Rita LeBleu

Some Starks, DeQuincy, Ragley and Reeves residents have not had landline/hardline telephone service or DSL since Aug. 26 when Hurricane Laura was making its way inland.

Customers have expressed frustration and feelings of powerlessness to the American Press.

An informal social media poll asking for members to rate CenturyLink on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being a high rating, submitted more than one score of zero, as well as one person who gave the company a negative score. The following are some of their comments.

Jody Yellott of DeQuincy, was one of the respondents unhappy with Centurylink. She said her aunt has not had a home phone or Internet since Hurricane Laura.

“Even her emergency pendant won’t work without the phone,” she said.

Frankie Travis called CenturyLink and said she was told she would not receive a bill for service she did not get, but she did.

“I gave up calling, chatting and texting way back in September,” said Lisa Nortman.

Jill Red Moore was able to schedule a service date.

“They missed it, and claimed I never scheduled it,” Moore said.

She has a screen shot verification.

“They keep taking my payment, even though I have no service, and are charging taxes,” she said. “What are they charging taxes on?”

Peggy Langley said she was placed on hold and transferred until her call was dropped. Her total time on the phone: three hours.

Vera Barrow had the same experience, and was transferred to different numbers until the call was dropped.

“The next day I was on hold for an hour and 20 minutes,” she said. “A nice person set up an appointment.”

The tech arrived as expected and had the phone and the internet working in minutes.

“Since then my phone is only working sporadically,” she said.

This is the experience of customers who do have phone service.

Alisha Stanley Wylie would like a straight answer about what’s going on, but can’t reach anyone.  

Tammy Tigert canceled her service and later found out it had not been canceled and that service will be restored Nov. 23.

That’s more than 80 days with no service.

The American Press called to speak to someone from Centurylink about the problem and received this emailed response on Oct. 29: “Thank you for reaching out. CenturyLink had significant impacts across our footprint in Louisiana due to Hurricanes Laura and Delta, including Lake Charles and the surrounding areas. As part of our restoration efforts, we are making network upgrades to strengthen the infrastructure as we rebuild. This includes expanding fiber and relocating equipment underground so that it is less susceptible to damage from future storms. These upgrades take time as permits and locates are required to bury these facilities. Those last out-of-service customers are often the hardest to reach and will take extra time, but we are working as quickly as possible to restore service to all customers impacted by Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

The email was from Courtney Morton, the senior communications manager from Lumen.   

On Sept. 13, CenturyLink announced its rebranding as Lumen Technologies.

The old CenturyLink brand will remain for “residential and small business customers over traditional networks.”

No information was obtained from industry experts whether this transition delayed service. But these same industry experts said it was because of fear of the competition finding out about its plans for improving the network and the necessity to wait for the electricity to be restored that delayed work. They also said technicians were sent out from other areas.

Though the company is expanding fiber, not all will benefit. Proximity matters.

District Four Louisiana Service Commissioner Mike Francis was contacted by the American Press on Nov. 4 and said he anted to know why someone did not call his office sooner.

He said his office doesn’t “investigate complaints from cell phone and Internet customers, but we do take and record complaints about hard lines,” he said. “It’s our job to regulate monopolies.”

Francis said — as an example — that his office cooperates with local energy companies on restoring electricity as quickly as responsible and this type of communication with his office and urgency from the telephone company would be preferable in the future.

The number for the public service commissioner’s office is 514-2000. CenturyLink landline customers can call to give his office an idea about how many had no phone service or intermittent service during this time.

 The CenturyLink Center in Bossier City.

Special to the American Press