Century Link

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We noticed on the weekend of Jan. 9 that our internet connection was very slow and behaving oddly.  Looking at the modem log files showed us that something was wrong so we called CenturyLink to see what we could do about it.  CenturyLink looked at our hookup and determined that we would benefit by a new plan that would more than double our internet speed and help our phone line.  We set a date for Thursday the 14th .  I was to be there 8-4 to let a technician in.  He didn't show and CenturyLink told me he had never been scheduled for Thursday but was scheduled for Monday - which I never would have done as I had some things to do Monday.  After much arguing and threatening to leave CL, I managed to arrange for a tech to be out to the house on Friday.  He showed at 9 am and left at 4:30 pm.  Most of his time was spent waiting on phone calls because the central office of century link did not do their job and provision the central line to work with my house.  I have now wasted 2 days.  THe tech (Tad - a very nice guy and seemed to know what he was doing) managed after about 10 phone calls to get the connection running for the weekend.   Monday the DSL went down again.  I went through the first level of support - it was clear she didn't know what was going on, a second level supervisor, who couldn't seem to understand basic computer and networking terms - requested her supervisor, who at least knew how to parrot tech terms to me.  This one told me that the modem went out on Monday because   it is a new modem and without warming to me or centery links knowledge, decided it was going to upgrade its firmware.  THis is a scary procedure in the best of times and NOT SOMETHING YOU DO IN A PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT until you got it right.  Of course the update failed and my modem didn't come back up.  THe super did some sort of mumbo jumbo (and wouldn't tell me what it was he did) and the modem came back up.  I asked that the auto-update be turned off on my mode and got (it is impossible to do that - everybody who has worked on a network knows that there is a lil switch that can turn it on and off.  I was GUARANTEED that the modem would not go out again and that ALL updates would be done on off hours.  An hour later off line goes the modem - this time for 9 hours due to an improperly provisioned line.  DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY IF YOU NEED MISSION CRITICAL INTERNET - CENTURYLINK CAN"T SUPPLY IT.  I was not offered an apology or reimbursement for my offline time nor the time I had to take out of my busy schedule to be there for century link not to show up

I contacted this provider multiple times over the past year for poor speeds and dropped service at our apartment. I've gotten the run-around so many times from them. Finally we had service that was average - nothing special. Due to some hardships, I requested a payment arrangement. The arrangement was pretty tough since they were not flexible at all. I never received the next bill and then they shut off my service and requested a full payment before they would reconnect my internet, plus a reconnect fee. Tough to do when we are just getting back on our feet after some really hard times. We really needed the internet too, not for fun, but for job searches and online school for both my young son in a virtual academy and my husband who is a Ph.D. student.
I figured this was the time to cancel our service since they had required a full year contract and if canceled before the year is up, I would have had to pay for the service anyhow. Our contract was finally up and I called to cancel. Since the account was shut off I have no way of knowing what my final bill is going to be. Not only did they change my monthly fee from $40/month up to almost $90/month, but the rep couldn't tell me when the change had gone in to effect and said it was most likely a 6 month promotion that we had been getting.
I found another provider locally who doesn't require a contract and offers a full year of high speed internet (cable) for only $29.95/month and after that it is only $39.95/month which is a whole lot better than the $89.81/month for sub-par service and speeds.

I didn't have any additional services added to the landline here in Utah.  I liked their internet speed.when I had them in Missouri.  I also thought their service was prompt and I was never able to speak with someone local when I called.  If I was home more often, I would use Century Link again.

They bundle the internet, television and phone line all together. I would not recommend anything about them. I don't like the quality of service. I seem to have frequent outages. I will have to continue using them as long as I live in this house.

I am satisfied with the services. I would use them again.

I have free long distance. I have all the features such as call waiting and free callbacks. It has all the goodies.