Have you ever been traumatised by receiving an incredibly high amount on your monthly internet bill? Do you ever try to check out what services you are paying for every month or what features are fueling up the total amount on your monthly bill? Well, there’s a high chance that the majority of you will answer no.
It is quite astonishing for us to have observed that despite all odds, we as customers spare no time to check out why the provider is asking us to pay a specific amount for delivering a particular service. Even if you have subscribed to either internet, home phone, or cable TV service provider top-notched internet service providers in the country such as CenturyLink, you should learn what it is charging you and why?
The easiest way to get the answer to this issue is to thoroughly analyze your monthly bill. For most of us, it may sound boring or time-consuming but believe us it will help you in saving a significant sum of money every month.
Fortunately, we have designed this blog to educate you on how you can read your CenturyLink bill to know the features, services, and aspects you are paying for every month. So, if you are a subscriber of any CenturyLink service and want to check out how the ISP is charging you and for what aspects it is taking extra bucks you have landed on the right blog.
Why is it important to read your monthly CenturyLink bill?
You must be thinking that why is it important for you to explore your monthly bill as you are a subscriber of the most reliable and trustworthy internet service provider in the US. Your concern is valid. But the fact is that reading a bill does not always mean you have doubts about the credibility of the ISP. It could simply mean something else.
However, it is more about acquiring a clear view of what features you are knowingly or unknowingly paying for every month. Also, it will help you in identifying the features you either no longer need to use or have quitted using for a long. Moreover, it will assist you to subsidize some unnecessary features or services that own the lion’s share of your monthly bill.
Furthermore, you can bring to light some unfair or unjust fees the internet service provider is charging you. Or else, you can use the same information to make a real-time and well-informed comparison among other internet service providers for the same services available in your area.
Thus, you can make a sound move towards the righteous decision and get the perfect deal from the same internet service provider by presenting them with a thorough analysis. Sounds interesting, isn’t it?
Guide to read your CenturyLink monthly bill
Get your latest monthly bill
Before starting the exploration of your monthly CenturyLink bill, you need to get it in your hand. Have you received your monthly bill? Have you checked your email to find your monthly bill? So, the first thing you need to do is to get your recent CenturyLink bill before initiating the process.
You can get your monthly bill via your “My CenturyLink” app or online portal of the internet service provider. However, for the CenturyLink website, you need to use your credentials to log in to your account and then find the billing option. You can easily hover over to the billing option and put your customer ID into the search bar and then click.
The system will provide you with your bill which you can easily download using the “download” option and pay after printing it out.
For instance, if you have multiple CenturyLink accounts, you can easily insert other IDs for each of the accounts one by one using the arrow in the search bar beside your account ID.
Get the previous bill if you have recently switched to another CenturyLink service
This step is for those who have recently switched any of CenturyLink Internet Deals, plans, offers, bundles, or packages. If you are one of them, stay focused but if not then move to the next step in this guide to save your time. The online portal provides you by default your current monthly bill, however, if you want to check your previous bills you need to go for the ‘billing statement’ or ‘payment statements’ options.
How to find your previous monthly bill using payment statements and billing statement options?
It is up to your account type whether you will have a payment statement or billing statement option. But whatever you spot on the website, click on it. Then hover over the ‘statement period’ bar to get the range of monthly bills in a drop-down window. Select the period for which you need to get your bill then just click on the download option and get the bill for the desired month.
The process is the same for billing statements as well where you need to find the ‘my billing statement’ option and click on it. Then insert the period for which you need to get your bill, hit the download button, and get the PDF file of the bill in your system. Quite easy isn’t it?
The good thing is that CenturyLink allows you to get a monthly bill for the last 12 to 18 months and even demands the internet service provider to send you the printed version for those bills. However, this facility depends on the location you are currently living in and may not be applicable for many locations which is a drawback for most of its subscribers.
Format of CenturyLink bill
Once you start receiving bills of your desired and current period, you need to check which format of the bill you are receiving. The internet service provider has two broad categories of bills including Eastern US and the Western US which it is incorporating based on your location. However, the format has nothing to do with the information the internet service provider is offering to you. It means you will get similar pieces of information whether you are getting the bill in Eastern US or Western US format. So, there is nothing to worry about!
Thoroughly check the information provided on your monthly bill
The bill contains a couple of pages to provide you with complete information about your account. We have added the major heads you will easily spot in your monthly bill here so you can have a clear idea of what pieces of information you will probably get at your monthly CenturyLink bill.
The information includes customer ID and billing period, account summary, managing your account, keeping you connected, billing and payment options, a summary of charges, and more. Some other details include the information related to your charges under the heading ‘details of your internet charges’, ‘details of your internet and home phone charges’ or ‘details of your CenturyLink package service’.
Also, the bill includes detailed information about the additional charges and credits, service addition or changes, removed service and add services options, usage charges, and lastly, taxes, fees, and surcharges.
What information will you get in your CenturyLink bill?
You need to start with assuring the customer ID and billing date and then explore an account summary that will give a quick break-up of your current bill under current and previous charges categories. Then you need to take a detailed tour to get insight into the fee the internet service provider is charging you by checking the ‘details of your internet charges’.
Now check how much the ISP is asking you to pay for the service, plan, or bundle you have subscribed to. You can find it under the ‘details of your internet and home phone charges’ or ‘details of your CenturyLink package service’ head.
On the next page, the ISP has further elaborated these charges under a separate head. If you have any confusion, we would like to advise you to first check that out before contacting the internet service provider.
Here you will get a clear view of how much the ISP is charging and whether the amount it is charging is as per the contracted fee or not. If yes, then there is nothing to worry about, but if not, feel free to contact the customer services of the internet service provider.
- If you have subscribed to CenturyLink for the first time. There is a couple of additional fees you will find in your bill which come under the ‘one-time fee’ option. It mainly includes installation fees or other fees that you need to pay at the time of acquiring CenturyLink services.
- If you have switched to other services by CenturyLink. For instance, if you have moved to other internet and home phone plans, offers, or packages or have switched to its bundle offer, you will see the difference in charges in your current bill. The provider has displayed this information under separate heads with the titles ‘added services’ and ‘removed services’. Also, you will see a comprehensive insight for your current services separately on another page that contains every single detail about your existing subscription and the charges against all.
- Other important things to check. No matter which of the CenturyLink Internet Plans you have subscribed to, you may either lease devices or have bought them from the market. For renting out devices, you need to pay some monthly rent which is also mentioned in the bill. Moreover, the bill clearly defines additional charges, taxes, and surcharges you are reliable to pay.
The bottom line
Hopefully, you have now learned how to read out your monthly CenturyLink bill. However, if you still have some queries, feel free to contact its 24/7 available, highly responsive, and corporative customer support team. So, follow this guide to read your monthly bills to make sure you are paying only for the services and features you are using in the right manner.
Zuella Montemayor did her degree in psychology at the University of Toronto. She is interested in mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
