[Taltarzac725]

My Dad was trying to reduce monthly costs and tried to change our Prism Centurylink contract. They seemed to have a very bad time communicating as one of the many orders that came out of their conversation was that they put an order in that removed the Internet from the contract.

No such idea like that was communicating by my father but the end result was that we did not have any Internet for 28 hours or so. I was having some serious Internet withdrawal symptoms and my sometimes conspiracy theory oriented overactive imagination was on full overdrive.

And we had a lot of what I will have to say is comical calls Friday night and Saturday morning to Prism Centurylink where we are trying to figure out what went wrong when what we had here is a failure to communicate.

One good thing, I did get to watch the most current Seasons of Black Sails and Banshee because of the many mis-communications over the last few weeks.

[Nucky]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

My Dad was trying to reduce monthly costs and tried to change our Prism Centurylink contract. They seemed to have a very bad time communicating as one of the many orders that came out of their conversation was that they put an order in that removed the Internet from the contract.

No such idea like that was communicating by my father but the end result was that we did not have any Internet for 28 hours or so. I was having some serious Internet withdrawal symptoms and my sometimes conspiracy theory oriented overactive imagination was on full overdrive.

And we had a lot of what I will have to say is comical calls Friday night and Saturday morning to Prism Centurylink where we are trying to figure out what went wrong when what we hard here is a failure to communicate.

One good thing, I did get to watch the most current Seasons of Black Sails and Banshee because of the many mis-communications over the last few weeks.

I had a similar experience when I received my first bill from Century Link and it was not what was promised. I played the recording of the phone call to a manager from when I called to sign up and everything was straightened out. Seems like a very good company so far and I'm hopeful for the future.

We transported our Comcast rented modem mistakenly to TV when we moved. Even though the service at our old home was turned off the day before we left because I had the Modem and not them my credit on the bill went from roughly $60 To $20. I do solemnly swear on all that's important to me that Concast will never get a penny from me for the rest of my life.

[theorem painter]

I was told by a very friendly retention specialist to always get the conformation number of your conversation with anyone at Century Link because then a supervisor can look up the call when there is a dispute between what you were told your pricing would be and what you end up getting charged for. I hate to generalize but almost everyone I have ever spoken with at Century Link has lied. I can't imagine what there mission statement must say.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by theorem painter

I was told by a very friendly retention specialist to always get the conformation number of your conversation with anyone at Century Link because then a supervisor can look up the call when there is a dispute between what you were told your pricing would be and what you end up getting charged for. I hate to generalize but almost everyone I have ever spoken with at Century Link has lied. I can't imagine what there mission statement must say.

My Dad had that impression too that they lied quite a bit about what had occurred.

I had a few people on Prism CenturyLink though that seemed genuinely concerned about the problems I was having and tried to help. Most of them though not so much.

[Topspinmo]

Must been language barrier. If they are like " Comlast" the sales not connected with billing and who knows where contact people are in the world. Every time we call Comlast they tell me my second box in illegal. I tell them then why my I get charged for it on my bill. So if you think Comlast maybe any better you might want to think again. Basically they all suck you in on contract, due to the pages of fine print, then hike the bill up systematic every few months.

[shumbapie]

I had a problem with Centurylink Prism and their promised two year pricing. I was told that the price would be fixed for two years. After about 4 months, they began raising the pricing. When I finally got to speak with a call center agent who had a mastery of the English language, I was told that I didn't have a price guarantee, what I had was a "discount" guarantee. Net/net, they can charge whatever they want, no ceiling, but I would always get my promised discount. Well of course I would never sign up for a deal like that so I cancelled. The problem is that you don't get a written agreement when you sign up that clearly articulates the pricing and what is included. They do everything verbally so you can't pin them down. I'm certain it's done this way so they can raise rates at will.

I have had an antenna installed in my attic to pick up Orlando stations and will be getting Roku and maybe Sling TV when I get back in TV in November. I really didn't want to cut the cord but I was driven to it. I will get my internet from Brighthouse or from Comcast.

[rcjc656]

Are you happy with the reception of Orlando stations with attic antenna?

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by theorem painter

I was told by a very friendly retention specialist to always get the conformation number of your conversation with anyone at Century Link because then a supervisor can look up the call when there is a dispute between what you were told your pricing would be and what you end up getting charged for. I hate to generalize but almost everyone I have ever spoken with at Century Link has lied. I can't imagine what there mission statement must say.

Good info!!!

Some of these customer service reps need to be retrained as I find a lot of them don't know their product very well. I find it funny having come from a technical field to hear some of their assertions as to how something works and why it is so much better for you. (NOT).

I find it not so funny they offer the best deals to new customers but don't give long time customers a reduced rate upon a complaint. It feels like,"we have the big stick so the heck with you".

It's all about them. Just ask them , "they will tell you"

Nuff said..........

[biker1]

If you are unhappy with the way a customer rep is handling the interaction then hang up and dial in again and you will get another rep. Some are better than others - it is what it is.

I call up periodically and ask "what's new?". My costs keeps dropping as better deals become available. Make sure you check the website to see that the "new customer" deals are. I always tell the reps I want the "new customer deal" and I always get it. I currently have a locked in rate for 2 years but I will call anyway in the spring.

We have been using CenturyLink and I have found the reps and first level tech support folks to be pretty good. Some of the reps can be a bit chatty (trying to get me to convert to Verizon for my cellphone service, they apparently have a marketing deal with them) but that is fine as they are typically nice to talk to and I always learn a thing or two. Where we live, we have 3 choices for internet and I work from home. I cannot be without internet access and CenturyLink has been very reliable. They are reasonably priced ($35/month including all taxes and fees for 40 megabits/sec download).

As you stated, they "may have a big stick" but I have choices. When interacting with a vendor, remember that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

Good info!!!

Some of these customer service reps need to be retrained as I find a lot of them don't know their product very well. I find it funny having come from a technical field to hear some of their assertions as to how something works and why it is so much better for you. (NOT).

I find it not so funny they offer the best deals to new customers but don't give long time customers a reduced rate upon a complaint. It feels like,"we have the big stick so the heck with you".

It's all about them. Just ask them , "they will tell you"

Nuff said..........

[shumbapie]

Originally Posted by rcjc656

Are you happy with the reception of Orlando stations with attic antenna?

ABC and CBS come in OK. NBC does not come in at all. We get some other stations that are religiuos and in spanish plus a couple of PBS stations. Some of the stations work OK and some are flakey and work intermittently. That's why I'm looking into RoKu and something like Sling TV. I live near Brownwood and we are about 59 miles away from the Orlando antennas. 60 miles is the limit for getting a signal. With digital broadcasting (now the standard) reception is all or nothing.

[SoccerCoach]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

My Dad was trying to reduce monthly costs and tried to change our Prism Centurylink contract. They seemed to have a very bad time communicating as one of the many orders that came out of their conversation was that they put an order in that removed the Internet from the contract.

No such idea like that was communicating by my father but the end result was that we did not have any Internet for 28 hours or so. I was having some serious Internet withdrawal symptoms and my sometimes conspiracy theory oriented overactive imagination was on full overdrive.

And we had a lot of what I will have to say is comical calls Friday night and Saturday morning to Prism Centurylink where we are trying to figure out what went wrong when what we had here is a failure to communicate.

One good thing, I did get to watch the most current Seasons of Black Sails and Banshee because of the many mis-communications over the last few weeks.

When I called to get a reduction in my price I did not respond to their touch tone menu. Request a supervisor with the authority to negotiate with you. This what I did and within 10 minutes I had a reduced rate, good for one year.

[Gary7]

///