Complain about a product or service

Qwest Installation & Repair

Andrew of Fort Collins CO (09/02/08)
We called Qwest to put in a new home line last year. An employee came out and handed us a box of cable and told us this will have to do for now. We have had an extremely fuzzy line since the first day of service assuming due to the line not being buried. One year later, no one buried the phone line.

We finally did get a subcontractor out to our home to bury the phone line summer of 2008. **We have had three middle of the night visits from the Sheriff stating we had a 911 dial up and they were required to investigate the reason for the calls. After the first incident we called Qwest and we were given the reason for the incidence was our faulty cheap phone. The employee went to to state I know it sounds crazy like we are being taken over by electronics. I asked him, Do you really expect me to believe that?!

We immediately cancelled our Qwest Services. Trusting them our services were cancelled, they were not. A month later we were still connected to their services and being billed for outrageous calls. More 911 calls, hundreds of Directory Service calls monthly and now we are getting bills for 3 way callings and Long Distance. * We were using the phone line for internet dial up , never for directory assistance, long distance, 3 way callings etc...

We have tried a handful of times to talk to management over the phone and just today we were told Management would have to call us back another time. Also, they are not cooperating and fully refunding what was billed to our account because they said it looked reasonable. We will be refunded all the charges they have wrongly billed us for. We cut the cable to our home in hopes not to have any more visits from police. One employee told us, Management has refused to credit our accounts.

emotional damage /unsafe feeling with Police/Sherriff want to search your property repeatedly due to Qwest not fixing/delaying their own computer problems. Hundreds of dollars in phone bills that we are not responsible for.

Jason of Phoenix AZ (08/25/08)
Quest Choice TV installers could not get the picture to work consistantly. I called to cancel and switch to Direct TV Satellite. Quest told me they bundled with Direct TV and would give me a discount with the internet. They said I needed a telephone # through them for 3 months, and free with a promotion. They ended up opening multiple accounts.

I called back and spoke to a new representative. She said it was opended incorrectly. She said due to my inconvenience she would credit me for 50 percent off my internet and free HBO for 3 months. I paid my payment and got it back in a credit. The new representative explained it was paid for with a credit.

I then began getting multiple bills. I called and they said they would handle it. I paid 2 payments to the account they showed correct. I then was placed into collections for the other accounts and had my service disconnected. I called 10 times in the past week trying to get it taken care of. To date, they can not credit my active accounts and said I am in collections! They have my money on another account and said a credit will be issued!

I have about 10 hours on my cell on this issue. I have no service. I am in collections. They have my money on another account they have not even refunded!

Brian of Cedar Rapids IA (08/20/08)
I wanted my Qwest service transferred to my new residence and Qwest turned off my current phone service without scheduling a date to turn on new service. This left me without any phone for 3 days so far. There customer service has been impossible.

I am currently performing in a local theatre and have no phone to be contacted with information about the shows -

Balla of Phoenix AZ (06/18/08)
Lucas put a block on my long Distance Service, because I was unable to provide my social security number or date of birth over the phone. I work from 8am to 5pm and I'm not allowed to make personal phone calls there for unable to disclose such information. Lucas has been [unhelpful] about this matter and I ask to please speak to his supervisor or that someone else takes hold of my case.

Ken/linda of Osakis MN (06/07/08)
My Mother had a cell phone in Mpls. MN and all was fine. She became sick and was hospitilized and then moved to a nursing home in Osakis, MN about 100 miles away. The service does not work and Qwest admits there are no towers for them. Qwest however insists on sticking my elderly mother with the balance of her contract. When I moved to Osakis, Verizon had no problem with ending my service in the middle of a contract. I think Qwest has no compassion for their customers.

My Mother will have to pay the balance of $117 of a prorated 2-year contract and not be able to use her phone.

Leah of Bend OR (05/15/08)
A few weeks after obtaining my cell phone from Qwest last year, I was on the phone and received a loud shriek. I thought it was a not-so-nice warning that my battery was low, but nope my battery was charged. When it happened again, I called Qwest only to be told sorry, you'll need to buy a new phone. So I took it upon myself instead to buy a new battery. Low and behold, it happened again.

I just attempted to use their live chat feature. When the customer service rep asked me for the security code. I typed it in (from the actual security code I received from Qwest), he said sorry, that is an invalid security number. I told him to forget it and would attempt to talk to another live person. Nowhere on their website or on their bill have I been able to find an actual address to mail them a letter of complaint. To get out of the contract they'll charge $200 per cell phone (we have three). Never again.

Mark of Portland OR (05/08/08)
I called Qwest to request an appointment to look at a problem tree on my property which I wanted to consult with them relating to their phone lines prior to cutting the tree. I made an appointment for between 10:30AM and 12 Noon. They never showed up and never called.

Later I called their operator back and she said they called at 8:30, but I told them I wouldn't be home until 10:30AM. No one had called at any time that morning because there was nothing on our answering machine. The operater said the technician would call me back in a few minutes I hung up.

I waited another 1 1/2 hours and they didn't call. I called them back a second time after waiting for them to show up for 4 hours. She kept me on the line for an additional 30 minutes while trying to get a hold of the technician who apparently wouldn't answer his phone. She said he couldn't make it today and they would try to get another tech out before 5PM. and he would try to get fixed for free what ever the problem was. He called back but said they would charge me $120 for the work they could do. I said forget it, I'm going to file a complaint. In the broadest sense, this isn't my idea of service.

Lost 4 1/2 hours I could have been working on the problem, I was trying to consult Qwest about. They could have left a message on my answering machine if they weren't going to show up.

Charleen of Greenwood Village CO (03/24/08)
Our phones went out Saturday morning. All of a sudden they ALL went dead on this phone number. Our bills are paid automatically. I called on my cell phone and after punching in many numbers and never talking to a real person I was told the phone would be repaired by seven o'clock tonight. None of the phones are yet working. I'm sure my children tried to call, they do every holiday.

No damage yet, but my husband and I are both in our late 70's. It's dangerous not to have a land line.

Steven of New River AZ (01/17/08)
I called to move my house phone, direct tv, wireless and add broadband from New Mexico to Arizona, the qwest rep john said he would take care of every thing and I would have a bundle with one bill,

I and my wife have been double billed spent 30+ hrs on the phone , Direct tv was not working from oct 19th to nov 20th still double billed call every month get hung up on after 2hrs and 3 people changesstii getting double billed and lied to.

Mona of Peoria AZ (11/05/07)
My husband and I connected service with Qwest in January of 2007. In June I made a phone call and informed Qwest we would be disconnecting our service (we have Qwest Choice and Online), as we would be moving, and we would not be continuing service with them as I and Qwest seemed to have problems keeping my billing straight (it seems I have 2 account numbers). I paid my bill and asked the girl on the phone was there anything else I needed to do? She stated no.

I received a statement from Omnium Worldwide dated 8/28/07 stating they were retained to assist Qwest to collect $201.01. And they had disconnected our services. I called Omnium and stated I had disconnected service and wanted to know what the $201.01 was for? As I had paid up the account. They said since I was disputing the amount I would need to contact Qwest. On 9/4 I spoke with an Amber, Margarita and a Bonnie in credit management. They could not find my account that I had given them, they initially could not pull it up. They worked with me for over an hour and we had not been able to resolve my issue.

Guillermo of Hereford AZ (11/05/07)
My phone line goes in and out of service, especially during the mornings (for the last month) This week has been by far the worst though. We are a home based business and it has been quite frustrating. We have two lines. In one week we have called 10 times. At one point I asked the rep, if they were going to credit me for all the times my phone was not working she told me she doesn't deal with that and to call the business center, and she purposely hanged up on me.

Sean of Puyallup WA (10/01/07)
Before moving to a new residences I had called Qwest and asked if there was service in the area that we were moving and was told that yes there was, but we have had no service since we moved in. I started a communication thread with Qwest in March regarding the lack of coverage and was told the the engineers would have to make an assessment of the area, and that it would take some time. I called back every month to get an update and was told by the engineer department in Aug that yes there was a lack of coverage in my area even though I was within 5 miles of 3 towers and that there was a plan in place to put additional towers in the next year.

At that point I told Qwest that because of the lack of coverage that the phone plan was doing me no good because I couldn't make call out or receive calls in within a block of my house and that I would like to be released form the contract. I was told that because they didn't have coverage that I still needed to pay 400 dollars to be released from the family plan. after many calls over 3 week with them and spending over 6 hours on hold within that time I was able to get out of the contract but it still cost me 150 dollars.

I find it appalling that after being a loyal Qwest customer for over 8 years that I was still given such a hard time getting released from a bad contract and being made to feel as if it was somehow my fault that the services was not working.

Ed of Aberdeen WA (09/18/07)
A number of months ago I sign up for a package deal with Qwest. There were disagreements and communication proglems galore after I saw my first bill. We got things worked out after a number of phone conversations over a few days--or so I thought. One aspect of the package never materialized. My DTV bill was supposed to be 'bundled' into my phone bill but never was.

Cathy of Colorado Springs CO (02/02/07)

In November, I called Qwest to report a loss of service on my phone. The service rep clearly indicated that it didn't appear to be my individual line. (Less than 10 minutes after my call, I noticed a service man on the telephone pole on the corner. He said he was working on a call from a neighbor across the street.) Later, Qwest billed me for almost $90.00 for "repairs." The repair bill didn't appear on my January bill; I found out about it when I got a collection notice a week after I had paid the January bill in full.

When I called, they said they had "split" the bill to avoid cutting off my service! I called, the representatives were unhelpful, and they said there were no supervisors available (although I got two different stories about why none were available), and when I said I would take the issue to the FCC and any other agency I had to, their attitude was a disinterested "go ahead." They said a supervisor would call within 24 hours. No one called.

I have now been referred to a collection agency, have threats to cut off phone service, and have spent $10.00 for certified letters to the collection agency protesting the charge.

Rob of Fort Collins CO (09/18/06)
I requested a DSL line and Qwest installed DSL and voice, assigned a number and collected for the voice portion for two years and eight months. Recently we installed a new phone system and found out the voice was not working. Qwest determined that the voice WAS NEVER HOOKED UP, but now says they only have to refund two years of payments since the phone was out of service and there is a two year window. They claim that they can keep the other eight months of payment because I did not tell them they never hooked up the line. The line is one of four to my business and was used exclusively for DSL, was not part of our answering service or roll over service for incoming phone calls. They claim it is my fault for not discovering their mistake sooner.

They feel they should keep eight months and one week of payments for a line they NEVER INSTALLED. I think this is just wrong. The state PUC which never met a business it couldn´t protect sides with Qwest who says the phone was out of service when in fact it never was in service.

Tania of Eldorado Springs CO (09/18/06)

I moved home and arranged to have my phone reconnected as well as have DSL internet. I also ordered Direct TV through Qwest to be reconnected. They arranged to visit my property on the 11th of July but told me that no one would need access to the property. My phone was not connected on the 11th so I called and was told they did need access. Another visit was arranged for my phone etc on July 20^th.

I made arrangements to be there and no one showed up between 8am and 6.30pm. I called repeatedly and was told eventually by a supervisor that someone would be there at 8am the next morning. Again, I took time off work and had Direct TV showing up during the morning but they needed a phone line. No one showed up or called. Eventually, someone from Qwest arrived at 1pm. Direct TV meanwhile couldn't come out as they were given the wrong address by Qwest, so that was reschedule for Aug 3rd.

When I subsequently called to ask for compensation, I was told I would have a month’s credit. I have just got off the phone after receiving a bill with no credit - and being on hold to speak to someone yet again who could authorize a credit. If I could change my service I would, but living in a remote area it is difficult to get other service providers.

Nicolle of Boise ID (01/16/06)
Once upon a time, I had a land line phone with Qwest. I started a business and requested to switch the line from my home line to my business line (same address) because they would not allow me to advertize with my home number.  Somehow, the number was disconnected altogether, but they tried to charge me for 3 months of service.  In trying to resolve this, I discovered that they gave my service, and business phone number, to someone else. I was told nothing could be done, but after months of letters and calls on my part, the charges for the services were reversed, since I hadn’t had any service at all.

I bought a cell phone phone so I could continue with my business. Later, I discovered that they have been allowing someone to illegally advertize with my business name (someone who worked with me for a very short time). I reported this to the company, and was prepared to send legal documentation proving this person is breaking the law; I was told by several representatives that nothing could be done, that the company didn’t care about legalities.

I changed my business name to work around this, because as a small business, I don’t have millions of dollars to sue Qwest or the other person. I discover that now they won’t allow me to advertize under my new business name because it’s a cell phone, but want to charge me for the old listing through the end of the year. It is January, and I receive another bill for the old listing. They still want me to pay for an old listing, but won't let me pay for a new (also legal) listing. I have called so many times; I have sent letters, all without response. I don't even know what to do.

I have lost business, since I spent years building a reputation, but with my advertizing going to another number. Now I can't advertize at all with Qwest unless I spend even more money and get land line phone with Qwest- which I would have had in the first place...

Arnold of Tucson AZ (01/03/06)
I have had this ongoing problem with my QWest residential telephone service for years. There is a loud buzzing on the line that gets progressively worse with time making telephone conversation almost impossible. We have contacted their repair service at least 3 times in the last 12 months only to have them make patchwork repairs that last for a few hours and the noise comes back. During the summer of 2005, the phone went out completely, the repair service dug up the street in front of my home, put electrical tape around wires, refilled the hole and that repair lasted about 24 hours.

We had another service call 2 months later, this time the serviceman did something and left without checking if it was repaired and we were without service for 4 days. Our home is located in the Las Ventanas Home Development consisting of 57 homes.We are not the only home experiencing problems. We were told by some Qwest employees that the problem is in the infrastructure when underground lines were put in about 18 years ago.

They put colored paint marks all over the street where they were to come and dig up the streets and make further repairs scheduled for September 2005, they never came but the paint marks are still there. I certainly hope that you can help me with this problem. If it is not repaired completely without just doing patchwork that lasts for a few hours, my next step would be to write to Richard Notebaert, Chairman & CEO of QWest, Jeff Hatch-Miller, Chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission, and Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General.

Talking on the telephone is almost impossible. My son works in the evenings, I am always concerned that in an emergency, our line will be out and he would be unable to contact us.

Bernard of Marion IA (12/13/05)
On November 30, 2005, I ordered a new caller ID from Qwest. The technician with whom I spoke took it upon himself to disconnect my phone line from Vartec, for some unknown reason. It was probably ineptitude/stupidity. Since that time, I have NOT been able to use ANY long distance services, either in my state, out of the state, nor internationally. Are all these people incompetent or just malicious?

I have spoken with five different representatives with no action taken, despite promises. The sixth technician finally listened and was able to contact Vartec. Now, Vartec is not able, yet, to re-establish long distance service. In the meantime, I am left without resort to communication via telephone, unless it is in my city. Vartec, with its outsourcing technicians appears to be as incapable as Qwest has been, so what is a consumer supposed to do? Get in touch with the FCC? We have relatives in other areas who are quite ill and have family members flying internationally to Marion. We cannot call them. The break-up of the Bell system has been a disaster. It's ludicrous!

Margaret of Portland OR (10/28/05)
Starting two weeks ago my land line phone started Making unsolicited/incomplete 911 calls to my local 911 operator here in Portland Oregon...the police have been to my house 3-4 times already each time a call is made (and rightfully so). For one week calls have stopped...but last night the 911 operator phoned me at 12:15 AM (10/28/2005) to say another call to 911 was made from my home phone number and there was static on the line. Qwest was out last week and checked everything out only to say all was fine?. My phones in the house are working as well. I really need this investigated...this is disturbing and scary!!

my piece of mind is disturbed and I am not getting sleep and I feel nothing is being addressed as to the exact cause of this problem and Qwest isn't addressing this problem at all.I have purchased two new phones just in case my old phones were faulty.

Kathy of Sun Lakes AZ (08/08/05)
Well it is Monday and our home phone is not working yet again. A service repairman was out working on the box behind the house yesterday and today the phone does not work. At least every two weeks and sometimes twice a week for the past year we have not had service and we have had to contact Qwest. They usually try to blame in our our cordless phone batteries, but we have one land line that does not work either at the time. Since I work I usually make a service request on line since the waits for service on the phone can last as long as 20 minutes. The problem is usually solved by the end of the day but this seems to happen way too often. I pay over $50 a month for just basic phone service with caller ID, unlisted/unpublished number and voice messaging and I think for that money the service should be a lot better than it is.

Sally of Silver City IA (9/27/03): Qwest’s problems with the General Services Administration have recently made news. Although that situation alone is unlikely to send Qwest into bankruptcy, my experience with the phone company leads me to wish that it might. If Qwest were gone, my telephone service might improve.

Early on the evening of June 18, 2003, my 91-year-old mother suffered a major stroke. As is often the case here in the small town of Silver City, Iowa, her phone was dead, making it impossible to call 911, so she walked to my house. Had I not been looking out my window and seen her, she would probably not have survived. My telephone was not working, either. I drove her to the emergency room in Council Bluffs. All day today, Saturday, September 27th, the phones I know about have been without dial tone.

I went online to report the problem, only to find that the repair request form requires the submission of a “contact” phone number, other than the number(s) being reported. None of the phones in this area are working, so I could not comply in any meaningful way. I finally submitted the number of a neighbor’s non-working phone that was not in my “report”.

Out of the past seven days, our phones functioned at their usual level on only two days -- last Sunday and yesterday. Since moving here in 2000, I have tried to work with Qwest to get reliable phone lines for myself and my parents. Both households are served by lines that go through a SLC-40 switch, rather than the standard-type copper connections available to most telephone customers. Because they are “slick” lines, caller ID, computer modem connections (my modem uses a satellite connction), fax machines, voice mail, and most other ancillary services expected by contemporary telephone customers will not work.

Telephone calls are often disconnected in mid-call, many times people tell me that they have called repeatedly to get through to my house, and…as happened the day my mother had her stroke… there is often no dial tone at all. Lately, people calling me have been hearing a “this number has been disconnected” message. My family’s households are not the only ones in this small town served by SLC lines. Everyone with such lines experiences similar problems.

I do know of at least one instance when a customer acquired an upgraded line in exchange for a significant payment. I also know of at least one, and perhaps two, times that upgraded lines were given to people with “clout”….although I have been told that is against federal law. I, early on, tried contacting the Iowa Utilities Board, but they informed me that despite my having reported perhaps 50 outages to Qwest, there was no record of problems with my telephone service. It seems that whenever the repairperson cannot find a “fault” in the equipment during his after-the-fact service call, such repair trips go into the computer as “no problem”.

For Qwest, perhaps, such events are “no problem”. For households with no telephone service during an emergency, lack of service (for usually hours at a time) does constitute a significant problem. We are certainly required to pay for phone service even when it doesn’t work, so Qwest has little incentive to upgrade its equipment. Their position is that the law requires only that they provide “voice quality” telephone service, and that a SLC-40 line meets the minimum required standard.

It does seem that “minimum standard” ought to also include a reasonable expectation of consistency of service and reliability. The usual twice-monthly periods of no dial tone and almost daily dropped or disconnected calls cause me to believe that my phone service falls significantly short of any reasonable standard. I would simply give up my land line, but Silver City exists in a pocket of the countryside that is covered by no cellular network; it is impossible to use a cell phone most places within the city limits.

It is not inconceivable to assume that someone will eventually die as a direct result of Qwest’s inadequate service, when an outage prevents contact with emergency services. The resulting lawsuit filed by the survivors of such a tragedy would probably not bother them much, however. It is perhaps more economical to retain lawyers than to lay better wire. I cannot look to my state level representatives for help. All my research, as well as my personal experience, indicates that they are unwilling to confront or question the interests of a company as powerful as Qwest. In particular, Representative Gerald Jones, whose official address is Silver City, is notorious for being unresponsive. (And I'll bet he has a direct copper, non-SLC telephone connection!)

Residents of small towns pay higher rates for phone service than do residents of cities, yet we are required to make do with grossly inadequate service. This seems to be another instance in which corporate interests are inviolate, and individuals have absolutely no protection or recourse to equity. Whenever I see a television ad extolling Qwest's commitment to excellence and customer service, I am sickened. I am also discouraged.

Dawn of Mesa AZ writes (1/19/02):
I moved into my new shop on August 5. It is now October 18, and my phones are still not working properly. I have called Qwest an average of 3 times per week (I say average because there have been weeks where I have called them several times a day). There have been 3 days where I spent more than 75% of my workday JUST dealing with Qwest on the telephone TRYING to get them to fix my phones.

I have lost LOTS and LOTS of business. I have lost customers because Qwest "accidentally" turned off my business line on what is supposed to be the busiest day of the year. My customers thought that we didn't pay our phone bill! I JUST WANT THEM TO FIX MY PHONES! THEY ARE THE ONLY PHONE COMPANY THAT SERVICES MY BUSINESS PARK!

Gary of Cheyenne, WY (10/7/02):
I am writing to complain about several questionable Qwest practices, along with a completely bogus phone bill. First, it took me over a week of pure hell to get phone service from Qwest. To start with, they denied me phone service because they said that someone else had MY Social Security Number. I had to call the local SS office and have mailed to me proof that it WAS MY number. I then had to fax a copy of my ID card and Social Security card to Qwest before they would give me phone service.

Two of three people I talked with at Qwest willingly told me the name of the person who supposedly had my SSN. His name is Chip Hayman (sp?). I noted laughter and a "party atmosphere" in the background on one of these calls. It is risky and poor business practice to use Social Security numbers, and there is even a Public Service announcement on TV against this practice.

Qwest then denied me phone service because the previous tenant here owed them money (Christian S. - $254). They suggested that I track him down. It took a phone call from my landlord to establish my phone service. My first month's bill was $214; although this was high, they did warn me that it would be. Also, a neighbor confirmed that his first bill was the same amount, so I paid the first one. The bill for the second month of the most basic phone service that I could get is $232.30.

I have NO long distance service or calls (I have a calling card for that). Qwest bills are cryptic and make no sense at all; several people who have seen it can not make any sense out of it. It lists five different dollar amounts, but calls are not itemized, so I can't figure out what calls made it go so high. It lists $42.30, $49.98, $78.08, $170.34, then, after a small list of additional charges (which do NOT add up to the total), jumps to the final amount of $232.30. It makes no explanation or justification for the final amount at all. It has been suggested that Qwest is trying to recover the money that the previous tenant owed from me. Because of the above, I now question the first bill as well.

Sophie of Phoenix (8/26/02):
Last July, I called Qwest to tell them that I was about to move to another city and that I wanted to have my phone line and DSL connection transferred. During that call, it was planned that my current phone and Internet services would be disconnected from the place I was moving out of on August 17th (a Saturday). On Thursday 15th, at 3:00 PM, both lines were already disconnected. I immediately called Qwest. I was told that I would be charged $85 for the repair. I contested this, and as a miracle the line was re-opened 30 minutes later.

During that first call it was also planned that my new phone and Internet lines would be connected in my move-in place on Monday 19th. On Tuesday the 20th, I still had no telephone and no Internet. I immediately called Qwest. I was told that I would be charged $85 for the repair. I contested again, and as a miracle, the line was connected 2 hours later.

Starting then, we received phone calls at home from people asking for the United States Post Office every 30 minutes. My husband was at home and told me that he was harrassed all day long, and that generally people called 3-4 times before to understand that we were not USPS. Wednesday the 21st, I called Qwest again to request another telephone number. I was told that it would be done in about three days, and that I would be charged $10, since I was the one requesting a change, and since the number was not in use for at least 90 days.

I discovered Thursday the 22nd that this last information is incorrect. Indeed, the telephone number that has been assigned to me is (602)-xxx-8777. However, (800)-275-8777 is the phone number of the United States Postal Service for all cities of the Arizona East Valley. The current edition of the Qwest phone book (see the blue pages page #26) contains three columns filled with the 800-275-8777 for the postal office. Actually, the alphabetic code corresponding to the last seven digits means ASK-USPS.

We even received five calls from Qwest telemarketers asking for USPS! During that time, calls concerning USPS continued, starting at 7:00 in the morning. Each time we had to tell the angry people that we were not USPS. We finally decided to unplug our telephone, so that we missed important calls and could not use the service we were paying for.

I discovered Wednesday 21st that I had Qwest extra-services that I never requested, such as caller ID, security screening, along with other undesired services. I spent 40 minutes on the phone Wednesday evening with four different Qwest employees for having these services removed. Five days later, we still have these services active. Still in the same period of time, we discovered that people who were trying to call us from outside Arizona (either from another state or from outside the country) could not reach us when our phone was plugged in. Actually, these people reached someone else's home at each call attempt, despite the fact that they were dialing our number correctly.

I called Qwest about that problem. I was told that I had a kind of filter on my telephone line, and that I should dial a certain number in order to de-activate that filter ... but when I did it, I heard an automatic voice saying me "try again, try again, try again". Thus, five days later, we still could not receive long distance calls.

Nancy of Chandler AZ (7/13/02):
We relocated from Denver to Chandler, Arizona. I called Qwest to request new service at our home one month ahead of time. I was told there was a special going on which would provide us with two lines of service, a host of features and high speed internet access. Since we wanted the DSL service, we agreed. I gave the requested e-mail address for my husband (specifically telling them it was for his home office).

OK, in order to correct it we have to start from scratch and lose our e-mail address. Too much headache. Next, we discover that my husband is sending out e-mails that show up under my name. Qwest screws up the account setup. Both Qwest and MSN say there is no fix other than to set up a whole new account. However, they do not recycle e-mail addresses, so we'll lose those as well as being without service for 3 weeks. Next, we receive a package addressed to a man we have never heard of, at our address referencing our second telephone number (fax line and supposed to be DSL). Turns out it is the modem for DSL service on our second line. It will be billed to us, although the user name is someone else and the e-mail is something we never requested. Again, they have completely botched this order - I spent 3 straight hours on Friday, July 12, as well as numerous calls to Qwest and MSN.

Elizabeth of Hagerman ID (5/6/02):
We have had two outrageous experiences with Qwest. The first ocurred as we were preparing to move ten miles away to a new home. We requested that the last four digits of our new phone number be the same, and after checking, they said that would be fine. So we started telling everybody- work, family, friends, etc. our new number and the hook-up date Qwest gave us. Well, the time for our phone to be connected in our new home came and went. We called daily and there was always an apology and an assurance that "tomorrow" it would be hooked up.

The problem was, they finally explained days later, our new address did not exist. After we and our landlord convinced them that it most certainly did, then it was that someone else was still living there and their phone was still connected. I assured them that this was not the case. They said it would take more than me saying that to convince them of it. So after a lot of people made pointless phone calls to verify it, they went back through the whole process again, saying our address did not exist. Finally, after a lot of screaming and documenting and grief on our part, there was a dial tone on our phone. We were so relieved.

However, when we tried to call our number from another phone, there was an annoying message saying that our number was not in service. They had given us a different phone number than the one we had previously requested and that they had O.K.'d for us weeks before. Now they said that number was not available for residential service. Apparently the original person didn't know what he was doing, or was it the next guy? I think it could have been both. Anyway, it was a pain trying to find out exactly what our new number really was.

Well, we finally got over that pain in the neck and then were shocked at an even deeper level by Qwest. We received a threatening letter from a collection agency saying that we hadn't paid a $600 bill we owed to Qwest for cellular service. Well, first of all, we have never owned a cell phone of any kind. Secondly, they didn't even have our correct address or phone number on the bill. Thirdly, we never received any prior warning about this bogus bill until it had been sent to collections and damaged our credit. Qwest was - as usual- confused and befuddled and rude at every level. They verified that we never had cellular service with them, but weren't going to fix the problem they had created with our credit. That was going to be up to us.

Well, after some serious threatening, we got them to agree to call the collection agency and explain their mistake. But until it is all taken care of we will have that scar on our credit. What is their problem. Why are they so messed up?

Jenny of Phoenix writes:
In August of 2000 we decided to take advantage of Qwest's offer of digital telephone service, high speed internet service, as well as digital cable for the television. At the same time that I ordered these services over the phone, I purchased a "military technology" digital telephone for my home. The salesperson (Tom) said that it was more secure than regular cordless phones and would cost about $20 a month on my phone bill.

The installation of the digital services was supposed to take place on September 4th. This was a holiday so I stayed home to meet the installer while my family went to the lake. They never came. I called the 800 number and was on hold for SEVENTY (70) MINUTES!! (Your call is important to us, please stay on the line for the next available operator...) Finally I hung up and called the next day only to find out that they were actually closed and that they had forgotten to change the outgoing message to notify callers that no one was there!

Later that week I was informed that the services that we ordered were no longer available in our area because they were sold out and the salesperson that I spoke with didn't know. In the meantine I received the phone that I ordered and it was a huge piece of junk! When using the phone, if I moved my hand on the handset even a little bit it created so much static that I couldn't hear anything. I also found out from the invoice that I was being charged a huge finance fee which I was never made aware of at the time of the sale. As stated on the invoice, I requested a return label. I finally received one about a month later and returned the phone. Qwest received the phone in October and it is now February 2001. JUST IN THE LAST MONTH I received credit for the phone. In the meantine I was still being charged for it even though Qwest could verify that it had been received and was sitting in their warehouse!

Additionally, I cancelled my service with Qwest and signed up with another company altogether. Additionally (as if it wasn't already bad enough) Qwest representatives stated to me that the only outstanding charge was for At&T long distance but I was given three different amounts. I called AT&T directly and was given the correct amount and mailed them a check. I sent a letter to Qwest stating that I had settled my bill with AT&T but still received statements showing an amount due! I received a letter from Qwest in January that they were going to send me to collections because I still owed them money! When I called (which was about 15 times) I always asked to speak to a supervisor and was told over and over that "since I was no longer a customer of Qwest I COULD NOT speak to a supervisor." I asked if there was an office that I could go to and speak to someone in person and was told that they do not have any such offices, that they only conduct business by phone.

Finally, I had to call the Corporation Commission and file a formal complaint. They were required to respond to my complaint within a certain period of time and "Mary" from their executive office called and apologized, saying that the company has grown so quickly that they cannot keep up, and cannot provide good customer service. Supposedly the bill was settled, however I have yet to receive the requested confirmation letter. The damages that I suffered in the end were the result of my anger about this whole situation. It got to the point that I couldn't even talk about it without getting absolutely furious. Now that it's over I don't feel any better, the representative from Qwest that called apologized, but what does that do for the hours and hours that I spent on the phone trying to get this straightened out and how close my credit came to being damaged by something that wasn't my fault?