How to Lower Your Internet or Phone Bill with Qwest (CenturyLink) – Negotiate with the Loyalty Department
75High Phone or Internet Bill? Negotiate
Negotiating with Qwest, now CenturyLink, can get you the Introductory Rate...Forever
If you have found yourself suffering from a higher internet or phone bill because a low introductory rate has expired, try negotiating a new rate. This is especially effective with Qwest internet service. If Qwest comes out with a new introductory rate, call them up and see if they can offer you the same rate even if you are already a customer. If you are surprised by a high phone bill, call them to get a lower rate.
Recently I watched my introductory rate jump from $35 to $60, a phone call brought my internet charge down to $20–lower than my first introductory rate. That is a savings of $40 a month.
Phone number for the Qwest Loyalty Department is 1-877-348-9004.
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Call to Negotiate
To start the negotiations, call Qwest customer service. Once you reach a real person, say simply, "I'm not happy with the amount I'm paying for my internet service." If they don't immediately transfer you to the Loyalty Department ask to be transferred to them. This is important because the Loyalty Department has the power, according to one agent, to give "any promotion Qwest offers."
Arm yourself with any fliers or ads you have seen recently from Qwest so you know what the best deals are.
When you reach the Loyalty Department, say again, "I'm not happy with the amount I'm paying for internet." If the agent doesn't offer you a better price, start asking about the promotions. Ask about them one by one and make the agent explain why you can or cannot receive that price.
Come to the conversation armed with information. You should know: 1. What their best advertised deal is. 2. How fast your connection speed is. 3. How fast your connection speed is supposed to be.
The truth about Internet service providers, is that they rarely maintain the speed you pay for. You pay for 5 mbs they give you 3. You pay for 7 they give you 5. Do a quick speed test on the Internet before you call, so you can ask about your speed. Say, "I'm only getting __mps. I thought I was supposed to get ___." It puts them on the defensive from the beginning because they know they are wrong.
If the agent doesn't eventually offer you a better deal, ask to speak with someone else. This is a good idea whenever dealing with customer service. If the first person doesn't help, ask for another person.
All in all, be prepared to spend some time. Calls can take over an hour to get the best deal, but the savings pay for your time. Also, keep in mind that there is likely a limit to how good a deal you can get. In my experience, that limit is whatever their best advertised deal for new customers is. If you push long enough, you should be able to get that deal.
Surprise Increase in Your Phone Bill?
You might find your Qwest bill surprisingly higher than you thought it would be. There are a few possibilities.
Firstly, there are always "connection charges" when you start a new service, even if they never send anyone to your home.
If you don't have a new service, it may be that your introductory rate has run out, and you can call per the instructions above to get that rate back.
If neither of these is true, call Qwest to find out what happened. Even if the charges are completely legitimate, they sometimes offer you $5 off just for calling.
Qwest switch to CenturyLink gives you another talking point
The last time I negotiated with Qwest, no CenturyLink, I mentioned how I was "nervous" about the switch and thought my service would get worse. This talking point can be one more way to prod a negotiation along.
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That is awesome, Matt. I wrote this article out of pure spite for Qwest after they jacked up my rate and sent me too much junk mail. My hope is that I save decent people money.
This is the loyalty number: 1877-348-9004
Just say you got transfered to that dept.
Thanks for the number, Sterling. I will add it to the Hub.
Wow - we canceled Qwest a while back because of the outrageous prices - will have to show this to my hubby! Well done.
Just did it :) Qwest was running a 29.99 a month internet for any speed (w/out phone service) for 6 months and my 6 months were up. My bill would have gone up $30 per month, but I called them and requested to keep the discount, otherwise I may have to cancel. She agreed and I get my discount for 6 more months! Yeah!!! I love saving money!
I have called Qwest, the loyalty dept, a few times since my $19.99/mo DSL promo ran out and the best they have been able to give me is $35/mo for DSL. I'm not happy. I have the most basic phone service (for 9 yrs) b/c I don't need more than that and they give me the runaround. Have they gotten tighter?
This was great. I just called the customer service number, and it's as if they were all rooting for me to get a better deal. It was one of the easiest negotiations I have done. I was paying $50 a month for 12mbs, and they said I could get 20mbs for $35.99($5 of this was for a new modem I needed). I said that sounded great, and thanked them, but told them I really just wanted the 12mbs for $25, they hesitated, but them "looked through things" and pretty much gave it to me right away for 1 year. I think I could have gotten it down to $19.99 a month indefinitely if I would have tried a little harder. I think I will call back within the next two months or so and try it.
By my rough calculations, this hub has saved people close to $700, and that's just what I know about from the comments section. Keep it up people. I love sticking it to Qwest.
I just called Qwest because i was upset about having a 3MB connection and paying $55 a month. After talking to Qwest loyalty they were drop my bill to $24.99 for 6 months and bump my internet speed a little to 5MB. A little change but it helps.
I've got Qwest's promo of $59.99 for phone and internet. Just called the Loyalty department and they gave me an extra $20 off my bill for the next year because I told them that my internet speeds were slower than what they promised me.
I've had so many issues with Qwest, the only reason I stay with them is I'm able to get the service for free usually once I bully them over the phone. =)
Should I call after my promotional price ends or during?
John, I usually wait until my promotional price has ended. Then I call and start all over again. Just did this again the other day and saved myself another $150.
I'm paying an arm and a leg for mine, but I'm also under contract. (My first contract expired, but I had to get a new contract to get a 2nd free dvr upgrade)
Think they'll still negotiate, even if I'm bound?
Matt, I definitely think they will negotiate. It's worth a try. Say you've seen some offers from other companies or even offers from Centurylink that make you think you can get a better deal.
Matt 20 months ago
This technique works. Tried it today and my bill went from $44.99/mo to the latest promotional price of $14.99/mo for 6 months and then $30 after which is far more reasonable. I just immediately asked for the cancellation dept. told her "I am unhappy with the price I am paying and would like to discontinue service" to which she replied "If we could offer you a lower price would you like to continue the service?" All said it took me about 5 minutes. I may not have gotten the absolute lowest price, but I'm far happier with the lower amount.