It's rare that I complain after a day of service. That's why I'm dismayed, in that I haven't got the "day," of service. I live in a limited access area for the internet which is maddening to begin with. That said, Century Link seemed to be a viable option.
My neighbor gets a 1.5 speed. Me? Once installed it's 512. Really. Now, I fully understood that this could happen in that I am at the end of the line as they say from their hub. Despite being 75 yards from my neighbor, they get different speeds, but that's not the main issue.
After scheduling an appointment, the rep came at the tail end of the time to install the service. They used what I will term "rigging," practice with old wiring. Within three hours after they left, the service went out, phone and internet (which was my package). The phone line is now completely dead and flashing light city on the modem.
To make matters worse, I had to flag the rep down just before they left for my phone number which was not given to me. No materials of any kind were left with concern to literature, instructions, etc. This made for quite the search for customer service and within a short time I had those dreaded off shore types where I had to explain every little thing, only to get cut off on my cell and start over numerous times. I gave up.
No responses to e-mails as of today as well and no form of contact or follow up to see if my service was working from Century Link. Then I did the search I should have done before hand and found out about their numerous issues which led me to this forum.
I was told by the original rep I would have thirty days to cancel the service and as of this morning I have sought that option. I have thus far been told they cannot find my account information and I cannot get anyone to tell me how to ship them their modem back. It seems as if I am stuck already with a service which is not working from day one and that finding anyone to speak with is next to impossible.
Hold times are incredibly long and the taste that has left in my mouth warrants just getting out asap before I become a part of the horror story reviews and they ruin my credit. I already fear that the original rep deceived me on the details where they said I would pay nothing if not satisfied and the specter of mystery fees or undisclosed information freaks me out. How's that for a run on sentence? Anyhow, stay tuned for the next chapter in my quest to figure out what the heck is going on and why I signed up for a service which is not working in less than three hours from installation.
So far, my Century Link experience has been deplorable and unacceptable at the lowest levels of moderate expectations.
UPDATE - So, I finally got a number for cancellation after a live chat. The first time I was cut off. I was amazed at the use of slang by the first representative in the conversation and her reference to "stuff." ("Yeah, they don't leave stuff," like, er, the phone number to the phone they just installed.") around five times was the final put off for me. Oddly, I have been given two different cancellation numbers from two different reps. Stay tuned.
FINAL UPDATE - I would like to openly and seriously warn of anybody considering this service that the customer service is honestly inept. The following is 100% truth.
I decided to call for a repair. This was no easy task in that I kid you not was sent from one rep to another giving the same information out a total of 6 times. After I reached a person who spoke our language fluently that was not reading from a script on the sixth call, 2 hours later on successive transfers ... I asked to cancel the service then and there explaining to her that I would not be sent to repair again on the seventh transfer. They do not document your calls in any way when talking to them and you have to, as many know, start from scratch each and every time. I do want to say that the off shore call personel spoke clearly considering other companies past I have dealt with. I was told there would be an 85 dollar charge if the problem was not with their wiring end for them to come back out. Now, bare in mind, I have had the service less than 24 hours and was already being threatened with additional charges.
FTR, the installation person used existing, very old wiring in that I have not had a land line in years. Anyhow, I saw the future clearly if there were to be additional problems and the hoops you had to jump through and the time spent trying to simply have working service. Just a dreadful, low tech experience and a company I will avoid like the plague and never recommend to neighbors.
Additionally, the advertised speed was a tenth of the top end when I tested the service which worked for a grand total of 2 hours and 42 minutes.
↧