Elizabeth McCann sent a message to Glen F. Post, III President and CEO, CenturyLink, Inc. email address that said:
Mr. Post.
I write this away from home, as we have been without internet service since the Noreaster hit NJ on March 2nd, more than two weeks ago.
I contacted customer service on March 8th to report wires down from the storm and that our internet service had been lost. The downed wires were not only a safety hazard, they blocked our driveway, creating an obstruction. A repair order was generated and a field technician was scheduled to repair the problem and restore service.
We waited, and waited...nothing has happened. We have called consistently since then, and have been assured that a technician will be here today by five for the past 4 days. Between us, weve made 13 calls, and spent nearly 4 hours talking with your customer service staff.
Im certain were not done yet.
While your call center staff is very polite and well mannered, they are extremely ineffective. Your repair crews are not only unresponsive, but quite possibly non-existent. There is an apparent disconnect between your customer service staff and your field technicians. There is no communication about the status of scheduled jobs, and no accountability for missed appointments.
Loss of internet service has crippled our careers. I am a teacher and need to remotely log into the school network to do grading, lesson planning, and posting of assignments. I have not been able to do that and have fallen way behind, which in turn causes the students to fall behind in their studies.
My boyfriend John, a 911 survivor and Ground Zero worker, lost his voice as a result of WTC related health issues. His disability makes it difficult for him to have a normal phone conversation, therefore, he communicates primarily through email.
John owns a small contracting business that he operates from our home office. He relies on access to the internet to interact with customers, research and purchase supplies, invoice customers, and to perform online banking and to electronically pay vendors.
Your customer service staff offered to pro-rate our bill and offered us two free weeks of internet.
That offer falls far short of compensating us for our lost time, wages, customers, jobs and accumulated late charges. Johns time is billed at $100 per hour and he has spent 4 days waiting for a technician to show up.
In wages alone that equates to $3200! Is Century Link prepared to reimburse him for that lost revenue? Certainly if he kept a customer sitting home and waiting for 4 days, they would call another contractor.
Century Link has a monopoly in our community. If its going to be the only service provider in town, it needs to be adequately staffed to support that privilege. Likewise, additional staff should be brought in to remediate problems after disastrous events that cause major disruptions in service.
I look forward to your reply and your thoughts about how your company will be making changes and improvements to better support your product, maybe a check for $3200. Will you get back to me today by five? Oh wait, I know the answer to that from experience. sigh...
Not so much
Yours,
Elizabeth McCann
