Qwest: Info for a more informed decision

[Autonomy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest

"One of the historically significant mass complaints regarding Qwest involved the company's tendency of switching its local telephone service customers over to Qwest's long-distance service without their permission, an illegal practice known as "slamming". In July 2000, Qwest paid a $1.5 million fine to the Federal Communications Commission to resolve slamming complaints. In April 2001, they paid a $350,000 fine to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection after the state cited them for deceptive advertising and slamming practices.

The company was also involved in accounting scandals, and was recently fined $250 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to be split into two $125 million payments due to the poor state of Qwest's current financial health. Among the transactions in question were a series of deals with Enron's broadband division which may have helped Enron conceal losses. Despite the settlement, in 2005, former CEO Joseph Nacchio and eight other former Qwest employees have been accused of fraud in a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC. Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty was accused but later cleared of accepting bribes from Qwest."

[anitar1]

1. I don't question your post, but Ihave had Qwest for many years,

and have never had a problem in any way.What company would you reccommend? AT&T, Verizon or, forgot what the other one is.

[AuntiBush]

3. I'm with you and calling Qwest in the morning.

Already got their number off the web page for phone and internet service.

Watch me, Verizon! After all these years and going broke for their sky-high rates while clicking in spying on the hand that fed them!

Outraged now. Rational shall kick in, in the morning, guaranteed since they seemingly have no need for their customers care now!!!!

[Autonomy]

4. two tin cans and a very long piece of string

Seriously, i'm not making any recommendations. I just saw this info earlier and thought I'd pass it along so no one thinks Qwest is a saintly, populist corporation. It's always nice to have information for making informed decisions.

[AuntiBush]

9. Look. At this point, I'd go with the slower then moses library dial out

Integrity rules my days and those golden rules people seem to have forgotten about.

[NI4NI]

13. I'm with you

I'll start using smoke signals or Pony Express before I stay with Verizon now.

[gtar100]

12. No corporation is really a "single entity"

As soon as the bandits made off with their millions, they baled out. New leadership came in and with it a whole new way of doing business.

Of recent, Qwest has had to play by ethical rules because it doesn't have the muscle and mass like Verizon and AT&T to be acting like a bully with their source of bread and butter. Wouldn't it be great if they realized the ethical model of a business really was sound and worth continuing through thick and thin? So far low stock prices and heavy competition have kept the leadership humble and the stockholders quiet. But if it does lay a strong foundation of good customer service (I know, not everyone is happy...complaining is louder than a sigh of satisfaction, though) and market prices (note I didn't say low prices), then the real test begins. The leeches in the stockholders meetings will no doubt want to suck harder.

Businesses that exist solely to make money will invariably die of inner corruption. They will have missed the mark. Because we don't work to make money...we work to live well. Accumulation of money is a stepping stone, not a goal. And if your goal is off mark, you miss the target. Western short-sightedness blinds us to this fact.

[AuntiBush]

2. So

What you're saying is there is no other trustworthy server or phone service to go to?

I guess they've all made their billions off of American taxpayers. They don't need their customers any longer. Met a lot of seemingly good people on the phone with Verizon. Hard to believe they feel very good about their employer right now, less they're all in on it too.

If so, I sincerely would pray for them. But maybe Qwest is being singled-out now and this could be propaganda in its saddest form.

[Autonomy]

6. If I understand what you're asking

No, I don't believe there are any completely trustworthy phone service corporations out there.

[sandnsea]

7. Oh come on

It's corporate America. No, there are no trusthworthy multi-national corporations. The people on the phone aren't the problem, they don't know what the CEO's are doing. When Worldcom can file bankruptcy, destroy their employees lives, pop back up as MCI and get government contracts; all sense of corporate responsibility is gone.

[AuntiBush]

8. You Couldn't Pay Me to Do Something as Unethical as that.

Ever! Nuff said on that one. And you are who and with whom?

[sandnsea]

5. They aren't saints

That's for sure. I've had US West and then Qwest most all my life. I always get to talk to a human. They do screw up, but usually fix things without too much trouble. I would bet that there's some monetary reason that they didn't participate in this database. It could be that they lease lines, or at least they used to, and so whoever they lease lines from was doing the actual grabbing of phone calls so QWest wasn't needed. I don't know. But altruism wasn't the reason.

[AuntiBush]

10. Starting to Believe Its OK for Corporations

but don't dare let an average American make one boo-boo, oh no!

Enough. Spying on Americans since before 9/11 is enough for me. And, sick of being outraged. Nothing wrong with a change from time to time, either.

If Verizon doesn't care about their long-term paying customer, well, too much a good person here to say those 2 words they can do right about now.

[sandnsea]

11. It let's them all know we're not doormats

Even if QWest isn't completely altruistic, there is the principle of the thing and a very clear point could be made if everybody switched away from these other companies. That'd be worth it for sure.

I am really tired of these corporations getting away with stuff that you or I would go to jail for. Or at least be too ashamed to come out of our houses over. That really gets me too with these people, like Delay. Can you imagine being under indictment and having the audacity to take a fat cushy DC job?? We're embarrassed when we bounce a check. There really is something quite different about the character of some of these people in Congress.