High Speed Internet at CenturyLink

I have been satisfied with the high speed internet service we get through Century Link. However their phone customer service representatives needs some attention and training. My husband set up our internet account and set up auto pay. I have never had to correspond until we moved. I got my first bill at our new address (no longer on auto pay apparently) and it is double the cost it normally is. The bill lists those additional charges as «service additions and changes.» So I assume that is a fee for turning off the internet and resuming it at our new location. But a $ 40 fee for that? I want to know for sure. So I called the customer service line listed on the bill, gave my account info and name. Then I was transferred. I again gave my account info and name and then was put on hold. A third customer service rep picked up the line after several minutes and asked for my account info and name. Then she said you are not an authorized user. And said no more. Really people come on! Someone could have told me that at the first phone call. The money to pay for this account comes from a bank account with my name on it. I am a customer even if my name is not on the account. I understand if you can’t give me any info. But maybe you could use some tact and show some respect for my interest in my bill and the time I have spent on hold. I would have preferred an «I’m sorry, your name is not listed as an authorized user. If you have the authorized user list your name on the account I will be able to help you.» That is much more positive.

CenturyLink’s systems are so opaque that even if you find a customer service rep that wants to help (no guarantee of that), they aren’t able to. When I bundled phone with tv, I was repeatedly billed for for things that nobody was able to explain. Also, the Internet upload speeds are stupid slow. Even with the 20Mb download package, upload was less than 1Mb. Totally unusable for me. No reason to use their services at all, actually. Better options exist for everything they provide.

I was excited when a CenturyLink rep knocked on my door and told me that 20mbps Fiber was in our West Salem neighborhood. I was told that I could get a 30-​day free trial, although I have Comcast, I thought that I’d give it a try. Needless to say, I’m glad that I didn’t cancel my Comcast account.
The CenturyLink speed was terrible, it was anywhere from .47mbps (yes, that’s a «.») and topped out at 8mbps, the upload was as bad and didn’t go above 1mbps.
I canceled CenturyLink after 2 – 3 weeks as the speed never improved (Comcast is giving me 60mbps on a bad day). After I canceled, CenturyLink sent me a bill for $ 35 that wasn’t covered by the «30-​day free trial». To make a long story short, I spent about 40 minutes on the phone talking to 2 different people, on hold for most of the time, before they agreed to drop the charges. I did have to accuse them of false advertising and misleading statements, not sure if that helped but I threw it out there.
Needless to say, CenturyLink has made me realize how much I like Comcast. Yes Comcast pricing tends to creep up and you have to call them once a year threatening to cancel, but all in all I’ve never had a customer service experience with Comcast like I just did with CenturyLink. Comcast speed and reliability is great, we have a few speed bumps, but that’s expected. I’ve had Comcast Service to my house because of speed issues, they quickly identified the issue with the coax, they could have billed me for this visit but didn’t… Thanks to my experience with CenturyLink I’m starting to appreciate Comcast a lot more… Now if they would just keep their pricing reasonable and offer a la carte tv packages…

Unfortunately, I have to give a star to write a review. This is quite possibly the worst customer service I have ever experienced. The manager actually stated on Thursday afternoon 9÷2÷15 -«well, I’m leaving on vacation. Give me a call back Tuesday and let me know how long you’ve been without Internet.»
Needless to say, I’ve ordered a new service and new TV service as I am not using any providers that partner with Centurylink.

If I could give no stars I would. My experience with CenturyLink has been a nightmare. They sent a young man to my door to offer me this great deal to use their high speed DSL internet trial for one month. I told the guy that I didn’t have any phone lines in my house. He promptly said not a problem that they would install them for me. So I signed up… he ask for my SSN and I said I’m not comfortable giving that out to anyone. I later found out that they were able to get my SSN and do a credit check on me without authorization. The equipemnt showed up in the mail and I called Century Link to install the phone lines to find out that they wanted $ 130 to have someone come out to do that work. I then called and asked to speak to a supervisor and they affirmed that that was true. I said at that point to cancel my service and I sent the equipment back. Then I go a bill in the mail for the one month service that I never used. I called and they gave me a web addressed to explain why it didn’t work for me in order to avoid the charge. I now have been turned over to collection for this bill. Unfortunately now I’m pissed and will seek legal counsel on my options against Century Link.

This service provider is the worst I’ve experienced. Our internet went down more than 10 times a day everyday and after many calls to customer service with no resolution, I’ve called to cancel service and was left on hold indefinitely and can’t get my service disconnected