Century Link Poor Service

[Warren Kiefer]

For three weeks my Century Link/Embarqmail service has been intermittent and not acceptable. A few days ago Century Link determined the problems were on the Century Link end and offered me a one week billing credit. This was all fine and dandy but I am still paying for three weeks of lousy service. We have two home computers and until a few minutes ago neither computer was able to access the Century Link home page.I gave the Century Link Tech Support a try earlier this morning but gave up after sitting on the phone for nearly 20 minutes listening to their music. At the moment everything is normal but my last three week experiences tell me this could change at any moment. Has any of you had similiar experiences with Century link ???

[Yorio]

When we first moved, Century Link was the first provider who contacted us about their service. I did't use them and went direct to Comcast and though I heard complaints about them on TOTV at times, so far we have no complaints. I still don't know why people use Century Link. Are they cheaper? Is there something I don't know? They seem to be just a middleman.

[Skybo]

For three weeks my Century Link/Embarqmail service has been intermittent and not acceptable. A few days ago Century Link determined the problems were on the Century Link end and offered me a one week billing credit. This was all fine and dandy but I am still paying for three weeks of lousy service. We have two home computers and until a few minutes ago neither computer was able to access the Century Link home page.I gave the Century Link Tech Support a try earlier this morning but gave up after sitting on the phone for nearly 20 minutes listening to their music. At the moment everything is normal but my last three week experiences tell me this could change at any moment. Has any of you had similiar experiences with Century link ???

Warren, I've not had any issues with CenturyLink. In fact, being able to quickly get ahold of Customer Service is one of the things I like about them. Did you call the 800 tech number or the local office?

When we first moved, Century Link was the first provider who contacted us about their service. I did't use them and went direct to Comcast and though I heard complaints about them on TOTV at times, so far we have no complaints. I still don't know why people use Century Link. Are they cheaper? Is there something I don't know? They seem to be just a middleman.

Yorio, you may be thinking of "ClearLink". They are a sub-contractor for Comcast. CenturyLink is a separate, full service phone/TV/internet service.

[Yorio]

Skybo. You are absolutely right. Thanks. Senior moment. Don't want to confuse the newbies.

[Warren Kiefer]

Warren, I've not had any issues with CenturyLink. In fact, being able to quickly get ahold of Customer Service is one of the things I like about them. Did you call the 800 tech number or the local office?
I tried this and plan to retry again later. I sat and listened to only music for 20 minutes, finally gave up.


Yorio, you may be thinking of "ClearLink". They are a sub-contractor for Comcast. CenturyLink is a separate, full service phone/TV/internet service.

I probably will wait until tomorrosw.

[mikeandnancy1112]

We had Century Link Prism for 2 months, didn't like it, picture froze constantly, so went back to Comcast, and Comcast seems to be better than ever. But many folks like Century Link Prism.

[mulligan]

I'm also having the same intermittent service issues with Century, but they do respond quickly.

[jtdraig]

I have had CL here three times to attempt to fix freezing and snapping on Prism (recently installed) and so far without success. So, I think in 2013 I will start the year off with a new provider..either back to Direct or back to Comcast.....Internet is OK but Prism just isn't cutting it...and dealing with their Customer and Technical Service can be frustrating but the tried. I am just done with it.

[Skybo]

I mentioned this in another thread...but I keep reading about some folks having a lot of problems with Prism and others (like myself) having no problems at all. The only thing I can think of is that it is the location, and consequently, the mode of signal delivery. Some neighborhoods have Fiber to the premises, some have fiber to the curb and I think others might be using DSL (not sure about that one). For those who are having problems, perhaps you can ask CL if the mode of delivery might be the problem.

On a rare occasion I will get a picture freeze, but all I have to do is change the channel and then change it back.

However, there was one issue I came across a few months ago. On occasion, when I tried to turn on one of my TVs after it had been off for awhile, sometimes I wouldn’t get a signal. I’d just have a black screen on the TV, even though both it and the box were on. I’d usually have to turn the TV off and on a couple of times, or else reset the box. I never had that problem with either of the other two TVs in my house. I was thinking I might have a faulty box, so I swapped it out with a different box from another room. But the problem stayed with the TV. So then I started wondering if something was going wrong with the TV. An internet search revealed the answer. Certain brands of televisions will have intermittent HDMI communication problems with Motorola boxes. This is not a CenturyLink problem, but a “handshake” problem between the Motorola box and the HDMI port on the TV. Until Motorola comes up with a software fix for the box, the only permanent cure is to use another type of cable (other than HDMI). Since I prefer to use HDMI (best picture quality), I just handle it by having both the TV and the box plugged into a surge protector and when it happens, I turn off the surge protector and then turn it back on. That resets both the box and the TV at the same time and it resolves the problem, until the next time it happens. It’s kind of a pain because you have to wait for the box to reload, but fortunately for me, it doesn’t happen that often and it’s not on my primary TV.

[wendyquat]

I have had CL here three times to attempt to fix freezing and snapping on Prism (recently installed) and so far without success. So, I think in 2013 I will start the year off with a new provider..either back to Direct or back to Comcast.....Internet is OK but Prism just isn't cutting it...and dealing with their Customer and Technical Service can be frustrating but the tried. I am just done with it.

We had the same problem with Prism. We were able to cancel with no penalty within 30 days. We switched to Directv. Service is ok but we don't watch enough TV to justify the price!

[NotGolfer]

A few months ago we had some issues with Prism freezing so called CenturyLink. A person came out and did some adjusting. At the time though, he said that The Villages was growing so quickly that their equipment here was nearly over-loaded but within days of his visit we'd see improvement. What he told us has been true. None of that since that time.
We live north of 466a...not sure where you live! We were once long-time users of DirectTV...but have been VERY satisfied with Prism!! Our experience has been that we've also been very satisfied with their customer service as well.

[Shimpy]

Going back to Comcast tomorrow AM. Century Link gives picture freezing problems, and not as many channels as Comcast for the same package. We use free movies on demand all the time and Century gives a choice of 9 and comcast is probably over 50. A big plus is what's posted in the newspaper is the Comcast channel and you don't have to convert it to see it in Century Link.

[KittyKat]

Yes, Warren, I have been having internet problems for quite awhile; more recently with CenturyLink's home page--took forever to load. I have problems when clicking on links--I keep getting the msg "Web page expired." I thought it was just my computer; I have IE7 because I had problems with going to IE8. I think there's now an IE10? What version do you have? :Screen_of_Death:

[Warren Kiefer]

[QUOTE=KittyKat;596211]Yes, Warren, I have been having internet problems for quite awhile; more recently with CenturyLink's home page--took forever to load. I have problems when clicking on links--I keep getting the msg "Web page expired." I thought it was just my computer; I have IE7 because I had problems with going to IE8. I think there's now an IE10? What version do you have? :Screen_of_Death:[/QU

First, I would guess it's not a problem with your computer. Century Link would like you to believe that the problem is on your end. I was have the identical problem as you described, same message, slow homepage download, slow E Mail download, sometimes I could not get the homepage for hours. After weeks of this poor service and with me hiring Century Link PC Services to go completely thru my computer, Century finally admitted the problem was within Century Link itself. They did give me a one week credit off my monthly bill BUT, while the service is better it still takes me 15 to 45 seconds to get the Century Link home page.

[Warren Kiefer]

I also should have added; when you are having problems loading the Century Lind homepage, try lloading Google.com. If it loads quickly, the problem is with Century Link....