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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 9.1 years ago
(review was emailed from domain du.edu)
 Boulder,Boulder,CO
 $31 per month (month by month)
 Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
 "The grass is always greener..."
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Wew! Just finished reading some poor guys report of life in the Big
Apple in thrall to Earthlink, Verizon, Covad and BA. Where I live we
refer to US West as US Worst, but compared to that guy's story I may
change my mind. We also can get Earthlink/Covad "service" and I had
thought to change over because I used to like Mindspring (now
Earthlink-ish); they use Covad here, too. But my (one) experience on the
tele line with a churlish Covad rep suggested exactly the kinds of
trouble (multiple companies doing multiple things) that I decided US
West was the lesser of the evils. THank you, Big Apple Guy!
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 Review by izy 
Posted: 9.1 years ago
member for 9.1 years, 4489 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Minneapolis,Hennepin,MN
$29 per month
 "Eager to sell!!!"
 "The wait..."
"Switched to Flashcom"
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Have had DSL 2 times in the past at different locations. At my location now they say they have an equipment shortage at the central office. Well that was almost 6 months ago. I have now deceided to go with flashcom. They lease lines from Qwest and say they have equipment in my area...We shall see!
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Review by m220
Posted: 9.1 years ago
member for 9.1 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.1 years ago
Boulder,Boulder,CO
 Business customer
$99 per month (month by month)
 about 30 days
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"speed"
"reliablility"
"good service."
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I did the self install. They said they'd call when the ADSL service was active, but they never did. I called them the day it was due to be installed and they said it was active. Indeed it was.
I had to pay extra $30 for "business access" which includes 5 static IP addresses. Service was fine but started to degrade after a couple weeks. It became more and more severe then finally died. I called and discovered the problem was static on my phone line, not the DSL service. Two days later QWest fixed the phone line and the DSL is back and online 24/7.
I get 440k download speeds from max of 512k. upload speeds are roughly the same, again 512k max. speed.
I'm a heavy usage customer(I do large backups from a server in Atlanta at night) and they havent bothered me at all.
I would recommend QWest for dsl if you have Qwest as a local line provider and don't want to mess with two parties.
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Review by serene51
Posted: 9.1 years ago
member for 10.3 years, 10 visits, last login: 8.5 years ago
Minneapolis,Anoka,MN
$48 per month (12 month contract)
Qwest
"Faster than dial-up only one phone line"
"My cat provides better support than 95% of the tech staff"
"Do as little business of any kind with Qwest and USwest as you can."
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HORROR STORY ABOUT US WEST
During the week of August 20, 2000 I was having a problem with my Cisco 675
not training properly. It took three days and talking to 3 different people
to get that issue was solved. However, I found I no longer had the "free"
640/272 speed, that I had had for the past two years. I tried the
suggestions posted at the uswest.dsl newsgroup for forcing the Cisco 675
router to train at 640/272 with a 340 baud, but the router will only train
at 256/272 and 136 baud. I also tried all the registry tweaks suggested in
the news group and at DSL Reports.
Having tried everything else I could think of, I called Qwest. In the
following tail I shall only mention the names of the people who actually
seemed capable of doing the job for which they are paid. All the others are
either horribly under trained by management or simply incompetent.
After calling four times and speaking to four different people in three
different departments, the consensus was that the free bandwidth I had been
getting was an extra, but my Central Office probably was running low on bandwidth
due to increased customers/demands, and I was now properly capped at the 256/272 for
which I was paying.
I pointed out that I had had the higher rate for almost two years and also
others all across their service area were now being uncapped, as many letters
posted to the uswest.dsl news group could attest, making my being provisioned
downward seem like a very unusual and not very nice thing to do. The
response was that while they could "feel my pain", that's life.
On 9/6/2000 I called 1 (800) 247-7285, told the tech my
MAXIMUM speed was currently 213K(up)/231(Down), and asked what his screen
showed. He said it showed I was provisioned at 256/272. He suggested
calling 1 (800) 218-2433, which is the business/sales office, and they could tell me
my line capability. I called and told the person I was thinking about
purchasing more speed and asked how my line qualified. He ran the tests and
said my line was qualified for speed up to and including 7 Megabits. I
called the techs back and the response was that I was provisioned at
256/272, there was no reason they could see why I can't get 640/272, and
that I would have to call back to sales and get them to fill out the
paperwork needed to "have the switch flipped".
I should also note that I also received the Qwest promotional letter to
current DSL customers today. Dated September 1, 2000, it said my "...DSL
connection will allow you to fly across the internet at a MINIMUM
(my emphasis) of 256K speed with download speeds reaching as much as
640K...", and that I will "...continue to enjoy 256K MINIMUM (my emphasis)
upload speeds."
I called again on 9/7/2000 and I was again told that I was getting exactly
what I was paying for, and if I had a problem to call tech support, because
the upgrade mentioned in the Sept 1 letter was scheduled to take place on
September 15.
My next call was back to the sales department. He told me I was currently
provisioned at 256/1272, that reprovisioning was being done, and then
upgrades were being made. He said that not all of the upgrades had been
completed, and if mine did not occur in the next two weeks, I should call
back.
Calling again on 9/8/200 resulted in the same line about getting what I am
paying for. Calling on 9/12/2000 resulted in being told that if I went to a
particular uswest website I could get the 640/2 speed. I went to the site, which
was nothing more than the web page on which was posted the very letter I had
received in the mail. Calling again I was told everything is fine and as it
should be at Qwest, but have I tried using EasyMTU to check my computer to
see if it was set up properly.
On 9/12/200 I again called the business office and was told that they had no
idea what I was talking about, but it must be a tech problem. I called tech
support and this time I talked to Brad, ID# PD7408, who appears to be one of
the limited number of people qualified for his job. He was very helpful and
got right to the proper questions, not suggesting the standard stuff so many
others throw out no matter what the problem.
Brad stated that he saw no indications of any problems at his end. He noted
that his screen showed me provisioned at 256/272. He had me check for line
quality, errors, etc, and then had me down some bandwidth tests. He then
issued me a trouble ticket, saying I'm not even getting the minimum that I'm
paying for, and said someone would be sent out to check the line and, if
needed, my router. This would happen within the next 48 hours.
After waiting for 48 hours and hearing nothing I have called 1-800-247-7285
again. This time I spoke with Tim, ID# PD7317, who informed me that they
had had a database problem and that the trouble ticket had not been
forwarded to the MOC (Megabit Operations Center). So we started all over
again. He submitted it directly, stated that they accepted it, and that
they should be in contact with me within the next 36 hours.
I also called 1-888-777-9569 to check with uswest.net, my ISP, and they
said that there was nothing wrong on that end and saw no reason why I was
getting the low speed. They said that the MOC was my best bet.
Late on 9/15/2000 After waiting more than 36 hours, I called to check on my
trouble ticket and found that the tech support is 24/7, but that the MOC is
not, and that they were now closed until Monday.
Monday, 9/18/200, I received a call from a guy at the MOC who informed me
that they had checked all the hardware and everything is fine. If I am to
get more speed I must have the business office submit a work order to that
effect before they can do anything. So I again called the business office.
After being told that it was not a business office problem again I asked if
there was a way to contact the Customer Advocate. I was given a telephone
number, but it was not a toll free line. If I had a problem, it was going
to cost me money to solve it.
So I called the business office again. Another person also said it wasn't a
business office problem, that the bandwidth change was automatic. I
apologized first, then began ranting about Qwest. I asked to be transferred
to the Customer Advocate. The next sound I heard was a computer voice
saying, " If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and dial again...".
I decided to call tech support at 1-888-777-9569 again. This time I talked
to Carol, ID# PN7004. She personally called the Business/Sales Office,
personally checked things out in her office, and finally personally called
the MOC. Whoever she talked to at the MOC took one look, said "this is not
right", flipped a switch, and suddenly I was no longer trained at 256/272,
but rather at 640/272. Instead of downloads at a maximum of 26.5 KB/sec,
I was at 57.5 KB/sec and DSL Reports said I was no longer at 205/230, but rather
at 514/230. Carol spent about thirty minutes (including the time even she was put
on hold) solving a problem that should not even have come up, while eighteen other
people spoken to over 21 days did absolutely nothing.
When Qwest Megabit service works, it is fine. But if you have a problem you get
no help from 95% of the people there. They need to fire most of middle
management, all the training staff, and a large number of the first line
staff. Then hire competent managers and trainers, train the staff,
communicate with the staff, and reward the staff who good jobs. In my case,
16 people could be fired with my blessing and Brad, Tim, and especially
Carol should be handsomely rewarded.
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Review by lseville
Posted: 9.2 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.2 years ago
Papillion,Sarpy,NE
$29 per month
about 21 days
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"It's faster than dial-up"
"Constantly times out."
"I'd probably go with a cable modem if I had it to do over again."
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In all fairness to Qwest my service has not gone down once since installed late last June. However, my connection is supposed to be up for 2 hours and it constantly times out at inopportune times. I've had my settings adjusted to check for email every 2 minutes in order to override the "inactive" status and the problem persists. I've called tech support repeatedly and we continually go over the same things to no avail. One rep told me that if the changes he made did not correct the timing problem that I would have to upgrade my service - at an added cost of $10.00 per month. I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!!! Just because Qwest can't get their shit together they want to penalize me by making me pay a higher fee. And then there's no guarantees that it will work either.
When I initially called about the service I couldn't even get a straight answer about whether or not the service was even available. One rep told me it was and another said it wasn't.
Joe Nacchio's TV commercials are an insult to the intelligence of Qwest customers. He is not interested in service, only in streamlining the company so that he can make it look good to shareholders and potential buyers. Once he can make his millions by selling the pared down company he'll dump the former US West faster than a hot potato. As long as Qwest has a CEO who only cares about profits their service will continue to be poor. People will always follow the example set by a leader, even if he's a bad one. You're a real joke Joe. Go back to running a small company.
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Review by Noahnator
Posted: 9.2 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.2 years ago
Saint Paul,Ramsey,MN
$60 per month (month by month)
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"I got a free shirt"
"The shirt has been more reliable than the Service"
"When my area is upgraded to cable broad band I am done with these fools"
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Since getting DSL service over a year ago I have had 2 long term service
outages lasting over 2 weeks. The first occurred when I was switched from
bridging to PPP mode. I was use to periodic daily outages so when I lost my
mail server I was not alarmed. I called the next day when service was still
unavailable. After countless phone calls and a visit by a service
technician to check the lines to my house all was declared well and I was
told there was nothing else they could do. I called back and asked for a
supervisor I demanded that something be done. It was only at that point
that someone figured out that I had been switched from bridging to PPP mode.
At that point it was a simple matter of reconfiguring my Router and I was
back on Line.
The second instance was when USWest upgraded the CO equipment and I lost
link to the wan. This time I was out of service for 12 days. I was told
technicians would call me, they did not, I was passed each time through a
series of 3 call coordinators. The final time that I called the service
engineer had to dispatch a rover out to punch down my lines at the CO....
they had forgotten to connect my physical connection after they fixed the
problem!
I don't know if AT&T is any better but I'm guessing they aren't any worse.
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Review by psprofessor
Posted: 9.2 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 5 visits, last login: 9.2 years ago
Renton,King,WA
Contract price not specified.
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
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Horror story
JUST NORMAL FOR QWEST/USWEST
If your in business in the northwest you probably have DSL with
USWEST/QWEST; if so here is what your in for: down time 8-10 days,
ridiculous policies, which will leave you with no timely solution, and
absolutely the worst and most unprofessional service. If your modem
(which is not business grade) fails; you are required to send the modem
back to be approved as bad before receiving a new one. This policy will
kill your Email and web access for a period of 10 days or more(the reps
at QWEST didn't seem to care).Or in our case the modem was not updated
and was incompatible.
We found a local company SSTDigital that will actually run the
cable(this is unique) and provide the business grade modems.They are
very service oriented and have a Nordstrom like attitude toward the
needs of business.They provide 4hr response time for any required
service,they monitor your connection for bandwidth and bottlenecks.You
will receive a huge array of services offered by a local company. Price
and options are comparable.
We have a 6 branch interstate company.Our modem was in fact outdated and
incompatible for a new connection method(PPP).Naturally as a business
one expects mishaps, but they are rectified quickly,or the customer goes
elsewhere.Up until SSTDigital we were told by several ISPs that there
was no elsewhere to turn.
We were severely disabled as a company by Qwest/Uswest and found they
had little interest in solving things.Because they forgot to update our
modem and once we converted to the new connection method we could not
revert,we had no connectivity.What that means is a loss of vital emails
and purchase orders,inventories and much more.
So after several hours of trying to rectify this we were told the
following(we kept a log):one supervisor said we should have a
back-up(this would provide us w/two incompatible modems,not a
solution)and puts the blame on the customer,also no one recommended
this.If we knew that a replacements were Colorado and took,w/processing
8-10days,because you first have to return the old one and hope it
doesn't get lost(the reps seemed very worried about this!)
So picture your connectivity, your business $$$$ at the mercy of a
system like this.
The same supervisor finally said that"when his car is broken he takes a
bus"When we tried to purchase a modem from anywhere, we were told that
we could only get these from Qwest and that no other modem will work(so
much for taking a bus(Qwest owns all the buses and they are only in
Colorado)
First rule of customer service:never tell the customer 'what you would
do'.The customer(in this case our General Manager) doesn't care what
some rep would do in this situation.
We(after 4hrs) got a hold of a supervisor who would finally sent us a
modem right away.It was never sent.We called again(this time 2hrs)we
were told it was on its way sent out Fedex.It was never sent again.When
we called again we were told that we had to start over by first sending
back the modem for approval before a new one was sent.
SSTdigital will make a large impact on Northwest business by being local
and offering competion to Qwest and their inept business attitude.They
provide a 4hour response to problems,They supply a business grade
modem/router unlike the residential grade that Qwest forces you to
use.They will install the lines so now Businesses in our region have a
reliable service provider.
We have ordered 4 routers since this started.To date: only one has been
verified,that includes just paying for new routers 2nd Day. There is no
place to lodge a complaint and no real supervisors would allow any
contact,you can't get a name,dept.,nothing.We are a large company with 6
branch offices interstate.Imagine if you were a home or small business
owner.
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Review by xxsethxx
Posted: 9.2 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 108 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
Saint Paul,Ramsey,MN
$50 per month (month by month)
about 30 days
Qwest
"Free Modem.. (when i signed up)"
"Constant Disconnects"
"No Longer Use US West / Quest for Internet"
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No Longer Use US West / Quest for Internet
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 Review by jwarthman
Posted: 9.2 years ago
member for 9.8 years, 310 visits, last login: 89 days ago
Phoenix,Maricopa,AZ
$65 per month
about 90 days
Qwest
"Very few problems once it was running; Fairly consistently good performance;"
"Expensive; USWest lost initial order; Initial coordination difficulties with ISP (GlobalCrossing);"
"Expensive, but good consistent performance."
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US West is my access provider, GlobalCrossing (Primenet) is my ISP. Here are the basic facts:
512 Kbps down + 512 Kbps up, with a single static IP.
US West charges $65/month, and on top of that GlobalCenter charges $45/month for the "high speed" ISP service.
Got a free Cisco 675 as a promotion (saved $295).
Did a self-install, saving $150.
Activation charge was $110.
Placed a pre-order several months before service was actually available in my area. Pre-order somehow got lost. Re-ordered, and it still took a couple months to get turned on. Service started Jan '99.
Initially it was difficult getting the ATM provisioned properly between US West and GlobalCrossing. Took several phone calls and a bit of finger pointing to get things resolved.
Since then the service has been great. It's almost always up, and when I do have problems they're generally something with the ISP, not the access provider.
Since the install I've had to replace the Cisco 675 once - and USWest sent the replacement overnight.
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Review by jarvislee
Posted: 9.2 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.2 years ago
Eugene,Lane,OR
Contract price not specified.
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"None, absolutely none."
"Just try me"
"Too bad I don't have another to choose from"
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For over a year now I have been trying to get residential DSL service. I would be happy with any speed faster than my 56k dialup, which isn't even 56k. Numerous DSL lookups provide names of companies that are capable, but upon investigating none seemt to be able to provide DSL service. Some QWEST/USWEST technicians say my line is qualifies, others say it is not. Can't they make up they're mind? All I wan't is DSL service, not any special deals or promos or anything else. Can anybody provide DSL service to my location at 2539 Rosebay ST in Eugene Oregon, ph# 541-688-5252?
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