Complain about a product or service

Qwest Billing and Credit

Brian of Lakewood, CO October 29, 2009

At no time did any member agree to an (ETF) contract with Qwest communications. Qwest has taken it upon itself the practice of forcing customers to prove they never entered these agreements. About six months ago I was phoned by a Qwest representative, out of the blue, about switching back to Qwest business phone service from our then current service provider Impact Telecom. The sales rep was very aggressive and promised me two months free service just for switching back to Qwest because they wanted to keep and “earn” my business. I had left Qwest just two months earlier because of bad service, but I was willing to give them another chance for the two free months of service offered. Under those terms and those terms only, I switched back to Qwest.

Five months had passed and I was looking through my third bill and I noticed it stated I was on a 36 month term agreement (ETF) with a 300 penalty for early cancelation printed on the forth page. I immediately called Qwest and told them I never agreed or even heard of this agreement. The customer service representative laughed at me and told me that I did agree to it and they had a third party monitor to confirm the contract. After being transferred to the manager I asked to see and/or listen to the recording of this contract.

The Qwest manager called me back 3 to 4 days later after speaking to her superior and told me that they do not have a copy of the agreement, but because five months had passed, paying my bill in itself was agreeing to the contract. Angry, I canceled my service and paid my last service bill adding a refund for the minuscule 7 a month discount they credited me for “agreeing” to their term agreement, or (ETF). Soon after they sent me a bill for 503.51 for the one business line we canceled.

We are keeping the two months they promised and refute the validity of the invented 300 early termination fee, or (ETF) including all taxes associated with these false charges.

Stacy of Buckley, WA September 30, 2009

I have been charged more than five seperate times for "directory assistance" calls from my home phone. The phone is located in a home with three adults, each with their own cell phones. The Qwest phone is dedicated for internet access and an occasional fax. I have been stuck on dial up because I am about 1000 feet to far away from Qwest's DSL equipment. These calls have not been made yet I continue to be charged for them. The last time I called Qwest to dispute the charges, I was basically told I was lying.

Donielle of Goodyear, AZ September 26, 2009

I have used Qwest as my internet service provider for the past 2.5 years, and have had problems from the start. I am FINALLY out of my two year contract, but have been keeping them as my ISP for a few more months, until we move. Two weeks ago, my internet stopped working. I called Qwest Technical Support, and was on the phone with a representative for 45 minutes. She ran through troubleshooting, and was not able to fix the problem. She said that she would have to send a technician out the next day. I said that was fine, and my fiance would be home during that time. End of conversation.

The next day, the Qwest technician came to the house, and told my fiance that he could not find a problem. The next day, the internet came back on, and we haven't had a problem since...until the bill came. I was charged an extra 112 for the technician to come to the house! We called Qwest customer support and spoke to a representative. She said that they had informed us of the charge (which they hadn't), and that the problem was in our house.

The technician had said that nothing was wrong... so we now have to pay because he couldn't find anything? We asked to speak with a manager. She said that we owe that money, and there is nothing we can do. She refused to let us speak with anyone else at this point. Why should I pay for a technician to come out when I wasn't informed of the charge, and he never found a problem in my house? I currently owe Qwest this money. If I do not pay, they will send it to collections. I am in Escrow on my first home, and I cannot have my credit score affected.

LaVonda of Mesa, AZ September 24, 2009

I paid my bill over the phone and the representative billed me for 688.01 instead of the 215.-- that I owed. DirecTv had erroneously billed, but had conferred with a Qwest rep over the phone concerning the correct amount. When I paid bill over the phone, the Qwest rep understood and quoted me the amount I was supposed to be billed, but billed my checking account for the 688.01 anyway. The "escalations" department made arrangements with my bank to fill out the necessary forms to correct the situation and said they would pay the NSF fees at first, but a few days later, said they needed me get the information from my bank and send it to them. When I call and try to talk to Fred, the supervisor from the "escalations" department, I'm told no such department exists and forwarded to yet, another person.

Donna of Gilbert , AZ September 23, 2009

I had one bill from Qwest for internet, cable and telephone service. I ran past due in July I paid 445 to bring the account current and have my services turned on. Everything was turned back on no problem. I paid my bill In August 133 thinking its for internet cable and phone. I did not receive any calls from Qwest or Direct TV regarding cancellation of cable. I received a bill from Direct TV for 180 cancellation fee called to find out why and advised the representative that my cable is on and my bill is through Qwest the representative informed me that is a mistake and they will credit my account and I will no longer receive any bills from Direct TV and I have not receive any bills. Today I check online to pay my bill through Qwest its only 85 I went on to Direct TV as well to find out why some programs were not coming in only to find a bill for 209 past due. Qwest informed them I no longer have service and now all my bills are thru Direct TV. Qwest admitted that it was their mistake that the bill wasn't combined but its going to take at least 2 months before its fixed. Now I know I owe but this was such a shock to me and its unfair that the communication of both these companies were weak and failed to communicate with me.

Nephi of West Bountiful, UT September 12, 2009

Company promised to refund two months of internet services and cancel broadbanc service because the service did not work on their end. Then I had problems with phone line so I cancelled all the services, they continued to bill me through autopay and locked me out of my account to stop the bills, because my account was closed.

So the closing of my account only stopped me from being able to change my billing options yet they continue to bill. So far 160.00 and alot of stress. I have canceled my credit card to stop them from billing. I am sure I am not the only person they are doing this to.

bridget of long beach, CA September 5, 2009

My complaint is about the complete disconnect between Qwest's Customer Service, Billing Department, and whomever is responsible for their AutoPay. I've had Qwest for 2 years and was happy with them for a year and a half. Then, I made the mistake of switching to AutoPay. Right from the beginning, I had problems. Each month, the fee of 39.99 that I paid for wireless services would be deducted from my checking account at the beginning of the month. No problem.

THEN at the middle of the month, I would get a bill from Qwest after they had already been paid from my account. This bill would always detail random charges from MSN and would come to 55.11. Each month, I would have to call Qwest, spend about 30 minutes on the phone, and have them remove the charges.

They always admitted the charges were not correct and stopped my account from being charged again for no reason. This was good. But, still, it was annoying to have to waste time doing this each month, have the person tell me the problem would never happen again, and then lo and behold it would happen the next month and I would be calling again.

Since I didn't get charged, I put up with the inconvenience. Here's where the real problems with autopay began...I moved. To Southern California. There's no Qwest there (thank God). I terminated my wireless service in June, making sure that my last autopayment would be 39.99 for the service I received from June 22 (the day I canceled) to July 22. The man I spoke with ASSURED me there would be no other charges. I bought my modem. I always paid my bill. There was no termination fee. He told me all these things and, after I told him about my monthly trouble with autopay, he told me he would make sure I would only be charged the 39.99.

Well, July comes around, they auto-deduct the 39.99 like they are supposed to, and I assume I'm done with Qwest. My internet stops working on July 22 exactly, and I'm pretty pleased that it seems like they were true to their word. Then, on August 15th, I received a bill from Qwest stating I owe 55.11 again. The bill is dated August 3, but I have mail forwarding from Seattle so it took that long to reach me.

I call Qwest that day, am completely polite, explain my situation, and the lady I spoke with assures me that the charges are a "mixup" and "because your account has been closed, the charges could not go through." I told her about my problems with autopay the last four months, and she assures me that I do not owe anything, the error is from Qwest Billing, and she will see to it nothing gets deducted from my account.

Then, on August 18th, Qwest tries to grab 26.50 from my old Seattle bank account, which I had kept open with about .50 before I decided what to do with it. My bank rejects Qwest's attempt because I have insufficient funds. Then, my bank charges me a 25.00 overdraft fee. I call Qwest the next day furious. I demand they put the 25.00 back into my account. They tell me they cannot do that, but admit that it is their error. They tell me that after an account closes, sometimes it takes a while for billing to catch up, and that 26.50 would eventually be credited back to my account. But not today, when I need to bring my account back to positive.

I get put on hold. A lot. No one seems to be able to help me. Then, a nice male Qwest rep agrees to conference with my bank in Seattle, my bank tells me that they cannot refund the 25 fee because it was not a bank error. Fair enough. Qwest tells me they cannot credit back the account until it clears in billing, which may take weeks, even though it is MY MONEY Qwest essentially STOLE from my account, by making an unauthorized transaction because of their error, weeks after I had canceled service with them.

We hang up with my bank. I demand to talk to a superior. At this point, I've been on the phone with Qwest for 50 minutes. I wait some more. Even though this is Qwest's error and I have been civil and understanding, the supervisor I speak with is very rude and acts like I am wrong. She reiterates that there is no way to credit back the account today, then tells me that since Qwest's first attempt did not go through, the autopay will try to go through again tomorrow.

She is powerless to stop this. I need to take it up with the autopay robot. For my troubles, she finally (begrudgingly) agrees to mail me a check from Qwest for the 26.50. Then, I can close out my bank account today to prevent Qwest's autopay robot from trying to take even more money from me that I DON'T ACTUALLY OWE. The only problem with mailing the check is that it will take an extra 2 weeks or so to reach me, because it will go to my old Seattle address and then be forwarded.

There is no way, despite talking to several different Qwest departments, to have the check sent to my new Long Beach address to speed up this process, because I have closed my account and "am no longer a customer." HA! Again, Qwest employees are at the mercy of software they apparently cannot change or control.

So I have to go to a shared branch that recognizes my bank down in Southern California, pay the 25.00 I owe because of Qwest to settle the account, close the account so Qwest can't grab more, and open another one. A week later, I got a letter from Qwest saying they would be crediting the 26.50 back to the account...that I closed. I called Qwest and the woman I spoke to assured me there would be a check arriving for the same amount. I am STILL waiting for this check. It's been over 3 weeks.

Shelly of Broomfield, CO August 20, 2009

I signed up for Qwest home phone and internet service, after two days of fighting with tech support and getting the run around I canceled the service because I was having configuration challenges. Qwest tells me that nothing was wrong with their service it was completely my fault, so they sent me a bill for 87.39, after customer service told me when I canceled that there would be no bill that it would be a complete wash. Now, they do not want to honor this promise and I am paying 87.39 for services that I never used at all!!

Cynthia of Fort Supply, OK August 7, 2009

I have signed up for Qwest unlimited long distance at a set fee each month. On this months bill (jul-aug) Qwest has added an additional 55.12 charge to my bill under the Ok high cost surcharge fund. This a fee that Qwest aggreed to pay the local phone company for allowing access to the existing phone lines. In the past Qwest has always paid this bill but after the fee was raised back in Sept 2008 by the Ok Corp Commission Qwest has now decided to make the consumer pay for this bill.

This is a contract agreed upon by Qwest and the local phone company this is not part of my contract and I am not responsible for paying Qwests bills. On Aug 7th 2009 around 12 noon Ann Anderson from Qwest Corp office in Denver contacted me and very rudely told me that the charges are validated and will not be adjusted and my only option is to not pay my bill.

wei of phoenix, AZ July 10, 2009

there was a third party company that charged me for unsigned service. the illegal part is that the charge was hidden in the qwest monthly bill. when i called qwest, they only give me a number to call that company. people from qwest told me they did not know anything about the charge. How come a large company will allow third party to charge their costumer without being informed?

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