Families across Puget Sound told KIRO 7 News that CenturyLink has canceled their appointments to fix their landline and internet issues multiple times in a span of months following our investigative report into a Pierce County couple’s struggles on Wednesday.
KIRO 7′s Investigative Team was able to find answers for a Pierce County couple who was fed up with CenturyLink after they said the company had cancelled 47 appointments to fix their landline in a span of six months.
On Thursday, families across the region reached out to KIRO 7′s Investigative Reporter Louie Tran about similar issues, indicating the problem seems to be more widespread.
People from Pierce, King, Whatcom counties and as far as Anderson Island shared their frustration.
“You feel like you’re talking to a wall,” Gail Scott described her experience contacting CenturyLink. “Nobody answers. And you would think you could at least get information to what’s wrong and an ETA for a fix, and none of that is forthcoming.”
Scott, of Bellevue, said the company had canceled her appointments more than 30 times after her landline stopped working five months ago.
“When I saw your story (initial investigation into Pierce County couple’s experience), it made me feel as if I wasn’t alone, that there are other people experiencing the same thing rather than it just being a regional thing in my neighborhood,” she said.
While a number of families reported having landline issues to KIRO 7 News, Robin Munson of Spanaway said her internet and landline issues with CenturyLink impact her safety.
“It was very scary to live here,” she said. “If I needed to call 911, I couldn’t.”
Munson, who lives by herself, said her landline and internet stopped working in December.
Her security system relies on her landline to directly call first responders and authorities in case of an emergency.
“If I had a kitchen fire, I couldn’t call anybody. It was terrifying,” she said.
Munson has a cell phone, but her device doesn’t receive any signal in her neighborhood. It depends on Wi-Fi to help her make calls, she said, however, her internet issues forced her to drive around five miles away from her neighborhood to get a signal to make any calls.
She said she decided to purchase internet service from another company after CenturyLink failed to show up for 11 scheduled appointments to fix the issue.
“I have had at least three CenturyLink representatives tell me it may not be worth CenturyLink’s time and energy to fix it because there’s so few people impacted,” she said.
But after looking into the issue further, KIRO 7 News discovered the issue spanned across the region, including in Elbe.
Joni Donner said her neighbor, Corrine Cochran who has dementia, hasn’t been able to receive help from CenturyLink since her landline stopped working last November.
Donner, who looks after Cochran, said many older families in the community rely on their landlines for help.
“Extremely frustrated and extremely concerned for her,” she said. “I’m concerned if something does happen, she’s not going to be able to get help.”
“I’ve expressed to them (CenturyLink) maybe they would take priority in getting her phone fixed because she is elderly with some health issues, but they didn’t care. Who’s liable if something does happen to her?” Donner asked.
KIRO 7 News reached out to CenturyLink multiple times.
The company did not answer our phone call, however, a spokesperson responded to our email and shared a statement with us.
“Every customer matters to us, and we strive to be as responsive as possible. We apologize for this inconvenience, we will look into each of these cases and will apply appropriate service credits,” said the Global Issues Director.