I’ve dealt with my local phone company for many years. From the roll-up of Pacific Northwest Bell into US West and then the merger with Qwest, prices have gotten higher and higher and the reliability has gotten a little worse. At some point my wife or I will decide that we don’t really need the land line and it will go away.
The thing that’s most annoying about them is the amount of advertising they’re doing. They’re constantly on the radio, TV, billboards, in the newpaper, ads on the internet and direct mail pieces. It seems obvious that they’re not getting a lot of takers. Why not? Well, they could start with the big disclaimer on every ad. Anything that they’re promising on the front, they’re taking away on the back.
For example, here’s Qwest telling me that I’m paying $18.45/month. 
I wish. Our last bill was $31.38. That includes $2.20 for Extended Area Calling, $4.26 in taxes, 911 and universal service fees. But what really gets me is the $6.50 “Federal Access Charge”: This charge, allowed by the FCC, covers part of the cost for providing access to and maintenance of the local network.
So what’s Qwest going to charge? We don’t know. We know it’s going to be higher than they’re telling us. We just won’t know how much until we hit the checkout button … and maybe not then.
I’m paying $31.35/month to Qwest and $57 to Comcast for cable modem and basic cable. Plus using a long distance provider at $.03/minute for the little long distance calling we do. I wouldn’t mind having one bill that I could understand so we could get ESPN and Nickelodeon even if it we had to mount a dish and get slower internet speed and pay another $20/month.
But what’s the price? The real price? Qwest won’t tell you. And that’s why I hate them and most other people do, too.
5 responses so far ↓
John Berry // Apr 3, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I didn’t look before I posted an “I hate QWEST” entry on my blog last night (a year and a half later) and they are still pitiful.
Me // Oct 17, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I have worked for a phone provider in the past..NOT Qwest, but just to teach you a couple of things. Extended area charge is a charge you STATE decided to charge you so calls back in the day that use to be long distance are now local. Federal Access Line Charge, that is not something the telephone providers control, that is a charge that the Federal Gov charges, so in your case not Qwests. Ummm lets see, taxes no phone company can control those or the 911 fees. Get over it all Qwest or any phone provider can gaurentee is what they are charging, not everything else that gets added on. That may be why when you call Qwest they will try and give you an estimate that includes the taxes, fees and surcharges.
Anonymous // Dec 5, 2008 at 11:30 am
I hate Qwest as well, I have had to file two BBB complaints because the phone representatives lie and no one is accountable for the information they pass on the customer.
Steve Ryan // Dec 5, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Believe it or not you can have other phone companies besides Qwest. You’ll still pay taxes & fees but usually CLEC’s can save you a little. You should call one!
Should be name Qworst! // Dec 18, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I was a new hire at USWest before Qwest took it over. I saw immediately that Qwest intended to screw with crap and make my job miserable so I quit. (At the time I was hired USWest stock was averaging $75 a share, by the time I had quit, the stock had slipped to $30) Now it hovers at $4 a share. They are crap service… I hate them too. I would love to tell them to take their lines off my property because they are crap, crap, crap. Customer service… crap, Techs… crap… phone lines… crap… DSL service… crap. I’m sick of them
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