CenturyLink
reviews and complaints

We also had this problem, We were told that we would be charged 34$ a month for internet, they were giving us a special deal because we told them before we got it hooked up to forget it. You see they sent a truck over, but no one ever came and rang our bell or knocked on our door. My mom and sister saw the truck leaving our apartment complex. We then called to see why the truck was there (we were supposed to get the internet hooked up that day), they claimed we were not scheduled to get it hooked up for another week. But yet, no one (of course we got sent around to everyone) knew why the truck was there, We did not get a single answer until my husband threatened to call the police and report a suspicious vehicle. They promised us we wouldn't be under any contract, and that they were giving us a higher speed internet at a lower cost due to all the problems we had. We were told we could buy our own modem/router. So We did rather than pay 5$ a month for theirs. Well when we didn't get internet through that router/modem we'd call they'd say since it's not their modem/router they can't help us. So we returned our modem/router and they were to send us a free one, next day shipping, with no charge to us, except the 5$ a month. When THAT router finally came (about 5days later). The Internet STILL wouldn't work. They finally sent someone over to take a look at it, and the guy who came said that no one had ever climbed the phone pole and hooked it up to the apartment! He helped us get the router set up, but because I have a macbook they couldn't (for whatever reason, never had this problem when I was at my parents house with cable internet through the local cable company) make a wireless password that worked with my Mac so we had to go with an unsecured network. On top of that, when we received our first bill, it was well over 100$ they claimed they were billing us a month and half in advance, no one EVER told us that they would do that. AND there were the installation charges we were PROMISED we wouldn't have. They said they'd fix our bill, we never received a corrected bill. So we didn't pay it. Now, our internet is turned off, They tell us we are Under a contract that we NEVER SIGNED or agreed to OR saw any paperwork saying we were under one. If we break this contract, that once again we never agreed to, its 200$! AND we have to pay what we still owe (which they are now saying is 50$ a month) on top of that, and if we don't pay it all at once they will send us to collections. They inferred that my husband and I are idiots because we said since we never received a corrected bill we didn't pay because we did not know WHAT to pay, they said 'so you just decided Not to pay your bills?!' Not to mention we were told a bunch of different things, such as if we pay 65$ we can get it turned back on, then someone else said it would not be turned on till everything we owe is paid. So We're told conflicting things that we do not know which is true. We were talked down to, we were lied to about the price we were supposed to pay, and about the contract we were originally told we would not have, which in turn apparently unknown to us until we called to cancel we are under. And now we are stuck until after September in this contract. As Soon as it is up we are CERTAINLY switching over to the local cable company, at least there we won't be cheated and lied to. Also we are telling all of our family and friends of our TERRIBLE experience with Century link. This is RIDICULOUS, I have seen MANY complaints that are the same as mine. They TRICK you to get under contract and then won't let you out! Reporting them to better business bureau that's for sure!

This company must be ran by school kids! I have had internet service with them for over 2 years at a speed of 3 megabites. I called in and asked if they offered a higher speed in my area and they said they could go up to 8 megs. We disscused the price and I agreed to upgrade. It took them a week to get my service started and when they did, it was at 1.5 megs! I called in and they said someone changed the work order so they changed it back. This happened 3 times! They never called me to tell me they changed anything and I even gave them my work cell phone number. The last time I called them they said that they could only offer me 1.5 megs! Keep in mind I had 3 megs for over 2 years at the same address! They cannot tell me why, they offer no explanition for changing my work order without notifying me, nothing! Everytime I talk to them I spend no less than 1 hour on the phone. There is no excuse for this kind of service from a billion dollar company!

I've been a good customer for over a year. Scheduled recurring payments to make things easier. Now i'm having constant billing issues and I just about had it. First off, I am permently disabled and receiving Social Security Disability. My montly payments come in on the 3rd of each and every month. From the start this was it was arranged and it ran perfectly...check hits my account and centurylink would take it out on the 5th. Ever since they changed over to a new billing system it has been a problem. Customer service didnt help much so I asked to speak to a billing supervisor and they supposedly fixed it. On the 5th of jan everything went fine and they got their payment and a new bill comes in and saying it was due on the 26th. I called and spoke to centurylink and they said it would not be taken out till the 5th. I took them at their word and low and behold they attempt to draft my bank account of tbe 27th and it got sent back unpaid and I get stuck with a $34.00 fee from my bank...Where is there any justice here. I'm out to make some heads roll... This is not a way to treat a good customer especially one that is disabled.

I had embarq when I signed up 3 years ago. I had only local service. I only wanted it for emergency purposes as I have a cell.
We were never ABLE to place long distance call, it would not let us. I have not changed this but now with centurylink I have an outrageous bill for long distant calls to a # that is not 20 miles away (same town as my "local"service provider but they charged long distant prices)! I do not know how they were able to change my plan without my knowledge.
I will be looking into another provider TODAY!

I couldn't pay my December bill on time, so on the 26th of December Centurylink called and I answered. I told the man I could pay on the 29th of December and he said well i will extend it to the #rd of January. I said thanks. On January 3 i went online to pay my bill and it said I had a $0 balance. So I did a live chat and asked the man why I had a $0 balance and he said a payment was made there was nothing more I needed to do and again I asked if he was sure and he said yes. I thought (like most would)that a lil Christmas miracle had happened and that they had zeroed out my balance, maybe as a way to say thanks for being a loyal customer(especially since they only offer deals to new customers and the current ones just get screwed). A week later my bill is back and I am getting shut off notices. I call and they said that I arranged a post dated check(which I wouldn't have done because I dont' use that account anymore because it never has money in it). They pretty much accused me of lying, got smart with me and when I asked for a supervisor they gave to someone who was not a supervisor but didn't tell me until after I had wasted my time telling her my story. In order for me to get back the 2 overdraft fees THEY caused I have to contact my bank and then they will give me a credit. I don't want a credit I want MY money back in MY account that I didn't authorize. When I asked for a copy of the information stating i had gave them my account information on December 23 authorizing a post dated check they claim they are not allowed to do that or to give me the name of the person I supposedly talked to. I only spoke to 1 person and I never gave him my checking information. Centurylink is crooked and I am urging all to stay away from them. I am contacting my local news and newspaper to see if they will do a story on these crooked people.

THIS IS A TOTAL SCAM! Keep receiving harrasing phone calls from this India guy who uses a different name every time he calls. Same dude with a very heavy Indian accent. The message says that "I or my acting attorney had better return his phone call immediately". The number on my caller ID and the one he leaves on his voice message on my land line is [protected]. In his message he states "this is time sensetive and I wish you good luck as the situation unfolds upon you". The name this dude leaves on my voice mail is Jeff Black.
When I returned the phone call he indentifies himself as Percy Jackson. So I asked, what is your real name, Jeff or Percy? I recognized the voice. I think it ticked him off that I figured out he was the same person using a different name. Anyway, I was informed that I own money on a payday loan. I had applied for one on line but never followed through with it. I canceled the transaction. I asked for the name of the loan company and the guy tells me Advance Cash America (this wasn't the company I initialy delt with).
I informed the dude that they were mistaken and I NEVER followed through with it and NEVER received a payday advance. By this time the conversation got very heated because he kept insiting that I was wrong and he was right. I asked for the law firm he works for...wouldn't answer me. HE hung up on me bacause I was so angry and yelling at him. He never got any banking information from me. I wasn't going to give that over the phone! That's what stopped me from filling out the loan app on line in the first place! I tried dialing the number back and this dude would never return my call. Finally, I left a message on his voicemail that I would be reporting his phone number to the, BBB, FBI and my local police. Haven't had a call on my land line since. I'm probably on their "bad list" due to my threats of reporting them, so they never follow up. This all took place the week of December 12th 2010.
NOW a month later this same clown is calling my cell#. Same guy, same accent, same message...but this time his name is Brian Smith! I'm ignoring these phone calls. And have reported these guys to the proper authorities.

I also contacted a local credit officer and here is some infomation or red flags to watch for with this type of "SCAM".
1) A legit debt collection company would have a toll free number for clients to call. 2) The same person, using the same name, same phone number would be calling. 3) If you get angry and yell THEY don't hang up on you. Their job is to stick with the client to try to resolve the issue. 4) They wouldn't wait another month to try to collect a debt... they'd be calling EVERY DAY. 5) This debt collection company would show up on my credit report if this is a legit debt collection issue.
SO...watch out for these guys!

On Oct 29 2010, I called Centurylink to request for vacation service from Nov 20 to Dec 20 for my home phone and high speed internet following their billing cycle. The customer sercv did exectly that, she told me when I get back I have to call them to resume my service. I came back earlier and called, they resume my service. Nov bill showed prorated subscriber line charged and prorated vacation number reservation from Nov2 to Nov20, Manual LATA for both total amount to 40.46. I paid all in full. Dec bill showed amount to 148.73 triple of my regular plan. I ask why is the amount is so high? customer service told me that charges are for disconnection and reconnection, restoration and switching of plan, prorated subscriber line charged, prorated modem, both Manual LATA, service order, remove line charges, remove vacation service, prorated modem, remove 768K/384K from Nov 23 to Dec 20 due to my request for vacation plan. All I ask was vacation service, as centurylink web specifically mentioned at their Frequently Ask Questions that anyone can request this service via online or call cust serv. It even said that centurylink bills half of monthly access line rates plus taxs and approriate surchg. there is no part saying that vacation service will result to all your service and plan is switch. The customer serv told me nothing they or I can do about it but pay the bill. If you can resolve this, please help me. I am trying to resolve this issue in every way possible before forcing my self to take action involving Centurylink Corporate, the FCC and BBB. I hate doing this but all I ask is vacation service as allowed.

About 3 months ago I had lightning wipe out my phone line taking out my DSL modem and fax machine. I called Century Link formerly Century Tel and they sent a tech out and he replaced the modem with what looks like the same model. I've since been rarely able to do online banking, posting messages to Facebook, forums and cannot send an e-mail or do my work orders for my company. I have called CenturyLink multiple times to be finally told that I would need to pay for a tech to come out because they checked it from their end and everything is fine. Yet I can go to speedtest.net I get 1.49mb download and errors for upload. They then tell me they do not guarantee upload speeds. As soon as I can afford the upfront cost's of going to satellite internet I will. Customer service of this caliber is becoming more and more common with every call I make to Centurlink. If I had other highspeed internet providers available in my area I would have dropped them. My work has sent an IT person over and has even removed any and all firewalls and checked all settings on my network. All three computers at my house do the same. I may try buying my own modem to see if that fixes the problem but I cannot believe the customer NOSERVICE I have received.

CenturyLink has a charge that you will see on each months bill called Pure Solutions. This amount is not supported by the FCC's Truth in Billing Act. If you call you will have to fight to prove your point, at which time they will transfer you to their AR department, whom you will have to repeat your case with, then they will transfer you to the billing department, and so on and so on, until they finally come back and say there system is down and they cant help you - but you can be transferred to their Spanish speaking Department, and if you tell them you speak English then they will be able to help (Yeah, Right...). I waited anyway and guess what, the operator did speak English, but could not access my account. The service itself is pretty slow, and they only really market themselves in rural areas where people have no other choice. Overall, not a bad scam, it is really sad that it is easier for them to pay people to update comments on the blogs to try and save their image instead of not scamming the customer in the first place.

You can also file a complaint with the FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/truthinbill.html

They kept over $400.oo and won't return my money. I sent my payments to their other address in Texas by mistake for a year. They kept my payment and kept charging me late fee's. because they kept my money and did not credit my account. Where is my money Centurylink are crooks. The customer service is terrible.
Tech support are dumb ###. With Cox and other companies that don't steal from you I will use Cox communications and my cell phone. Century Link should be banned from doing business at all.
I will contact the BBB and also sue them in small claims for 5k. They truly suck the bog one. Don;t use century Link they suck! When they took over Embarq the service turned to crap and unethical practices.
It is against the law to steal.Century Link might also face federal charges when I contact the FCC!

For several months I have been receiving calls to my home land line phone from "F73"
showing telephone #[protected]. When I pick up my phone, they hang up. If I let my
answering machine pick up, they hang up. When I dial the caller ID number of 714/463-
2943, I get a recording saying to leave my name and phone number. No business or
individual is ever identified. I don't know who is doing this, but since they keep calling at
all times of the morning, afternoon, and night, I consider it harassment. After doing a
reverse telephone lookup online, the only information I get is that the number is out of
Yorba Linda, CA and the carrier is Global Crossing local services. I have contacted the
Senior Director of Corporate, Financial and Technology at Global Crossing, and he will
look into this problem and contact me within the next two weeks, or by Jan. 21, 2011.

So I made an error when I made my electronic payment by a factor of 10. I called customer service to try and get the overpayment returned. They told me that they can not issue a check for overpayment. They can only do so for remaining balance if I terminate my service. So they obviously do have a method but they do not want too! They say the balance will be applied to future bills. This is over a years worth of bills that it will cover. I have been with them since living in VA along with DSL and 2 lines. Have been on hold for over 16 minutes waiting for a supervisor but I think this is just a way to get me to hang up.
Guess I need to cut my landlines and change to cable for my internet and tell them goodbye as this appears to be the only way to get my overpayment back.

I originally entered into a contract with Century Link in February of 2010 for High Speed Internet and Telephone Service because I was told the company did not offer standalone (dry) DSL. In November, I contacted customer service after finding out the company did in fact offer this service. The customer service agent was new and switched my service over as requested. The internet speed was cut in quarter and I was not informed that the DSL speed would be reduce from 3 MB down to 768 KBps. I have spent over 2 hours with customer service on this issue and have now been transferred between representatives twice. This company has not been easy to deal with.

I received a call from C-link asking me to use their internet service they offered me a one year $14.95 a month internet service. The C-link person said I would only pay $22.50 for the installation and no other charges. I already had a phone line with them paying approx: $50.00 a month so I thought yes this is a good deal because I would be paying approx $65.00 a month for phone and internet. I received my first bill of $405.00 for installation charges AND OTHER ITEMS THAT MADE NO SENSE. I called C-link and spoke with a rep. about the bill and after one hour on the phone with her she said that it looked like someone got carried away with their pen and she was so sorry about this mistake and now I would only owe $222.00 which was crazy to. I waited until the nest day and called again to get a new rep who finally fot the bill to $166.00 which is also crazy since there was only to be a $22.50 charge in the first place. I was angry said cancel it all she said I would owe them $200.00 cancelation charge, I told her I did not agree and to show me thecontract with my signature, she said it was done electronically. Another lie.. I don't know what to do, I have perfect credit and don't want it ruined but I also don't want to do business with a crooked company like this.

A renter on my property opened a phone account with this company. They didn't pay their phone bill. Now this company is trying to sue me and ruin my credit over someone else's bill. They got my name because of county records that I own the property - they don't even have my social security number (Because I didnt sign up with them) and they still managed to file against me! This company frauds people that arent even their customers.

We were recently surprised by a $17, 000 charge for International calls to Guinea. Apparently, fraudsters hacked into our phone system and made 3 days worth of calls to the same number in Guinea @ $.99/minute. CenturyLink holds firm that we are responsible for these charges. Anyone out there had this situation taken care of any better? Please help!

We have a cluster of our phones going out in our rural "neighborhood". We recently subscribed to this service for dsl and landline service, we are now on our 5th repair call with service people claiming it is fixed and it goes out again, every time. When we call again they act like there is nothing they can find that is wrong, even when they have confirmed it is not working and that there is nothing they can do and we are sick and tired of it. This is their job to fix it... This is what we have paid for. It is their line and not in the house. We have finally talked to a supervisor. If this doesn't work what can we do next?

I paid through my bank account on 8/31/2010 $10.00 which cleared my account on 9/1/2010. Later I got a bill saying I would go to collections if I don't pay $11.66, so I paid through their website on 10/5/2010 granted I thought this was another bill not realizing it was the same bill and now we paid twice. I called on 10/5/2010 to confirm and advised them that I already paid for this original charge and it cleared and they stated they would do a Payment Investigation and it would take 3-5 business days for someone to call me regarding this issue. I never got a call and so I called again on 10/15 I explained I've been waiting to find out what is going on with my case.I was told it takes 7-10 days for this to be done, yet still nothing about the status of my case. I called again 10/29 to be told now they need a copy of the check the bank sent or bank transmittal report. So we sent that to the fax group at 800.393.4318. I still didn't hear anything so on 11/5 I called yet again. Explaining I don't have time to call every week to find out where and when my money will get refunded, that it's been over 30 days since this has all started "the investigation" which they put a note in for someone to call me for a follow up to this day I have not heard anything. I can't believe it takes this long to get my overpayment back. My next stop will be to the BBB, for someone not to call me or for me to not get my refund in a timely manner is unacceptable. I will not recommend this company to anyone nor use them again.