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QWest customer service - military intelligence - oxymorons.

QWest Customer Service

Our Experience with QWest

1. Saturday, March 27
   1. We call QWest to let them know that we are moving on the following Saturday.
   2. We request to keep the same number.
   3. They tell us that we can keep the same number, but if we do there will be up to 1 week delay in restoring DSL service. After some discussion among ourselves we tell QWest that we want to keep the same number, and that we are willing to wait for the restoration of DSL service.
2. Monday, April 5
   1. In the late afternoon, a QWest service person comes to our new house to do the phone activation. He finishes at 5:30 and tells us that all is well.
3. Tuesday, April 6
   1. A friend stops by and tells me that he tried to call, but our number was disconnected.
4. Wednesday, April 7
   1. At 7AM I call our number and, sure enough, I get a message saying our number was disconnected.
   2. I call our DSL ISP to find out if QWest has notified them of the line change. The answer, as expected, was "no".
   3. The DSL ISP representative also tells me that QWest sends automated email with the line information.
   4. Shortly thereafter I call QWest customer support, navigate the automated menu system, wait for approximately 6 minutes on hold, and speak to a representative.
   5. The representative tells me my new number, but is unable to offer an explanation of why we didn't still have our old number, as promised.
   6. The representative tells me that QWest will put a forwarding message on our old number.
   7. I ask the representative whether QWest has / will notify our DSL ISP about the line change. She didn't know and suggested I should call the QWest DSL technical support line.
   8. I call the QWest DSL support line, navigate a different set of automated menus, wait for approximately 3 minutes on hold, and speak to a representative.
   9. I ask whether the DSL service is already active. The representative says, "I don't know if you are even eligible for DSL service."
   10. pause while I suppress the several responses that I feel like making
   11. I ask her to check whether we are 'eligible', and it turns out we are.
   12. I ask her when the service will be re-enabled. She says that it will be a new account, and that it will require one week to activate (but see item 1.3 above).
   13. I ask when they will contact our ISP with the line setup information, and she tells me that QWest doesn't do that (but see item 4.3 above).
   14. pause while I consider both the feasibility and consequences of strangling the living s**t out of QWest 'customer service' representative.
   15. I ask to speak to a shift supervisor.
   16. The shift supervisor confirms that QWest will, in fact, send the required information to my DSL ISP.
   17. About 4 hours later I call our old number and find that it still does not have the forwarding message.
5. Thursday, April 8
   1. At 7:15AM I call our old number and find that there is now a forwarding message. To the wrong number.
   2. At 7:16AM I call QWest customer support to explain the problem (after navigating menus, of course).
   3. I am told that the problem has been routed to the group that can make the change.
   4. At 10AM I call our old number and the incorrect forwarding message is still not corrected.
   5. At 1PM I call our old number and the incorrect forwarding message is still not corrected.
6. Friday, April 9
   1. At 7:30AM I call our old number and the incorrect forwarding message is still not corrected.
   2. I call QWest technical support again, and this time I get Michelle, a person who actually sounds like she thinks there's a problem that needs to be solved.
   3. She collects the information, tells me she will contact the right group to take care of the problem, and that she will call me back.
   4. By 8:30AM she has called me back to tell me she has both paged and faxed the group that can fix this problem.
   5. By 8:35AM I also get a call from someone (can't remember her name) who tells me that the problem is fixed.
   6. I call our old number, and now the message is correct - it says our number has been changed ( not disconnected ) to the correct new number.
   7. Finally, QWest tech support provided a hero rather than a heel. Thank you, Michelle.

A Better Experience with QWest

After getting our phone service restored, our DSL was not working. It wasn't promised until the 14th, but by the 12th I figured it was time to start investigating. I called our ISP, who promised to look into it. They called back and left a message at home, at 5PM, that they had found a problem and would have it fixed by 6PM. But at 6PM the problem wasn't fixed.

The next evening I called QWest DSL tech support and spoke to a knowledgeable and helpful person (Mike) who checked the phone line and told me that all looked good. He suggested that my ISP had not set the VPI / VCI settings correctly at their end.

I then called the ISP and left a message telling them what the DSL tech had said.

The next morning I received a call from the ISP telling me that they had made a typo earlier, but now the DSL was setup correctly. And it was!

So - QWest got it right. My ISP got it wrong. All the tech support people I spoke with were helpful and knowledgeable.

And I have my DSL.

Life is, once again, good.

-- DaleBrayden - 15 Apr 2004

QWest Strikes Again

1. Sunday Apr 18
   1. Several times the phone rings, we pick up, nobody answers.
   2. A few other times the phone rings twice and stops before we get to it.
   3. Finally, the phone rings and stops, I look at the display on the phone, and I see that it says "Extension in Use". I check, and Joanne is not on the other phone. I pick up the phone and there is someone talking!
   4. We find out that QWest connected our neighbor Mr. Bell to our phone line. We can dial out, but people calling our number cannot dial in. All calls to Mr. Bell's number come to his house and ours.
   5. I call QWorst on my cell phone to report the problem.
   6. The dispatcher says a repairman will come out later on Sunday or Monday at the latest.
2. Monday Apr 19
   1. Our DSL is no longer working.
   2. 11AM I get a call from the repairman. I describe the problem. He says "that's strange." I'm thinking, the only strange thing will be if we get our phone service restored.
   3. 1230PM We get our phone service restored, and DSL is working.
   4. I feel grateful, and I'm not sure why. There are skilled and well-intentioned people at QWest, but their efforts are undermined by the incompetence and indifference of their colleagues.