dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
13004

Procat
@spcsdns.net

Procat to toby

Anon

to toby

Re: CenturyLink Internet Cost Recovery Fee

E-mail CenturyLink about the new fee. Make that fee cost someone to read and reply.

Call CenturyLink and complain about the fee. Make that phone call cost CL as much of a customer service's reps time as possible. Call again tomorrow.

Also file a complaint online with the FCC: »www.fcc.gov/complaints
jmiller
join:2013-06-25
Minneapolis, MN

jmiller

Member

said by Procat :

E-mail CenturyLink about the new fee. Make that fee cost someone to read and reply.

Call CenturyLink and complain about the fee. Make that phone call cost CL as much of a customer service's reps time as possible. Call again tomorrow.

Also file a complaint online with the FCC: »www.fcc.gov/complaints

Ha ha
I've thought about that.
I've already cost them at least that much with calls and a chat session.
Seir
Premium Member
join:2006-05-05
Bailey, CO

Seir to Procat

Premium Member

to Procat
Thanks for the FCC link, complaint has been filed.

I also noticed that they are lining up another Fee due to hit in August ($1.55)...

Important News from CenturyLink About Your Service
Effective with invoices dated August 19, 2013, you may notice an additional charge on your bill,
referred to as the Non-Telecom Svc Surcharge. This $1.55 surcharge is imposed by CenturyLink
on the non-telecommunication services CENTURYLINK? Linebacker, Unistar and Voicemail. For
questions or concerns regarding your service, please contact a CenturyLink account representative
at the number printed on your bill. Thank you for choosing CenturyLink for your communication
needs--we value you as a customer.
neilsh
join:2004-08-12
Bellevue, WA

neilsh to toby

Member

to toby

Re: [Qwest] Internet Cost Recovery Fee

I also use a 3rd party ISP and saw a 99 cent recovery fee and a 99 cent recovery fee credit. I'm going to give Century Link a call and see what they have to say and why there was no communication that this new 'fee' was being added.
irjowo99
join:2013-06-16

irjowo99

Member

In my experience with this "company" I have come to the conclusion that it is a state-mandated monopoly that only believes in customer lip service.

I feel I have been successful as an individual at frustrating and messing with various lower-downs, but not successful at extracting any concessions. Not even a rational explanation of practices and policies, let alone a reduction in bogus fees.

It seems to me this is a situation that could possibly benefit from customers/employees/anyone interested to organize as a group. Boycotts? Strikes? I don't know. But they seem to be making plenty of money operating this way-- I want phone service but gotta go somewhere and there doesn't seem anywhere good to go.
neilsh
join:2004-08-12
Bellevue, WA

neilsh

Member

As expected, customer service was unhelpful. They start out saying I received a letter about it in a previous bill, I didn't. Then when I push further, "Amber" says that this money goes to pay the 'USOC'. Of course she can't say who USOC is, but can say that Centurylink has no control over this charge.

A web search picks up two entries for USOC: United States Olympic Committee and Universal Service Order Code. I doubt they're paying money to the first, and the second looks to be codes for telecom equipment connection types administered by ACTA (Administrative Counsel for Terminal Attachments).

Then when I ask why I also received a Internet Cost Recovery Credit, she can't explain. She says some may have received it because they didn't get a letter. Aha! So much for saying that I did get one.

Of course there's still no information on the CenturyLink web site about this fee.

CLinksucks
@qwest.net

CLinksucks to jmiller

Anon

to jmiller
Go to this thread for info. on steps to take to contest this fee if you have a pricing agreement with CenturyLink (1 year, 5 year, price-for-life, etc).

»CenturyLink "99 cent internet recovery fee"

toby
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA

toby to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
I also never got a letter about this new fee.

CLinksucks
@qwest.net

CLinksucks

Anon

I also got no notification of the fee - no letter, nothing in my bill, etc.
dslmike
join:2009-02-07
Surprise, AZ

dslmike to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
I got my bill last night and saw that same fee. Got angry about another BS fee, but then I noticed an "Internet Cost Recovery Fee Credit" for the same amount. I assume they are crediting it back to me since I'm a Price for Life customer. I still think the fee is BS, but I'm glad I don't have to pay it.
colorbars
join:2003-03-20
USA

colorbars to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
Add me to the list of people who are being charged a fee. No refund here. I tried to express my dissatisfaction by submitting a message on their website, but all I got was a 403 Forbidden error message. I guess they don't want to hear feedback.

Dear CenturyLink. Just be honest. Is it really that hard?

toby
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA

toby

Member

said by colorbars:

Add me to the list of people who are being charged a fee. No refund here. I tried to express my dissatisfaction by submitting a message on their website, but all I got was a 403 Forbidden error message. I guess they don't want to hear feedback.

Dear CenturyLink. Just be honest. Is it really that hard?

The old broken website message link trick...!

Qwest has been doing that for years.
bikenski
join:2010-06-22
Denver, CO

bikenski

Member

The new fee just appeared on this month's bill, and the price of my rental modem mysteriously went up by $1.00 also. Neither of these increases was communicated on past bills (I looked back 6 months.) Very deceptive, and makes me consider switching to Comcast (not that they're any better.)
jmiller
join:2013-06-25
Minneapolis, MN

jmiller to colorbars

Member

to colorbars
Everyone who is P.O. about this fee, go a few posts back and use the suggested link to complain to the FTC. Complaining to CL is probably useless. The more complaints they get, the more they might take it seriously. I submitted mine yesterday.

dw
@qwest.net

dw to jmiller

Anon

to jmiller
I called CL today. There is no way we will stop them. However, if the customer service rep is making $10/her, that's 17¢ per minute. I called them, full well knowing I was going to get nowhere, and kept her on the line for 6 minutes. The entertainment value was priceless listening to her very well rehearsed speech. After her speech, I told her that I understood her point, I understood that she didn't really believe what she was saying, that she did an excellent job for the company, that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she understood me... even though she evaded my points very well, and that I completed what I set out to do which was to recover my recovery fee in the form of entertainment. If everyone does the same, no doubt they will charge us to call them in the future... but I feel compelled to ask you to do the same!

ji
libera anima vestra
Premium Member
join:2013-04-20
Minneapolis, MN

ji to jmiller

Premium Member

to jmiller
Oh and not to mention if you have to replace your modem it costs you 25$ even if you reset it -_-
pejacoby
join:2009-02-03
Saint Paul, MN

pejacoby to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
CL must have partially gotten the message -- the fine print at the bottom of yesterday's "Summer Newsletter" email has this note:
Locked-In Rate – Applies only to the monthly recurring charge(s) for the listed service(s); excludes all taxes, fees and surcharges, and monthly recurring fees for modem/router and professional installation.

It also has a note on fees:
Taxes, Fees, and Surcharges – Applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges include a Carrier Universal Service charge, Carrier Cost Recovery surcharges, a one-time High-Speed Internet activation fee, a one-time voice service activation fee, state and local fees that vary by area and certain in-state surcharges. Cost recovery fees are not taxes or government-required charges for use. Taxes, fees, and surcharges apply based on standard monthly, not promotional, rates. Call for a listing of applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges.
CALL for a listing of taxes, fees, etc? Can't provide a web link? That's silly.
jmiller
join:2013-06-25
Minneapolis, MN

jmiller

Member

said by pejacoby:

CALL for a listing of taxes, fees, etc? Can't provide a web link? That's silly.

Probably because the link wouldn't work anyway.
colorbars
join:2003-03-20
USA

colorbars

Member

They also know that the harder it is the fewer people will do it. They ain't dumb. Slimy, but not dumb.

By the way, they came up with a good one when I emailed TalkToUs to complain. They said that by doing it this way they are required to use the additional money for what it's supposed to be for instead of making additional profit. They told me specifically that it's for infrastructure improvements. I have no reason to think that isn't true, but it's still BS. They could have done it the right way and just made sure to allocate the funds the way they promised. Still, I give them props for coming up with a clever way to sell it.
sparky007
join:2011-08-25
Phoenix, AZ

sparky007 to kiknwing

Member

to kiknwing
"It helps cover the costs associated with building and maintaining the internet network."

In other words Centurymissinglink don't want to pay the cost of doing business.
jmiller
join:2013-06-25
Minneapolis, MN

jmiller to colorbars

Member

to colorbars
said by colorbars:

Still, I give them props for coming up with a clever way to sell it.

I wouldn't give the company any credit, just that representative. The number of times I called them I got vastly different excuses, some flat out wrong, so my guess is these people are flying blind and it's up to the individual to come up with an excuse.

Great organization you have there, Centurylink.

rstrickland
join:2001-06-22
Clinton, NC

rstrickland to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
This was actually on page 4 of my bill printed in April:

Effective with your May 2013 bill you may notice an increase in the rate for Broadband Cost Recovery, to a
¦¦ new rate of $0.99. If you have not previously been charged this fee, it will be assessed beginning with
¦¦ your May bill. The Broadband Cost Recovery Fee helps deflect the costs associated with the building and
¦¦ maintaining the CenturyLink broadband network.
¦¦
¦¦ Additionally, if you are currently leasing modem equipment from CenturyLink you may notice a monthly fee
¦¦ increase of 4 cents, up to $1, for fees associated with the leasing of that equipment.
¦¦
¦¦ .If you have any questions about this notice, please call CenturyLink at the customer service number located
¦¦ on your bill. Thank you for choosing CenturyLink for your communication needs--we value you as our customer.
¦¦
¦¦ ** Price for Life, Price Guarantee, and Price Lock customers are excluded from any increases in these fees.

So if you had your 5yr Price Lock before may you should not be charged this fee. I am a former CenturyLink employee and saw this fee still being charged even to customers on the 5yr Price Lock and Price for Life. Customer Services job is to SELL you more stuff, not service you!! CenturyLink doesn't give a $hit about customer service. A CSR's credit limit before an over ride is needed is $250.00 but we get bitched at if our credits per call are over 3.00. ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT ON THE BILL. CenturyLink always says one thing and does another, part of that is due to our old, jacked up billing system which always messes up.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx to jmiller

Premium Member

to jmiller
Please understand CL, Suddenlink, Frontier Are second Tier companies on a large AT&T/Comcast controlled totem pole. CL is still acting like the two-bit telco in Wisconsin it was i '30s when it had 75 subscribers. In the last 10-15 years, it's gobbled up every mom & pop operation in rural America for the added bandwidth and then looked to bigger fish like Qwest. It doesn't want to provide service or value to isolated rural areas. CL normally blames the customer for their own poor service and CLs fuzzy math. I personally love the double-dip late fee they charge rural customers while they brag about providing 100T fiber to London and Paris and the biggest cloud service in the world for business. It makes me wonder just exactly how dumb ITT is in corporate America.

Cloud is a fancy virtual word for a physical hard drive. You can have your own Cloud up and running in a few minutes by buying a pre-formatted external USB drive in a case. You can also use a thumb/jump USB device, or a CD/DVR to do the same thing. Do if off-line where no corporate nose can invade your privacy. If it is critical information stick it in a safe. You'll never worry again about a Cloud service like Amazon's being hacked. .

toby
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA

toby to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
Most of CL customers have no choice in providers, so they add fees on top of fees, and they know we'll pay.

They know this. The 99 cents will turn into $1.34 then $1.83 then $1.99 then $2.14....

Boss302_1970
join:2009-12-11

Boss302_1970 to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
they'll bleed everyone dry and not upgrade their network.

joebleed
join:2002-05-28
Tarboro, NC

joebleed to jmiller

Member

to jmiller
It seems funny to me how no anti monopoly laws can be used against situations like this. If i had a choice i'd switch. But i don't have a choice. I'm fine with only being able to get 6M dsl. I've had worse. even 768k was awesome compared to 26.4 dialup which was all i could get at my parents house before Embarq finally put dsl in their little town. Now out where i live i was surprised i could get dsl. Cant get cable internet as they stop about a mile and a half down the road.

What sucks even more, at my place of business i can't change from crappy centurylink. Now due to their bs requirement for business to pay the modem rental fee, we're stuck at 5M plan and can't upgrade with out getting that fee tacked on even though we've never had any of their equipment. They have never had to support the modem here and never will. I don't understand why they're allowed to do this. Especially to business. I suppose they know a lot of them will not even notice and/or trapped and can't avoid it. I have the local cable company here not checking to see if they can run cable here. More than faster down load speeds we need better upload and they don't offer it. Best we can get here is 10M/768k package. And we're in the industrial park area. (DSL for us is used for internet surfing only and for a backup to our t1 to our corporate office)