We signed up for unlisted, unpublished phone service and high-speed internet. We also chose UNLIMITED long-distance service for an additional $14.99/month.

Imagine our surprise when we open our first bill to see an ITEMIZED long-distance bill of over $400!! We were expecting the installation charges and the two months of service on one bill...but itemized long-distance totaling over $400 PLUS the charge for unlimited long-distance ON THE SAME BILL??? After getting over the initial shock, we called Embarq to have the bill fixed, which the Cust. Serv. Rep did quickly. Problem is, they also took off the charges we actually DID owe. (Normally, I wouldn't be upset about that, but when it causes problems later, I get a bit ticked off.) We asked the Rep if it was right that they took off the other OWED charges as well as the ones that weren't owed. They assured us it was OK.

Next month's bill comes around...same story yet again, but this time not only was the long-distance bill itemized, the charges from the month before were added BACK on, plus late charges! $700+ this time! Confused as to how this happened when the last person we talked to told us it was fixed, we called in again, got it fixed and heard several apologies and assurances it wouldn't happen again... Guess what happened over the next 4 months? Yep, you got it! It kept happening EVERY SINGLE MONTH!

Each month they would apologize and "fix" the bill, but instead of just taking off the itemized long distance charges they took off all the charges "for the trouble with the bills". This was getting ridiculous, so we spoke with a manager, who confirmed that all charges were removed from the account. Confused at how we owed "nothing" we decided to see if the charges were, indeed, removed. Of course they weren't. Two weeks later we got a notice saying we owed $800+, and if we didn't pay, our service would be disconnected. Called again, got a rude account services rep who told us we were stupid if we thought we didn't owe anything for the past 5 months. I explained what had been happening with the customer service reps in the past, and that we brought that up with them, asking how we didn't owe anything, even after using the services. She said we were trying to freeload off of Embarq and not pay for anything. I told her I didn't need her attitude, that we weren't trying to get services for free, that we just wanted our bill computed correctly. I told her to speak with the customer service reps that were noted on my account. She said she didn't have to check anything, because it's common sense that you have to pay for services that you use. I tried to explain, once again, what the previous rep had told me. She interrupted me, calling me untruthful and stupid if I think I don't owe anything. By this point I was furious with her disrespectful and rude attitude, and demanded that they cancel our account immediately and that I wanted to file a complaint to their corporate office over their customer service reps not knowing what they were doing and for the account rep's unbelievable attitude and horrible demeanor. She snorted and said "How can you think you don't owe anything after having service for nearly 5 months now?" I told her I no longer wished to speak with her and I would appreciate it if she would transfer me to another rep so I could terminate my services. She then asked when I would pay the $800+ I owed, and I told her that once I speak with the termination rep to find out what's really going on and how much we really owe, I would set up a payment plan. She kept telling me I had to pay THAT DAY at least $350, or they would turn our services off. I told her that I wanted to speak to a termination rep ANYWAY because I don't appreciate being treated like trash by her and being called a liar when I clearly have NOT lied.

The termination rep I got transferred to told me that the notes in the account are pretty clear and that each rep I spoke with took off all charges relating to the itemized long distance, as well as the monthly charges for everything else, exactly as they had stated to me. The rep apologized for the attitude of the previous account rep, and told me that the account was currently at a $0 balance. I asked them to close down the account and disconnect the services immediately, because this was way too much trouble to go through every month for something that wasn't our fault. The rep apologized a couple more times and disconnected the services.

We thought that was all, but the next month we got ANOTHER bill for $166! We called to ask why, and they said it was for the partial month up until the day we had the services disconnected and it had to be paid. They finally fixed our bill AFTER we left Embarq...If $166 is all it takes to get Embarq out of our lives, THEN SO BE IT! I will NEVER use Embarq's services again!!!