CenturyLink's Investigation of Itself Finds no Billing Fraud Centurylink claims that an investigation it conducted into itself has found no evidence of billing fraud. Earlier this year, a CenturyLink whistleblower revealed that the company had a systemic practice of charging users for services and upgrades they never asked for. Heidi Heiser, who worked for CenturyLink as a customer service and sales agent from August 2015 until October 2016 has sued the company over the scheme, stating she was fired shortly after pointing it out to company CEO Glen Post.

After the whistleblower filed her lawsuit, numerous states followed with lawsuits of their own accusing CenturyLink of all manner of fraudulent billing behaviors. Centurylink responded to the problem by first insisting it was all simply a "coordinated negative media and PR campaign aimed at CenturyLink." But in an announcement made this week, the company says it also appointed a "special committee of independent board members" that has found no evidence of wrong doing by company management. According to CenturyLink, this committee dug through 9.7 million documents as well as 4.3 terabytes of billing data consisting of over 32 billion billing records -- as well as interviewing 200 current and former Company employees. Their finding? That CenturyLink management did nothing wrong, that "company management did not condone or encourage cramming," and that "evidence did not show that cramming was common at the Company." The self-investigation blames all of the problems cited in numerous lawsuits on some of the company's pricing and promotions, which the inquiry found were "complex and caused confusion." Granted, ISPs often intentionally make their billing confusing intentionally to prevent direct comparisons with competitors. ISPs also like to bury hidden, unnecessary fees (like CenturyLink's Internet Cost Recovery fee) to help them falsely advertise a lower rate, something the inquiry just floats right over. Quite miraculously, CenturyLink CEO Glen Post says the investigation confirms his belief CenturyLink management did nothing wrong. "The investigation confirmed my long-held belief that there was no fraud or wrongdoing at the Company and that cramming was neither widespread nor condoned," said Post. "However, we know there have been times when we haven't provided our customers the experience they deserve. We have identified a number of areas where we can improve the customer experience and have already made significant progress in addressing those areas." Again, that's a far cry from the systemic, intentional over-billing found by Again, that's a far cry from the systemic, intentional over-billing found by Minnesota’s attorney general Lori Swanson (pdf), or management's intentional overlooking of said over-billing alleged by whistleblowers. We'll have to see if the looming lawsuits and independent investigations mirror CenturyLink's own, internal inquiry.







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Most recommended from 16 comments



Shamayim

Premium Member

join:2002-09-23 4 recommendations Shamayim Premium Member If Bernie Madoff had investigated himself he would have come to the same conclusion. rradina

join:2000-08-08

Chesterfield, MO 920.3 39.3

·Charter

3 recommendations rradina Member Same Old Story said by linked article : While the committee found that CenturyLink’s management did not condone or encourage cramming, and the evidence did not show that cramming was common, the telco admitted that its "investment in consumer sales monitoring was not sufficiently effective in proactively detecting and quantifying potential cramming." A Few Good Men. They admit cramming occurs but it wasn't common. Then they admit that they don't have a good way to detect and quantify potential cramming. Doublespeak to make sure management isn't culpable. Everyone in jail is innocent.This sounds like a "code red" from. They admit cramming occursThen they admit that they don't have a good way to detect and quantify potential cramming. Doublespeak to make sure management isn't culpable. fkittred

join:2002-01-24

Biddeford, ME 3 recommendations fkittred Member Particularly bad when combined with this arstechnica.com/tech-pol ··· -hidden/ sestrada

Premium Member

join:2012-11-05

U.S.A. ·Charter

2 recommendations sestrada Premium Member Baited and switched I was shocked after having an online chat with CL about upgrading DSL.



Was told about $10/mo extra, in writing, from the chat transcript, along with the persons contact info.



At that time they even had a company advocate here on DSL reports that reviewed the quote and found it in order.



I upgraded.



My $70 bill shot up to over $200 with stuff I didnt order like office 365 they wouldnt take off.



It took 11 months and a complaint to the FCC to put me back the old way.



How do companies get away with stuff like that?

Anon6d337

@state.co.us 2 recommendations Anon6d337 Anon smh Door to door CenturyLink sales person almost got my parents. Even have them on my moms facebook messanger telling me that they would be signing up for Gigabyte fiber. When I stopped by, obviously, the paperwork reflected the truth. Had my mother call them up and cancel the order.