Sorry if this is a bit long, but it's unbelievable to me how Centurylink's so called "loyalty department" is now resorting to cheap tricks to retain customers.
My current Internet plan was ending, and I called as I have for the past three years to speak with Centurylink's "loyalty department" to see if I could sign on for another year without the cost of Internet increasing. I have managed to always secure a promotion of some kind that would allow Interent service to not increase. After an agent tried to persuade me to bundle Internet with a phone, then try to get me to increase bandwidth for an additional $7, he put me on hold to talk with a supervisor. He came back and said he could offer the same bandwidth (7 Mb) at the same price (which was $19.95, about $23.50 with fees). I was relieved and said that would be ideal.
The following month, the first bill of the new cycle is $10 higher. I see there's no "loyalty credit" on the bill, which had been saving me $10. First phone call to loyalty department results in the agent telling me the $10 monthly credit was put back on the account. I get a one time credit of $20 because they made an error. The bill is adjusted.
Before the next month's bill, I call the billing department, and after a long explanation about how we were told the cost of Internet would not increase, the agent agrees with me about the initial offer, says she will reapply the loyalty credit of $10, and I even make her notate the account in this manner: "Customer called about being overcharged and was told the monthly cost of Internet would be between $23 and $24 dollars," which is the expected cost. Remember, this is someone from the Billing Department telling me the expected cost, and it was the last chance I had to cancel given it was within the first 30 days (a one year commitment is required).
Next bill is $10 higher with no loyalty credit. The call I had to make to Centurylink afterwards was one of the worst experiences I've had in three years I've had an account. An agent in the Billing Dept. said the reason the loyalty credit doesn't appear is because you can't get back-to-back promotional offers. (Note, however, each previous yearly cycle I did have repeated promotional offers, but they had different names. One says "Internet Loyalty Reward" and the next one says "High-Speed Internet Loyalty Customer Credit," apparently not the same back-to-back offers even though they're each $10 discounts).
Then I called the Loyalty Department. The first person I spoke with verified that I was offered the monthly price above from their Billing Dept. (monthly bill should be between $23 and $24), but guess what? He said that the promotion was "misrepresented." He said he could see how we were misled but that it's true we can't get the $10 credit anymore. So I responded by saying it seems like the initial offer--which was to keep the cost of the Internet the same--was "fraudulent." He offered to cancel the account and waive the $200 early cancellation fee (for breaking the one-year commitment). He also said that if we don't cancel he could offer a one time $40 credit to the account.
I wanted a supervisor to verify all this, but speaking to the guy only showed me the kind of tricks these people are now using to convince the public that they're not doing anything unethical. The supervisor said flat out that we can't get the Internet for $19.95 anymore, no matter what, and no $10 promotions can be offered anymore. Plus, he also said that I could NOT cancel and have the cancellation fee waived despite what the other agent had said! When asking the supervisor how he could possibly defend how I was initially offered a deal with no increase in the cost of Internet but then the bill is $10 higher, he tried to say that the cost of Internet service did not increase but the out-of-pocket cost did because I don't qualify for a $10 loyalty credit (and to me, this was double speak). When I told him that's essentially the same thing as having an increase for the cost of Internet, he refused to listen. He just kept repeating that we already get the "High-Speed Internet with Auto pay" discount and don't pay full price, as if that should be enough to satisfy us. He even said "How do I know that the other agent offered to waived the cancellation fee?" I asked, "So what are you calling me a liar?" He said "No, don't put words into my mouth." When I asked him so then is it true that we can cancel and the fee will be waived he said (literally), "No that's no longer on the table." I said, "Then I was right, and if I had cancelled the account with the other agent I would have been slapped with a $200 fee automatically. I said, "Can you not see that, yet again, this is another example of someone at Centurylink making me an offer that I would never get? How can you operate like this?" Eventually the supervisor said, "All you want to do is argue. If there's nothing else I can help you with then I'm going to have to end this conversation," and he hung up the phone after saying goodbye.
To be fair, yes I'm sure I sounded pissed, but I wanted an explanation from the supervisor how he could find it ethical that Centurylink essentially trapped me in an account that costs $10 more after I was initially told it would not increase, with the only other option of early cancellation and a $200 fee. He just kept repeating "But you're already not paying full price..." He even had the nerve to say, "You're paying less than what I pay for Internet," as if somehow what he pays is some kind of frame of reference?
I called back to see if they actually gave me a $40 credit for not cancelling. Apparently it's on my account, but the agent said she could not give me a confirmation number for it. She said if it didn't appear on the next bill to call and mention the phone call. Yeah right.
I was thinking I should call the Centurylink "Escalation Department" and explain all this (including the supervisor's tone with me), but I figure I'm just wasting my time. If they actually give me the $40 credit, I'm still going to be paying $60 more than I should be for the remainder of the service term. That might be better than getting no compensation, but I was still misled right from the start and only through a lot of effort on my part did they give me any credit at all.
Comments?
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