Bad Experience with CenturyLink ISP

Here is an excerpt from an online evaluation of a customer service call I made yesterday to inquire about the status of the internet outage at my house: 

Based on this experience with CenturyLink's Customer Service, how likely is it that you would recommend CenturyLink to a family member, friend or colleague? (required) 

2 of 10

Please provide your reasons for your rating above. 

My rep, RJ, was nice enough, but he was powerless to provide any real help.  The message communicated to me was, We're sorry. We're working on it.  (Which was probably true. Poor RJ probably didn't have any more information than that. However, if I wanted someone to comfort me, I would have called my mother.) At the time of the call, my apartment's internet service had been out for 72+ hours (that's over 3 days for those of you who are slow with arithmetic), which is ridiculous by any standard. The only information I could squeeze out the old RJ, my technical service rep, was that "44 users were affected by a physical server issue" and that "an on-site technician had updated a service log 10 hours earlier."  Unfortunately, the log entry was so jargon/code-rich that it was completely indiscernible to either RJ or myself. (Bless you, RJ for making an effort. You went way off script, and you have my thanks.)

I offer the following suggestions free of charge:

• Change you 1-800 label from "Technical Service" to "Customer Consoling."

• Technical Service Reps need a way to communicate with on-site reps. 

• They need to update their logs more frequently. 

• Century Link needs to be able to switch users to a different server if there is going to be an outage for more than a few hours. 

• If possible, you need to provide a service that sends a message to account holders telling us a specific problem has been so we aren't surprised by it and need to call you. 

• Based on previous experience, give customers estimates on how long it typically takes to ship a part, perform a replacement, test the new set up. 

• Tell customers what hours technicians will be working on it so I can have a ballpark guess as to when work might be completed.

•  Offer monetary reimbursement if the outage is over three-days long, not only pro-rating the monthly fee but offering to compensate for opportunity cost.

This has been a terrible experience for me that will definitely affect my future business with CenturyLink. Take a note from Obama circa 2008, and let's see some change.  Otherwise, I'll be moving to Canada.  (That's a metaphor for getting a new ISP contract.)

**UPDATE**

Less than 2 hours after sending my feedback and posting it here on my blog, internet service was restored. Coincidence?  Also, no further follow up from CenturyLink.  And no apology other than a generic email notification indicating that we had service again.  First and foremost, I need a dependable service provider.  When emergencies inevitably happen, I need an ISP that makes quick repairs.  When repairs can't be made, I need an ISP that will communicate resolution strategies and offer me timelines.  I am shopping for a new ISP.  No good options. I feel like a Disney Princess waiting for Prince Google Fiber to come rescue me...someday.