Qwest is the worst phone and internet company around
June 6, 2008 | Filed Under Seriously/Real Stuff | 12 Comments
“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.
Hillary Clinton is not a good choice for VP - petition drives
June 4, 2008 | Filed Under Election 2008 | Leave a Comment
The following sites offer an opportunity to be heard on the question of Hillary Clinton as a Vice Presidential running mate for Barack Obama. These petitions are free, can be anonymous, and are without vitriol in stating the logical, practical, and ethical reasons why Hillary Clinton would be the wrong choice for a Vice Presidential running mate.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-to-hillary-for-vp
You can also send a message directly to the Obama campaign at:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2
Last night’s speech from Senator Clinton (following the last of the state primary elections) is just the latest in a series of revealing episodes and remarks that show her lack of integrity and judgment. Personally, I think that Senator Obama is too principled and too intelligent to make such an error in judgment, but in light of the pressure of the Clinton machine, and in light of how Senator Clinton exploited her voters and used them as a chip to leverage her own ambition, it is important to add the voices of people who do not want to see her do what has always been unthinkable in politics and government–that is withhold her concession and her support for the nominee and instead hold a sort of quasi-election to get into the VP office. (Soliciting the votes of her supporters to say what she should do next when her intention about the outcome is clear is a new and parallel election for her as VP.) The primary election is over, and Senator Clinton should be focused on ways that she can truly serve–by continuing to be a Senator, by opening discussions about a cabinet position or Attorney General or Supreme Court justice. Those are places where she belongs, not back in the White House in what she would regard as a co-presidency. She thought that she was Bill’s co-president as First Lady; imagine what she would do as Vice President.
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Polls suggest Clinton might bring women voters, but would lose independent and Republican voters.
“A substantial 32 percent of independents strongly dislike Clinton, 10 points more than say so about Obama, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll conducted over the last several months. Independents, a group that both Obama and McCain won during their party primaries this year, comprised a quarter of voters in the 2004 election and have been closely contested in every presidential election since 1992.
In addition, 67 percent of Republicans have very unfavorable views of Clinton, 24 percentage points more than feel that way about Obama. Among conservatives the spread is similar — 58 percent say they feel very negatively about her, 18 points more than say so about Obama.” See the full Associated Press story.
Washington Post map of Montana Primary results
June 4, 2008 | Filed Under Election 2008 | Leave a Comment
Here is the Washington Post’s map of counties won by Brack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Click the map for the “live” interactive version.