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Review by fuckUqwest 
Posted: 4.1 years ago
member for 4.1 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.1 years ago
 Marion,Linn,IA
 $40 per month
 Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
 "None"
 "Their moto - spirit of service?? WTF."
 "If you see Qwest, run the other Way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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They still have not figured out I paid them $60 for their stinking modem and have continued to charge me for the past 6 months for rental.
The sales guy lied and signed me up for a long dist. plan that is 4 times what it used to be
Processing fees upon fees upon fees all add up.
Screw Qwest. I'm going to pay about $20 more a month and avoid all the BS I have been getting each and every month. Mcleodusa and Mediacom here I come!!!..........
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Review by btb103
Posted: 8.4 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 9 visits, last login: 8.1 years ago
Omaha,Douglas,NE
$40 per month
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"It's better than Dial-up"
"Worst cable connection I've ever had."
"Avoid it at all costs, nightmare tech support... slow connection... HUGE cable modem that looks like it's from the 80s"
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We just moved from Kansas City to Omaha to an apartment which had a package to get their cable internet and TV, so we got them both. This, as far as I know, is the only city in which Qwest cable internet is available (I wonder why!?) I wasn't home when they set it up... but I heard it didn't go too well. They insisted that they use Netscape for our e-mail, we have previously used Outlook and planned to continue to do so. This would have been fine... except they left jack-squat as far as a member name/password, manuals on set up. etc. They had an error setting up the internet with Netscape so we are left w/o e-mail and without a member name and password and other info to set it up on Outlook. By this time I was pretty mad, until I found out how slow it was. Previously in KC i had Road Runner, it was blazing fast calculated to be 25x faster than a 56k and our new service says 10 or 7 most of the time. Also I realized when trying to do another test on this web site that our IP wasn't private, it begins with a 10, which i found HIGHLY unusual. So I call them and I get some dumb*** lady who doesn't know jack about computers. She tells me she can't give me the member name and password because we have to use Netscape because that's they're "network" but Netscape isn't a network, it's just a program. I tried explaining this to her but she didn't know what I was talking about and I asked her about the ip and she said she didn't know. By this time, I'm pissed. We payed some 125 dollar install fee and now we've got the worst cable connection in the entire nation. This is hell, don't even mess w/ it.
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Review by IsaacM
Posted: 9 years ago
(review was emailed from domain rubyriver.com)
Salt Lake City,Salt Lake,UT
 Business customer
Contract price not specified.
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"I don't know, maybe you could say this whole company is a joke, and it makes me laugh. . ."
"The bills / jailtime I'll have when I destroy USwaste, now Qwaste"
"Yep, you guys didn't need me to even write this if you've had any interaction with them"
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 I work in the MIS department of a Business that has close to 20 dsl / ISDN
accounts with these guys and they just SUCK. They prequalify stores that end
up taking anywhere from 6 weeks (okay) to 6 months (!) to get a link. One of the accounts I ordered in August and it still hasn't ever worked. To even get a DSL link to their DSLAM at the CO has been a miracle at times - even with the lines that they themselves have installed into our stores. The tech support sucks. 7 times I've been transferred into circles of departments until someone in the endless chain finally has the guts to say "I don't really know." These phone calls usually end up being 10-30 minutes of actually speaking to a rep, but the hold time ends up being 5 minutes (good) to about to 4.5 hours (no lie, I actually spent more than half a day on the phone for a single call a few times). A couple times, I've had qwaste screw me over this way: after calling and talking with an install. tech who was doing inside wiring, and EVEN having the manager of our store, on site show the guy where to put a new high-speed jack, just to make it totally plain, the install tech. has installed the jack on opposite sides of the building and then charged us to come out and move the jack to where we wanted it in the first place!!! One time I even ended up at the Demark in an attic, ripping out what the Qwest guy put in, and re-punching down a jack. He came in and punched down a jack for the main line's number in the attic! His order was for an ISDN jack! wha..? There had already been somebody from Qwest that actually had a clue in there (boy I'd love to meet him) who clearly labeled the demark with SPIDs for him to see very plainly! Sometimes (4 times) the DSL circuit was wired for the WRONG PHONE NUMBER! Do you know how frustrating it is to try for Hours, wait on hold on the phone and talk for hours to an account rep to get a DSL link when nobody cared to tell you that they wired the circuit on the wrong number? I understand that hardware can go bad, and even be D.O.A., but what I don't understand is how it should take 8-10 weeks to get a new Cisco675 that was D.O.A. - and why do they have to charge us with the cost of a new 675 if the one we originally were shipped never worked in the first place? Unfortunately, the only pleasant experiences I have had with this company are with my account rep, who unfortunately has similar frustrations with this company. I hope I can steer you away from this beast. Isaac Morton, MIS dept. Sizzling Platter, Inc.
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Review by n7gtj
UPDATED: 9.1 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 47 visits, last login: 3.2 years ago
Gilbert,Maricopa,AZ
$44 per month
"I got to know every service tech in the Arizona market."
"Customer service is non-existant."
"If I had to do it all over, I would pick anyone but USWest."
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In September of 1999 I ordered the VDSL service from USWest. The online select service at $49.95 per month, also known as the megabit plan. It was supposed to be 1024 up and down. What I got turned out to be the biggest headache I've ever had.
The first problem was when they installed the gateway. Bad lines and low signal. Ten days later they were able to boost the signal enough to boot the gateway.
A month later they repaired the neighbors line, but they informed me that I was now no longer in the sevice area and had to live with bad lines or cancel the service.
The list goes on for every time I have called for repair, too long to post here. Each time they loose my repair order and send a new tech to tell me my signal is too low.
September 2000 My line died completely. I am now on a dial-up. I had to contact the City Manager of Gilbert AZ to get any response from USWest about the problem. The City is the charter for the video part and USWest has to submit areas serviced to the council. In the past week they have sent out three more techs to tell me they have to dig a new line. Every day I call about the status of the line I am told there is no repair order in "the system".
The only reason I am still trying now, is for the pure satisfaction that someday they will have to come out and actually dig in a new line so I can switch to a new DSL service.
After contacting the city manager again, they sent out the cronic problems dept. and said they still can't fix the video feeds so they offered to only charge for the internet service and kill the video. I made that offer to them about 6 months ago but they said it could not be done. Since then they have probably spent $10,000. in digging, equiptment, and man hours only to do what I offered months ago.
Terrible customer service!
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Review by ReKoN3
Posted: 9.1 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 24 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
Federal Way,King,WA
$30 per month
 about 14 days
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"If it works like it is suppose, I would put something here."
"Bridge taps, Techs cutting corners, Very poor service, No resolves."
"Good luck getting anything that you pay for."
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I used Uswest/Qwest ISP and DSL. At the start, I was getting 30 line quality with severe fluctuations. This resulted in very poor internet connection with degrading performance there after. 2 months and 7 phone calls later, a technician came out and found a bridge tap. (DSL will work with certain sized bridge taps). Once removed, my line quality reached 45db. Perfect!! My latency was fabulous from 40ms, West coast to 150ms East coast. Download speeds were optimal.
Then on July 21st, I upgraded to Always on Service. Once back online, after 5 hours, the service was miserably latent. I am unable to use 90% of East coast servers, and 50% of the West coast servers. FTP or download connections are hit and miss with disconnections. I called my dsl provider and requested the problem be fixed. Over a dozen phone calls, 2 no shows, and one disgruntled tech, I was told it HAS to be my ISP, Uswest.net. So, I changed ISPs.
I have less hops now. However, the problems remain. After reseating several network cards in their Central Office, the disconnections have gotten worse. I have recently discovered that my line has grown from 9000 to 15000 feet. My line was originally approved up to 6mb DSL. I can no longer upgrade. The reasons stem from too much line and "unmentionables".
There isn't one manager that can answer, or is willing to step up and be responsible for getting this corrected. At this point, I now understand why some people choose cable. When one of my customers asks me who should they go with for dsl, you can bet on who it is NOT going to be. Good luck.
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Review by scottjay
Posted: 9.1 years ago
member for 9.1 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.1 years ago
Seattle,King,WA
$29 per month
about 45 days
"when it worked, it was great"
"it would not work before 5 pm every day"
"part time DSL, full time excuses from US West"
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Everything thru installation went fairly smooth. But for some reason, my DSL connection would not connect until around 5 pm--7 days a week. US West came out, check the wires and gave me a bunch of excuses ranging from someone using a T-1 line in the neighboorhood to my furnace being to close to my phone lines. I ended up canceling after a month of frustration. IMHO, the technology is just not there, at least enought to be consistantly reliable for most users. Tried ATT At Home cable, which worked great, except they would not let me point my domain name (for my home business) to their Web space. So now I'm back where I started: dial up.
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Review by LoboLouie
Posted: 9.2 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 45 visits, last login: 5.2 years ago
Albuquerque,Bernalillo,NM
Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
Qwest
"constant 650 download"
"USW*ST billing and customer service"
"I *despise* uswest (qworst)"
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OK, where do I start?
BOTTOM LINE: The DSL itself is outstanding, but uswest's ability to solve billing, shipping, autopay and retract billing errors is atrocious!
I ordered the external Cisco modem, but usworst/qworst claims they sent the internal Intel modem. I never received it. I spoke to about 4 usworst/qworst employees to resolve this issue. If you call usworst/qworst to complain, take this advice, record your message on tape, because you're going to explain your case innumerable times to people in 4 different states.
When I ordered my DSL, a representative told me the $150 would be distributed over 12 months (no interest) if I ordered a year of service. Not a bad deal, no? I took the bait and expected my bill to be:
$25 (regular phone)
$29 (DSL deluxe)
$13 (1st modem payment)
$67 TOTAL
Naturally, usworst/qworst billed me $218 (the entire modem price ). When I called to resolve the billing, I talked to another 4 people and was reassured all issues were fixed. Disgusted with the entire episode, I cancelled autopay.
Two days before my usual autopay date, I called uswest to verify all was good, and the representative shocked me saying the $218 was still scheduled to be drafted and nothing could be done. Great. After talking to another 3 reps, the issue was "resolved".
Yeah right. I'd continue, but I really don't want to relive the 8 calls, 4 hours, +25 customer reps and 3 assurances that issues were resolved. Grr!
After talking to the 25th rep I asked for an address to lodge a complaint. Does this sound legit?
usworst/qworst
4041 North Central
Floor 2
Phoenix AZ 85012
Attn: DSL Dispute
The main problem is usworst/qworst ability to pass your issues from employee to employee. Last year when I called to order accesories from my cell phone company, **ONE REPRENSENTATIVE** helped me order an extra phone, explain a feature and comment on my bill. It was paradise.
I finally get a "team leader" to call and check on my entire billing episode. I'm not at home, but my caller ID registers: 1 (208) 552-3900. Guess what, the number doesn't connect! LOL
usworst/qworst sucks. Frankly I'd cancel usworst/qworst if it was possible to surf the 'net (at DSL speeds) via cellphone.
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Review by serene51
Posted: 9.2 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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U S WEST
