CenturyLink
reviews and complaints

GX called me back in Nov. and said AT&T had authorized them to take over my long distance account, and I didn't know any better. They said my phone bill would decrease by $10 a month. Instead it has been rising and is near twice my whole former bill . The first time I called AT&T to complain -- last month -- the rep said yes, she could see the overcharge and would credit my bill with $10, which she did -- but the charges THIS month drawfed that credit by nearly $40.
When I just called AT&T about this, the rep said, You should have been smarter and not let them take over your account. And I said, I knew nothing about it until GX called me and said AT&T had given it to them and it was a done deal. CLEARLY, AT&T had SOME complicity in this, otherwise GX could not have gone this far -- co-billing etc. The AT&T rep gave me a number for GX, which (automated, of course) referred me to another # that goes nowhere. The AT&T rep closed out my account with GX but told me I would get at least one more bill from GX -- which will be outrageous, I am sure.
I am an old person on a small pension and count every penny. Both of these outfits are despicable -- what can we DO?

I would like to understand why the late fees are 23.00 ? That is more than the cost of one line with all the bells and whistles from Spectrum. I will begin my transference.

Canceled my century link service numerous times at end of my contract time. concerning web page by phone and e-mails and marking on my billing. Have had nothing but problems from day one. So after no results took my business back to 3-Rivers and they canceled my service with century link. Kept getting billing from century which all my responses to them that I was now longer a customer of theirs the billing continued. Received a call on Sept 27 from century concerning an internet service they said I still had with them on a different phone number they had assigned me without any input from me. I told them I had no account with them under that or any other number and I would not pay for what I did not order. The man gave me a number to call to clear the issue but would not talk to me ( so why did he call? if he couldn't clear this up? Finally after obvious back and forth he said he is transferring the matter to collections and would no longer talk and hung up. Reccomendations to all...stay away from Century Link. They are no what they promise and to get any change made falls on deaf ears!
I will take this to court if I have too. I have documentation to back me up. Meanwhile my credit rating will now suffer as a result I'm sure. [censored][censored][censored] So much for all their service [censored] !

They are scam artist of the worst kind

poor service from centurylink here in Elizabethtown Pa. internet is so slow that it becomes unusable. tech support's only focus is on my devices and modem repeatedly saying that I am getting the speed I have contracted for . they are of no help. we now lose service daily in the early AM. and most of the time it slows to a crawl. we are going to switch to cable

We requested to have Qwest come out to install a telephone line and the day before they came, had to cancel our request.
The next day the service technician comes out and we explain that we have canceled the request and he leaves.
This was 3 months ago. The first time we called Qwest, they said they would correct their error.

The 2nd time we called, on Sunday, 12/7/08, the friendly female representative said not to worry -- they would correct the problem and we would be receiving a bill with a zero balance. Now, tonight an aggressive debt collector calls from Allied and is demanding that we pay this bill, which Qwest apparently turned over to them.

There is no way to communicate with Qwest to report problems via e-mail. Lisa, the Qwest representative that I spoke with tonight said that the billing department is closed, but that she would send them an e-mail explaining the situation and they would contact me tomorrow.

Why is it that I don't really believe them?

This is the 'worst' customer service I have encountered in my life and I would NEVER choose Qwest as a provider -- friendly doesn't count. Customer service agents need information and access in order to serve us -- the customers that choose this provider over others. One of the reps said that they 'just' began being able to search for a customer using 'name'. Hello? You represent communications and you're that far behind the times!

Now we have to worry about this being on our credit report! Beware of Qwest! I'd hate to be a steady customer that got a little behind on my bill!

When Century Link was able to buy out Qwest, they became a third rate monopoly as an ISP. Their "very fast" ISP in my area (which by the way is not a rural area, but a city of over 2 million people) is a whopping 10 Mbps on the download, oh and are you ready for this a whole .6, yes, I said, .6 Mbps on the upload. This is barely, and I mean barely better than dial up, and yet these guys have the gall to "offer me promotion of $87 per month IF I bundled with phone service: (they always remember to show me my big promotional savings of $45 per month with my oh so wonderful promotion. In other words, without this promotional pricing (which is actually a pretty awful price considering the snails' pace of their bandwidth), I would be paying well over $100 for 10 Mbps download and LESS then 1 Mbps on the upload. In fact, the only reason I got the phone bundled into the package in the first place is because it made my Internet a little less expensive. I was told I would benefit f I added phone service to my internet. The interesting thing I learned is that when I added the phone Century Link very cleverly put me into a 12 month bundled contract, of which it looks like I will be having to pay these crooks several hundred dollars to get out of (( am moving in January and apparently I will still have two months left on this just amazing bundle that I was swindled into). Thankfully I am moving to a location where Century Link does not hold the monopoly. Thankfully I have already spoken to a new provider who will be able to offer me not only home phone, but 60 MBps of download, 6 MBps of upload, AND actual digital cable (you may have noticed that century link's television offer is usually Direct T.V. as the Century Link Prime digital t.v. is offered, well, NOWhere that I have been able find) all for $89 per month for the first 12 months and $109 for the second 12 months...btw..that includes HBO and Showtime. Right now I am paying $87 for phone and very slow internet (that by the ways, works inconsistently) I am really surprised that Century Link has not been sued. Or even aside from not having been sued or investigated by any State's attorneys general's offices, that they even have customers. Oh, but I forget, they go after apartment complexes who have no other real options. How sad, They must be so proud of their method of marketing in that they do not really get customers but rather corner a market with those who are captive to their services because these people have no other choices. How proud they must me.

I was charged $380 for a service they could not provide. I signed up for a package (phone/internet/direct tv). Had the phone and internet connected and 2 days later direct tv came out and stated they could not install in my apartment complex. I called Qwest and canceled the whole package. I then had Comcast install a package (I know, not much better) 4 months later I was getting bills for past due amount of $380. When I called them they stated they did not have a record of my canceling the package. When asked them to look and see if I was using any of the services, they stated that they deleted the files. After talking to several supervisors and yelling at anybody I could at Qwest, they promply turned over to collections and is now on my credit report. I have disputed and the saga goes on 1 year later.

In November of 2007 I entered into a 2-year cell contract with Qwest for $25 per month guaranteed for life. A year later Qwest sends notice that they are RENEGING on THEIR contract and quitting the cell phone business. On April 4, 2009 I called Q to changes some services, spent 3.5 hours on the phone, was HUNG UP ON 3 TIMES, didn't get anything done and basically ruined my day. I committed to quitting them for good. Now I'm trying to port my cell number to another carrier and they're playing 3rd grader games like telling the new carrier my SSN is not correct, claiming their system is down, just basic childish retalitory measures over 5 days. I closed all Qwest services and will probably not pay the final bill. In a day and age where there is VOIP phone service, Magic Jacks etc., the phone companies are fast becoming dinosaurs and better realise that the public is not forced to do business with them to have phone service, and $35 landline service is a thing of the past. Bye Bye Qwest, SBC, AT&T and similar thieves, you'll soon be out of commission. Better start thinking like Kodak and innovate instead of thinking that HIGHER PRICES will help keep you afloat.

At first, lets make it simple:
- For internet connection, called century link and agent offered promotional offer. She informed 40 Mbps for $30 and informed
there is no contract and I can disconnect connection if I am not satisfied with the connection.

- I ordered this on Jan 26, 2014 sorry do not remember the agent name.

- In wireless connection I don’t even get 5 Mbps compared but when I am wired I get 40 Mbps.

- They asked to talk to a customer representative and still the problem exists.

- I received first month bill :

- $76.52 was the total and it says that High speed internet 12 months commitment month 1 of 12

- Called them and asked how come there is any contract involved.

- 1st agent : Kayla informed there is additional $37.48 for activation fees and yes the contract is activated

- Asked her to remove the contract but she informed that $200 will be deducted if I move out of century link and the amount may vary or may increase

-
Requested to talk to her manager and one guy
from Escalation department named Iwin called after 15 minutes of hold time.

-
Asked him to remove the contract and he informed
$200 early termination fee will apply but if I still want to remove the contract
I need to pay $75 monthly with no termination fee

-
Informed him I need no contract and specified
the agent informed the same

-
Iwin informed that he can remove the contract but
for the amount $40 I will get 1.5 Mbps which is very less not even to stream a
movie and can be used only to send mails and photos.

-
Informed that I am a contractor and I move to
different states based on the client requirement and that’s the reason I do not
want to be in contract

-
He specified even if I move to a different
states and say the connection is only 3 Mbps in that location, I still need to pay $40 as per my contract

-
I am an legal immigrant and very much vexed with
the way they treated me.

-
Please take some legal action against them for I
do not want any one to experience the same which I had before with Century
Link.

NOTE: My only concern why have they no specified anything about contract and why did the
agent say I can come out of it and no need to pay any additional fee.

Century Link has appalling billing practices. They bill you one month in advance. In other words, they bill you for services you haven't yet received. Then, if you are 6 days late paying, they send you a disconnect notice giving you 7 days for them to receive the FULL payment in their office. If you call them to pay over the phone, it costs 4 additional dollars. If they disconnect on the 7th day, they charge you an extra $25 to reconnect, even though all they have to do is click a button in on a computer screen in their office. Mind you, this is all for services you have not YET received!

All other utilities, including Comcast, allow you to go 2 to 3 months before they send a disconnect notice. In these difficult financial times, companies need to be more considerate of their customers, not gouge them. As soon as my year contract is over, I will definitely go with a different service!

Oh...and their internet is also slower than Comcast.

griegota.

Just a quick note. My offers to help people here are sincere and that is why I provide them with my email address. We do not publically trade private information on this website to share with everyone. There's plenty of people that take up my offer for help. Surf over to my Twitter page to see. I'll leave it up to you to decide. Thanks.

Joey H.
CenturyLink Customer Outreach
Reachout@CenturyLink.com

Hummm, this Joey H. CenturyLink Customer Outreach fella seems to be hogwash. Look at the other complaints. He has yet to help anyone. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM...

I agree. about an hour on the phone since they seem to ignore email, three departments and no help whatsoever.Not a difficult problem no one would/could do anything except transfer me and at one point actually suggest looking into a different isp since they "Dont really do that sort of thing". I just wanted to know how to change a setting on their exclusive westell made modem.None of them know.
STAY AWAY.

Dan,

Sorry to hear about the trouble you had. I'll be glad to see if I can help out. If you email me more details on the issue I'll check it out. Try to include the account number and address if possible. My email is Joey@CenturyLink. I've helped many others here on Complaintsboard.com. You can see others I've helped out online here: http://twitter.com/EMBARQ/favourites.

Thanks,

Joey H.
CenturyLink Customer Outreach
ReachOut@CenturyLink.com

My ISP was Embarq, now Centurylink. Their service is horrible. The people are paid to be rude and incompetent.

I have been fighting with qwest for nearly four months. I terminated there service within a week when the internet was not fast enough for my needs (4 months of fighting for a week or less of service, just doesn't seem right). I keep getting bills from them for past due service and an unreturned modem that was returned within the week. I have made at least 6 calls. They tell me to wait for a final bill or tell me the balance has been cleared up, once to the point of saying I will get a statment/letter stating the fact that it was cleared up. That was 3 weeks ago and all i got was a debt collector calling me and writing to me that I owe a debt. And my favorite part is how they protect their managers so you can't get a hold of one of them for up to 48 hours. If it is your mess up then you better be available to clean it up at my convience not yours.

I noticed this month that my Qwest cable and internet bill each went up $10. I did not receive prior notification that these bills would be increasing. Trust for Qwest is now in question. I went shopping around for other ISPs and it seems that I'm being over-charged for what I'm getting. My current speed I'm getting from Qwest is 2.6Mb/s. This costs me $60 per month. Is the cost/speed ratio good?

I am still on hold after numerous attempts of trying to get a $5 per month charged removed after we purchased our internet modem about two years ago and they continue to charge us the rental fee. Last October I spent hours on the phone with them to only receive 3 months credited back. The charge is still there every month and I was just told that I would receive for this month but not prior month because it my responsibility to check my bill. I assumed when they said it was taken care of that Qwest would make sure its taken care of. At this point in my opinion I thinks its a scam and another way to get as much money as they can. I've been with Qwest for about 20 years and bundle all my services and now refuse to continue my services! I will be shopping for a company that provides service and that IS NOT QWEST!

Thank you.
I deeply hate Qwest, if one can hate a company, I do.
30 years being with them, no loyalty no attempt to better them selves.

These [censored]s have over a hundred different "locations" allowing them to spoof almost any local #. They are not actually in the locations, in fact they have been sued many times.

Here is their dba name: Global Crossing Telemanagement, Inc.

You can see that they have Yelp, Google, and BBB reviews, all negative. Want to sue them for 100% illegal calls, especially Robocalls? Go to your county courthouse and file in Small Claims, you don't need a lawyer, file for every single time that they have called your phone, I believe the amount is $500, plus Robocalls probably make the amount even more. Sue these a-holes! They "sell" all kinds of phony services, plus your state is after you, plus you will be put in jail, plus they eventually want you to send them Gift Cards!

I got a couple of calls from [protected]. Most if them were hang ups but one was threatening me with jail. Not quite sure why as part of the message started before my voice mail picked up. Knowing any legitimate reason for such a threat would not have come in that manner I did a check on the number and it came up as Global Crossing Local Services-Boston, Massachusetts. Considering that they seem to have numerous phone numbers all over the country and are doing the same type of calls, someone should be shutting these scum down.

I just received a call from [protected]. When I answered, no one spoke and they just hung up. After a Google search it came up GLOBAL CROSSING LOCAL SERVICES based in Minneapolis, MN. It seems they have different numbers for different States and have been doing this for at least 6 years now. Why can't anyone find out who they are and shut them down? I am also on the DO Not Call List and this has been happening way to much.

I keep getting calls from a number I did not know and when I did a reverse look up it showed Global Crossing in Marietta, Ga. I don't know anything about this company, but I get two calls a day. I also got a new line on my cell phone and the day I activated it I got a call from this number. That's scary! But I can tell you if anyone from this company threatens me, or my family let them bring it on.

I got a call and it came up Global Crossing Local Services in Nashville, TN [protected] saying I won a trip but I only would have to pay $100 fee.

The number this piece-of-crap company uses to harass me is [protected]. A Google search pulls up Global Crossing. When I try to follow the robot through the options, I end up with 24-7 Legal, who ends up connecting me with a law firm based on the zip-code I enter. I don't know how I got on their call list, but it's really getting ridiculous. A lot of these complaints are pretty old, so I don't know if it's the same entity that's harassing all these other people, but some agency should have some control over this crap.

Don't just contact the BBB. Please also file a complaint with the FCC. If everyone here files a complaint, the FCC may do something about it. https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/202916660-Unwanted-Telemarketing-Calls-and-the-National-Do-Not-Call-List

Got a text from [protected] asking me to fund a URL, whatever that means. The text came from somewhere in Illinois. Somehow they knew my name and street address. I figure it is a scam.

Received a call from [protected] twice this morning at 3:45 a.m.. I did not answer either call because I don't answer calls from numbers I don't know and couldn't read the number fast enough without my glasses. A reverse look-up indicates this call was placed by Global Crossing Local Services, Inc. - PA. I am also on the No Call list - and receive numerous calls from other "unknown" and "private" numbers. My guess is that these are all scams trying to determine whether engaging the person answering might lead to a successful scam of sorts. If anyone has better info I would love to know about it.

i have been dealing with qwest's horrible customer service for years now. they have mixed my account up w/ 2 other peoples and tried to charge me for their fees. just got it to where i don't have top call once a mo, to get the modem rental fee off since i own mine, horrible- horrible - nasty csr's that are just plain rood ( a few really nice ones also, but mainly rood) i would transfer service if i could, but they are the only phone co here, and they handle my dtv, cell, net, and phone, ..
FYI- just be prepared for allot of headaches dealing with qwest!

Agapito,

Sorry you're having trouble. If an account was set up fradulently in your name, you would want to contact our Fraud Department. The Fraud Hotline is 877-78FRAUD [protected]). Also feel free to ask me any questions you may have. You can send me an email at anytime, EMBARQ_Joey@embarq.com.

To verify my identity, check out some other customers I've helped online:

http://twitter.com/EMBARQ/favourites

Thanks,

Joey H.
EMBARQ Customer Outreach
reachout@embarq.com

Please forgive my spelling above, I can't see very well. I can't seem to find a way to edit it either. If a message comes off illiterate, it's not going to be taken seriously.

Here is the deal they are selling now they say they are not selling. The exact same thing happened to me. But I know how they operate, so I signed up for the internet only for $19.95 a month for a 1 year contract and called back later to add a basic line $18. But I knew she bundled it, and waited for he to "verify" what she actually did, she has too. When I reminded her I did NOT want to bundle and only wanted the basic line, she very nastily said "Oh, so now you want to DOWNGRADE?" Like castrating me over the phone. When I got the first bill, it was massive. When I called them, they said the rep wasn't authorized to sell me that plan. They also said the wouldn't read the notes back to me and not tell me why they never sent me an order confirmation email I had requested. I called their verification system, but the system didn't log that kind of info. Bu the agent read the entire script to me, inserting the deal. I know they record those, they have too. But they refused me access to them or to have them transcribed. CHAT, its the best way to get it in writing. Following is a link to their plans, the one i singed up for is the first one titled 12 month offer. Right now they offered me a 50% off deal, but now can't test the other speeds, it was $19.95 for ANY speed. Keep in mind, customer service is about servicing the customer's wallet, not the customer's needs. If you don't bundle, they are not interested in servicing you. Most phone companies don't advertise their basic phone plan. By lay, they have to offer one, but aren't required to actively advertise it. Right now, Centurylink has a "deal", HSI for $19.99, home phone required., but they are charging $45 dollars, their basic is $17.49!

https://qwest.centurylink.com/residential/internet/broadbandlanding/pricing_details_popup.html

I actually quit my job to work here the way they made it seem and i cant go back to it now because they are not hiring. I am struggling because of the internet company was a scam and MATT AIKEN, is the name of the manager who let me quit

i just came from my first "interview" with The Internet Company and I knew something was up. I have never had my picture taken in an interview before (how weird is that). I was placed in a room to take my basic assesment test. While in the room there were atleast twenty others during the time I was there taking the same test. (turn and burn) After finishing the first page of three they then asked questions like "do you use Myspace or Facebook", "how many friends are on your Myspace and Facebook" and "What is your main mean of communication" obvious marketing tools. After researching this online there are to many complaints to count. I'm not even going to waste my time or gas on the second "interview".

I recently reported this company to www.careerbuilder.com because I did further investigation on the company. This company is going under aliases such as "The Internet Company", "Quest", "Three Stars Media", etc. Career Builder did an investigation on this company following my complaint and the company has been removed from their website. It is imperative that we continue to report this company to the websites that they are posting their jobs on in order to protect ourselves and other job seekers. If anyone finds their ads on various job sites, please report the company to the host site so that they will be removed!

I had a experience with Three Stars Media a few months back and just informed on this site under complaints for Three Stars Media that they are now using another name THE INTERNET-COMPANY.

Thanks

Beware that this company goes by three names:
The internet Company (www.internet-company.com), Three Stars and Media Logic. All the same company.
I also went to their office for an "interview" for the "Administrative Assistant" position.
It went down EXACTLY as hf4268 described.
What a bunch of ###.

Three Stars is a scam company. Here is a local news story on the company:

http://www.wftv.com/action9/19970193/detail.html

My Three Stars SCAM experience

I recently went for two interviews at Three Stars Media and this was my experience. I am hoping someone closes this company down ! It's hard enough to find a job in this market but when you get scammed like this, it becomes VERY demoralizing.
I applied for TWO jobs on CareerBuilder.com : Administrative Assistant and Human Resources Assistant.
Click here to see the actual postings as they appeared on Careerbuilder.com : http://i44.tinypic.com/11rrxa9.jpg and http://i39.tinypic.com/jj5qgy.jpg . NOTE: CLICK the pics to make the image larger to be able to read it. This applies for all future photo links.
I received and automated e-mail back from Three Stars, Inc. the next day requesting to set up an "initial interview" : http://i42.tinypic.com/s4t6br.jpg .
I went to the website and registered for an initial interview. The ENTIRE interview set up process was automated.
I received a confirmation e-mail for the "initial interview" : http://i41.tinypic.com/6hi88n.jpg .
And a reminder e-mail : http://i43.tinypic.com/wbz5mp.jpg . This reminding cements the thinking that the job interview is important. They want to make sure you show up.
I put the words "initial interview" in quotes above because there was NO interview on my first visit to Three Stars. Here is how the first visit played out.
I arrived at Suite 211 and the receptionist asked for my resume. She then handed me a white binder with laminated pages to view information for a "Verification Specialist". I quickly paged through this booklet because I already knew what was coming next. I have to admit, I didn't pay attention much to the laminated pages because I had a friend who interviewed a few weeks prior for a Sales Manager position and she told me the first interview was just an assessment test.
After flipping through the laminated booklet, I then handed the book back to the receptionist. She told me I needed to take an assessment test (I think the binder info alluded to this too) and she told me she needed to take a picture of me as they "have so many people coming through their doors" and needed to take the photo for "identification purposes". I complied and let her snap my photo. She then guided me through a door opening to a room with several computers and little cubicles dividing the individuals taking the test. She opened the test on a PC, told me I had 30 mins. to take it and she told me I could use a calculator and she opened the calculator on the desktop. She told me to log in to take the test using my e-mail address and my last name. I then saw all my person info (name, address, etc. as well as the pic she just snapped of me) and then was taken to the test. I don't remember all the questions but I found a few questions quite odd. One asked "Are you over 24 years of age? " another asked (not sure of exact wording) "We have part time work at home positions for individuals. Would you be interested in this position or would you like to stick with the position you applied for?" I selected to stick with my current job I applied for. And there were some questions on advertising: "What are advertising verticals?", "What are five of the top 100 Internet websites?". There was also three vocabulary questions (the only one I remember was the meaning of the word "CONVERGE", there were two other vocab words used in sentences, I can't remember, something about Freud). There were also some Math questions. From memory, I think there were three in total, two word problems (one something about cutting a piece of wood into three pieces and the other was an algebra question, I think it was "2x - 4 = 6") and another odd question was "If you knew you would be fired for admitting a mistake would you lie to save your job?" . There were other questions on the test but these certain questions stood out to me.
I left the computer room and the receptionist handed me a business card (http://i44.tinypic.com/p7vus.jpg ) and told me to log on to their website with my e-mail address and last name after 10am the next day to check my application status :
When I logged on the next morning the website had a message (after I logged in) showing that my "aptitude test was impressive" and they wanted to meet with me for a second interview. I scheduled the second interview and got another confirmation e-mail : http://i40.tinypic.com/97440m.jpg .
And again, another reminder e-mail for the second interview : http://i43.tinypic.com/30cuc8o.jpg . They really wanted to make sure I showed up !
I arrived for my second interview at Suite 217 and walked into a foyer with dark lighting and no one to greet me. I saw a big conference table with better lighting and big leather chairs and a projector. I sat down next to two women who were waiting for their "interview". One of the women asked me "what are we doing here? What's going to go on I wonder ?" - the both laughed nervously. I told her that first we would get a presentation, then tour, then have individual interviews. This was the experience of my friend. In reality, I misunderstood my friend - there was no individual interview after the tour, it was a group interview telling everyone that they would be getting a phone call if they were interested. Again, my friend when there for a sales job, NOT the jobs I had applied to for Admin Asst. and Human Resources Asst.
Eventually, more people filtered in. We had 10 in our meeting. A woman named Crissy W (WAH Advisor Regional Manager - according to their website. Go to http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=9 and click on the little girl being hugged by Mickey Mouse to see her pic and info) was our cheerleader for the next couple of hours. She first asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves. She then told us about herself (she was a dancer and worked at Disney, although that didn't pay the bills and then she spoke about the company. Started in 2004, now has over 500 employees and also a team in India. She explained the role of the Verification Specialist and explained that they don't show the job name in their listings online because "no one would know what that job is and no one would apply for it". So she admits up front that the jobs that brought all of us in DID NOT EXIST, but not in those exact words. My Human Resources Assistant and Administrative Assistant jobs were not real open jobs at the company! We were told that Three Stars also had a website called "Career Network" and that they are going after Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com. She said that it costs a company $ 400 to post a job on those websites while their Career Network offers postings for only $ 99 and they initially started out by posting those ads for FREE in the beginning. She also showed up a clip on News Channel 13 where the company donated toys for charity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxXZd0u0dOE&feature=channel_page ) and talked up how they give back to the community. She also talked about their free happy hour, dinners at the Executive Managers house, and their co-ed flag football (http://threestarsinc.com/fun/eventsIndex.cfm ) . She then proceeded to give us a tour of the company. We all piled in the elevator and headed up to the 4th floor (from the 2nd floor) and first toured an office of people posting jobs on Craigslist and other websites, according to Crissy. The workers pretty much ignored us, except for one guy who watched the whole show. All of us idiots, in suits, all there for fake jobs. I could only think as I saw them sitting at their desks that these people were creating the same fake jobs that brought us in. Crissy said they were creating jobs from "their business clients". We were then lead to Human Resources and introduced to a manager named Dahlia who told us she has been with the company 7 months and LOVES it. She told us that "it's a long interview process, but stick with it" and she wished us all good luck.
Next up was the division that we saw the people in action who were Verification Specialists. Basically an auto dialing system will call applicants to tell them that they need to verify information for a job they applied for. When they call back, they go to this department. These people follow a script, verify certain info and then plug at the end to try and sell school admissions. For some reason a select few people work here vs. the at home position we were offered at the end of the interview. See below.
Next we walked into the webmaster division. First Crissy proceeded to flirt with Darvin K. - Director of Operations - as he showed her a photo that they laughed over, then we were introduced to Kelly R. - Executive Vice President (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=1) and were told that she was the third person hired at the company when it was created out of someone's apartment. Kelly was wearing a flag football jersey. She explained the department was broken down into four departments. I can't remember all but one to come up with design ideas for a website, one to create the website, one to "break it" - quality control, and then it was released. Crissy proudly told us that Kelly created MANY websites. We were then lead to the next department "Employer Services" and met Scott D. - Career Network Director (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=7 ) . We heard him give his spiel. He basically stated that he talks to companies to find out more about the jobs to make sure they post the correct information to get a qualified individual and also to make sure that there employees ask the right questions when they do their verification to pre-qualify candidates for companies. A good story anyway.
Next up, we met Ben D. - Senior Business Analyst (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=1) . Ben told us that he handles SEO and making sure that the websites they create show up in the featured listings on search engines like Google and Yahoo!.
Lastly, we met Matt A. - WAH Advisor Regional Manager (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=9 ), who was located in Suite 211 in the back offices, behind the computer testing area, who told us what a great company they had because one woman (can't recall her name) had a Mother that fell ill and she needed to move back up North (New Jersey I think?) and how great the company was because even though the woman had to move away she was still able to log on to a computer up there at 9am in NJ the following Monday and continue working. He said they had many employees talking about how expensive gas was and they realized it was a GREAT idea for their employees to work out of the home. Matt was planting the seed here.
And then we were lead across the hall again to Suite 217 and back to the conference room. Crissy's tone TOTALLY changed. No longer a cheerleader and full of friendly energy, she was somber and matter of fact. We were then given two hand outs : one detailing the job outline for the Verification Specialist : and the other for the computer requirements to work at home and the script for the education spiel : . Crissy told us that training started us at $ 10 per hour and we could earn extra money from there, depending on how many people said YES to wanting more information on signing up for education. She claimed she made $ 600 in her first week. She said they like for you to receive 80 -100 calls a day but the record was 150 calls in one day. She estimated that in 15 minutes at least TWO people would say YES to wanting more information about education. She said we were not to push the education, only plant the seed, mentioning it twice, the second time to confirm it. She said they only wanted people who were serious about signing up for classes. She then told us that she realized this job - Verification Specialist - was not for everyone. If we didn't think it was something we'd be interested in, we could leave now. Otherwise stay behind and she left the room to "get paperwork". Everyone was like a deer in the headlights. No one moved. She came back and then asked "ok, we have openings for tomorrow for the phone interview, who is available tomorrow ?" So then, with the peer pressure of everyone watching, she proceeded to ask everyone. Many set up times, signing up by stating the time and then telling Crissy their First name and last initial. One person said "Well, can I have some time to think about it?" "Of course!" - Crissy replied. That was a snowball effect then. Others said they too wanted to think about it.
Here are links to view the Verification Specialist handout : http://i44.tinypic.com/2ishbm8.jpg, http://i39.tinypic.com/wbz5w5.jpg, http://i44.tinypic.com/23rtx8y.jpg, and http://i39.tinypic.com/1y7h8o.jpg .
Here are links to view the Computer requirements and the Education script : http://i44.tinypic.com/1zpqst5.jpg, http://i44.tinypic.com/15x71qp.jpg and http://i41.tinypic.com/n3kht0.jpg . This was what was to be covered in the phone interview. They wanted to hear you read the script and make sure your home did not have background distractions like "a baby crying or dog barking".
I realize this is lengthy but I wanted to give you all a firsthand account for what the Three Stars interviews entail so you don't have to waste your time like I did. If you want work at home job that pays $ 10 an hour plus commissions for planting a seed for education, then this job is for you. It's just a shame they scam, as they say "600 people a week walk through our doors", into thinking they are on REAL interviews for jobs they applied for online, only to learn it's a telemarketing work at home position instead.
Does Three Stars offer job s? YES, but ONLY the Work at Home "Verification Specialist". NOT the jobs that were posted online. Here is a listing of ALL the jobs supposedly available on the Three Stars website : http://threestarsinc.com/careers/jobIndex.cfm?type=1 . The jobs were the SAME, none were "filled" from the time frame that my friend applied weeks prior. Now I know it's because they simply DO NOT EXIST.
Their claim is that once you master the Verification Specialist job they then like to move you up in the company, depending on what areas you would be best suited for. I wonder how many people are actually moved up. Of course Crissy said she started out (7 months ago, oddly the SAME time Dahlia started with the company) in the Verification Specialist position and worked her way up. Oh and Crissy did tell us all that we did really well on the aptitude test, we were the best of the best, which I now know is a load of bull. The whole thing was a HUGE sales pitch. They made the place look like a fun, young, energetic place to work..and hey ! They even give to charities ! How could they be bad. Forget that that LIED to us to get us all in there in the first place ! I found it odd though that most of the offices did not have fluorescent overhead lights...only desk lamps. All offices were decorated very attractively. Staging here was key. Another odd thing ? NONE of the suites had the "Three Stars" name on the nameplates...which was odd because ALL the other offices DID show their names on the nameplate with the Suite number. Their suites simply had the suite number listed on the nameplate.
I just saw on the news today that Channel 9 News WFTV will be showing ANOTHER piece on Three Stars and their false job listings. They even show footage, the room that had the Verification Specialists/Education Counselors in it. Should be interesting to watch. http://www.wftv.com/
Lastly, as I mentioned, my friend also went through this process. Why on earth would I want to go through this? Well, she again went for a Sales Manager position and her second interview included info about the company, the company tour, but then also a pitch to the individuals on the interview to partake in a website called Monkey Jar (http://www.monkeyjar.com/ ) where you create your own "online mall" and you make money supposedly if your friends shop your "mall" by clicking the links to visit the store websites. Interestingly enough, if you click the "About Us" link on Monkey Jar you will see cartoon caricatures of both Kelly and Darvin from Three Stars. So I went on this interview to see how well I would do on the aptitude test and to see if I would do well enough to get the second interview. My friend who went for her Sales Manager second interview was told if they were interested in her they would call her. It makes me wonder what Three Stars got out of her second interview. Maybe advertising to get people to use the Monkey Jar website. Or maybe the whole thing is just a scam to get our personal info : they have our home address, work numbers, employment history, aptitude ratings, heck even a photo of us - that they can use to sell to marketing companies. Here is info about this take on the whole scheme : http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/three-stars-media-new-name-same-scheme . I know this is long, but I hope it helps others from going through this.
Early on in my search, I also received these two e-mail (and many more - too many to post) from Career Network which I now know is also Three Stars : http://i41.tinypic.com/xqgaw3.jpg and http://i39.tinypic.com/2rgjm2o.jpg . I did not like the fact that the company name and phone number were not listed. I e-mailed back asking for this information and did not receive a response. I think these e-mails were generated off jobs I applied for on Craigslist.com. Once you click the link for the fake tech support job you are brought to this website: http://perfectcareercenter.com/JobOffer/Register.cfm?JobPositionID=92050 . Notice the questions at the bottom regarding education. You guessed it...this is so a Three Stars work at home Verification Rep. can call you back and ask if you are interested in furthering your education. The website is called : perfectcareercenter.com but if you click the about us link it shows that this is Three Stars. So when you search for a job online today you have NO IDEA if the job you are apply for is real or if it's yet another Three Stars fake job website. I think networking to find a job today is best way to not get scammed. Happy job hunting everyone...be careful out there. At least Three Stars didn't ask for my social security number at any point. I feel very sorry for job seekers that DO offer this information online. :-(

Unfortunately, I applied for a job with Three Stars Marketing in Orlando FL. Also called the Metro West Area. The front operations look legitimate. Once you apply online, they automatically call you in to schedule an interview. After the second interview, they introduce you to a part-time position to work a pyramid schemed website called "funky monkey" or something of that nature. Once I performed my due diligence on the company, I found that it the owner of the company Alec Defrawi of Alex Defrawy (he goes by a few names) is associated with online scams. A search for his name will reveal more details. It seems that Three Stars is the same. Three Stars has hundreds of domain names and their website are generated to receive revenue from ad "clicking" and getting personal information to generate leads.

I went on an "interview' where I basically took a stupid assessment that I could have done online at home. Now they want me to come in for a tour. No real interview...why would I waste my time with a tour if they haven't even reviewed my credentials? It all sounds very fishy. I hate people who do things like this..I knew it sounded too good to be true!

I like the others who have complained, dislike Qwest, and their service. My internet service which I had for two years, was always from the very start..."intermittent"! It would work for a while, then NOT! In the two years of service, I called them for repairing my internet connection, at least five times.

Finally, they told us that I needed a new modem, that was the problem. Of course, I would have to pay for a new modem, which was used on "post World War II telephone lines outside of the house. How can you truly pass a small signal such as a DSL minute signal, on old "Bell, Mountain Bell" telephone lines.

Now (10.15.2010) Qwest has a "fraudulent advertisement on t.v. stating that they supply potential customers with "high speed DSL internet service" with fiber optics. That is a total lie. The teleophone lines where we live are exactly not - fiberoptic! They are old out of date - Bell, Mountain Bell Telephones, which are being used, to try to give you high quality Gigabyte speed service of DSL. This cannot be done with any degree of success! It's like driving a very fast new car, on a "dirty, bumpy old dirt road, and expect to retain a high speed of travel, it "can't be done very good"!
Tony V.

Okay there is a pick charge that is required by the FCC when changing long distance cariers. Your full of [censor] about the prices your saying. A (1fr) standard rate line with no features is $22 dollars at the most! Do some research [censor]! It's dumb [censor] people like you that think they know everything and don't find out more information. Qwest is a great company. there is a reason jd power rated qwest number 7 in customer satisfaction

Kim,

Sorry to hear about the trouble you've had. Send me an email with your phone number and I'll check yours out also: Joey@CenturyLink.com.

Joey H.
CenturyLink Customer Outreach
Reachout@CenturyLink.com

My name is Kim Williams, and I received an offer in the mail to get a Mastercard gift card for $300.00 for signing up for the triple play bundle. Well I signed up in April of 2009 and to this day have not received my gift card or the $25.00 gift card form Restaurant.com. I was told to go to embarqgiftcard.com and sign up but the site does not exists. What kind of scam are you guys running? Is this your way of getting new customer and then not holding up to your part of the offer? Thats pretty poor business! If I do not get some assistance and receive my gift card that was promised to me, I will take my business elsewhere.

A very dissatisfied customer!

Jashona,

Sent you an email last week. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Shirley,

If you email me your number to Embarq_Joey@embarq, I'll check into your issue also.

Thanks,

Joey

Hi I am a Embarq fool too sent the flyer in the mail, if you bundle they give you a $100 dollar gift card.This started on May 18th still no gift card Sept 14th.Something has to be done about this false advertising mail outs from Embarq.I am changing phone service as soon as i can never again with liars.Iam in Las Vegas NV

I've been waiting 3 months for my $75.00 gift card. As a college student, I'm tempted to switch all my services to Time Warner and end this Embarq mess! $75 dollars a month...?! Try 115 and no gift card!

jashonaryoung@embarqmail.com

SleepyD,

I can check into this for you also. I've been in touch with the promotion manager for the other two customers. Send me an email with your phone number and I'll check yours out also: EMBARQ_Joey@embarq.com.

Sorry you've had trouble,

Joey H.
EMBARQ Customer Outreach
reachout@embarq.com

MY NAME IS DAWN. I AM ALSO HAVING TROUBLE RECIEVING MY TRIPLE PLAY GIFT CARD. IT HAS NOW BEEN OVER 6 MONTHS SINCE I SIGNED UP. I AGREE WITH THE OTHERS THAT IF THE ROLES WERE REVERSED EMBARQ WOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE DISCONNECTING ME. THIS KIND OF RUN AROUND IS GOING TO CAUSE YOUR COMPANY TO LOSE ALOT OF BUISNESS, WORD OF MOUTH IS A POWERFUL THING. I FOR ONE WILL NOT BE RECOMENDING YOU TO ANY OF MY FRIENDS OR FAMILY.

Hey Sandra,

Sorry you've had trouble also. We've had some delays with our gift card vendor. I just sent you an email with more information.

Joey

I also have had a really hard time getting my $150.00 rewards card. I have been givin the run around and told someone would get back to me and they never do. It's one thing to tell someone their entittled to getting something its another when no one seems to know whats going on! I know if I owed Embarq $ they would get it or cut my service. Well, what's the difference when the tables are turned? I wan't my freakin gift card! This is the most redicoulous thing I have ever beenm through in my life. If they don't want to give something to people then don't advertise it and tell people they are getting it!SIMPLE AS THAT! If I don't get resolution soon I am going to pursue the better buisness bureau and do advertsing that Embarq lies and don't come through with what they say they will! That's that!, Sandra my e-mail is sandrad.1971@yahoo.com if anyone is interested in venting on this issue!

Hey Betty,

Sorry you've had trouble. I just sent you an email.

Joey

Embarq, out of the blue, is saying I owe them $786 for DSL service from 2004. This is a total joke. I only had phone service throught them and it was basic service (no long distance). My final bill was $27 and I paid it. What can you do about this Joey?

Thanks,

Jasen

I had never felt so victimized as I did from someone from embarq played around with taped answers from my voice in a doctors office where I work, they claimed I gave authorization to add a $45.70 per month charge for a website service. My doctor does not even have a web site, and I never would have offered such a thing, the girl in our office who handles the doctors bills did not catch it unfortunately for 4 monts and I had to pay $182.70 back to my employer, embarq angrily agreed to reimburse $119.00 of it back to our office after the billing clerk tried to fight it and told them that she wanted to be able to pay me back and the rude salesman stated "she does not deserve to get any money back because she misrepresented your company". After doing a little investigatin I found out that this same thing happened in other offices around our small community, shame on embarq for doing business with such shady characters.

Allen,

I work for Embarq. Sorry you are having trouble. Can I help? Send me an email with details to Embarq_Joey@embarq.com. Check out my twitter page if you need to verify my identity: http://twitter.com/EMBARQ_Joey. Thanks.

Joey H.
Embarq Customer Outreach
reachout@embarq.com

Qwest is a major telephone company in the northwest. I had a situation where they were over charging me on my telephone and cell phone service. I did not realize it and they had me change my phone plan to something more costly. By the time I knew what was going on, my service was turned off, in less then a month, they had post $1, 600.00 on my credit report and they ignored all my attempts to straighten it out. Instead of correcting their mistakes, they just completely ignore it and stick me with the bill. I am trying to arbitrate this situation through the Better Business Bureau, but with them being a well known company, I still look like another sour customer. Good ol' customer service is just lost forever...

I was a Qwest customer for many years (both residential and business) but after my experiences with them I would NEVER sign up for their service again! First of all, when we moved we signed up with Qwest for both internet and home telephone service. We bought the internet modem outright (they said that would save us money in the long run versus renting it), however every month they would charge us a 'rental fee', which would mean we would have to spend 1/2 hour on the phone with customer service every month to get this removed! The internet service was terrible and very intermittent. We had some financial hardship due to a death in the family and got 30 days behind on our Qwest bill (we were going to catch the bill up the following month), but without even so much as a letter of warning they sent our account to a collection agency and tacked on a $250 'cancellation fee'! We just got off the phone with the collection agency and they were EXTREMELY rude and unwilling to work with us, citing that they could not send us a copy of our original contract (which is in direct violation of the Fair Debt Collection Act) and my husband ended up in a scream-fest with them. We were trying to PAY them, not weasel out of the bill in bankruptcy like most people! So RUN, don't walk, from Qwest! Side note: we signed up with Comcast and so far they have been good.