I was surprised to see Qwest Idaho President Jim Schmit’s opinion (City should be a partner) in last Wednesday’s Post Register.
Jim made the points that Idaho Falls has built a “largely duplicative network” to what Qwest provides. He claimed Qwest has “invested more than $25 million in Idaho Falls” and “more than four in five of residential customers now have broadband access”.
Jim fails to specify if that $25 million was specifically for broadband capabilities, or if was the total telecommunication expenditures spent here (which could include central office and cell tower upgrades). I hope Jim provides more detailed numbers before attacking our city. Qwest has a bad reputation of comparing apples to oranges, so I challenge Jim to demonstrate those numbers are apples to apples.
Jim questions the wisdom of spending $2.3 million to garner 130 customers after 5 years, but fails to mention Qwest’s current customer count after spending the supposed $25 million. Maybe Idaho Falls has gotten a greater bang for the buck than what Qwest offers? Again, I challenge Jim to provide those numbers for an apples-to-apples comparison.
Are there connectivity or service quality ratings that we can compare between the city’s fiber optic ring and Qwest’s broadband service? I have suffered Qwest broadband, and I suspect they do not want to trumpet customer satisfaction scores.
I hope Jim’s claim that 4/5 of their residential customers have access to Qwest broadband refers to those within our city limits, and not to the surrounding area or in all their metropolitan areas. How many of those customers actually get the same speeds as the city’s Circa network? Qwest brags about 7mb speeds, but you’re more likely to get 256k unless you’re within eyesight of their central office. Yet again, service quality matters as much as access. Who cares about theoretical speeds if the connection fails daily?
I actually laughed out loud when I read Jim’s last point, where he tries to claim Qwest gave Idaho Falls hundreds of their call center jobs, especially when those jobs could have been located “anywhere in the world”.
Wow, Qwest must have really loved Idaho Falls for some reason to just donate all that charity to us, huh? What about Qwest’s outsourced tech support in Malaysia? What about Qwest’s contracted Canadian call centers? How many American jobs has Qwest outsourced?
What about the speculation that Qwest moved jobs to Idaho Falls in a bid to sway our lawmakers and Public Utilities Commission to deregulate Qwest (which they did)?
What about the speculation that Qwest moved jobs to Right-to-Work states in a bid to undercut union power? A buddy of mine says the CWA (Communication Workers of America) didn’t feel they could rely on Idaho workers to stand up and strike in the last contract negotiations, so the union had to cave on negotiations.
In those negotiations, Qwest gave a meager pay raise to all company workers EXCEPT our 600 local salespeople. Qwest then strong-armed the union into accepting lower salespeople wages just a few months later. Those hundreds of jobs that Qwest ‘gave’ our city dropped from $14-17.50 per hour down to $8-10 per hour.
Now Jim Schmit and Qwest think they can lord those $8 jobs over our heads and tell us what to do. I find that disgusting, even from a company that has disgusted me many times over the years.
Qwest is well known for hosing customers and employees. Recall CEO Joe Nachio’s shenanigans for which he is facing prison. Recall Qwest’s purported ‘no monthly fee ever’ long distance plan, which sprouted monthly fees after a few months. I heard Qwest was going to give courtesy calling cards when their techs showed up late to appointments, but the program got killed on the morning it was to roll out. Even here in Idaho Falls, we have the specific case of inappropriate repairman behavior that Qwest ignored.
Qwest’s customer service has suffered the last couple years, and many think it is because CEO Dick Notebaert is trying to pump up sales figures and get bought out by a larger telecom player. This is futile, since the industry talks about how Notebaert burned SBC in the Ameritech sale.
Let me state it plainly for Jim: Nobody Trusts Qwest. Maybe the reason cities feel the need to spend millions on duplicative technologies is because we cannot rely on Qwest to follow through on their boasts.
Jim says our city should be a partner with Qwest. I say we would like to see Qwest act like a partner someday. Please see comment #1 below for part of a complaint I just mailed to Qwest’s CEO and our Idaho PUC.
What do you think?
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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Letter mailed today to Qwest CEO Dick Notebaert and Idaho Public Utilities Commission:
Qwest
ATTN: CEO DICK NOTEBAERT
1801 California St
Denver, CO 80202
CC:
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Consumer Assistance Section
PO Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
I am writing this letter to inform you and our state PUC about a series of egregious errors Qwest employees and systems have committed over a simple matter.
I subscribed to a Qwest local phone package and Qwest DSL. The DSL was 1.5mbps speed, with a $3 monthly modem rental. I never received even half of the DSL speed, service outages were frequent, and the Qwest technical support went to overseas call centers where the reps barely spoke English. It was not difficult to find a better deal on all counts.
I canceled the DSL service in September 2006, but I keep getting charged the $3 monthly modem rental fee. I call every month to try resolving this charge.
Each time I am accused of lying about calling the month before, I am told I cannot keep the modem (it has sat unused in a cabinet, waiting to ship back), I am scolded that I will keep getting charged until I return the modem, I am promised the modem return label and box will be shipped to me in a few days.
I am insulted that I keep getting the hard sales push for new Qwest services, despite my numerous assertions I will not purchase new services when the old service was so bad and I am experiencing such extreme difficulties even closing the books on the old service.
The most insulting was the last few times when I tried requesting a supervisor. One rep, Aaron (who said he was in Des Moines), first said the management team line was closed for the night, then tried saying he was not sure when they opened the next morning, then snidely said he was not even sure if that team still existed. Aaron also refused to get me his own supervisor.
Aaron claimed the system used to generate RMA’s had my old address that I moved from three years ago. I find it unimaginably incompetent that Qwest, a proclaimed technology solutions provider, has failed to cross-link databases with older legacy systems. I noticed my bill never went to the wrong address when I moved.
Aaron promised I would receive the RMA in a few days, promised to escalate the issue to his in-office DSL manager, and even promised to give me a follow up call the next week. Qwest failed to get the RMA to my address, and the Qwest rep Aaron failed to call again like he promised.
I have tried to contact Qwest a few more times, usually when I receive my bill each month with another modem fee. I found this impossible since Qwest cut back customer service hours to a normal business day (8AM-6PM) and no Saturday access. This decision makes it extremely difficult to call Qwest since they are only open when I work.
I feel this is a serious example of Qwest abandoning customer support. I urge the Idaho PUC to consider those reduced customer service hours when considering if Qwest should remain unregulated in Idaho.
My wife called in about the same issue starting about a month ago. She spoke to a representative Kevin, who she said was extremely rude to her. Kevin essentially said I lied about calling before because he could not see records of those calls in his system.
A buddy of mine who works at the local Qwest center told me the system Kevin looked at was a first-line system that purges information older than two months. I have heard Kevin should have dug deeper into the “OSCAR†billing system to validate my previous call claims.
My wife had to ask Kevin four separate times to speak to his supervisor, and each time Kevin refused. My wife mentioned that I had also requested to speak to supervisors and was refused. She pointed out to Kevin she had asked for his supervisor a few times in that call with no resolution. Kevin put her on hold twice, for ten to fifteen minutes each time. Finally, Kevin said his supervisor approved a credit for the back charges, but admonished us that we would have to return that modem. He gave an RMA number and said we should have it on Thursday.
My wife watched the clock, and reported it took 35 minutes to try resolving Qwest’s six-month old mistake.
To add insult to injury, my buddy who works at Qwest said my modem type has not been sold in 2 years and would not be refurbished, so returning it is a pointless endeavor for the company anyways. He said most Qwest reps are under too much sales pressures to bother with non-revenue activities like what I need done.
He also said it was funny that sales tool systems rolled out regular upgrades, but the systems used to give customer credits are old DOS-based programs that never receive updates. I think we can see where Qwest’s priorities are.
My wife called yet again last Monday, March 26 about the modem return. The rep said the return label had been sent again to our old billing address, and that we should receive it by Friday. It is now the following week and we still have not received it, and our latest bill shows the same $3 recurring modem charge.
I am completely disgusted with Qwest and am considering dropping our package and line altogether, instead using our 7,000 rolled over cell phone minutes.
Normally I would say a bad customer service agent is just bad luck, but after experiencing rudeness each time I call, I have to assume this behavior is learned from the top down. I encourage the Idaho PUC to reconsider Qwest’s deregulated status in Idaho if this is how they think they can treat people.
It should not take seven months and over ten phone calls to resolve a $3 charge on a modem you guys have not sold in years. This ordeal communicates a lack of respect for this Qwest customer. It is looking easier to cancel the entire account than to resolve the $3 charge.
Sincerely,
Here is one: There was a rep who had over 50 documented cases of him slamming customers: Ordering them items and services that they did not request. He didn’t get fired, because his supervisor and he were friends. He got top salesman many times, because of slamming customers, which padded his results. Because of this, he got thousands of dollars worth of bonuses. Instead of firing him, like they should have, they promoted him to team leader. After a couple of years, and Qwest being sued by every PUC in every state that they operated in, they finally clamped down on the rampant illegalities that they had ignored. He was finally fired for keeping hundreds of dollars in gift certificates that should have gone to his team members. I wish I would have been there to see him do the walk of shame, and crying like a baby.
Here’s another:
I left Qwest in my own time, unlike so many other reps who are forced out or fired due to not meeting sales goals. I didn’t make them every month, but I did meet them often enough to not get fired. Also important to note is that what I sold, stayed sold. Meaning, I didn’t lie, obscure, slam, etc… in order to make my goals. I was able to do my job honestly, and value-sell items in order for customers to actually want what they bought.
The story is though, about 2-3 months before I left, they standardized the observation sheet that they used to observe and grade the customer service reps, for the whole company. On that OB sheet, you got points for doing what they saw as “your job”. Like, verifying the name, social, saying canned phrases, etc.. It was impossible to get a passing score on that OB sheet if you did not sell something to the customer. This is in customer service, supposedly. I had a big argument with the call center director over it, and was quite rude to the person who “introduced” us to this new form. This for me was the last straw, and I immediately started planning for my departure from the company.
About 2 months after I left the company (I worked at the Helena, MT “customer service” center) they started a new rule for the call center reps. If you got a call, and did not try and make a sale, they made the customer service rep CALL THE CUSTOMER BACK in order to try and sell them something.
Serious.
“If you got a call, and did not try and make a sale, they made the customer service rep CALL THE CUSTOMER BACK in order to try and sell them something.”
If a company called me back to try selling me something after I finished business with them, that would be my sign to cancel on the spot.
Final story:
When I first started at USWest/Qwest, DSL was just becoming popular. People were calling up all the time to try and get it.
If you qualified for the DSL, you were supposed to offer it. Which is fine. At that time, many customers had not ever heard of it, and did not know that their line qualified.
Bonuses were paid out BIG time for selling DSL at this time. A $50 gift certificate, on your desk, for every DSL order completed. All you had to do was write the order, and give it to your supervisor, and boom, $50. On TOP of that, you got an additional bonus at the end of the month for every one you sold.
One rep I found out would add DSL to every person’s account that qualified for DSL that did not have it at the time. Whether they asked for it or not. He wrote the order, took it to the supervisor and got his money. On top of that, he knew the systems well enough that he could search for recently placed orders by other reps, and go into that order and change the sales code to his own, in order to get credit for that sale as well.
I’m not sure for how many months this went on, but he made well over $10,000 in bonuses just for DSL over that time, before he finally quit the company, or was fired. And they didn’t sue him or get any of that money back.
I have had some issues with Qwest as well, however, I wouldn’t say that I have had more problems with them then other companies that I have had dealings with regarding customer support. It seems that there are bad representatives no matter the company, however there are just as many good representatives out there as well but it seems to be human nature to focus on the bad experience as opposed to the good experiences that people have had (there is some saying that people will tell a bad experience to 10 people but a good experience to only 2 or 3). Don’t get me wrong, I believe that Qwest has room for improvement not only in their service to their customers but also to the policies for their employees but I also can see the same applying to other companies that I have had dealings with (Washington Mutual, Direct Merchant, AT&T, etc.).
Many of these companies (whether handeled in house or by outsourcing) offer mid-range paying customer service/billing positions that people fresh out of high school or with no college education jump on. It can be a great step in the right direction for these people, however the one thing that seems to be lacking is proper training. They focus primarly on the bottom line of making money and not the ethics that go with the job as well. Some people just take advantage of this situation and try to make as much money as they can until they move on to the next job. Companies need to focus on the human factor when training their employees.
I have worked in a call center environment and I can say that it was truly one of the most stressful jobs that I have ever had. Really the only people that you hear from are people that have a problem (which is to be expected). Being screamed and yelled at by people that you have never talked to before, for something you didn’t do really sucks (for a lack of a better term). Especially when it comes to bills people can become extremly upset (don’t get me wrong, I am not thrilled when one of my bills is wrong). However you need to remember that the person on the other end of the phone is in 99% of the time, not the person that caused the error to begin with and that while yelling at them might make you feel better for the short term it isn’t necessarily going to fix the problem in the long run. Would you work your hardest for someone that was screaming profanities at you? Probably not. Not everyone handles the situation that way and there are a lot of people that can handle it calmly and so the calls can be plesent, but it is still stressful in the long run. Especially when the jobs are outsourced to a third party company and there are situations that come up that you have no idea how to fix because you were never trained on it and no one in the building has a clue how to fix it.
I remember one billing call that I had. A woman called up and starte yelling at me because her account had been improperly credited. When her payment was entered it was put in for $.01 MORE then what the check was for. The check cleared the bank for the right amount but on her next month bill it was $.01 less then usual because of the error. The woman was almost hysterically because of this error and I had no idea how to fix it. Really the error was in her favor but she wanted it changed and there was no way for us to fix it.
Really I think it all just comes back to ethics on the part of employees to treat their customers fairly and the same way that they would want to be treated but along with that to remember as a customer that chances are the person that you are talking to didn’t cause the problem and getting upset with them will not help the situation.
On another note, I do not receive the Post Register so I haven’t read the article originally referenced. However, it does disturb me to think that the Qwest employees in Idaho Falls are making so much less then employees at other Qwest locations. I always looked at it from the side that other call centers pay about the same starting wage as Qwest but the “incentive” programs and commission at Qwest help boost them up above the pay rates for the other call centers locally.
That’s an hilarious story about the one-cent overage. I wish my biggest problem was a penny.
Actually, from what I understand, the pay applied to all Qwest salespeople company-wide, not just in IF. It just happens that IF has many of Qwest’s salespeople (I hear they have another big center in Iowa), and almost all of the Qwest center by the airport are salespeople affected by those wage changes.
Maybe I gave off the wrong vibe here. About the only time I’ve ever sworn at a rep was a credit card company guy who refused to close my card account, and that was a few years ago.
Everyone is very cheery when I call, I try to be polite because my philosophy is you attract more flies with honey than vinegar.
The rudeness is surprising, probably a product of them not seeing all the information, thus thinking they know more about my situation than I do, and them trying to be right about it. I imagine they are wonderful people, but they learn this corporate culture from their management-down.
Like the example of supervisors forcing them to call back a customer and try selling something. They learn to make that hard push to avoid the call back.
I imagine all the people have tried to use the return label system as well as they know how, but I hear that system is antiquated and full of errors. I also hear Qwest is abysmal at effectively communicating changes, so perhaps there is a grand new software to handle the returns and few know about it.
Whether it is the person reacting to their job requirements or the person being rude on their own, all I can say is I am accused of lying about my previous calls, I am hard-sold every time I call, and they always refuse to get their supervisors when I ask for them. Every single time.
Whatever the source, I am experiencing rudeness each call, so it leads me to believe the problems are systemic at Qwest.
For example, the point that they only upgrade their sales tools, leaving their crediting systems in the dust. It seems obvious there is an issue with the returns software if it has my address from three years back, and regular reps are not able to update it.
Again, probably a systemic problem in Qwest’s corporate philosophy that they care more about posting big sales numbers than taking care of existing customers.
When I first signed up for Qwest’s DSL service it was during one of those promotion things where you would get a discounted rate for the first year. The bill was wrong for the first 6 months of that time and I had to call in every month to get the bill credited but no one would fix the actual problem, although they assured me that they had. Each time I asked for a supervisor and was connected to one each time. The last supervisor that I spoke to was extremly nice and gave me her direct number in case the problem wasn’t fixed along with a very large credit on my bill (which I didn’t even ask for). I have found the best way to reach a supervisor is to just stay very nice with the rep and then after he/her has had their say to ask for a supervisor. The only time I didn’t receive a supervisor is when I got short tempered with a representative on another matter about 8 years ago. I really believe you are right about the honey and vinegar thing Joe.
BTW I didn’t mean to give the impression that I thought you were yelling at anyone, just making a point that a good portion of customer will yell or use profanities with customer service reps and it makes the job extremly stressful and unfortunately it can carry over to the next call.
I liked the Qwest ad in today’s PR, showing a damaged shipping box, asking “What if Cable One was in charge of delivering your packages?”
I don’t know about Cable One, but I imagine that mashed up box would be the result if Qwest delivered packages.
Then they would deliver it to the home you lived in 3 years ago. Then when you called to ask they would say you never had a package and call you a liar. Then they would not let you talk to their supervisor when you ask ten times per phone call.
Ha Ha Joe that’s so spot on. I don’t know how many times I’ve just given up trying with that company. Sometimes it’s just easier to give them the money and tell them to shut up. Let’s not become parteners with those bloody liars.
Someone from qwest finally called me today about my letter to Notebaert and the Idaho PUC. She apologized for the problems, said she gave me a credit, and said she removed the billing code and I was free to keep the modem if I liked (it’s in the trash now, what am I going to do with a 4-year old junky free modem?)
I did not say much because I really did not want to get into anything.
I was peeved though when she had to throw in that she had gone through my records and she also could not find records of my phone calls.
Why did she have to do that? I know the many calls I made, it is obvious their system did not record all the instances (or those reps failed to note them). qwest worker buddy tells me the qwest systems fail all the time to record accurate records of customer contacts (which could be a HUGE Sarbanes-Oxley liability for Qwest).
But even if it comes down to my word vs. their records, why did she have to go and say that, what reason, what benefit?
I think she was trying to throw some kind of little dig at me. Maybe I’m really hypersensitive about my character, but I do not like to be called a liar, especially by employees of a service company I pay money to every month.
I still hope the Idaho PUC decides to re-regulate qwest, and we are looking to drop our package down to the basic measured service soon enough.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission replied to my letter today. They said they do not regulate DSL services. I knew that the PUC only regulates core phone service, but I forgot.
They invited me to file a complaint with state attorney general Lawrence Wasden’s office, and were kind enough to print out the form for me.
I will not file a complaint for a few reasons.
One, a Qwest executive finally responded and SAID they took care of the issue (remains to be verified).
Two, I do not think a complaint about a service company warrants taking up our attorney general’s time. Maybe if there are many complaints the AG would investigate Qwest.
Three, I believe Qwest was a major campaign contributor to our state attorney general’s re-election. This presents an awkward situation for everyone involved.
How do I know if Wasden would investigate Qwest with the same vigor as they would investigate another telecom that did not contribute?
One other thing, regarding the CWA union that represents many Qwest workers.
Someone told me that CWA union members are totally ripped off. Members pay 2.5 hours each month to the union, and the two big promises the union makes are to fight for bigger pay/benefits, and to fight for your job.
From the tales told, the CWA union has been knocked flat on their backs with pay and benefits.
This someone told me in regard to fighting for your job, they promise to appeal firings, but 99% of appeals are dropped in a couple months.
Hey Joe … Sounds like you are a little bitter (not to mention bored). Your facts are very off. I encourage everyone to do their OWN research (I won’t bother trying to convince you for exactly that reason. Look it up yourself, don’t rely on Unhappy Joe’s opinion).
I apologize if I’ve given the impression I seethe all day at Qwest, I really do not have a room dedicated to Qwest pinups and voodoo dolls, etc.
I am just disgusted by their corporate behaviors, from their CEO to the numerous front-line reps I’ve dealt with.
Maybe my facts are far off, I heard it from someone else about the wage and labor issues. Did they not cut pay from $17.48 to the 8-10 buck range after expanding in Idaho Falls?
Is Joe Nachio not facing prison time for his activities when he was Qwest’s CEO?
Did Qwest not heavily market a long-distance plan on the promise of no monthly fees, and did Qwest not introduce $2.99 monthly fees just a few months after that promotion started?
It sounded like purely inside information I heard, but did Qwest not plan to roll out a free calling card program to customers when their techs were late to appointments, then killed the program on the very morning it was supposed to launch?
Hey if I’m wrong I’m willing to write a letter of apology to Qwest’s CEO and ask him to post it somehow for all employees to read.
The rest is my experience with Qwest, and my opinions from those experiences, and they were really bad experiences each time I had to deal with Qwest. Please do not mock my experience with this company when you do not know my experience first hand.
Please do your own research on Qwest.
I noticed Qwest posted higher profits a few days ago, but the downside was lower revenues. Translation: they are making fewer sales and their customers are cutting Qwest services, so Qwest has had to squeeze every nickel they can out of their remaining customers.
Former Qwest CEO Joe Nachio recently convicted of 19 felonies related to improper insider trading activities while running qwest.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18212588/
Each felony carries 10 years in prison and $1 million fine.
Qwest later had to restate $2.2 billion in revenue.
Plus, Nachio gets his multi-million dollar legal fees paid for by — Qwest!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18867403/
Not only did he commit illegal acts while CEO, company shareholders and customers get to pay for his defense. Only the best will do at Qwest.
Qwest management also recently rejected three shareholder proposals to rein in executive pay and perks:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18826422/
Guess who they’re looking out for?
Anyone notice our “partners” at Qwest raised our basic phone rates a few bucks, raised fees on some services.
There’s our benefits from the Idaho PUC deregulating Qwest.
Are there any other landline carriers in the Idaho Falls area? I could not find Frontier the other day, and McCleod had a busy line.
Anyone use any of these reseller phone service companies? What were your experiences?
Just one of the many reasons not to waste your time and money with a land line. I haven’t had a land line in over 10 years and I haven’t missed it one bit!
Previous Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio was partially sentenced for his wrongdoings while Qwest CEO.
He was ordered to repay the $52 million he gleaned from insider trading. He was ordered to pay the money within 15 days. He will be sentenced up to seven years in prison later.
He earned the $52 million from selling Qwest stock in just two months when he knew the company was in dire financial straits, and did not feel obligated to share the dire situation with company shareholders.
And Jim Schmidt wonders why nobody views Qwest as a trustworthy partner?
Smokin’ Joe. All I can say to you is that I was hired recently by Qwest and they have done nothing but treat me unbelievably decent. They started us at 8.5 an hour, after a week we were bumped up to 10. Full health care paid for by the company for me, and if I have a family on it is only an extra 10-15 dollars a paycheck added on. Can’t get that at Melelueca.
I hate the outsourcing of jobs to the Philippine’s . It disgusts me and every other Qwest employee. However, it is no more disgusting then any other company which outsources to other companies or has its products made by foreign laborers to save money.
The CWA might be a good thing and I love the ability to have Union jobs in Idaho, however their position on immigration is a joke as is the AFL-CIO’s. They might as well stand out at the border offering free coffee and donuts to illegals for their Union stance as it is is basically saying that. Shame on the Unions for selling us out to illegals.
Overall though I think Qwest seems like a great place to work and can’t think of another sales job in I.F. that would start someone out at $10 an hour.
Someone even put up a IdahoFallz.com business card there I saw in the break room. I asked others if they had been here and a few at least had, some said that IFZ sounds like a good idea but that they censor/delete posts or boot users all too much for disagreeing with ‘Joe Vandal’. Maybe someone should write up an article on that?
At any rate, I have had Cable One’s internet and it gets outages often too. They just recently jacked our cable internet and phone bill up more then $10 each month because the 6 months had passed. Qwest a least guarantees the same price for a year or two. You won’t get that from Cableone.
Previously to CableOne we had Teton Wireless. They were a complete (!!) joke. Their service was down more then it was up for us. We had called them for a few weeks to get them to fix it or telling them we were still not getting web service. They had us bring in our computer, our modem, call in and do some diagnostics with their tech’s. It was ridiculous! Never had I had as bad as service as under Teton Wireless. Finally, we cancelled the service. But we still had the bill for all that unused internet access that they had just gotten over on us with.
If Qwest or some other company sucks so bad, why don’t you go an open up a business Joe and employ us starting at more then $10 and pay for our health insurance. No?
Ummm yeah I’ll crank up a telecom this weekend 8^)
Seriously though I hope your job works out for you, the work, the way the company treats you, and your union relationship. It sounds like you can already see there is good and bad with every situation.
I just converted from Teton Wireless to Cable One. They were VERY CLEAR with me that after my six months, my fees will go up by the $10 mentioned above (actually, I think it was $14 – but I have all services – internet, cable, digital TV, landline).
There will be no surprises on this end.
I used the Cable One support to assist in getting my internet account setup. Had the luxury of the BEST technical support I have ever received. So far, so good…
I agree with Guest. I too was told up front that after the 6 month “introductory price”, the cost would go up with Cableone. There were no surprises and like Guest said, they tell you right up front. Perhaps you weren’t listening when they mentioned that part.
However, to offset that cost all you have to do is have them take your monthly payment out of your checking account each month and there you go….same price as before. I’ve had fairly good customer service experiences with them as well and the service has been great. No down time, although during peak evening hours, I’d say 5-8pm, it does run a little slower. But it’s still nothing to complain about.
I’m not sure about Qwest as a whole, but I did interview to work there when I first moved to Idaho Falls. It seemed like a great place to work and for 10 bucks an hour starting out, plus bonuses, great insurance coverage etc. I ended up getting a better offer from a company I worked for previously for 9 years in another state. I did like the fact that everyone was friendly there at Qwest with a very laid back atmosphere. The dress code was extremely casual. They definately make it look like an attractive place to work, but after hearing the horror stories from Joe and others, I’m glad I ended up going with someone else.
But good luck to you Jimmycrack. I’ve heard that if you don’t make your quota each month for upselling services that they’ll lay you off. That’s why they have such a high turnover rate there at Qwest. Look in any job website, or classifieds and you’ll always see jobs for sales/customer svc work at Qwest. Monster.com, careerbuilder.com, the Post Register, etc. (that’s gotta say something) I still get emails from them each month offereing me a job even though I’ve asked them a half a dozen times to remove me from their mailing list.
Interesting experience someone had with Qwest messing up their broadband installation.
http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaints/qwest-cant-get-wireless-working-because-macs-are-practically-an-obsolete-system-319279.php
Representatives said that Apple computers were “practically an obsolete system”, despite macs growing their market share the past few years and Apple stock at $187 while Qwest stock is tanking again at … $6.80.
Sounds like Qwest is more “practically obsolete” than Apple.
If you use Qwest, be sure to check your montly bill carefully. It seems they have a habit of tacking on an extra 14.95 a month for “3rd party billing”.
Just one more reason to stay away from Qwest.
http://www.kidk.com/news/19337589.html
CR67- please re-read the article. You say “it seems they have a habit…” implying that the article indicated that this is done routinely and without cause.
In fact the article indicates that not only is this a legitimate 3rd party charge, Qwest was not in error. The customer was signed up for this service- fraudently- by someone they know.
Then it states that the charges has been removed.
The problem is with the woman who fraudently signed them up and with the 3rd party provider who accepted it.
Don’t be an instigator
Actually, guest, you may want to take another look: according to the article, the family in question DIDN’T know the woman who signed up for this service, and Qwest admitted that this company, Orbit, does this quite a bit, and that they are going to look into Orbit’s billing practices.
Thanks, CR67, for encouraging everyone to look at their Qwest bill.
I wasn’t “instigating” anything, just suggesting that those who use Qwest, double check their bills. Sorry if that was offensive to you, that certainly wasn’t my intention.