Qwest agrees to $1 million consent decree in Colorado

Qwest Communications and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office have agreed to a settlement concerning the carrier’s allegedly deceptive marketing of telephone services in the state.

As part of the consent decree, the regulatory equivalent of a plea bargain, Qwest has agreed to pay $1 million in damages and attorneys fees, and to make restitution to residential, wireless and digital subscriber line customers who currently have complaints on file or who in the next four months file complaints that establish “deceptive telephone sales practices.”

Qwest further agreed to “injunctive terms” that require full disclosure of the lowest cost service options available to consumers, more disclosure for wireless customers, and to refrain from billing customers for services not authorized. The settlement also requires Qwest to improve its service to customers who call with inquiries about service or billing problems.

A Qwest spokesman said the carrier recognized its customer service shortcomings and began to address them back in January. He said the effort has been accelerated by the management regime led by new CEO Dick Notebaert.

“To use a horrifically over-used metaphor, the new team took that football and is running a sprint with it,” the spokesman said. “They recognized that our network is the best and we have great facilities, but they’re just not satisfied with the experience the customer has when they call Qwest.”

The attorney general’s office, in a press conference held today to announce the consent decree, acknowledged that customer complaints are down 23% this year in Colorado.

“We’re making efforts and we’re making progress. And we’re working on some additional programs that we’re not ready to announce because they’re just not there yet,” the Qwest spokesman said.

The attorney general’s office said it reviewed more than 1000 complaints during its yearlong investigation, as well as 25,000 pages of internal confidential company documents. It also interviewed 24 Qwest employees and 100 former sales consultants, “to get an understanding of the company’s sales practices,” according to a press statement.

The consent decree will be filed and presented to Denver District Court this week.

In other regulatory news, Qwest today announced it has beefed up its Washington lobbying team with the appointments of Michael Rubin as vice president of federal relations and Robert Dunkel as executive director of congressional affairs. Both will report to Gary Lyttle, who recently joined the carrier as senior vice president, federal policy and law.