It Felt Sooo Good To Fire Qwest Today

You may or may not remember all the trouble I have had with Qwest as a telephone service provider in the past. Like the first year I worked at the North Rim and they charged me $300 for “materials” that took what seemed like for.ev.er to clear up.  And then I wrote a letter to the president of Qwest complaining about the poor service I got. And then he wrote me back.  Well, apparently, he is not so in tune with the way things really work in his company, or maybe he no longer works there, or whatever.

Back in October, when we left for the season, I called and asked for my telephone service to be put on vacation. The “no-service representative” that I spoke to assured me it would be on vacation and that I should only be billed about $16 a month.  I waited and waited for a bill, and finally in December, I logged into my online account with Qwest and found that the service had never been put on vacation at all–it was just sitting there, a bare wire from the pedestal to a snow bank, on the RV site I had occupied during the season. I called Qwest and asked them what happened, and was told that no one had called to place an order to put the service on vacation. And the service was still on.

At that time, I told them there was no one there, we were in Alabama, and that 1.) I needed them to put the service on vacation 2.) give me a credit all the way back to October 26, and 3. change the billing address to our address in Alabama. I was assured that all of that would happen. So again, I waited for a bill. And did not receive one. So, in January, I logged into my online account again and found a bill waiting for me there, addressed to the physical location of the service (which is not really an address, it is just a pedestal in the employee RV park), which showed that the internet service had been disconnected, but that the telephone service was still on, and that I was being billed for all said services back to October, and then just for the telephone service since December. So, I  called the good people at Qwest again, and talked to them til I was blue in the face about what exactly was wrong with this picture.

The person I spoke with in January told me she could put the telephone service on vacation, but she could not give me a credit on any of the services billed for, because NO ONE HAD REQUESTED TO DISCONNECT THEM. What? So, I said, go ahead and put the telephone on vacation, because that would at least save me some money until I go back to work. So, for a phone that was supposed to be on vacation starting on October 26, I was charged $89.60 for November, $89.60 for December, $59.70 for January, and $28.28 for February, March, and April. For a service that was supposed to cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $16. I was not a happy camper.

In the mean time, I went to Verizon and bought myself a Droid X and a Mi-Fi card. Both of these devices deliver a better signal than any other cellphone I have ever had, ever! So, when we got back to the North Rim, I can actually pick up a good enough signal on both to continue using my Verizon service for both my telephone AND my internet service. At the Grand Canyon. So, today, I called Qwest on my Verizon Droid X, and cancelled my service with them. And guess what? When I told them I wanted to disconnect my service, they were almost begging me to stay with them.  They sent me to their “Loyalty” department, whatever. I told the “Loyalty Representative” that I had no desire to keep my service with Qwest, and that I felt like they needed to go all the way back to October on my bill and refigure it, as if it had been put on vacation at that time. She assured me she would do that. I ain’t gonna hold my breathe.

And so, today, I had the satisfaction of firing Qwest. At this point, if they issue me a refund, which I doubt will happen, I will certainly let you know. But I am not paying them one more dime, ever.