CenturyLink  -  bad service

We have had Century Link and Direct TV for the past 14 months. We've had issues that are frustrating mostly due to communications issues with "Customer Service" located in the Philippines.

Our biggest issue has been pixilation requiring us to completely unplug from the wall, then wait a couple of minutes before plugging back in. Then we go thru the TV/WiFi/Direct TV reset. A giant pain in the rear!

had Century Link package with 20 meg internet, prism installed in May 2016, we are in Fort Myers, FL. First 3 or 4 weeks everything was fine, since then now about 10 to 15 times a day we will lose the signal for about 30 seconds to a minute, then comes back on for awhile. we get a message on the screen that says signal lost, gives us the list of things to try such as unplugging modem and resetting set top boxes etc but if we do that, it doesn't stop the problem from recurring, utterly frustrating, chat with customer service and all they want to do is sell you more services or a Verizon cell phone plan. Awful company.

I switched to Centurylink Prism Premium HD DVR/Phone/40Mb Internet in Februray 2016 from Comcast. My motivation for switching providers was entirely price-driven. Centurylink quoted me $175/mo plus taxes for the equivalent service that I was paying $260/mo plus taxes to Comcast. Comcast is legendary for poor customer service, so the bar is set pretty low, but Centurylink takes customer service to a new low. The issues I have with them include:
1. My monthly bill is $315; not the $175 plus tax I was quoted. Even when I sent them the written quote from the kiosk in the mall, they would not honor it. They told me that the quoted pricing doesn't exist.
2. My Prism Premium service includes HBO. With HBO I am supposed to have access to HBO GO online. When I login to HBO GO with my Centurylink email, I receive a message that my Centurylink subscription does not include HBO, and my access is denied. I have called Centurylink at least 6 times since May to get this resolved, and so far no success. When I called 2 weeks ago about this issue, they assured me that it would be resolved in 48 hours. As of today it is still not resolved. I called again today, and they told me it would be resolved in 24 hours. I doubt that, but we will see.
3. Centurylink's OnDemand service is incomplete. For example, they do not carry HBO OnDemand in HD, only SD. (If they did, I wouldn't care so much about HBO GO!). They also do not have all seasons of Game of Thrones on HBO OnDemand. They are missing episode 3 of the HBO mini-series "The Night of". They are missing the the current season of "The Last Ship" on TNT OnDemand.
If you are considering Centurylink Prism, I suggest you reconsider. While all cable providers are sleazy and underhanded, Centurylink is the worst of the worst.

Ive had centurylink a long time, and still do. Ive also got friends everywhere that have it as well, we all love it. The price is totally reasonable and the best part is i run my business onlinr so i have to rely on security a lot which comes on handy with them because they dont have a shared network. Which when i had comcast before, they were on a copper-shared network, everyone in a 5 mile radius was creating too much traffic and slowing everything down, and that even decreased security levels even after all the firewalls i had put up. Ive gotten my bank information stolen because of it, and im outraged that they wouldnt even acknowledge that. They say its not their fault, but you tell me how sharing a line with everyone, and not scrambling your ip address every 15 seconds is not your fault. When i had them, it was pure ###.
I payed for 100mg/second.
I was gettimg about 40mg
I payed for 1080hd, which is bluray quality.
I got 720hd instead, dvd quality.
My home phone had a lot lf static in the background. Calls always dropped. Their home security system is a joke, i called them to see what they do for security systems they told me i was gunna get cameras around the house, a security light and an alarm system. So i asked a neighbor about their security system with xfinity, they said they told them the same thing but when they came out their all they got was an inside camera (WIRED) EXTREMELY LOW QUALITY PICTURE. WITH LAGS.
Window and door alarms and an alarm system. No outside cameras no security light.
So basically their security works after someone breaks in their home. What good does that do. Plus comcast is constantly changing their bill. When we had them inhad 3 tvs, no movies nothing big. I had internet and phone. I paid for the install which was a mistake. Wires weremt buried properly. Install guy didnt know ### about anything it seemed. We pay about 300-400 for the install.
On top of that our first bill was about 275 so what i had to pay for my first bill was about 500 and then they said the price would lower or something after the first month. Which i thought was fine because thats how services work. First payments are always the biggest. Well that wasnt the case...my bill every month was 300$ they wouldnt tell me why...i asked if i could just add premium services and actually have all their channels because thats what your supposed to pay for the whole package. They wanted to raise my bill another 50.
$350 for 3 tvs. Phone and internet. No thanks im glad i have centurylink im now only paying them 150 less than comcast. So id definitely recomend them.
Trust me im satisfied completelt. Give them a shot, they offer 30 day satisfaction for a reason. Take advantage of that ###.

Same issues in Colorado. I know the managers on a first name basis. Freezing TV, recording problems, inconsistent internet speeds, phone issues, set top box issues, modem issues, just to mention a few. If you want to spend hours on the phone with CenturyLink, and have a technician show up on a weekly basis to switch the firmware back make the move. The FCC needs to shut this service down as this is criminal. "We can't issue any credits until the service is resolved" Broken record!

I've had many providers of TV signals and have reached a new low with PRISM. This is the worst I have seen since free TV. I could type several pages of why to avoid this product but will narrow it down to "the product is unreliable and stinks"

I agree with the complaints. Centurylink prism TV is great if you like your reception to freeze every few days or to loose your signal and you really enjoy rebooting your system often. Although rebooting doesn't often fix the problem. And if you dislike talking to someone on the telephone, you found the right service as you spend more time on hold then you do talking as some one rarely answers on their end. You know you are in trouble when the message in essence says "We know you enjoy wasting your time on hold so please continue to hold". When I did get through, the rep suggested I switch back to Direct TV. To me that was like going from the frying pan into the fire. I am going to a local Centurylink store, a second time, to see if i can get some service there.
Jim Hruby

I am thinking of Prism tv, the adds show you can connect anywhere within your home without a box, is that true ? I currently have Direct tv, $100 month basic, lot of channels we'll never watch; hate paying that much for tv, almost rather go back to antenna . Have CenturyLink internet, is ok, $45 month

I have Century link, my internet goes out every single day, the modem I rent from them isn't compatible with my older laptops or my blu-ray player. I have called to complain and they told me to take it up with the people who made my laptops and blu-ray players..Dell and Sony. I asked for a tech to come out to try to troubleshoot my computer issues and he called and cancelled saying it was an "outside issue." Oh yeah, and century link renewed my contract without my authorization. They claimed I made a phone call to them on a certain date to renew my contract, I checked my incoming and outgoing calls for that date and week and I had none to century link, my only phone calls that week were to my boyfriend and sister. STAY AWAY FROM CENTURY LINK!

I currently have CentruyLlink for phone and internet service and Direct TV as a bundled package. I will say that I have had very few problems. Internet service out only a couple of times for a limited time. TV service is excellent but expensive so I thought I might give Prism a try but after reading these comments...no way. Look CenturyLink, there is no excuse for such poor service, if you can't run a service properly, then get out of the business.

WH
Colorado

Works great for me. I live 30 minutes away from Phx, AZ. I love my service.

When you think Prism TV, think “Bait and Switch.” Everything you read on these pages I have experienced.
Some not to the same extreme but still have them. I was promised free HD for life upon signing.That sounds great. Problem is they don’t have HD in my area. The service rep I spoke with didn’t bother to
even try to help, just sent me directly to the retention section. My option was to use my “Free” cancelation
within the 30 day widow and by the way pay $90.

My wife went to Prism to save $$$. Trust me you will lose
your sanity trying to deal with them and that is not worth any savings in my
opinion. I stop just short of calling
them straight up liars as I’d hate to be sued for some “defecation of character”
stuff. So I’ll say they are very far
from being honest. Save your time and
money.

I'm with you all Prism tv/century link is not the first chose for customer service. I have Prism at two location and I was told the price would not go up at all, well it's gone up three times in less than 7 months. I was sold the moon and got the peach.

Thank you so much for posting the complaints, i was looking at moving to century link. But NO way after see this... Sorry for all, hope it gets worked out

Trying to save on monthly bill with Cox here in NE, went Centurylink! Huge mistake! Have no idea about internet service, phone service (didn't get to use them)but use Prism tv. We've only had it 5 hours. It's going out of the house by 8 a.m. Tomorrow. We asked to bundle and put 2 of our TVs on Prism. They never said that our remaining 4 TVs would have no service at all without buying box for every tv in the house. There was absolutely no mention of that, not even by the arrogant installer. Having Cox coming tomorrow to reinstall everything but hate them, too. Where is the FCC to protect us consumers?

I hate prism tv. The channel freezes. when I try to back up a movie ti jumps to live tv and I cant go back. There is no search to watch series like TWCable. It was suppose to lover my cost but I could have lowered my cost by dropping HBO because to lower my cost I lost me HBO any way. I get notices that what I am watching is unavailable due to DVR recording and nothing is recording... I hate it. We were not suppose to be on a contract but my son singed for insulation and it was a 12 contract. I hate it...

I have had Prism tv for 9 months and have virtually NOT 1 issue. I have never experienced a single pixelation or freeze. I have figured out that it is all about the technician who installs it. I had a great installer, he took the time to explain to me that it is nothing, more than a network, and if you use coax cable (which does not deliver hd, I dont care how many shields they put on that crap). For this service to work, it has to be cat 5 to every set top box. I would be willing to bet that the majority of the complaints come from households where coax has been used or reused. Also, dont let them put the wireless set top boxes in your houses. The wifi signal is all on 802.xx band and we have overloaded that band with all the damn wifi things in our lives. I did away with all wifi in my house.. Call Centurylink and tell them to send someone whi knows what they are doing. And get rid of the coax, for the love of God...its 2013.

Just got prism. Wanted to see what football is on tv today. Not possible to do easily with prisms remote and/or internet. the little guide on your phone is sadly the best bet.

Worse yet, the guide search engine on the internet only searches titles, not description, so if you want to see if MIssouri is playing today using search you are SOL.

Here's an idea. Hire a programmer for a week and build a usable guide filter system and guide search system so you can see (at the description level) at a glance what sports are on; what movies are on; what family programming is on...

This is sooooo basic and I cannot believe they do not have this...like I have an hour to click into each football game to see if it is the one I want...really?!

BEWARE ! I used to have Cox Communications. I have two homes that I switched to Prism. Prism has good points & bad points. THE GOOD POINT (AND THERE'S ONLY ONE) is that if you like movies, their programming is very good. They have a wide variety of movies, many lesser films by name actors, that they rotate well so that you don't have the same few choices that seem to play forever like most cable providers. Now, THE BAD POINTS. I got Prism in my home. The reason that I decided to try Prism is because all the movie channels were included for the same price as I was paying Cox without those channels. Well, surprise, surprise. They lied to me to get me to sign the contract. Then, a couple months later, all of a sudden, my bill jumps $40 per month. I was going to cancel but my wife & granddaughter like the programming and wanted me to keep Prism, so I did. Now, regarding my other house. I have a vacation rental home that I switched to Prism (before they raise the price on my home service). Again they told me that for my $145 per month I would receive all the movie channels. Well, guess what. They lied. Less than three months after I switched that house to Prism I was at the house doing repairs and turned on the TV. All the movie channels were gone and so were half the lower numbered channels. I called Prism to ask them what happened to my movie channels and the other channels. I told them I used to have those channels and now they're gone. The customer service rep I was talking to told me that I never had those channels. I told her that I know I had those channels because, due to the East coast feed they were distributing on the West coast, the adult programing came on at 9 pm. Therefore, I had to use the parental controls so that renters with young kids wouldn't be expecting Disney and end up with porn. Then the reps told me that if I only had basic service and that if I did have the movie channels I had them by mistake. I told her that the only reason I switched to Prism was because they told me that those movie channels were included. Then she told me that if I wanted to pay $30 more per month they would give me back the movie channels. I told her that I wasn't going to pay another $30 to get what I was told I was getting when I switched to Prism in the first place. I decided to cancel and go back to Cox. Then they tell me I have to pay a $90 cancellation fee. I told them I'm not paying it. I was told I would receive certain services from them. They failed to deliver at the agreed upon price. If they had delivered what I was sold, I wouldn't be canceling. I'm not responsible for their failure to deliver as promised. I like Prism programming but I don't like getting scammed. CENTURY LINK - PRISM PULLED A CLASSIC BAIT AND SWITCH SCAM ON ME AND IT PISSES ME OFF. PRISM LIES TO YOU AND TELLS YOU YOU'RE GETTING ONE THING TO GET YOU TO SIGN A CONTRACT. THEN THEY EITHER JACK UP THE PRICE OVER WHAT YOU WERE TOLD OR THEY DON'T DELIVER WHAT YOU WERE PROMISED AND THEN DEMAND YOU PAY MORE TO GET WHAT THEY TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE GETTING IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEY'RE A RIP OFF SCAM AND I'D BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU DECIDE TO TRY PRISM. I don't mind paying the price if I know up front what the price is and what I'm getting for that price. I have a big problem with any company that lies to you to get you to buy from them and then doesn't deliver or tries to charge you more than agreed. LASTLY, PRISM HAS CONSTANT TECHNICAL PROBLEMS. In the middle of watching a movie or a football game, all of a sudden the picture gets all pixelated and the sound all garbled. Sometimes the picture just freezes and the sound stops. Other times just the sound goes off. Technical Support told me that if the sound goes off I needed to wiggle the HDMI cable to get the sound back. It worked, but sometimes I had to do it a dozen times a day. Even as I'm writing this all my channels are pixelated and the sound garbled. I called Prism and they said they're aware of the problem, it's a nationwide problem and they have no estimate of when the problem will be resolved. I won't be watching the Super Bowl on Prism, that's for sure. Bottom line...BEWARE OF PRISM. DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. GOOGLE CENTURY LINK, PRISM, REVIEWS AND SEE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY. If you get scammed like me, I suggest you file a complaint with the FCC. That's what I plan on doing.

don't ive heard at&t are more than worth the money u can do six thing with that system so I would stay with the crooked prisim and get at&t unless its in your area now...Today we have a hint of showers now im paying to watch that most annoying alert till the storm blows over and the day we need to listen to it people will turn the fckm thing off this is pure c*** station

Just received this service today after having the installer over her for 8+ hours. Leave and come home and the channels are all freezing, tried watching a show I had recorded and ummmmm nothing just freezes...I will not be keeping for the 30 days I can tell right now...Prism is a good concept needs to be fully functional...will be calling Century link in the morning.

I live in the SW part of Las Vegas and recently got Century Link Prism TV pkg bundle. I have had it once before and loved it and was so pleased to get it back. I have had Cox cable and I have had Direct TV and prices don't even compare to what you can get from Century Link Prism package My only complaint with the service is the internet. I have had their techs out here several times because of it and they have changed switched and rewired etc and still internet will drop signal and they cannot figure out why or how.. I feel bad because they are at such a loss. Unfortunately when you end up having internet problems it does cause problems with your TV signal. They go hand in hand. So I am thinking if they can get a handle on the internet problems out there in their lines problems should be solved. Having all 3 of the services Prism is by far the cheapest around and the quality of the picture is pristine. It never felt so go to do the break up dance with Cox Cable... Although if Century link cannot get their stuff together for internet. I may go back to Cox for the internet only...Unless I am forced to I will never go back to Direct TV or Cox Cable for any of my TV viewing.. Way over priced and their customer service really does lack.

Our Century Links Prizm TV and Internet keep on freezing every 2 to 5 minutes. Called Tech support in the past week every single day. They ask the same questions every time and completely incompetent to solve the issue. Many excuses such as fiber issue, engineering issue, the lines tested OK, network programming, neighborhood wiring issue and on and on. I spoke to their what so called Managers and experienced the WORST customer service I have ever encountered. One Manager started to cancel my contract and informing me with the charges for "Early Termination" fees of several hundreds of dollars. These people feel empowered over their customers because of a fine print in their Contract that force you not to cancel even when they can not repair or fix your issue. I am ready to switch back to Comcast even with those termination fees. I scheduled appointments with their Techs and spent over 4 hours waiting for them to show up and they never did. Their excuse that a ticket bey the previous Tech was entered incorrectly.

From Las Vegas i agree with everybody. Don't know anybody who likes their service except the individuals who do their commercials. If I really want to watch a program I go over to a house that has COX or direct TV. The service person (Joe) said in Dec 12 he would be back the next week, we are still waiting on 9 May, but it doesn't matter because he couldn't fix it any way My contract up in Jul going back to Cox. Had Cox over 10 years never had as many problems than I had with Century Link in 10 months. How do companies like Century Link stay in business. In the 10 months with Century Link the bill has never been the same. I could go on and on, Century Link is the WORST COMPANY I've dealt with. Everything that's been mention has happen to me. One morning got up phone was dead no telling how long. If TV not working you call number then they tell you there is nothing they can do to fix it, then hangs up

I was going to switch to prism over 2 yrs ago and backed out due to complaints. Well a friend of mine got it and loved it so I made the switch a year ago and actually love the service. The internet speed could be better and probably isn't good enough for those "BIG TIME" Gamers, but for an average user with children that play some games and watch videos it is fine. My tv maybe freezes on 1 channel every couple of months. I am in Las Vegas so maybe the service kinks have been worked out in my area. So far so good. I do have much more then I did with Comcast. I don't really have a contract, but a price lock for 2 years. I can cancel service at anytime. With Cox I had to call and complain every 6 months to get a discount. It runs out and the tell you to call back and complain and they would extend it again. Why not just lock the price in ? The issue I did have with Prism is that my service was interrupted due to non-payment. When that happened with Cox I paid online or on the phone and service was restored immediately. With prism you need to wait until working hours. Also, Cox allows payment plans if needed Century Link will give you an extra 10 days or so to pay in full. Not much of a payment plan. But with the actual service I am very pleased. My remotes are giving me some trouble but that is the worst of it. I have had many compliments on how good their clarity on the tv is though. I hope the service as improved with everyone else.

I have researched and its not just century link I have direct TV Geni and it has major problems and as so dose dish Hopper and Comcast all of us are being beta tested! At a High price!

I am glad to see all the useful information about Centurylink because I was about to join them & have decided not to. But, may I please also advise anyone who uses Comcast to check their monthly bill carefully because when my husband & I decided to pay our bill 3 months in advance, we never caught that our bill fluctuated badly from month to month for a whole year! I'm talking about $20-$50 a month differences. Our health did not allow for us to go in to show what we caught. They sent someone to hang a flyer on our door & the person actually tried to open my door! Second time both of us had been home with the flu & they tried again! Luckily door was locked otherwise they would have been shot! I guess they are the lesser of the two evils! They need chairs at all pay stations for disabled people!

century link knock at my door in nov. of last year, offered one month free no obligation required is a promotional offer just to try out their service for one month...and why not is cheap, so went ahead have tv, internet, phone installed in nov. first day i was frustrated with service right away the channel that i used to watched for free with cox cable, are not available with prism tv ...is available but i have to pay...service suckssssssss...everything sucks ...i don't appreciate some company turned my account to a collection agency?..after i was being told one month try out is free... I can't believe your company is ripping me off plus, trying to ruin my credit ? I was being charged for their JUNK equipment for holding it hostage...let me tell you something ...i don't want that JUNK in my house is no good ...another thing Century Link additionally charging me $85.00 if somebody come to my house and pick-up their very own JUNK equipment unbelievable...you came to my house installed equipment and the service for free...then you should come to my house and pick it up...i am not going to carry 35 to 45 lbs equipment standing in line at the post office ..not worth it in my condition...this company is such a big LIARS...BAD SERVICE...POOR SERVICE...TERRIBLE SERVICE ...CENTURY LINK MAKE SURE TO CLEAR MY RECORD WITH THE COLLECTION AGENCY...COZ CHANNEL 13, 5, 3, IS ALWAYS THERE TO LISTEN TO MY STORY.

I was going to call century link tomorrow and set up an appointment to have them come out for a new service. I just moved from my old location and had com cast. Never had any problems with com cast just heard prism TV was much cheaper. Thanks to all of you I won't bother making that phone call to center link. I will be calling com cast! THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS

I've had Prizm for one day and already I am some pissed off. My internet is working fine so far so that's not a problem. However my Tv just went out completly. It's an older Tv so maybe it just gave up the ghost when it had to handle the Prizm program. So ok, I'll go get a new Tv tomorrow and see what happens with it. I need a new one anyway as I like the flat screen better than my old one.
I'm 70 years old and living on SS so to have to buy a new TV is gonna be tough for me. But I'll give Prizm one more chance to see if it runs and if I can learn how to run it right. It is fairly complicated for me. We'll see what happens. pete in Bonita Springs, Fl.

I am so glad that I read these reviews---Directv is very expensive and I was about to leave them but will be holding off as a result of all of these reviews. I thank you all very much for your information and am so sorry that you have gotten stuck in this whole situation.

I agree with the previous posters in that I have had this DISservice for the past six months and have had nothing but problems. When I call to complain and/or ask for help they try to make it my fault. The remote is a piece of crap just like the rest of their DISservice.
When I call to discontinue this daily horror, (they call entertainment), they have the nerve to want me to pay a early disconnect fee. They should be giving me money back for all the NON-service I've been paying for the last 6-7 months!
IF ANYONE LIVING IN THE SW FLORIDA REGION, OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER, WISHES TO JOIN ME IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THIS COMPANY PLEASE EMAIL ME AT: [email protected]

ABSOLUTELY THE WORST PROGRAM ANYONE COULD GET!

I have it for 17 months and they have been at my house at least 30 times and I dont know if they dont know how to fix it or they think im crazy but as of today its out agin and I chatted online and got this woman that was very crappy with me so I printed the caht out and will mail it to the corp office, I think I will call the utilities commision and see if they can get it fixed or just go somewhere else...Cause they bite!

Same problem here in Angier, NC. We have had Prism TV for about 4 months now and it is getting worse by the day. It's constant freezing, skipping, jumping and sound cutting in and out. We call and they have a Tech guy come out about once a week and he replaces some ports outside saying they went bad and some other stuff but 1 to 2 days after its back to the same freezing and mess. They should be coming out yet again and if its not fixed this time we will be going else where for our TV needs.

Cape Coral, Florida
High defintion channels freeze. Internet drops every almost every 30 min.

You know what i think century link is being shady i think they are running out of bandwith and are putting too many people on their service even though they know their system cant handle everyone. Just a guess. Thank god i dont play online games anymore i would be fustrated as hell havin to wait 30 minutes to be able to use the internet and getting dropped in the middle of a game. The tv freezes like a mother###er. The tv and internet goes out when it rains even though it doesnt use a dish. Prism is actually a downgrade from the original century link.

I am having all kinds of problem with my TV services-constant pixelation and freezing. This is the worst TV services I've ever had.

SORRY I GOT CUT OFF. BUT TO FINE USHER WHAT I WAS SAYING. IF ANYONE DECIDED TO STILL GET CENTURY LINK AFTER READING THIS THEY ARE DUMB. AND IF YOU SENT LUCKY ENOUGH TO READ THIS I'M SORRY THEY GOT YOU TOO. THEY ARE BAD BAD PEOPLE AND HORRIBLE SERVICE. AS SOON AS I HAVE EXTRA MONEY I'M GOING TO COMCAST... CENTURY LI K SUCKS ###

Well it saddens me to say, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who has these problems, and hates century link/prism... we switched from Comcast for a lower bill, the first lady we spoke to said they would match Comcast price w/ more channels. Come to find she lord and now we are pay $130.00 a month when Comcast only wanted $60 for the same service. That's the first problem. Now we have had century link for maybe 6 months now, and everytime it rains I lose all service u till the storm stop, which is bull ###, now I am starting to randomly lose service for no reason at random times during the day. And I will be with TVs & internet for anywhere up to 20 minutes and if you have toddlers you know that's not good SO IN A NUT SHE'LL THIS CO.PANTS SUCKS.REALLY BAD. THERE TERRIBLE, I WOULD SAY THAT ANYONE WHO GETS THERE SERVICE AFTER

Can't figure why my TV isn't working when we got an automated call saying it was? I think my head will blow off before this is resolved. The other day we finally got tired if the stupid thing freezing up and uninstalled everything and bought an antenna. Thought I could hook up to my old modem and get online. Nope can't do that. So I called to cancel and they duped me big time, first he said if he lowered our rate to 73.00 for a year and he would personally handle our freezing problem if we would stay. Yes, then he said it would be 93.00 and I misunderstood him. Finally it was 131.00 and I was about in tears with his fast talking. We agreed knowing we wouldn't keep them long. Well they said they would send a truck out between 1 and 5 to fix the problem. That was yesterday and we are still waiting. Worst company I have were worked with. They are on the way out!