[RedBaron]

Originally Posted by JCMSr

CenturyLink's Customer Support personnel are experts on the "bait and switch" game. Four months ago my 12 month contract expired and it was time to renegotiate or pay ridiculous full prices. CenturyLink agreed to renew at the same rate I had been paying. The next month the bill doubled. Called back and they said the previous agent had not entered the info into their system but unfortunately the same "deals" were not available. Negotiated a new rate slightly higher that I had been quoted the prior month. Next months bill came in and, you guessed it, bill was double what I had been quoted. To make a long story short I am now on month 5 and have yet to get a bill that matches what I keep being promised. Looks like I will go back to DirecTV. Tried Comcast and fired them after 4 months. Life is too short to deal with CenturyLink's Non-Customer Support. Stay away unless you have no choice and if you sign up make sure you check your bill every single month.

I, too, have had the bait and switch with CenturyLink. I was told that what I had been promised by the original person who signed me up wasn't in the system. I think they do this on purpose. Sure wish we could get some competition here.

[biker1]

There is actually a lot of competition here. For TV you have:

Comcast
DirectTV
Dish
CenturyLink
Spectrum (below 466a)
Over-the-air
Streaming services such as YoutubeTV and SlingTV

For internet you have:

Comcast
CenturyLink
Spectrum (below 466a)
Cell phone companies

Originally Posted by RedBaron

I, too, have had the bait and switch with CenturyLink. I was told that what I had been promised by the original person who signed me up wasn't in the system. I think they do this on purpose. Sure wish we could get some competition here.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by biker1

There is actually a lot of competition here.
For internet you have:
Comcast
CenturyLink
Spectrum (below 466a)
Cell phone companies [/COLOR]

We've had Comcast for ten years for internet. We were planning to change companies when we return.
Since we live close to CR 466, I guess CenturyLink is our only option?
And this thread is entitled "Centurylink Ripoff".

[Nucky]

$35.90 Per month. I don't know the Jiggawatts of the speed I have but it is fine. I bought the router for $100 on day one instead of renting it for $10 a month. I'm expecting a change any month now on the bill. We'll see about the outcome of that. No problems to speak of. I'm happy with them.

[hillncea]

Comcast has (or at least, has had) the same policy as CenturyLink--when you come off seasonal hold, the prices go up to full retail prices until you call them and renegotiate. I was seasonal for several years with Comcast, and that was the situation every time I returned. After you get used to it, it's not a big deal--but I certainly was shocked when I got my first bill the first time I returned from a seasonal hold.

Originally Posted by biker1

There is actually a lot of competition here. For TV you have:

Comcast
DirectTV
Dish
CenturyLink
Spectrum (below 466a)
Over-the-air
Streaming services such as YoutubeTV and SlingTV

For internet you have:

Comcast
CenturyLink
Spectrum (below 466a)
Cell phone companies


[/COLOR]

All of these choices are not available to everyone. Depends where you are located and the consensus from this thread is that they are all bad.

[biker1]

Reread my post. I indicated that Spectrum is not available above 466a. There may also be some areas where CenturyLink can't deliver their TV service because of insufficient bandwidth via DSL that is too far from a switching station. Anyone who has fiber to the house is fine. The others should be available everywhere else. I have had CenturyLink for over 3 years and have no complaints - they deliver exactly what they promise.

Originally Posted by fw102807

All of these choices are not available to everyone. Depends where you are located and the consensus from this thread is that they are all bad.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by biker1

Reread my post. I indicated that Spectrum is not available below 466a. There may also be some areas where CenturyLink can't deliver their TV service because of insufficient bandwidth via DSL that is too far from a switching station. Anyone who has fiber to the house is fine. The others should be available everywhere else. I have had CenturyLink for over 3 years and have no complaints - they deliver exactly what they promise.

Really????..............then I don't understand how I have internet service.

[biker1]

I obviously meant it is available below 466a. See my original post. I am pretty sure you knew what I meant.

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Really????..............then I don't understand how I have internet service.

The key word is fiber. We have CenturyLink internet and it is Sloooowwww

[biker1]

If you have CenturyLink via DSL over copper then your bandwidth will be limited - it is a function of how far you are from the switching station. I thought CenturyLink was slowly retrofitting all of The Villages to fiber-to-the-house. All the southern areas have it. You might want to ask them what their future plans are. Comcast can probably deliver better internet performance if you do indeed have DSL over copper with Century Link.

Originally Posted by fw102807

The key word is fiber. We have CenturyLink internet and it is Sloooowwww

Originally Posted by biker1

If you have CenturyLink via DSL over copper then your bandwidth will be limited - it is a function of how far you are from the switching station. I thought CenturyLink was slowly retrofitting all of The Villages to fiber-to-the-house. All the southern areas have it. You might want to ask them what their future plans are. Comcast can probably deliver better internet performance if you do indeed have DSL over copper with Century Link.

We are locked in to Centurylink for another year then will probably switch.

[John_W]

We have CL fiber optic in Tamarind Grove since it was first installed in 2011, we're just north of 466A. Never had a modem, wall jack in the kitchen with two plugs, one for telephone and one for internet. Even though we only have 10mpbs speed, I think that helps a lot because we have no problem with Netflix or Youtube with video, especially 4K and it looks great.

[elshackovillages]

Deals are made with local and county politicians, that only allow certain companies into certain areas. That wipes out competition, and you, the consumer, pay the price. We decided to cut the cord, and just use Comcast XFinity for high speed internet. We get television shows next day using Hulu. We also get HBO and Netflix. We have cell phones, so we don't need the home phone service. We get our news online. We might be adding Sling TV, just to get live sports.
We were paying $213 a month for cable TV with HBO / phone / internet. We are now paying $98 a month, and, if we decide to add Sling, it will be $133 a month. That's an $80 a month savings or $115, if we don't add Sling TV.
We were reluctant at first, but now, after seeing the results, we are 100% satisfied. We especially like the original content available only on Hulu, Netflix and HBO.

[PJackpot]

Originally Posted by JCMSr

CenturyLink's Customer Support personnel are experts on the "bait and switch" game. Four months ago my 12 month contract expired and it was time to renegotiate or pay ridiculous full prices. CenturyLink agreed to renew at the same rate I had been paying. The next month the bill doubled. Called back and they said the previous agent had not entered the info into their system but unfortunately the same "deals" were not available. Negotiated a new rate slightly higher that I had been quoted the prior month. Next months bill came in and, you guessed it, bill was double what I had been quoted. To make a long story short I am now on month 5 and have yet to get a bill that matches what I keep being promised. Looks like I will go back to DirecTV. Tried Comcast and fired them after 4 months. Life is too short to deal with CenturyLink's Non-Customer Support. Stay away unless you have no choice and if you sign up make sure you check your bill every single month.

If you do go back to Direct TV, go through Costco if you can. They have a much better deal than going direct. We can also both get $100 credit if you acknowledge you were referred.