Getting Rid of CenturyLink: How to have a conscious uncoupling with CenturyLink and start a relationship with Google Voice

The time had come when I had to stop using CenturyLink. It was a mixture of the limitations of their network and their terrible customer service. In fact, when I told the customer service rep that I was going to drop them she said, “That’s your prerogative. Do what you want.” So, I’m guessing they’re resigned to the fact that people are going to be leaving in droves.

I was consumed with anxiety. The thought of dealing with multiple companies to stop services and start new ones filled me with dread. After I meditated and took a Xanax, I was able to use the internet to formulate a plan that made sense for me, but the information was scattered across discussion groups, customer complaints and former employee reviews of the various companies involved. No one had gathered it all together in one spot. I post this for some future me to find.

I am not an expert, but this is what I did and it worked.

I had a landline phone, internet and DirectTV bundled with CenturyLink. I have had them bundled for 5 years, so there were no longer any contracts with penalties for early termination. You should check that before you make the choice to stop. If you are in a contract, it will be listed on your bill along with the time left (month 12 of 24).

If you want to keep your landline you need to port it out before you discontinue service. This is important, because if you just cancel your service you will lose your number. We’ve had ours for 21 years and tons of people have the number. We definitely don’t want to talk to all those people to tell them a new number, so keeping it was a priority.

IMPORTANT! Once your number is transferred, your internet connection will disappear along with your phone service. So, my advice is to find another supplier and have it installed before your number ports.

I looked at my phone options and decided to port it to Google Voice. This allows us to not only have all calls ring on both my mobile phone and my wife’s phone, but also have any voicemails transcribed and texted to us. Also, there is only an initial $20 charge to port the number and after that it’s free.

It was then that I ran into my first complication. You can’t port the number directly from Centurylink to Google Voice. Google will only take cell phone numbers. To get it there, you have to port to a cell service first.

In my case, I decided to port to an AT&T GoPhone. If you have a phone that has easily switchable SIM cards, you can do it cheaper by just buying and activating a card, but I had to get a burner. So, I bought the cheapest GoPhone ($15) at the AT&T store, put the minimum $25 balance on it and had them transfer the number. I had read multiple descriptions of people that had done the transfer themselves and run into problems, so I figured let the request come directly from the company. I would recommend this.

It was easy to do. You will need CenturyLink account number (your phone number followed by three digits) and your CenturyLink PIN. I read in an online discussion that if you write and ask CenturyLink for your PIN, they send you a new one via snail mail and that it takes 7–10 days. They do this to try and extend your account into another billing cycle. However, 95% of the time your PIN is the last four digits of your social security number.

I used that and it worked. It did take 5 days for CenturyLink to release my number, but it worked and I didn’t have to talk to them.

Then, I needed to transfer from AT&T to Google. Google Voice makes this incredibly easy, but AT&T does throw up a stumbling block. You have to call them to get your account number. You dial 611 from your GoPhone. In the menu select “more options” and then hit 0 to talk to an operator. They do not want to give you the account number. They talk in circles and make you wait for a really long time. But, be polite and persistent. Have your PIN for AT&T ready as well. They’ll have you set this up at the AT&T store.

Once you have that, you should be able to fill out the simple form on Google Voice. It will take about 24 hours to go from AT&T to Google.

Another very important point is that CenturyLink will not stop billing you for services even if you have no phone number listed with them. Cell contracts stop when the number is gone, but CenturyLink will just keep charging you forever.

You have to call CenturyLink to cancel service. Every time I have looked at their contact website the information has been different. When I did it three days ago, you had to call between 8 and 6 Monday through Friday. However, today I looked and they added 9–2 on Saturday. Also, the phone number is different. So, check the number right before you call.

Most of the complaints I read online were from people that called late in the day. In fact, it takes so long to go through the process that they pretty much stop taking new calls at 5:30. I imagine that being the person that cancels accounts at CenturyLink is very stressful and by the end of the day they are far less patient with customers. I called first thing in the morning and waited on hold for about 20 minutes. As with any customer service call, I wouldn’t call on Monday. That’s always the busiest day.

Be extremely nice to the person on the other end of the phone. Not just because you should be nice to everyone, but also because this person can make your life horrible. Search for CenturyLink complaints online and you’ll see how miserable. Explain that you’ve already ported the number away and it will head off most of their arguments for staying. Remember that the reason you give them quitting will set off a whole series of arguments. Something like, “My service hasn’t been working for weeks and no one will come fix it.” is something they can’t really argue with. If you say, “Your prices are too high!” it will lead into an hour long description of all their bundling packages.

Find out if you have to send equipment back to them. If you’ve been with them for more than a couple of years, they’ll probably just write it off.

They will give you a disconnect number starting with the letter D. Later that day, you should be able to go to your online account and see that all your services have been stopped.

It is at this point that I recommend a strong cocktail. Make a toast to CenturyLink. They lost 160,000 landline customers last quarter, so you’ve basically just escaped from the deck of the Titanic.

I hope this helps someone! Let me know on Twitter if you have any questions or comments.