nothing of importance.

When I finally opened it on 2/29/08 I realized I was being sent to a collection agency for $34.11. I called Qwest and was told by Mary Waldo that I could ignore it, and it was probably just an oversight. I thanked her and thought I was finally free of Qwest until I got the latest bill. I promptly called them after speaking with the collection agency on 3/10/08, when I got home and saw the notice. The collection agency told me I'd have to call Qwest again which I did. After holding on for several minutes, my call was disconnected through no fault of mine, and when I called back their offices had just closed.

I was referred to a collection agency and received notice of a bill dated 2/18/08 for $79.11. I have spent close to 6 hours on the phone with these people trying to get this straightened out--but to no avail. Please Help.

The free phone we got recently broke, it still works mostly a cosmetic issue, so I thought this would be a perfect time to purchase a new one, they had a great one on sale for $29.95, WRONG, sales and rebates only apply to new customers and people renewing their contracts. They do nothing for their current customers. If I want that phone then I need to pay 200 bucks for it or replace my current phone for my 50 dollar deductible, the phone I got for free. Which is not worth 50 dollars. I feel this is horrible and backward customer service policy. Wouldn't you want me to renew my contract in two years by giving me the best service and the best deals during my contract? When I complained I was basically met with a SO What we don't care if you renew or not attitude. So I am just going to duck tape my phone for the remaining time and let everyone know that embarq treats their current customers like garbage....and they do not care if you stay or go at the end of your contract....because they certainly are not going to pass any savings on to you while your there. I will do not do business with Embarq after all our contracts are up.

I just want a new phone that's on sale!

I'm worried about an emergency situation arising and not being able to call out.

I called Embarq again and Kevin said he took care of it. One week later I called in and instead of the recording saying the number had been changed, it said the number was disconnected. So I called Embarq customer service again, waited on hold for 20 minutes and finally got to Jason. After I went through everything with him, he tells me that he's in Accounts Receivable and I needed customer service. The automated system automatically transferred me because I owed them money even though I didn't call them! AND I never got a final bill. Cambria in customer service told me that she doesn't handle business accounts after I waited on hold for 20 minutes.

Then I get transferred to Will who sounds like I woke him from a nap. I tell him what happened and he says they'll take care of it and if I have any questions to call customer service. He gives me an entirely different business customer service number than what's on my bill. I ask to speak with a supervisor, Sharee, who listens to me but doesn't really care about my issues or how Embarq has severely failed in their customer service to me as a paying customer. She then tells me that I was charged $199 for early termination of my business package which Betty NEVER mentioned; otherwise I would have kept the Embarq DSL. So now I have the same problem and somehow I owe them for not fulfilling my obligations to them.

For the last three weeks my customers have not been able to get a hold of our office - we have no doubt lost sales over it. I have wasted over 4 hours of my life on the phone with them (at $30 per hour), and now I have to pay $199 that was not disclosed to me.

I am being billed $260.00 for services I had canceled the very day of ordering. I am stuck in their system.

Have a legal person look into all these complaints. I think Qwest should not be operating any more. They are taking advantage of the American consumer. I am $200.00 in the hole and stressed over incompetant people.

On the face of it, this is not a real big deal taken individually. The problem I have is that the motivation behind Embarq's change in policy is so transparent. It started years ago when the phone companies decided to charge people for directory assistance calls knowing full well there was a significant segment of their market who would not only pay for this service but were foolish enough to pay through the nose to get it. OK, shame on me, I fall into this category. I have been paying this fee for years and not complaining but when Embarq chooses to target this same market segment, (knowing full well our bad habit of overlooking the small stuff) by sticking it to us further, knowing we are not likely to remember or even go to the trouble of correcting a $1.50 charge on a monthly bill, it is not only contrived but despicable as well. It amounts to nothing less than an effort on their part to charge the public for THEIR initial mistake. I am leaving Embarq over this issue

This was in September. I continue to receive a statement with a broadband charge every month. I call them every month and spend hours on hold, and every one of them tells me it will be taken care of. Thank you for letting me share this with you. I feel helpless, frustrated and manipulated by a large company that takes advantage of good people who pay their bills on time.

This is my first month of service and I am being charged twice the amount I was told on the phone. I have spoken with 6 different representatives. I have lost hours of work.

Not only am I out $120.00, I have also been turned over to collections for $84.00 for my old Qwest service, which I can't pay until I get my $120.00.

I was charged a $30 turn on fee while they were promoting a $10 turn on fee. I complained about this in November and still it is incorrect on my bill. I'm tired of having problems with Embarq, a month isn't a month without talking to Embarq. I've spoken to many representatives and rarely have things been rectified. I just spoke to a supervisor by the name of Duncan in the Fort Myers office and we'll see if the billing issues are resolved. I feel like I have to check my bills with a magnifying glass. I also have to pay the entire incorrect bill that was sent to me or I'll be charged interest. I think this is a HORRIBLE COMPANY with totally unqualified people. If we had another phone option they'd be history. Why isn't Verizon in the Naples area?