January 2, 2020 10:20 a.m. 
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has announced a $4 million settlement with the global telecommunications company CenturyLink for engaging in deceptive advertising by door-to-door salespeople, deceptive billing practices, undisclosed fees and failing to apply promised discounts to customer accounts.
A release from the Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General said that since 2014, Oregon DOJ has received more than 1,200 consumer complaints about CenturyLink.
The release said as part of the settlement, CenturyLink also will refund $672,000 to over 8,200 Oregonians who were overcharged for their services, or did not receive the promised discount. The impacted Oregon consumers will be contacted by CenturyLink directly, but any consumers with questions can contact the Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer hotline at 877-877-9392.
Specifically, Oregon consumers complained that CenturyLink charged more than the promised price, or they received multiple bills each month for different amounts, were billed for services after they had cancelled the service, or were billed for modems before they were installed. The release said consumers also complained about the quality of service, internet speed that was much slower than what was promised, or internet service so slow that it was unusable.
In 2018, complaints about telecommunications services topped Oregon DOJ’s top 10 consumer complaints.
The release said any Oregonian who believe they have received bills that include undisclosed fees should file a consumer complaint, of contact the AG Consumer Hotline.