Beware Century Link "package"

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Old 12-14-2011, 04:10 PM
billybye billybye is offline
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Unhappy Beware Century Link "package"

I have been tricked by Century Link and Direct TV
After having Comcast almost double my combined internet and cable TV bill, I call Century Link about a package of internet and TV. I was told they would do dsl internet and would have Direct TV do the TV portion at a package price much better than I was paying. I said great - let's do it.
Direct TV hooked up in three days and had me sign a two year contract. Century Link was supposed to hook up next day, but cancelled and said they would call back in 3-5 days with a new date for hooking up internet.
No on ever call back. I call them one or twice a week for a month with no satisfaction, said they were out of parts.
Found out from Century Link yesterday that they cannot deliver DSL where I live in the Villages and cancelled their portion of package. Direct TV said too bad you signed a two year contract with us and cannot cancel without a $20.00 a month cancelation fee for balance of contract.
Seems Century Link made money selling me Direct TV even though they could not deliver what was promised. i wonder if that is how the TV got hooked up so fast.
Now I have to suck it up and pay comcast to hook up a separate line for my internet because Direct TV is using the inside wiring. Then in two years I will be a new customer for Comcast and they will give me a good deal.
BEWARE - BEWARE - BEWARE
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Old 12-14-2011, 04:15 PM
tommy steam tommy steam is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by billybye View Post
I have been tricked by Century Link and Direct TV
After having Comcast almost double my combined internet and cable TV bill, I call Century Link about a package of internet and TV. I was told they would do dsl internet and would have Direct TV do the TV portion at a package price much better than I was paying. I said great - let's do it.
Direct TV hooked up in three days and had me sign a two year contract. Century Link was supposed to hook up next day, but cancelled and said they would call back in 3-5 days with a new date for hooking up internet.
No on ever call back. I call them one or twice a week for a month with no satisfaction, said they were out of parts.
Found out from Century Link yesterday that they cannot deliver DSL where I live in the Villages and cancelled their portion of package. Direct TV said too bad you signed a two year contract with us and cannot cancel without a $20.00 a month cancelation fee for balance of contract.
Seems Century Link made money selling me Direct TV even though they could not deliver what was promised. i wonder if that is how the TV got hooked up so fast.
Now I have to suck it up and pay comcast to hook up a separate line for my internet because Direct TV is using the inside wiring. Then in two years I will be a new customer for Comcast and they will give me a good deal.
BEWARE - BEWARE - BEWARE
call the bbb, thats not right what they did
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Old 12-14-2011, 04:24 PM
RichieB RichieB is offline
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Perhaps you could threaten Century Link through the Florida Attorney General's office. That might shake them up.

That practice is deceptive and they should not be ignored.

Recently, I had a case with my secondary medical insurance company, which was refusing to pay a bill of over $1100. The mention of the NY State Attorney General and the State Insurance Department ended a 6-month logjam, and the bill was paid.

Go for it !

Last edited by RichieB; 12-14-2011 at 05:45 PM.
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Old 12-14-2011, 05:24 PM
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Originally Posted by RichieB View Post
Perhaps you could threaten Century Link through the Florida Attorney General's office. That might shake them up.

That practice is deceptive and they should not be ignored.

Recently, J had a case with my secondary medical insurance company, which was refusing to pay a bill of over $1100. The mention of the NY State Attorney General and the State Insurance Department ended a 6-month logjam, and the bill was paid.

Go for it !
i would not just threaten - i would act! a letter to the state a.g. with a copy to century link local and corp offices is definitely in order. i worked for nj consumer affairs and that office would NEVER allow that to happen to a consumer. i would also suggest contacting seniors against crime and registering your complaint with their staff.
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Old 12-14-2011, 06:26 PM
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Get in touch with the President of the VHA and ask him to look into this matter ... along with his friends in here 'in higher places.' This is why we have a VHA.
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Old 12-14-2011, 07:20 PM
Debfrommaine Debfrommaine is offline
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If they have a Facebook page, go to that and tell about your bad experiece! I bet they wouldn't like that posted!!!!
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Old 12-14-2011, 10:03 PM
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I know this is a lot of trouble and expense on your part and I'm sorry to hear it. You can file complaints, etc. but in the end, I'd still wager that you're *SOL* as we used to say. Thanks for the tip. If you get any positive resolution, I'd be curious to know. I'm such a skeptic of service these days.
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Old 12-14-2011, 10:38 PM
John_W John_W is offline
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I don't understand the big commotion because Century Link is not available in your neighborhood. Essentially CL gave you bad information but now that you know the facts you're staying with Comcast for telephone and internet. So you were mislead, the only that thing that's changed is you are getting the superior Directv for your television instead of crappy Comcast Cable, I don't see the problem. You signed a two year contract and you can't break it, they did give you free installation and it's a little more involved than hooking up cable, there is a satellite dish upon your roof.

I dropped Comcast in 2008 and went with Directv, in which case for less money I received twice as many HD channels. Plus if you're into premium channels, how does ten Showtime HD channels instead of one like on Comcast sound to you or eight Starz in HD, or eight HBO in HD or eight Cinemax in HD instead of one each like on Comcast. If you're into NFL Football such as I, you can watch any game on Sunday because of NFL Sunday Ticket instead of watching the crappy Jacksonville Jaguars or Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You don't know how good you've got it.

When I moved here in July the first thing I did when my furniture arrived with my TV's and Directv boxes was to get Directv hooked up. So I have Century Link for my phone and internet, it's good but it's not cheap. With tax I pay $75 a month for home phone with unlimited long distance and internet with 10mbps speed. You're probably getting a better price from Comcast and with phone and internet there is not much they can mess up.
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Old 12-16-2011, 11:52 AM
BigLew BigLew is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by billybye View Post
I have been tricked by Century Link and Direct TV
After having Comcast almost double my combined internet and cable TV bill, I call Century Link about a package of internet and TV. I was told they would do dsl internet and would have Direct TV do the TV portion at a package price much better than I was paying. I said great - let's do it.
Direct TV hooked up in three days and had me sign a two year contract. Century Link was supposed to hook up next day, but cancelled and said they would call back in 3-5 days with a new date for hooking up internet.
No on ever call back. I call them one or twice a week for a month with no satisfaction, said they were out of parts.
Found out from Century Link yesterday that they cannot deliver DSL where I live in the Villages and cancelled their portion of package. Direct TV said too bad you signed a two year contract with us and cannot cancel without a $20.00 a month cancelation fee for balance of contract.
Seems Century Link made money selling me Direct TV even though they could not deliver what was promised. i wonder if that is how the TV got hooked up so fast.
Now I have to suck it up and pay comcast to hook up a separate line for my internet because Direct TV is using the inside wiring. Then in two years I will be a new customer for Comcast and they will give me a good deal.
BEWARE - BEWARE - BEWARE
got their package with Prism and have had no problems whatsoever and $60 cheaper
  #10  
Old 12-16-2011, 12:26 PM
billybye billybye is offline
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Prism is what I called for - they told me not available where I live (Santiago) and then offered me the package they could not deliver.
  #11  
Old 01-18-2012, 11:41 AM
billybye billybye is offline
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Followup
After complaining to FCC, I just got a letter Direct TV sent to the FCC and copied me saying they will not charge me an early disconnect fee do to the circumstances in which I signed the contract.
Century Link replied that I was not the correct person responsible for the account. I don't know why they charged my credit card for installation then.
Anyway I am just out the cost of $52.95 to have Comcast reconnect my internet (they are now charging me an additional $10.00 a month becuase I am not bundling with them, but that was not bad - could have been worse, seeing I had no choice. They were real cooperative in running additional line through attic.
Now I can shop Direct TV vs Comcast when Direct TV raises my rate because I am not bundled.
If I am lucky there will be additional choices in future.
Out of principle I would not use Century Link if they were half price.
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