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Stay Away From Qwest!!!
By -

We have been a customer of Qwest since 2007. When we first moved into our apartment we were told we had to use Qwest. No big deal, right? Wow, if I would have known how horrible it would be to deal with Qwest there is no way I would have signed a lease to move in the first place. They are absolutely unresponsive, rude and terrible.

To begin, we first used Qwest internet in our home office. The internet was constantly down, and it would take forever to get someone on the phone, and if you could sit through the 20-30 minute wait you would typically get transferred around to several representatives that "were sorry for any inconvenience" but couldn't help you with any solutions.

Further, we also bundled my business phone line through Qwest. Since then we have discontinued the phone service because of the terrible representatives. We continuously had billing errors. And when I did finally disconnect the service, they tried billing me twice. Thank goodness I kept good notes.

They also decided in 2009 to provide our complex with a "complimentary internet upgrade", but what they didn't tell us was that it would take 5 visits to get it right, and that you didn't have a choice. Our internet was down for several days, which they said they would reimburse us for (still haven't seen that credit), and I had to take 2 days off of work to sit at home for a 4 hour period waiting for them to show up. The first appointment of which they showed up an hour and a half late to, but tried to justify by saying "they were with other customers."

Not too long ago my husband bought an HD TV. Since we utilized DirecTV for our television services this wasn't an issue. Come to find out that for HD TV there were centralized dishes around our apartment community that we had to use. Oh no, call Qwest for TV too. Well, unfortunately we didn't have a choice and now our TV is through Qwest as well. We had never before had a problem with DirecTV, until now. Qwest yesterday provided our complex with a "complimentary upgrade" and needless to say our TV isn't working today and the quickest they can get someone out is on Tuesday of next week, and we have to be home between 8-12.

So once again I get to take time off of work so Qwest can fix another problem. The first representative I spoke with this morning was rude, wouldn't give her name, and hung up on me. I spoke with our leasing office who also called Qwest and told me that she fared no better. She was also a product of the Qwest solution of "I don't know what to do and I don't want to deal with this, even if it is my job, so I will just hang up on you."

I called back a second time and spoke with a gentleman, **, who was pleasant and put me in touch with his manager **. ** assured me he would look into it and would get back to me. He did call back to say that they had to switch out the boxes at our home (which we have had less than 2 months), but he didn't know when they would be doing that and that he would call me back later. However, it has now been 3 hrs without a call back. ** has left for the day, and there is no manager on duty.

I spoke with another rep, **. in Boise, ID who was absolutely worthless, and kept trying to tell me my problem was with Qwest not with him and not to take it out on him. Someone really should explain to him that he works for Qwest and is a representative and all the customer is asking for is solutions. I didn't raise my voice, but did repetitively ask "what they were going to do to make this right" and all he kept telling me was that he wasn't authorized to do anything, and there was no one working at that time that was authorized.

Fortunately, we are moving into a house in less than a month. There is no way I will use Qwest for internet, phone or TV. I can't wait to go back to Cox for internet and phone service and DirecTV for TV. I can't wait to get away from this terrible company, with their terrible customer service. If you have a choice... stay away from this company. They will give you nothing but headaches, and cost you money. Thanks for letting me vent.

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What's Going On Here?
By -

LOGAN, UTAH -- Last Friday night I noticed my internet connection was slow and my land line telephone had static so today I called the customer service department for Qwest and it turned out to be a real headache. Getting past the automatic phone reception system, the static on the phone lines, giving your representative the wrong number, being transferred and put on hold numerous times, and finally being disconnected when I was trying to talk with a representative who had a strong accent was a little too much for me. I called back on my T-Mobile cell (which has always worked fine) and was transferred again until I talked with someone at the ** office.

Now I could be wrong because of the communication difficulty but think I was told that an eighty-five dollar fee is applied if the technician has to come into my apartment for repair. That's understandable but think I was also told that it couldn't be determined if that fee would be assessed or not at the time the request was made. What I don't understand is why a check can't be done to your equipment outside at your expense without charging me.

I had this same problem before and it was repaired by Qwest without charging me. After asking to have my telephone disconnected I was told that would increase my internet service bill by five dollars a month because of a discount. Great discount! It's more of a customer service return guarantee for you than a discount for me.

I'm not responsible for the phone bill now so the least expensive and best option for me is not to use Qwest except for contracted internet service. I'll be ending my telephone and internet service as soon as my contract expires and referring everyone to any company but Qwest. T-Mobile has been good for me so I think I'll refer everyone to them. Land lines are becoming dinosaurs and soon will be extinct as will your business with me and probably many other current Qwest customers. I hope your day is as bad as mine has been.

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Shocking Experience
By -

TUCSON, ARIZONA -- I have encountered a similar shocking experience with the Qwest service as the writer of another review! After I had ordered a bundle for HD TV, Internet and Phone service from DirecTV (who had no problem with my request!), I had to call Qwest to inform them of the installation date - Qwest had to come for the internet part of the bundle. I already had Qwest telephone service but, with the bundle, my cost would not have been as much. All I was seeking was an alternative service to replace the expensive Comcast that I was signed up with.

When I called Qwest, the associate told me that Qwest could offer me the same package at a lower cost. I was told that it was because Qwest had better promotions than DirecTV and therefore I should order the package from Qwest. This meant that I had to cancel the order with DirecTV (will not get into that conversation!!!) and needless to say, they wanted to convince me to stay with their order. After a conversation of almost 90 minutes, the associate cancelled my order.

When the technician arrived, he walked in with a problem. Only 4 receivers instead of 5 like my order was! I had to call Qwest to check their order but, the phone number that was left on my message, was not the right number. I had to talk to the Business Office. They could not talk to me for at least another 30 minutes because of other customers who was calling in! (Most probably more complaints!) The request to me from Qwest "Please call back in at least 30 minutes!" How ridiculous to have the Technician hang around for 30 minutes!???

In the meantime, Mr Tech called DirecTV and they were kind enough to let me have the fifth receiver installed for free. Mr Tech could proceed. After 4 hours of installations, he explained to me how to operate the remotes. I asked him about the extra sport channel that I ordered and, (was I surprised?) it was not on the order! Another Qwest mistake. Also, the sport channel that the Qwest associate recommended (with rugby and cricket, that is why I want it!) did not have either of the two sports! He told me what to order.

I asked him about the internet service and he said that UPS or FedEx would most probably deliver a modem within the next day or two. However, my gut feeling told me to call Qwest and check with them what the next step would be to have the internet service in place so that I could cancel Comcast. Again, first call was to the wrong phone number (provided by Qwest!) and eventually I spoke to the next "wrong" associate/department for my inquiry. He did however tell me that there was no order for internet service on my phone number! (another Qwest mistake!!!)

He got the Business Office on the phone who then told me that internet service was not available at all!!! This was what she said: "How do you expect us to give you a service that we do not have and does not exist?" I told her that it did exist a week ago when I spoke to an associate who gave me a confirmation number for the order of all three services! At this stage the Qwest problem was made my problem because now, I was the one that was stuck with a 24 month contract with DirecTV without internet service - this I had to get from Comcast and then, my monthly cost for the three services, would have been more than my cost with Comcast!

After another conversation of at least 30 minutes, I was put on hold while she was going to find out if they could find a solution. In that time (waiting) I had time to take a shower, get dressed and do my make-up!!! I was still listening to the advertisement recording! She eventually came back and suggested that they would (mind you!!! the voice tone made it sound like a favor!!!) ask DirecTV to remove the equipment without any cancellation cost to me!!!

Before I could ask her to please call me back with the rest of the information, she put me back on hold and that is exactly where I was when I had to leave for my appointment. In total my hours spent on telephone conversations amounts up to at least 5 hours and the installation this morning was from 11am until 3pm.

Please just take a hint from my experience and be extremely careful when you deal with sales people that work for companies without being fully informed about what they can offer potential customers. I have had it! Enough is enough! I will definitely change my telephone provider. I would be surprised if I end up without any cost for the disastrous incident! Seems as though, "The customer is ALWAYS WRONG" is the motto!

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Promised, Billed, and No Delivery... Qwest and Follow Through...
By -

GRANTS PASS, OREGON -- I live in an geographic area with limited to no cell phone reception to my home... And the only DSL carrier and landline provider in the area is Qwest... About two months ago, in response to advertisements to save money via bundling services, I made my first mistake: I called Qwest to ask about their bundled services. And, I ended up bundling, supposedly getting three features bundled -- saving me money, of course -- plus 300 minutes free long distance per month -- and we canceled my out-of-state long distance carrier while we were at it (me being assured multiple times by the person doing that, that I needed to do nothing further -- he did ALL the canceling).

Well, not much really happened after that phone call... Caller ID, a new bundled feature, never worked. The old long distance company continued to bill me. I continued to be billed by Qwest for in-state long distance. I am not sure if the overall cost of my phone bill was reduced at all... In the meantime, thinking positive, I called Qwest to get the caller ID working. Well, again, supposedly someone worked on that but not successfully. Qwest blamed the lack of caller ID on my equipment -- some of it new within the last year, having and certainly capable of caller ID... ( i.e. good equipment from a reliable company).

Having not learned my lesson, I decided to complain to a Qwest customer service representative who, again, tried to save me money by making some changes to, this time, my internet service. To my complete satisfaction, the next bill from Qwest was lower but not for long: This month the bill doubled...

Again, thinking this matter could be fixed, I immediately called Qwest. The representative I spoke with tried to fix things -- I think. I'm not sure. I was having grave doubts about Qwest by this time. After being placed on hold for the third time while she tried to "dot all my 'I's, and cross all my 't's", I disconnected the call. This woman was beginning to sound like the first woman with whom I spoke -- the one who bundled the first set of services two months ago with little result. Who knew what I would really get and how much I would be charged this time around? I wasn't going to chance it.

After hanging up and (a) considering the situation for some time, (b) getting connected to Qwest Internet service where I could study my bill and change services myself if need be, (c) investigating other possible phone and fast speed Internet carriers in my area (no solid options there), and (d) finally finding this site and learning that, indeed, I am not alone, I realized I was being charged for a change in Internet service THAT I NEVER GOT. And what's new with that... I didn't get the other promised services either; however, I also didn't get a big bill paying for services that didn't exist unlike this time.

So this morning, I phoned Qwest. When the automated service answered my call, I relentlessly pushed 000000s until I was put through to an actual person. When that person wanted to assist me, I gave him no information despite his persistence other than "Connect me to the billing department." Of course, he did not transfer me to the billing department -- I expected this boggled response.... after all this was Qwest where boggling is standard practice and the customer never gets what she wants. I KNEW what I was dealing with: Perfection in service is NOT what they are building their reputations on...

But, the next person did connect me to the billing department. I explained my case to the billing department. I was being charged (since Nov. 1) for a service I had not received. The billing representative looked. He saw. And he actually verified that "she" had, indeed, disconnected one set of services but never connected the new services (par for Qwest), that I was being charged for a change that had never happened and, in fact, I should not have been charged for even if it had happened...

So, the billing representative indicated that he would credit my account, change things back, not charge me next month, and even save me some money ongoing every month, AND give me some confirmation numbers that, indeed, these changes were taking place.

Well, of course, promises are promises... And we all know Qwest. Promises are their stock in trade; it's follow through that's iffy.... well, maybe even.... rare. So it's wait and see for me (and I will check out my account on the internet, too, to see if any changes were made... charges dropped, etc., etc.) before I know what actually took place this morning. Perhaps I will actually pay Qwest less and get at least what I used to get before I bundled... and got nothing, anyway.

In the meantime, there may be hope coming in the form of a new broadband service to my area... connecting phone and internet... And perhaps I can finally bail on Qwest... I know the technology is out there... I am dreaming of one of those small satellite dishes attached to the house with a flow of signals connecting me to the internet... talking through the computer... I know this can be done... It's out there somewhere... and for a reasonable price!

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Everything About Qwest and Now... I Cannot Even Email Someone There, Wow, What a Shocker!
By -

Recently my internet was shut off for nonpayment. I called to see if there were payment plans avail but there were not. I begged to at least have phone service as I had sent in enough to cover that at least. They left my telephone on. (Uhm because I sent $75 a week prior.) Later I called back to humbly beg and ask for some type of help as much of my University homework is done online as well as my banking and other business (items for sale, my only income). My daughter has online work as well. Nothing could be done and no one was able to help me.

Finally my mother helped - she had the credit card and I scrambled to find some money and paid the entire bill - I owe her now. Either way. The internet was restored. I was able to use it for approx. one day. I was behind in my homework and business dealings online (due to the original problem, but able to catch up IF Qwest restored service like they said they would).BUT... the next day, the Internet was shut off again! For nonpayment!!??

I called Qwest only to be linked to some guy in the Philippines. I could not understand him. Nor do I understand why if you want our American dollars to pay for your American business, you would outsource to some poor sap that can hardly communicate with your customers. It is a slap in the face as I see it.

Especially after your automated system repeatedly tells me what a valued customer I am or when one of your representatives tell me 'we appreciate your 7 years of loyal service' (considering they keep shutting me off) EVEN after I begged, borrowed, and stole to PAY YOU and you had no other options for me - a struggling single mom, going to college, trying to save my aunt's home, mortgage and taxes (as I live here) etc...

It seems arrogant and thoughtless, redundant even to have an automated system continually tell me that I can 'easily go to the wonderful website to fix any quest issues', WHEN IN FACT THAT is the reason I am calling to start with. So I finally call back, but this time I get smart. Instead of pushing 5 for tech support or help, I push #1 (purchasing ordering new products and services) knowing that if there is money involved (incoming accounts rec) someone WILL answer and it will be someone who speaks English.

So I do get some decent help (again the good help seems to come from Logan Utah). I am not partial by the way, I don't particularly love Utah, but your call center up there in Logan - ROCKS and I am sure it has nothing to do with you or Qwest. Either way he tells me that there is a problem with my account for nonpayment. I tell him that even though I have used the library, computers at school etc... I paid for the Internet and was depending on it for several reasons, DEADLINES FOR DESPERATELY needed scholarships and entries that I CANNOT MISS... but now have, as I waited all night hoping they would turn it back on as promised.

You see... there was NOT or at least no longer a problem with my account, it was indeed PAID. The problem was on your end, it seems 4000 people were referred to collections today and no one knows why or how, but several reps told me after several calls that I made to them - that my account should be fine and it will be restored soon. 2-24 hours. But that 24 hours would be almost out of the question and not to worry.

Don't try to sell someone something if their account is supposedly in default??? Or if they are having serious issues with services, there has got to be some discretion don't you think? I see that if you are tech a nonpaying customer (on your comp records at least) one will be sent to another country for crappy service. And don't it just beat all hell that you would continually suggest using the web, OVER and OVER again when the majority of people are trying to call and get help with just that?

Another thing, your automated system sucks. I am a mom with kids and dogs and TV's going, homework and cars that pass by on the street, so if or when I breath deep, or the automated phone system hears the neighbors dog bark it gets the wrong message and forwards to wrong departments, starts the menu all over again or simply hangs up on the person. Can you imagine how frustrating that is on call 5 or 6 and you are really trying to get someone before 5pm, or you have already been patient for 30 minutes and heard enough 'buy Qwest, buy big, buy now, go to the website, we value you, so buy Qwest and buy it now, bla bla bla."

Of this crazy stressful insane and sad week, I have spent approx 6 hours wrestling with your company, your automated system, your reps and their fake apologies and AND their suggestive selling as well as reps that I cannot even understand, nor do they understand our language and slang - not even some of your own terms. I think you owe me, really! I think you owe me a paycheck and one for damages as well.

One of your reps offered me free 'faster' Internet service for ONE MONTH. That was funny to me - there is nothing free with you people, heck even what I paid for I can't get today and I know... oh boy do I know... that if I DID accept that offer and was unable to CANCEL it at the right time (you know... between 3 and 3:10, on Sunday) I would end up paying for it one way or another.

On top of that, even though I used other computers and recourses, I missed out on several thousands of dollars for scholarships, awards and the like because I was dumb enough to believe Qwest, to believe that when I paid you good American cash money that when I got home I could finish my much needed requirements for school and the scholarships/awards.

The bill was paid on or about the 28th of this month, and today, this morning, the 31st it worked so why would I even imagine it wouldn't (that it would be sent to collections AGAIN and shut off) be able to use the same Internet 3 hours later? Losing all of those potential opportunities and monies???

You are so out of touch with reality, so out of touch with your actual customers and the view from this end of the business transaction. You are greedy or too busy or something. You must be listening to 'advisors' and statistics and advertisement agencies all of whom are out of touch as well.

Just the thought of calling Qwest for help is overwhelming and a pain in my ass!! You are probably losing so much money for the transfers, the outsourcing that we Americans will refuse thus calling Qwest again several times that day and adding to the workload of others etc... It probably takes 7 outsourced employees to do the job of one American - really!! So in effect you are losing far more than you think in my opinion. Just no one is telling you that because they are profiting off of you somehow.

Don't tell people they are 'valued' if you will not work with them on a payment plan. Don't thank them for their loyalty before during or after you are denying them service they have paid good money for. Don't use the same 'sell sell sell' recorded message on your damn automated 'on hold' recordings - it really doesn't help, it makes people desensitized and angry. I have a few better Ideas that would double your profit in 2 years.

By the way, have you ever heard the ''Xerox, Bill Gates Microsoft'' story? I am sure you have, you haven't heard though that my grandmother worked for Xerox in those days (one of the first female techs) anyway, she was a direct witness - rather primary source of information concerning that terrible mess. I just wonder how many up and coming people you are really patronizing and irritating with your spearmit-ment.

I have lost much due to you and your company this week, even AFTER I busted my butt to make sure the money was in your pocket and I was doing what was required of me. I don't have any other place to go in order to get my work done, apply at these deadlines, submit the required things AND I spent most of my time on the phone with your people (scratch that) with your computer systems and foreigners as well as your automated system and 'on hold' message...

So it is about 10:00 pm and I am watching a lot opportunities go down the drain - I cannot even send this to you (It is in word pad and I will send it via email when - IF my Internet is restored). My problems are monumental, just in general and I cannot believe this is happening.

Cut to this morning... Feb. 1st, still no internet and I had to call AGAIN, and be on hold, AND talk to the financial dept AND be apologized to as well as have someone try to SELL ME SOMETHING AGAIN!! Making me late for school. Is there no common sense in your company? Do you skip that part when you are training them to sell sell sell, apologize, 'understand' sell sell sell? AGAIN I am told there was yet another mistake and that she would make sure it was turned on today.

I come home at 1:00 and yes, it was on, but not after missing several homework assignments, only after my bank account gets in trouble as I could not manage it from the online account I set up. Only after my daughter missed a few of her homework assignments and we both missed deadlines. Most extremely important as I NEED the grants for college (I live below the poverty level and what I did have for gas money and school needs, was sent to your pocket - I get that, I really do, business is business right?).

So let it be that, business and keep the financial and social advise to those experts, I don't need your reps telling me to borrow money or take out loans, first of all: Uhm like it was a news flash to me that borrowing was possible, second it's none of their damn business and three, if it is obvious I cannot pay bills, do you suppose it should be the advice of your Christian based company to tell me to go into more debt? Or... the worse and later, try to sell me something after 4 days (2 weeks actually) of not being able to get the basic services from your company that I ordered in the first place... having them shut off for nonpayment twice, after the bill was paid.

Yes there are 'glitches' in the system, in life for that matter so you may want to just blow this whole incident off and blame the glitch, but meanwhile, what unfolded while trying to fix the glitch should be your major concern... Long story short - You guys really aren't paying attention and your technical stuff it is only costing you money, your scripts are bull and unwillingness to work with people in hard times will be remembered for eons.

I write for a local paper, a good one and I am moving up in the 'world' :) getting my degree and I have written in the past about charity, forgiving of debts, good companies that help the community, where and how to contribute, who to pay attention to etc... I am just a 'little head' on the totem pole right now, a single broke mom going to school and still succeeding (even though I had to deal with you all week). I thought some of you might like to actually know the real statistics, the real story and how it sounds on 'our' end, the customer, and what your lack of actual business sense is doing to so many people. Is someone playing games?

Resolution Update 02/04/2011:

well it seems enough people at quest have read this and addressed it. so I say it is resolved. but I don't know how to find the 'contact us' or 'talktous at quest' whatever - another hour or so of my time .... so, and ... yes ,my account is challenging (rocky history) always struggling to pay the bill .... at least I was heard. I complain (not for ego sake) but because I assume companies want to know where there are issues. Some of the answers I have heard are just more 'lip service' some are excuses like - 'well if you press #1 you will get the wrong dept." and I am like : well DUH... did you not see my whole entire point? the small business dept at quest was very helpful :) very helpful. He seems to be a smart guy and really actually did something that helped ME.
so yes... I guess it is resolved .
Thanks
PS The people/reps in the Logan Ut office ROCK ! They are sincere, courteous, and get things done without 'ego' games or taking a call personal (yes, omg some call centers do that... use customer irritation as a way to get their rocks off for the day) but Logan rocks :)

Company Response 02/04/2011:

Dear Patty,

Please accept my sincerest apologies and I want to let you know we do appreciate your patronage. Although with out your account information it is challenging to comment on your specific situation and I would LOVE the opportunity to address it and get a fix in our process that obviously failed you in your time of need. If you will email me at TalkToUs@Qwest.com “Attention Rich” in the subject line, I will contact you directly and review all the details personally for full resolve if you are willing to do so. As a company obviously we want to grow our business but recognize that nothing is perfect and there is always room for growth, thank you for bringing your situation our attention so that we can do so.

Rich @TalkToQwest

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Qwest Internet Quality
By -

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- I recently had a horrible weekend of operations at my company. I am a Cloud Computing consulting firm and as such we rely heavily on the internet. We recently ran past our 30 day money back guarantee and in return we got almost 52 hours of degraded quality of service.

As of current and since service connection, we've have their 7Mbps/896Kbps Service and we pretty much always got those speeds until recently. It first started on Friday night, I noticed it first when I was downloading a new Cloud Computing OS to review for a client, my download started at 124KB/s and was Falling! It finally bottomed out at 18KB/s. I thought to myself, oh, well it must be the web server this file is on, so I went on to check my hosted server I have with 1&1 hosting and sure enough, downloading from that server was affected too.

I went on to perform a speed test that Qwest has (speedtest.Qwest.net) and it told me everything was fine (5.6Mbps down and 67Mbps Up which is within normal range). I then went and performed a speed test with speakeasy and speedtest.net and there it was, 1.24Mbps download it reported, even down to 0.94Mbps. I wanted to do the due diligence and test a few other sites to make sure things were just being weird and the results didn't change. I even tested with different computers and cables and tried using wireless. I tried turning off wireless and unplugging everything except one computer, still no good.

Next, I call Qwest Technical Support and then of course, they want to do testing that I've already done. That's OK, I understand ITIL and MOF so I indulged them. They tried a few things and the results didn't change. So they dispatched a technician to my office the next day. The tech gets here and what do ya know, nope, nothing. "Nothing is wrong" he tells me. Well, we argue back and forth about it because the tenant next to me has the same setup and so I tested my computer over there and everything's OK. Finally he tells me he's sending me a new modem (I roll my eyes).

So Sunday is here now and so I just decided to test again to see if anything has changed. Now the Qwest speed test is showing the real picture (2.9Mbps download). SO, I get back on the phone with Tech support and again, they don't know what's going on. But they suggest they send out another tech the following Wednesday and I was like "Next Wednesday??? What's the Mean Time to Restoration here guys???" Anyway I was tired of fighting so I said, "Sure, fine, send another tech, it's your money."

No more than 2 hours after that call, everything is fixed (and might I point out it was 12:30 am). So, I called Tech support again and told them to submit an internal inquiry with their supervisor and include me in the email. It's been 30 minutes and still no email. Wow, customer service is not synonymous with Qwest.

SO, let's think about this one for a minute. Hmm, issue started late Friday Night. Issue automatically resolved late Sunday Night - Hmm - Gee, this sounds a lot like a maintenance window here. "No record of maintenance" is the response I got from Qwest, which I believe because what tech support agent would ever have access to the real info - I mean, that would just make too much sense.

All-in-all, I'm pretty upset here that nobody for 52 hours could tell me what was going on with my connection and now is back to normal. 99.9% uptime, well BAAM, blew that one right out of the sky. Maybe they should rethink that one and go with 99% uptime. Now, let me clarify uptime, it's when a circuit is up and running with no fault. Degraded service - That's a fault and was their fault, not was through no cause of my own.

Word of advice, Go with Speakeasy if you can, I never had any downtime with them. I had their service for over a year. Wow, a company keeping good on their uptime promise, what a concept. Come on here folks, this is 2010 not 2000.

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Does Not Deliver Internet Speed As Advertised!
By -

TEMPE -- First off I would like to say that I have had nothing but problems with ALL Qwest services. Let's start with the Modem: I use my computer as a part of my entertainment system in the living room. Unfortunately the nearest phone jack is about 60 feet away and located in another room. I live in an apartment so I can't just tear up walls and install my own phone jack. So I went with the cheapest option of getting a 100-foot phone cord to connect my modem. Well, I end up getting a disconnection from my internet every 1-2 minutes and the modem kept restarting.

I call Qwest at this point only for them to tell me that there was a temporary user ID and password, even though I personally used my ID and password when activating the modem. After that the problem started all over again, only this time they found out that I was using a 100-foot phone cord and blamed that for my problems. They said the phone cord can only be a maximum length of 12 feet. They suggested that I put the modem in the other room using a short phone cord and then routing the modem to the computer in the living room using a long Ethernet cord. This did in fact solve that problem and burned $50.00 in my pocket.

Now the fun part. I recently ask my fiance about our internet service since she ordered it. I ask this because of all the Cox commercials. I found out from her that we are paying $47.00 for the 1.5Mbps service. I gasped because our download speeds have only been at a maximum of 160Kbps since we started the service 2 years ago. (And no, this has nothing to do with long cables or wires because we used to have the computer in the office with a phone jack only 2 feet from the computer.) I immediately call "Tech Support" (if you can call it that) and explained the situation and my frustrations.

He had me do this speed test from Qwest that "proved" that I was getting 1.5Mbps and that the 160Kbps had to do with the servers at some of the internet sites I visit. I then mentioned that that was funny because all websites I visit are that way when I download. He then had me go to another speed test website that again, proved that I was getting 1.5Mbps. The strange thing is that the results were from another ISP called BELL. Now isn't Bell affiliated with Qwest, AT&T and BellSouth? Interesting...

He explains that the test is registered by how fast the program's temporary file is downloaded and that there can't be anything wrong with their server. I then asked what file type was sent by the program. He didn't answer. I then told him that different file types download faster than others. So therefore if it sends an .iso, .zip or other compressed file, that the download speed would be in fact faster due to the extreme compression of the file. He could not respond to that. Quite frankly I think the program sends a ping and registers its response time. Then calculates and converts that response into Mbps.

He then tried to belittle me and say that my computer's performance is causing the issue because it is too full of memory. I then shut him up and put his foot in his mouth when I proceeded to tell him I had an AMD 2X dual core 4200 processor with 700Gb hard drive and a Realtek 10/100 Ethernet card supported by 2Gb of RAM. At this point he puts me on hold to "resolve" the issue for 10 minutes only to tell me that they had to "physically" change my port address to correct the issue, and that no specialist will be available until the following day. He "PROMISED" me that when he "PERSONALLY" gets in that day that he would have the specialist change the port address at the server.

In my opinion, I think he said that because I had him backed in a corner and he did not know how to respond. You know, since "Technical Support" is just people reading off of a troubleshooting list. If you get all your facts straight and show them you are computer savvy, then you will notice, every time you get them backed against the wall they put you on hold. Why? Because they have no idea what to do and go speak with a somewhat knowledgeable supervisor who tells them how to get out of big situations without actually resolving the problem.

I have been dealing with Qwest for years and this is the only way you are going to get anywhere with them. You have to back them into a corner so that they have no choice but to fix your problem. I will be calling back first thing tomorrow to see if anything is being corrected. You have to be extremely persistent and curt or they will walk all over you.

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Qwest Internet Hookup Horror
By -

OREGON -- My conclusion is to advise avoidance of Qwest for Internet service. I can find little good to say about my recent experience with Qwest when I set out to try their high-speed Internet service. Here are some major points to consider taken from my own recent experience: The price/deals you get on the Internet is different than if you call to order (although nowhere in their advertising did I find them mentioning that). However, be advised that you can get some internet deals if you call and get the right person.

Everyone I talked to, and it took 8 calls finally, had a different idea of what you could or could not do. You can get a free modem with the highest speed service when you call in by phone although you will have to insist on it, because if you get the same guy I did, he'll tell you "Oh, they stopped the free modem program a month or so ago." The price for life deal in which you must agree to their service for two years will cost you $200 if you cancel it during the first two years. No one mentioned at all and I did not know it until I received the order confirmation.

Their wireless module for the m1000 modem is advertised at $19.99, but they add another $9.99 shipping, which they fail to mention when you order it unless you ask about it. They cannot make simple changes/additions without lengthy absences from the phone and once they screw something up, it compounds with every call.

I printed out their 'Legal Agreements' for Broadband Modem Installation and got more than 8 full single-spaced pages entirely aimed at protecting them with no protection for you at all. They can monitor your use of their service AND YOUR COMPUTER and use it in virtually any way they wish without liability as they are specifically protected from loss of privacy, confidential information, etc. €

I consider this the WORST company I have ever dealt with. Their procedures are cumbersome and contradictory depending on whom you talk to (and much of their service is outsourced, so communication can be a problem). Their advertising is intentionally misleading. They push the brainless "bundle" thing ad nausea. If you must contact them, be prepared to suffer long waits and many hassles including sales pitches. My advice is consider Qwest as your very last choice for any kind of service, but especially internet.

Lastly, a word of advice. If you must go with them and use their quick connect software, be advised that towards the end of the installation, you are asked to pick a username and password, etc., and agree to another contract. This is for the MSN part of their service (although it is not at all clear during the installation) and if you look at that agreement, you will notice that you agree to receive junk mail and advertisements from them, etc.

Don't agree to that crap!!! Just exit (close your browser window) at that point as your modem will already be set up. You can get free email service from many suppliers without signing your life away, and the rest of their so-called Windows Live is nothing but a scheme to get you committed to services you can get better elsewhere.

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Working With Qwest Is Akin to Embracing Murphy's Law
By -

I would like share my extremely frustrating experience with Qwest with you. First let me preface this by stating I have been a loyal Qwest for 5 years and have moved frequently and successfully with their service. This year I moved in May 2007 and have had nothing but frustration with Qwest. My new housemates and I decided that we wanted to share wireless internet in our house. We order Qwest wireless the first week of June 2007. When I received the modem and start up disc, none of the codes would work for my computer, nor my housemates.

I called Qwest and was told that it was because I had a Macbook. During the month of June I called Qwest over nine times, and was repeatedly told in both polite and in rude terms that the problem was my Mac, not Qwest. During one call to Qwest, an employee told me that he could get it up and running in 30 seconds if my computer were a PC. When I asked him if any of his colleagues were trained for Macs, he told me that hardly anyone uses Macs and Qwest should not have to train its employees in a practically obsolete system. He then transferred me, against my will, to the Apple support line.

My computer is a 2007 Macbook that receives wireless at every coffee shop or business with wireless; it is not a problem with my computer. The Apple support line should not have to pick up the pieces for Qwest employees. The amount of time spent on the phone with Qwest in June, transfers directly to my cell phone bill. I went over my minutes for the first time in my cell phone contract by exactly the amount of time I was on the phone with Qwest.

I admit, I do choose to have a cell phone instead of a landline. This means that 1-800 numbers cost minutes on my plan, yet if Qwest employees had been trained sufficiently in both Macs and PCs, I should have only had to make one phone call, and thus not go over my minutes. I do believe that part of my $57.54 monthly Qwest bill is to having access to customer service.

After this cell phone bill, I asked Qwest for a new modem to rent. I was sent a non-rental and charged roughly $100. I did not learn this until my bill at the end of July. After receiving the new modem, I had the same series of problems with wireless not working in the household. After three more phone calls, I got a Qwest employee that knew Macs. He got the wireless up and running in under 30 seconds. Shortly after the wireless got working, I got the bill for the charged modem. I immediately called billing and asked if I could have it transferred on my account as a rental.

The first person I talked to did not think they could do it, but then I got them to transfer me to the Loyalties Department. The first person I talked to in loyalties, told me that they could change it to rental status, and because I was a loyal customer, he would give me three months for half price in recompense for all the previous trouble. He told me to wait three days to pay my bill, because he would start the discount that month. I was much relieved. Yet when I called to check on my bill five business days later, it had not changed.

When I called to check with billing they had two different computer profiles for me, one gave the information that loyalties had told me, the other had the higher bill. They could not rectify it, so instead of Qwest figuring it out its own internal error, they forced me to talk to Loyalties, billing, and customer care. I spent over two hours on the phone that day. I should not be the one communicating to each department in Qwest about Qwest's own internal error on my bill. Qwest should be taking responsibility for making sure their profiles on the customers is correct. I believe this is what customer service entails.

I canceled my service that day. This was the middle of August. I was told by Loyalties that my plan would be terminated, and essentially erase a month of service from my bill for all the inconvenience, and that she would send me a label with reference number for the modem, so that I wouldn't have to eat the cost of the modem. I never received a reference number. It took the final bill until mid-September to arrive. Loyalties was able to give me the one month discount. Yet the modem had not been credited. I had to call again for a reference number to send the modem back. Again I was told not to pay the bill for the modem.

I sent the modem back near the end of September. On September 26th, I received notification that Qwest was going to send my bill to a collection agency if I did not pay or make arrangements for payments. The bill in question was the combination of the $100 erroneous charge for the modem, the non-credited month of service and a partial month of service.

All of these charges I had been told by three separate employees to wait to pay, yet apparently interdepartmental communication had failed again. I called on the 26th and paid everything except for the modem cost, asking if that would stop them from sending it to collections. The Qwest employee told me it would.

One week later, I got another notice to pay the $100 for the modem, or it would be sent to collections. Again, I called and asked to put a stop on the transfer to collections. Again, I was told it would not be sent. Yet today, I got both a collections notice for the $100, and a phone call from collections. It was both the rudest letter and phone call that I have ever received, and it was because that I waited to pay the bill because Qwest had told me to wait. I paid the collections agency in order to save my credit rating, then called Qwest. I was told that the $100 had been credited to my account and the collections notice was a mistake.

I am dumbfounded that this went to collections despite my communication with Qwest. I feel harassed by this continued ill treatment, and blatant irresponsibility by Qwest. This irresponsibility has added up to a $100 collections bill, a threat to my credit, a $89 charge in overage minutes on my cell phone, and two months of bills paid to Qwest for wireless service when no wireless service was being received in our house.

My main complaint is that as an individual paying for a service, I should receive that service in exchange for my payment. If that service should malfunction or not perform within the bounds of its contract, then the company should be responsible for fixing it. It is not the individual's responsibility to call every department of a corporation to make sure they are getting proper customer service; it is the corporation's responsibility in exchange for monthly payment to give proper service to the customer.

My house has switched to Charter and they had us up and running immediately. The one time that we have had a problem, Charter came to our house, and fixed it for us, free of charge. They did not force us to stay on the phone for multiple hours, or try to tell us that it was our computer's problem. Thank you for your time.

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Spirit of Service?
By -

CHANDLER, ARIZONA -- When Qwest launched the marketing campaign re-using the "Spirit of Service" slogan from the old Ma Bell days, I think they jumped the gun a little bit. When I arrive at a new customer's site and they ask me whom to call for Internet access, I say Cox. When they ask for phones, I say Integra. When they ask for television, I say DirecTV.

Why is this? Because I have Qwest services at my home and the Spirit of Service is far, far from what they could possibly offer me. The spirit of service would be answering questions that are asked. The spirit of service would be delivering services if not exceeding, at least meeting those of a company's competitors. The spirit of service would be offering those services at a price comparable to a company's competitors. The spirit of service would be empowering a company's employees to answer the questions I ask. The Spirit of Service, my friends, is far from what I have received from Qwest in my years of subscription.

When I moved into my apartment three years ago I moved from a location, although less attractive than this one, had Cox Communications and Qwest as communications providers. Back in those days I used my Cox cable modem to such capacity that I installed an exhaust fan in the modem's chassis.

As well, I called their support team to ask if my heavy usage violated any terms of service that I had agreed to when I signed up. This action, although not unusual to the internet service industry, was met with an unusual result. This individual consulted his co-workers for a good 15 minutes and came back with the answer that when I pay for x amount of bandwidth, I should be allowed to use it 24x7. I never heard about this issue again even though I downloaded over 485 GB in one month through my Cox connection.

The reason I explain the previous situation is not to compare the customer service of Qwest with Cox, but rather to compare the quality of product delivered. You see, if I let my current connection download at its capacity 25x7x365 days a year, it would amount to 1/4 of what Cox offers in the same category.

I pay for Qwest's "premium" service (by qwest's standards) which amounts to a paltry 3mbps. By comparison, Cox offers 12mbps on their premium access lines and I have witnessed these lines, first hand, running at 21.2mbps. (http://www.nathaniellee.us/download/real_internet.jpg). This customer pays $49.99 a month for that. I pay $59.99 a month for less than 1/4 of that speed plus rental fees for equipment that I have no choice of purchasing. Any way you slice it, I am receiving the short end of the stick in this situation.

Why don't you leave Qwest, Nate? Because I'm locked into a long term lease on an apartment in a complex which is only wired for Qwest services. Thank God in heaven I have a south facing wall so I can get DirecTV. I'm not the only person in this boat, I'm just the only person upset enough to write about it.

There are plenty of apartment complexes and business complexes that are being sold this VDSL product as a valid internet access product, even though Static IP addresses and RDNS records are not offered. How do you expect one of my customers to run Exchange server off of VDSL? Answer = they can't. I had one customer sign a 5 year contract with Cox Communications just to get out of your VDSL product. He did this by my recommendation.

If somebody trusts my word this much, and I have your product in my house, why don't you think I matter? Why is it you don't see it is necessary to compete in this market? For three years I have asked both your company and your support staff this question and for three years I have been met with the answer "We don't know, we know about this type of thing the same day you know." Who is there to answer my questions if this is how you treat your own?

Why Nate, do you give Qwest a chance when you have been wronged so? Because I have met the people who work for Qwest. Some of the people you have sent to my house are, for lack of a more appropriate term, idiots. They looked at my equipment and were dumbfounded.

On the other hand, one gentleman in particular was extremely helpful and identified the problem in your network which needed to be fixed. Another time I called up and two gentlemen took ownership of my issue. After I provided proof from my own research it wasn't on my side, they fixed the problem. I thanked these people with all my heart. I wrote them up a glowing commentary full of praise and I didn't hear a word about it. I still have their badge numbers and names and they are some of the best you have. These people are why I am still here. However, my patience does have a limit.

If this continues through January, when my lease is up, I will no longer be a Qwest customer. It really saddens me to say this because I really prefer your phone service to the service of others. My phone service has been exemplary compared to other people I know and I truly thank you for the work you did to create that opinion. It's not easy. I've always told people I use the three pillars of services: Qwest for phone, Cox for Internet, DirecTV for TV. Qwest, I beg of you, give me a reason to change that trio. Give me a reason to renew my lease on my apartment. Give me a reason to believe in the Spirit of Service as I once did. Thank you for your time.

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