Unbelievable! CenturyLink charges you a $17 fee to DISCONNECT SERVICE!

[Dan Druff]

This is really reaching a new low when it comes to shady billing practices.

I had home phone service with CenturyLink in Las Vegas. I decided that I didn't need it anymore, and disconnected it a few weeks ago.

I got a "final bill" with a $17.23 "service change" fee.

I called up and asked today, and they told me that they charge customers $16 (plus tax) to disconnect service.



Keep in mind that I was not on any kind of contract, and was never advised at any time of any disconnect fee. I have had Century Link as a home phone provider for the past 8 years.

The first billing rep I spoke to was a moron who kept repeating, "It's a valid charge" and would not listen to reason. I asked for her supervisor.

Her supervisor was just as stupid, and kept saying, "I can understand how you feel, but it's a very standard charge in the industry." When I asked her to name one other company that charges you to disconnect service, she couldn't name one, but still insisted that this was "standard" and could not waive it.

The supervisor then gave me her supervisor, who looked at my account and said, "I see you were not notified of this fee, so I will waive it for you."

But what a fucking joke.

Can you imagine being charged money to disconnect your service?

We've really hit an all-time low when it comes to sneaky charges by utility companies.

[BeerAndPoker]

Yeah, these fees suck but unfortunately they aren't uncommon anymore.

At least you got it removed otherwise your Alvin Finklestein would of had to give them a call.

[PLOL]

Sounds like a classic chargeback spot.

[Dan Druff]

Yeah, these fees suck but unfortunately they aren't uncommon anymore.

At least you got it removed otherwise your Alvin Finklestein would of had to give them a call.

I thought this one was uncommon, though.

Do you know of any other company that charges a fee for disconnection, even if not on a contract?

[Dan Druff]

Sounds like a classic chargeback spot.

No, it's not a chargeback spot at all, and that's why they do it.

They bill you this amount and it goes against your credit if you don't pay it.

People actually get turned down (or delayed) for home/car loans because of little bullshit utility bills like this.

They know that they have you over a barrel regarding your credit, so they take advantage of it and hope that you'll begrudgingly pay it.

[SrslySirius]

Heh, I'm probably screwed credit-wise. When bullshit charges like this come up, I just laugh and refuse to pay them.

[RobbieBensonFan]

Don't see any problem with the fee. It's not like they stuck it in at the last minute. I am sure you agreed to it when you signed up, perhaps unwillingly, but it was there.

Someone came out and installed your service, now they must disconnect it, which means a service trip. Which means they have to pay someone.

You still would have ordered the service when you did, even if they put the disconnect fee in big bold print. And if they did not charge the disconnect fee, they simply would have frontloaded the 'install fee' to be higher.

People are demaning the lowest price possible nowadays, so companies are simply add fees to their products on the back end. Is this a company issue, or a consumer issue? Personally, I always take the side of the big guy. In this case, a multi billion dollar corporation.

[cmoney]

They should have a application that is programmed with a database all the shady shit certain companies try to bill you for. You give it your logins to all your accounts and then it monitors your bills for anything odd.

I am sure between all my utilities i am probably paying 500-1000 a year in services I dont need or dont know I even have.

I would imagine the typical home these days gets 10-20 bills a month. The companies know most people dont look at the breakdown.

[michael]

The supervisor then gave me her supervisor, who looked at my account and said, "I see you were not notified of this fee, so I will waive it for you."

I imagine it's a numbers game, and no one is notified of this fee. 1 out of 1,000 people probably call up and make it to the supervisor's supervisor, and they bank $16,983.

[Dan Druff]

Don't see any problem with the fee. It's not like they stuck it in at the last minute. I am sure you agreed to it when you signed up, perhaps unwillingly, but it was there.

Someone came out and installed your service, now they must disconnect it, which means a service trip. Which means they have to pay someone.

You still would have ordered the service when you did, even if they put the disconnect fee in big bold print. And if they did not charge the disconnect fee, they simply would have frontloaded the 'install fee' to be higher.

People are demaning the lowest price possible nowadays, so companies are simply add fees to their products on the back end. Is this a company issue, or a consumer issue? Personally, I always take the side of the big guy. In this case, a multi billion dollar corporation.

Wrong.

This is a recent decision by Century Link to charge this.

I never agreed to it. That's why they ultimately let me off the hook for it when I spoke to the 2nd level supervisor.

It is complete bullshit to charge anyone a termination fee for ANY month-to-month service unless they have clearly agreed beforehand.

Michael is correct. They realized that most people will either miss the charge or not bother fighting it, and even those fighting it will usually give up when the low-level customer service reps tell them they have to pay it (and threaten their credit).

For the small percentage of Jews that take the time to reach someone who can reverse it, the company easily makes out with a lot of extra money, and they're only pissing off people who are already terminating service.

Brilliant plan, actually, but incredibly shady.