Deani sent a message to Glen F. Post, III President and CEO, CenturyLink, Inc. – email address that said:
Dear Mr. Post,
This may be a waste of time, but I feel compelled to at least try. I understand that an important and busy person such as yourself has little reason to care about the problems of a special education teacher in the middle of Iowa. I’ve read pages upon pages of complaints on internet blogs about Centurylink, and for a moment even considered using that as an avenue to express my frustrations. My parents, however, taught me that it is unfair to make assumptions or assertions about people without giving them an opportunity to understand, so this email is my attempt to help you understand.
This morning I called Centurylink to request some assistance with our phone and internet service. I will spare you the details as they are not the purpose of this email. Many of the people I spoke with this morning were polite and helpful despite the reality that their hands all seemed to be tied to do much of anything to resolve the ongoing issues with our service.
The final person I spoke was neither polite nor helpful. In fact, I cannot recall another time in my life when I felt as utterly misunderstood, demeaned, disrespected, and blamed for issues beyond my control as I did when speaking with a Centurylink supervisor this morning. Perhaps she was having a bad morning, or perhaps she was reflecting back to me the agitation I was undoubtedly exuding by that point after two hours on the phone.
This person was introduced to me as a member of the top tier of supervisors within Centurylink. The ways in which people in positions of authority conduct themselves speaks volumes about the actual values of a company as a whole. I found myself questioning the values of your company as I attempted to explain my tears to my five-year-old daughter following this conversation with a top Centurylink supervisor.
My purpose here is not to get someone in trouble, nor is my purpose to demand compensation. My purpose is simply to give you the opportunity to understand my experience as a customer so that you can help those who work for you to better serve those of us who pay the bills. The Centurylink mission is “to be recognized as the first choice to serve the total communications needs of our communities.” This mission statement seems to be lost on your employees, and it does not seem to be the foundation of actual practices. The stated values of Centurylink are: competitiveness, innovation, teamwork, community involvement, and integrity. These were not the values reflected in my conversations with Centurylink representatives this morning.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Deani
