CenturyLink

I was with Centurytel before it became Centurylink, and have been a loyal customer for over 5 years. In my area, the fastest service they provide is 1.5 MBPS which is too slow for my internet needs but is what I've had to settle with for these past years. I've been told over the years that they (Centurylink) are always expanding and upgrading the service they provide and that I should keep checking back with them when eventually a faster service will be available. Again, I don't have a choice here, so this is what I do.

So, first off I'd like to point out that Centurylink's official website, when I put in my State, City, Street Name and Address, it simply tells me that internet service isn't available in my area at all...which simply isn't true because not only do I have internet, it's Centurylink that provides it. So their website is crap. As a work around, I went to an Authorized Sales Agent for Centurylink to check for services. It seemed like a relatively easy process, I tell them I'm an existing Centurylink customer, I put in my address, my phone number and after a short wait it tells me what services are in my area. Well, about a week and a half ago, I put in my information and it tells me that 1.5 mbps, 3.0 mbps and 5.0 mbps speeds are available for my location. I proceed to choose to upgrade my plan to the 5.0 mbps speed and fill out all the online forms. It provides me with an order # and informs me that a Centurylink representative will contact me within 3-5 business days. So far so good.

7 days go by, no contact. I called up the Sales agent first and they give me the number for Centurylink. So I call up Centurylink, tell them what I had done and wanted to do. (ie: I ordered 5.0 speed online and just wanted to upgrade my existing account to that speed). The lady I talk to is very nice, puts me on hold for about 5 minutes, comes back and tells me she's taken care of everything and all I'd need to do is unplug my modem/router/computer for about 2 minutes after 6pm the following day and when that's done, I should have my new upgraded speed. Sounds fantastic!

The following day of course, i do as she tells me. After resetting the modem/router/computer, I turn everything back on to check out the new speed. On speedtest.net it was showing me at the same speed I had before. 1.4-1.5ish mbps. Nothing had changed. I continue to try for the remainder of the evening about every 30 minutes or so until I finally gave up trying. However, giving them the benefit of the doubt, I decide to wait until the following morning before calling them back to give them sufficient time to setup my new connection or whatever needed to be done.

The following morning, (today right before I began posting this) I reset everything one last time and checked my speed. Still 1.5 speed. So i call Centurylink back up to find out what the problem is. I get another woman who is also very polite, and I explain the situation. She pulls up my account and tells me that the order I placed was canceled and didn't know why. After a few minutes, she informs me the reason the order was canceled was because I was already set up for the fastest speed currently available in my area, the same 1.5 MBPS speed I've had these last 5+ years. Now, I realize that this isn't her fault. To keep myself from getting irate with her, I quickly thank her for her time and get off the phone.

However, I realize that really isn't sufficient. I've been looking for a faster plan for over 5 years. When I'm finally informed a faster plan is available, it takes me nearly 2 weeks to attempt to set it up. I was never contacted by the Centurylink representative as I was told. After contacting them myself, I was told that everything was taken care of and I'd have my new upgraded connection the following day. 2 days later I find out that everything was a damn lie and there is no faster service plans for my area. This is completely unacceptable! Centurylink's website is garbage and their sales agents are misinformed and as a result misrepresent what services they can provide. It would have saved me a lot of headache if the sales agent simply listed that the only plan in my area was 1.5 mbps. Then of course there's the first lady I talked to that promised me everything was taken care of and I would have my service by now. On top of everything else, my order was canceled but they never bothered to inform me it was and I didn't find out until I called just a few minutes ago. This is just the worst kind of customer service on a broad scale imaginable. Again, I want to emphasize that the individuals I talked to were polite and courteous. However, I would prefer accurate information as opposed to being led around by the nose for 2 weeks.