Twin Cities CenturyLink phone outages due to copper wire theft, utility says
MINNEAPOLIS — Some Twin Cities residents and businesses say their landline phones haven't worked for weeks, or even months.
When CenturyLink phone and internet went out at Giuseppe's Restaurant in New Brighton in November, owner Stacy Traviss thought the outage would be brief. It lasted for a month.
"People couldn't get a hold of us, a lot of people would call just to see if we were open, and the dread in the back of my mind was, 'Are they thinking we're closed for good?'" said Traviss.
The outage meant Traviss couldn't run credit cards or receive take-out orders over the phone. She estimates she lost up to $500 worth of business per day. After the month-long outage, she ended up switching phone providers.
"They kept saying, 'It's just an outage, it's just an outage,' and 'Don't you understand what an outage is? We are in the process of fixing it,' was their big explanation," said Traviss.
Bob Matheson said his CenturyLink phone has been out for a month at his home in Minneapolis' Fulton neighborhood.
"[A CenturyLink employee told me] he has no idea when, or if, our landlines will ever be back up and running," said Matheson.
Reports of CenturyLink outages have since flooded social media sites like Nextdoor. A CenturyLink spokesperson provided WCCO with this statement: "We have multiple outages throughout St. Paul and in the Twin Cities due to copper theft. These incidents have caused extensive damage and have significantly hindered our efforts to restore service."
The spokesperson said once the damage is repaired, it will review appropriate credits.
A spokesperson with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office said it cannot confirm or deny an investigation into the outages, but said those with CenturyLink issues should contact them here or call 651-296-3353. People can also reach out to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
Matheson argues that he should be receiving a service he pays good money for.
"Just think, if you're a 70-year-old person, you don't have a cellphone, you don't have the internet, you just have your home. Well now you're sunk," said Matheson.