As I’m sure most of you can tell from the topic of this post, I’m going to talk about Qwest and their inability to put their customers before their pocketbook. And, while I wish I could say this is a work of fiction, sadly it isn’t.
It all started when we changed our Internet services on our primary line, and added additional DSL circuits to our house. The order process went smoothly as did the install, but this is where trouble started to bubble at the surface. First, we had issues with getting the quality of service advertised by Qwest (we had ordered 4 – 3 Mbps DSL lines in total). We were barely getting 1 Mbps download on a single one. After a few weeks of the piss-poor service and inability to get any help from Qwest through our ISP (the ISP, btw was great), we got our first billing statements. All 4 lines had install charges that we were never made aware of.
Now, the install fee wasn’t a great amount, when looked at individually. Put all 4 together, and it was almost as much as one month of the recurring charges.
(This is where Act 1 of the comedy)
We called Qwest to discuss the fact that they charged us fees that were never disclosed to us by the representative on the telephone at the time of ordering the services. We were immediately met with opposition and told that the amounts would not be refunded, a supervisor stated the same.
Being as Qwest wanted absolutely nothing to do with us questioning their billing practices, a complaint was filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) indicating that we were charged fees that were not disclosed to us on the phone or in writing prior to activation of the services. The response generated nothing but laughter from us, since all the letter from Qwest (to the FCC) stated was that we were charged correctly.
Okay, fine. I’ll pay the fees but lets get on with life, and fix our Internet.
We canceled 2 of the 4 DSL lines previously ordered under the Qwest 30-day cancellation policy … oddly enough, we still had to pay the install fee. How does that work? So, when on the phone to cancel ALL DSL services, and re-order Fiber DSL on 2 lines, we again were never made aware of any install fees. The only fee we were told about was the equipment charges for both lines (at the time we didn’t know if we’d have our 2nd modem). Within hours of placing our order, we called Qwest back and canceled one of the modems as we had our original.
Billing day arrives once again.
We get our bills for the newly ordered service, and what do you know. Install fees that we were never made aware of. To top that off, they charged us for 2 DSL modems (when we only got one). The icing on the cake though, had to be that the install fees were different. Why? No one can answer that for me.
On our one line, the install fee was $99.99. We were told that this is because it was a “professional networking install”. The other line was $49.99 – a “standard install.” Now, I do argue the fact that this is now the second time we were not advised of install charges, however shame on me for not asking – but that doesn’t make it right. What I would have expected from Qwest, was to right the install charges by making them the SAME $49.99 fee. Oh no … this can’t be.
So, once again we called Qwest to discuss with them the issues we had with our bill. Immediately we were met with opposition (and attitude). When we questioned their practice for tracking the equipment they leave on customer premise, they had no answer other than they would have to speak WITH the technician. If (and only if) the technician remembered leaving only one modem with us, would they remove it. WHAT??? Are you kidding me? The modem we provided to the technician when he installed was from Qwest originally as well … but they have absolutely no way of looking this up besides asking a technician who installed a month ago.
So, at this point I called the office back at Qwest, that had responded to our FCC complaint. I was helped by a nice lady named Sadie. She offered to look into the matter for me, and call me back in 3 days at most. She called back that afternoon and let me know that they would not refund any of the install fees regardless of advising us or not of what they were. She would, however, after looking into our account, refund the higher cost modem (oh, did I mention they charged us two different amounts for the modem too???).
Wait … where’s my explanation about why the install fees are different. This woman was so clueless, and got lost in conversation so frequently I gave up. Finally, I decided to go the route of talking to the oh so wonderful people on Qwest’s social networking team who admittedly claimed that agents are supposed to advise customers of fees.
Now, once we e-mailed Qwest’s “TalkToQwest” team, we were immediately responded to with a “sorry we won’t do anything” response. Oh, I may have forgotten until now too, they love the word sustained. Like that’s supposed to scare me into thinking it’s written in stone and can never change. Oh, so sorry Qwest. You’re dealing the the wrong people on that one.
I had tried to make it easy on Sadie when I talked to her. I told her I would be happy to pay their fees, as long as they let us cancel, and took care of the early termination fees (ETFs). Bet you can guess her response on that too, huh? Yep … she said no way, no how. Guess we’re helping pay for them to defend themselves for shitty billing practices. How ironic.
So, at this point we’ll just take it upon ourselves to file additional complaints with the FCC, and then move on to file complaints with the Arizona Corporation Commission as well. But, the fun won’t end there. We’ll be watching closely as the class-action case against Qwest (oddly enough, about their ETFs) unfolds and may even have a chat with the attorneys that are handling the case.
Anyhow, more to come on this in the near future I am sure. In the meantime, take care … and stay healthy!
