Complaint Review: Qwest Communications - LOUISVILLE Kentucky

I am an ex-employee of Qwest who was originally hired in a customer service position that changed over night to a "sales" position. The $55,000 per person per month quota is correct. When a consumer phones Qwest, more than likely that no matter which menu item they select they will end up on the phone with someone within the company that has a quota to meet. That's why the consumer is constantly offered various products. It means that company representative's job. I personally know of the pressures of "making the grade". Some employees succumb to cramming to make their quotas. I have seen many of those employees escorted out when Qwest discovers their illegal actions. The problem is that the quota is so high it's nearly impossible for the employee to meet it "legally", but because of financial pressures at home, the employee may actually do something illegal to keep their job, even though it's not something they would normally do. Qwest has to know it's happening, actually gives training to discourage it, but because of their demanding quotas, they are actually encouraging the cramming, in a way. Now....what you can do to protect your service. First of all, put a "pic freeze" on your account. You can do this through your local telephone service provider (Qwest). It's a free service that will keep your long distance from being slammed by another company. Make sure you have it placed on both local long distance (intra-lata) and long distance (inter-lata). Don't succumb to high pressure sales tactics. If something is offered to you that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If that product is something you're really interested in, do your homework. Request that the representative send you something with the information regarding it. If they're being truthful with the information they're giving, they should have no problem in sending you something in writing. Check the product or services at Qwest.com. This should give you correct information and pricing. Never purchase from a telemarketer. These representatives are usually a contractor to the company and they also have a quota to meet. As a customer service representative, I can't tell you how many people I spoke to that had agreed to purchase something from a Qwest telemarketer, only to have the services or product completely mis-represented. I don't believe this was necessarily the fault of the telemarketer. In many cases, they simply did not have the information the customer was inquiring about for the services/products they were soliciting. Another, more secure way to handle your telephone account is to have a password placed on it. This password is added to the first screen the Qwest representative should access on any call to the company that you make. Make sure it's something you can remember, and if, when you make a call to the company, the representative does NOT ask for the password, make sure you call it to his/her attention that there is a password on the account. A final word of advice....your telephone service and subsequent billing is your responsibility. You should get in the habit of checking through it monthly to make sure there are no new or additional charges. Question things you don't understand (but make sure you have plenty of time to stay on the phone with Qwest when you call). Check through all long distance calls and make sure they are yours. Take care of any problems/questions in a timely manner. The longer you let it run, the less likely you are to have it resolved to your advantage. The majority of problems or questions on your telephone account can and should be handled directly through Qwest, so I would suggest always phoning them first. The telephone "business" is confusing at best with all of the red tape and proceedures that are required for certain consumer requests. If the problem/question is something that can not be handled through Qwest, the representative will/should give you the information you need as to a contact. In working for Qwest, I have had personal experiences helping customers through problems with and been in direct contact with other telephone companies. I certainly don't believe that Qwest is any better or worse than any other telephone provider. I simply believe that the desire to make a buck has overridden any hope of having customer service within big business, regarless of the lip service the companies may give as to "the customer is always first priority".

I am an ex-employee of Qwest who was originally hired in a customer service position that changed over night to a "sales" position. The $55,000 per person per month quota is correct. When a consumer phones Qwest, more than likely that no matter which menu item they select they will end up on the phone with someone within the company that has a quota to meet. That's why the consumer is constantly offered various products. It means that company representative's job. I personally know of the pressures of "making the grade". Some employees succumb to cramming to make their quotas. I have seen many of those employees escorted out when Qwest discovers their illegal actions. The problem is that the quota is so high it's nearly impossible for the employee to meet it "legally", but because of financial pressures at home, the employee may actually do something illegal to keep their job, even though it's not something they would normally do. Qwest has to know it's happening, actually gives training to discourage it, but because of their demanding quotas, they are actually encouraging the cramming, in a way. Now....what you can do to protect your service. First of all, put a "pic freeze" on your account. You can do this through your local telephone service provider (Qwest). It's a free service that will keep your long distance from being slammed by another company. Make sure you have it placed on both local long distance (intra-lata) and long distance (inter-lata). Don't succumb to high pressure sales tactics. If something is offered to you that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If that product is something you're really interested in, do your homework. Request that the representative send you something with the information regarding it. If they're being truthful with the information they're giving, they should have no problem in sending you something in writing. Check the product or services at Qwest.com. This should give you correct information and pricing. Never purchase from a telemarketer. These representatives are usually a contractor to the company and they also have a quota to meet. As a customer service representative, I can't tell you how many people I spoke to that had agreed to purchase something from a Qwest telemarketer, only to have the services or product completely mis-represented. I don't believe this was necessarily the fault of the telemarketer. In many cases, they simply did not have the information the customer was inquiring about for the services/products they were soliciting. Another, more secure way to handle your telephone account is to have a password placed on it. This password is added to the first screen the Qwest representative should access on any call to the company that you make. Make sure it's something you can remember, and if, when you make a call to the company, the representative does NOT ask for the password, make sure you call it to his/her attention that there is a password on the account. A final word of advice....your telephone service and subsequent billing is your responsibility. You should get in the habit of checking through it monthly to make sure there are no new or additional charges. Question things you don't understand (but make sure you have plenty of time to stay on the phone with Qwest when you call). Check through all long distance calls and make sure they are yours. Take care of any problems/questions in a timely manner. The longer you let it run, the less likely you are to have it resolved to your advantage. The majority of problems or questions on your telephone account can and should be handled directly through Qwest, so I would suggest always phoning them first. The telephone "business" is confusing at best with all of the red tape and proceedures that are required for certain consumer requests. If the problem/question is something that can not be handled through Qwest, the representative will/should give you the information you need as to a contact. In working for Qwest, I have had personal experiences helping customers through problems with and been in direct contact with other telephone companies. I certainly don't believe that Qwest is any better or worse than any other telephone provider. I simply believe that the desire to make a buck has overridden any hope of having customer service within big business, regarless of the lip service the companies may give as to "the customer is always first priority".

I am an ex-employee of Qwest who was originally hired in a customer service position that changed over night to a "sales" position. The $55,000 per person per month quota is correct. When a consumer phones Qwest, more than likely that no matter which menu item they select they will end up on the phone with someone within the company that has a quota to meet. That's why the consumer is constantly offered various products. It means that company representative's job. I personally know of the pressures of "making the grade". Some employees succumb to cramming to make their quotas. I have seen many of those employees escorted out when Qwest discovers their illegal actions. The problem is that the quota is so high it's nearly impossible for the employee to meet it "legally", but because of financial pressures at home, the employee may actually do something illegal to keep their job, even though it's not something they would normally do. Qwest has to know it's happening, actually gives training to discourage it, but because of their demanding quotas, they are actually encouraging the cramming, in a way. Now....what you can do to protect your service. First of all, put a "pic freeze" on your account. You can do this through your local telephone service provider (Qwest). It's a free service that will keep your long distance from being slammed by another company. Make sure you have it placed on both local long distance (intra-lata) and long distance (inter-lata). Don't succumb to high pressure sales tactics. If something is offered to you that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If that product is something you're really interested in, do your homework. Request that the representative send you something with the information regarding it. If they're being truthful with the information they're giving, they should have no problem in sending you something in writing. Check the product or services at Qwest.com. This should give you correct information and pricing. Never purchase from a telemarketer. These representatives are usually a contractor to the company and they also have a quota to meet. As a customer service representative, I can't tell you how many people I spoke to that had agreed to purchase something from a Qwest telemarketer, only to have the services or product completely mis-represented. I don't believe this was necessarily the fault of the telemarketer. In many cases, they simply did not have the information the customer was inquiring about for the services/products they were soliciting. Another, more secure way to handle your telephone account is to have a password placed on it. This password is added to the first screen the Qwest representative should access on any call to the company that you make. Make sure it's something you can remember, and if, when you make a call to the company, the representative does NOT ask for the password, make sure you call it to his/her attention that there is a password on the account. A final word of advice....your telephone service and subsequent billing is your responsibility. You should get in the habit of checking through it monthly to make sure there are no new or additional charges. Question things you don't understand (but make sure you have plenty of time to stay on the phone with Qwest when you call). Check through all long distance calls and make sure they are yours. Take care of any problems/questions in a timely manner. The longer you let it run, the less likely you are to have it resolved to your advantage. The majority of problems or questions on your telephone account can and should be handled directly through Qwest, so I would suggest always phoning them first. The telephone "business" is confusing at best with all of the red tape and proceedures that are required for certain consumer requests. If the problem/question is something that can not be handled through Qwest, the representative will/should give you the information you need as to a contact. In working for Qwest, I have had personal experiences helping customers through problems with and been in direct contact with other telephone companies. I certainly don't believe that Qwest is any better or worse than any other telephone provider. I simply believe that the desire to make a buck has overridden any hope of having customer service within big business, regarless of the lip service the companies may give as to "the customer is always first priority".

I am a Formr employee of Qwest Communications. I worked in a Sales office and also in what they call a Sales and Service office. I can tell you first hand of some of the practices that go on. Do not take me wrong Qwest is a outstanding company that takes very good care of their employees if they are earning the company money. While working at Qwest in the sales office we were expected to make on average $55,000 a month per person. This is a ridiculous amount seeing that we had to deal with problem calls and help the customer resolve the problem first and then make the sale. I admit some of the sales were easy but for the most part the sales were very rough. No one will take responsibility for a problem because they are to concerned to make the sale. In fact Qwest just this week settled with the State of Colorado for a Million dollars for customer complaints for being passed around and for being slammed. Those of us that would actually solve the problem obviously were not making the money and are now jobless. No one cares about the customer. Back in the fall of 2001 Qwest settled another lawsuit with the state of Oregon for unethical sales practices by its reps. Every rep was required to go thru ethical sales practice again and we all signed a letter stating that we understood and that if any of our sales were found to be unethical we would be fired on the spot. A so called "Zero Tolerance Policy". I can tell you numerous times of firsthand experiences that I reported to my sp that was quickly swept under the rug and I was told that I needed to keep my nose out of other peoples business. Also in one instance 5 diffrent people on my team reprted one individual several,times and we were all told that omething would be done to resolve the issue. All we ever saw was a one on one meeting with the persons immediate supervisor no discipline whatsoever IN fact the week I gt fired she was on a company cruise for being the highest seller in our office. It is to bad that a company has to set their sales objectives so high that the only way to attain them is to be dishonest. This is why Qwest is having all the problems they are having now. It all comes down to GREED. I am not a disgruntled ex-employee. I learned alot while at Qwest but just be careful when being approached about changes to your local service. If it sounds better than it is chances are that it is.

I am an employee of LTD Direct Marketing which has a contract with Qwest. We handle all of their Outbound sales, such as phone package upgrades, and Save the Sale, which talks customers out of cancelling products. Also we have the ESC department which is the troubleshooting team for VMS and other bill problems. My outbound team is instructed on a daily basis to give false information to our customers to help the sale of any upgraded phonepackage (i.e. Popular Choice and Custom Choice Complete). We are told to increase the price on the bill to better persuade the customer to switch over or even tell them we are the billing department. We are monitored on a daily basis but are told when this occurs so we sound like we are in compliance with Qwest standards. I understand that Qwest is under Federal investigation and that is why I'm worried about the activity going on at my workplace. At this moment I am selling Custom Choice Complete which is the Custom Choice upgrade. I get leads for customers that don't have Custom Choice in the first place, but we are instructed to sell the "upgrade" to them. Which these customers pay an average of $21.95 on their bill before the upgrade price of $39.95 is slammed on their bill to be "prorated for the remainder of the month and you will be billed in advance for the following month". Here is where the pricing adjustment comes into play. So be very aware of the Qwest employees calling your house trying to give you upgrades for a package when you don't in fact have a package on your phone. Have your bill handy to double check prices that are quoted to you.