UTC staff recommends $252,000 fine for CenturyLink over long wait times, lack of documents
Staff at the Washington state Utilities and Transportation Commission have announced proposed fines against CenturyLink over violations regarding response times and providing documentation to the UTC.
UTC staff recommend fining CenturyLink $252,000 for the violations. CenturyLink is part of Lumen Technologies and is the largest local telephone company in Washington.
According to the release, UTC staff found through an investigation that the communications company violated commission rules by not connecting customers with a live representative within 60 seconds from the time the caller asked to speak to a live representative.
CenturyLink committed nine violations of this rule from March 2022 to November 2022, according to the release.
Staff also found the company failed to provide documentation the UTC requested within 10 business days of the request. Staff found CenturyLink committed 234 of these violations from March 2023 to February 2024.
UTC staff discovered the violations after receiving several complaints from CenturyLink customers, according to the release.
Staff are asking the commission to assess CenturyLink a penalty of $1,000 for each violation of documentation requests, as well as $1,000 per violation of customer service response times, which equals the total amount of $252,000.
The three-member UTC will consider its staff’s recommendation at a prehearing conference to establish a schedule to review the complaint on April 8.
