Qwest is the worst phone and internet company around
June 6, 2008 | Filed Under Seriously | 6 Responses
“If you don’t want to cooperate with me, I am just going to hang up the phone.” – Qwest Technical Support Representative
If you Google “qwest sucks”, the search engine returns 85,700 results. Google also returns 579,000 results for “qwest is slow.” Let’s say that half of those results are irrelevant or represent corner cases. The numbers are still high. But the best measure of whether Qwest is a company that you want to use is how you are treated by Customer Service or Tech Support. My high-speed Internet service has never been fast, but in the past week or so it was slow enough that I could walk away and perform some household task while I waited for email or for a Web page to load. I have tried this with email accounts on multiple servers, and with the major browsers–IE, Firefox, and Safari–on both Windows XP and MacOSX. I have also had a lot of static on my phone line.
Then in the past week, I could only connect to the Internet intermittently. I had changed nothing about my service or my Qwest equipment, and my network diagnostics indicated that I had a connection even while I got the message that I was “not connected to the Internet.” I tried restarting the DSL modem as Qwest instructs, but nothing changed. So then I made the classic mistake that people who get public utilities service from a virtual monopoly are apt to make–I called Qwest Tech Support. What was I thinking? That I would actually get technical support?
In addition to the fact that the fast-talking English-as-a-second-language representative was cranky and cold, he refused to listen to my questions about his “answer.” The answer at Tech Support was that I should not use a splitter to separate the DSL and the (filtered) phone line. I explained that this splitter was provided by Qwest when I got the bundled DSL/Phone/DirectTV service 21 months ago at which time Qwest understood that I was buying a combo bundle with PHONE AND DSL using the same line. This splitter worked just fine up until the past week when the Internet connection intermittently disappeared altogether. The Tech Support rep interrupted me and kept repeating not to use the splitter. But, I said, you are telling me to change something that 1) Qwest has provided/instructed me to use, and 2) had worked fine for 21 months. At that point he said “If you don’t want to cooperate with me, I am just going to hang up the phone.” And before I could reply he hung up.
Within minutes, I ordered a different service (Bresnan) and while it might turn out to be less than ideal, it is NOT Qwest, and that, right now, is all that matters. Qwest has shown shoddy customer service in the past. When I called to report heavy static on my phone line just before the Internet service took a dive I was told it was my problem and that I should get a new splitter. That would be the same splitter that a few days later had become contraband. Last year I called about DirectTV overcharges appearing on my Qwest bill, and was told to call DirectTV. So much for bundled service. It appears that the “package” of phone, internet, and DirectTV is a marketing concept only, not a service package. (And don’t even get me started on DirectTV service.)
A number of my clients have reported degraded Internet performance with Qwest, too. One of them stuck gold, information-wise, when he reached someone who admitted that Qwest had performance problems that it had plans to address. At least he got honesty, even though the performance problem remained.
Unfortunately I overpaid my last Qwest bill, so I can’t deduct the time during which I have had no service at all. And, of course, there is no financial recourse for being told to solve my own problems with phone line static, with one of the Qwest “package” vendors, and the lack of Internet speed and connectivity, and no recourse at all for having Tech Support hang up on me. Except to quit Qwest. And that I have happily done. In a couple of weeks I will have the Bresnan package at $119 a month including DVR capability and unlimited US and Canada long distance. The monthly fee will be $35 less than my typical Qwest bill. And hopefully no one will hang up on me if something goes wrong with the service or equipment.
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While I was writing this, my phone line went dead. I ran the appropriate tests at the phone box outside the house, determined that the problem is with the outside line, and filed an online ticket at Qwest.com. When I filed the repair ticket I got the message that my phone would be fixed by 6:00 PM on Monday. It is now Friday at 6:00 PM. So I am currently on a mobile phone trying to reach a human at the repair service and was on hold for 8 minutes. The hold message kept repeating, “I’m sorry your wait is so long. Your call is very important to us.” I don’t think so. I finally reached someone who said she would schedule something for Monday. I pointed out that I use the phone in my home office and that Monday was too late. I am now on hold again while she finds out if a technician is available over the weekend. Another 5 minutes later, I am told it is impossible to get a technician here over the weekend.
After I got off the mobile phone, I received an email message saying that my repair would be done on Monday at 8:00 PM. Not 6:00 PM, but 8:00. Every time that I call Qwest, the service gets worse. Is this punitve?
I can’t wait to say goodbye to Qwest.
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6 Responses to “Qwest is the worst phone and internet company around”
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I don’t know where you live, but my husband is a network technician for Qwest and he works his butt off to keep his customers happy and connected to their service….he works in the heat, in the rain, in the cold and he also works on Saturdays, Sundays and holdiays….yes, even Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve…..so why you could not get repair service on a Saturday is beyond me !!!! Maybe you need to have a little patience….How long do you take to respond to “nasty” customers….if the system was working for 21 months without problems, then maybe you should have just asked to speak to his supervisor or someone else instead of escalating the situation where he felt compelled to hang up on you. Maybe he was new or maybe he was having a bad day because you were being a jerk!
The technician who installed all my Qwest stuff in 2006 was great. He had worked a long day, and yet he arrived on time, completed the work in good humor, and answered all my questions. The conversations I have had with Customer Service and Tech Support have been different. I wasn’t being a jerk to the fellow who hung up on me. My customers are not nasty, but I assure you if they have any problem it is addressed quickly and politely.
No Qwest technician showed up today. I called Qwest to see why and was on hold for 6 minutes. When I finally got someone who was (for the first time at Qwest) understanding and helpful, he had to make a call to Repair. That put us both on hold for another 30 minutes. He finally spoke to Repair and found out that the reason Qwest cancelled the repair order and closed the account was because Bresnan was in the process of porting the phone. This DOES NOT constitute a cancellation of ANY kind. So I called Qwest back after calling Bresnan and finding out that Bresnan did not, and has not the power to, cancel my repairs and close my account. I was on hold with Qwest this time for 28 minutes, during which time my pay-as-you-go cell phone minutes ran out, just as a Rep came on the line. No one can tell me that Qwest is a decent company. I don’t care how hardworking the technicians are. The company overall is simply dreadful.
I have had virtually the same experiences with Qwest. The most recent was July 6, 2008, when I was trying to configure two computers for DSL at my parents’ house. I had my own infuriating experience. I had probably spent a half hour with the first guy and didn’t seem to be getting anywhere so I asked him how much it would cost to have someone come to my house. He seemed to get defensive and insisted that he could fix everything then lo and behold the cell phone call was dropped. He had my phone number but didn’t call back. So I had to start all over with someone new and she was having me do different things than the first guy so I told her “This isn’t working” and asked to be connected to whomever I needed to talk to to set up a house call. She told me to stop yelling at her, which I wasn’t, and then she hung up on me. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so mad in my life. Now, two weeks later and having cooled off a little, I’m preparing to call to try to set up a home tech support visit. I’ve since returned home; my parents live 1800 miles away so I missed my window of opportunity to try to do this myself. To be fair, the Qwest technicians I’ve dealt with in person for both phone and DSL repair issues have been absolutely wonderful. It’s only when I have to deal with the “English as a second language representatives” that things go sour quickly. For a tech support rep to hang up on someone is unforgiveable; if they can’t solve the problem they need to get a supervisor on the line. Not that what I think matters one bit to Qwest.
Most likely this is an inside jack and wiring issue. I have only one jack at my house and got a three way splitter: one for the phone, second for the DSL, third for my DtV receiver. Its works flawlessly. Sure the Internet connection isnt as fast as it was in my previous home running 12+ mpbs but its also 50 dollars cheaper currently at 14.99. Directv’s HD is almost as good as Blu Ray as well. Most likely you will be going back to Qwest as soon as you got something to complain about Bresnin.
Qwest has been sub-par for us as well, and we are excited to change!