A:Not at this number; hours here are Mon-Fri 8am-6pm CST.The least busy day is Friday, and the most busy day is Monday.Schedule a call when the call center is open and when it's convenient for you.
Q:
How long will I wait on hold?
A:The average hold time is 5 minutes and 10 seconds.The longest hold times are on Monday, and the shortest are on Wednesday.You can skip the hold time for free.
Toll-free · 24 hours, 7 days · Tell the voice menu "I don't know it" until it asks what your problem is. For Internet with Prism, you must chose the video repair option, then chose prism. · · Free tools available: Talk for me, Skip the wait, Schedule my call
How do I get through the phone menu to a live person?
Consider using our free service that calls and talks to customer service for you, then sends you a report. Or use our free service that waits on hold and tells you when a human rep is on the line. But if those options don't appeal to you, our team has also documented the phone menu for CenturyLink below.
Our AI powered phone can dial, navigate the phone menu, wait on hold, and even talk to customer service for you, for free. You don't even need to learn about the path through the various phone options.
That same, free GetHuman Phone can call and navigate the menus and wait on hold for you, but you can opt to do all the talking. We notify you when a rep is on the line and ready to talk, so no need to worry about changing menu options and weaving your way through the maze.
Of course, we completely understand if you prefer to do all the dialing, waiting, and talking yourself. All of these free tools are optional.
GetHuman researchers routinely call this CenturyLink phone number to document the phone system.
Here is how our research team describes the way the CenturyLink phone system greets you: If you are already a customer or calling about a recent order, say "yes" or press 1. If you are not a customer, say "no" or press 2.
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest:Press 2 then 1
Below are some clips we've found from CenturyLink's phone menus and tips that help give an idea of what you will encounter when you call. We've highlighted why they are important as well:
Heard when the phone system first answers
"Welcome to CenturyLink.
Due to the holiday, you have reached us after hours.
However, repair assistance is always available. Also, I can help you with things such as placing an order or payments.
If it turns out I can't help you, try our website at w w w dot centurylink dot com, or call back during business hours between.
Eight AM to six PM eastern.
Time, Monday through Friday.
Please listen carefully. Our options have recently changed.
If you are already a CenturyLink customer or you are calling about a recent order, say yes or press one.
Otherwise, say no or press two."
Excerpt from a call with CenturyLink
Monday, January 1, 2024 6:38 PM
They may need the phone number on your account
"Welcome to CenturyLink.
You're already a CenturyLink customer, or you are calling about a recent order, say yes or press one.
Otherwise, say no or press two.
You're already a CenturyLink customer, or you are calling about a recent or starting with the area code, please say or enter a ten digit number associated with your account or your nine digit billing account number."
Excerpt from a call with CenturyLink
Monday, July 7, 2025 3:47 PM
They may ask your reason for calling (instead of a menu)
"If you don't know it, say, I don't know.
Thank you. Let's continue.
Gathering some additional information.
Please tell me what you're calling about."
Excerpt from a call with CenturyLink
Friday, March 15, 2024 9:09 PM
They may ask you to enter information with the dial pad
"If this is correct, say that was In order to help you, we need your account number or your phone in order
Please enter the five digit ZIP code for the address you are calling about."
Excerpt from a call with CenturyLink
Monday, June 3, 2024 10:03 PM
They may ask you to say or enter information
"Welcome to CenturyLink.
If you're calling about that number still checking.
Say or enter the last four digits of the account holder's Social Security number."
Excerpt from a call with CenturyLink
Thursday, June 5, 2025 3:59 PM
The first phone menu
"Welcome to CenturyLink.
You have reached us after hours.
However, repair assistance is always available. Also, I can help you with things such as placing an order or payments.
If it turns out I can't help you, try our website at w w w dot centurylink dot com, or call back during business hours between.
Eight AM to six PM eastern time, Monday through Friday.
If you are already a CenturyLink customer, or you are calling about a recent order, say yes or press one.
Otherwise, say no or press two."
Excerpt from a call with CenturyLink
Thursday, July 3, 2025 11:21 AM
After you press 2
"You're already a CenturyLink For new CenturyLink service, say new customer or press one.
To report a dangerous condition such as a line down or damaged telephone poles, say damage or press two."
Excerpt from a call with CenturyLink
Monday, June 23, 2025 12:53 PM
What are the hours and when should I call?
CenturyLink operates the call center for this 800-201-4099 phone number Mon-Fri 8am-6pm CT.The short answer is that you should call on a Wednesday.This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 2,105 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).
Call when they- and you- are open
When you use our free AI-powered phone to call and talk, wait on hold, or navigate for you, you can also schedule the call with CenturyLink at a time when they are open and when it works for you. We will confirm you are ready before placing the call, just in case. That means you can "set it and forget it" ahead of time.
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this CenturyLink phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like CenturyLink staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.
The least busy time to call
The least busy day to call CenturyLink is Friday.The most busy day to call is Monday, which averages 34% more phone calls by comparison.Again, this is based on a sample of 2,105 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.
Mon
Busiest
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Quietest
The shortest wait on hold
We measured the shortest hold times to be on Wednesday.The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Monday, which is 363% longer than the minimum.As you can see, there is more fluctuation in hold time over the course of the week than there is in call volume.
In summation, the best day to call CenturyLink is Wednesday.It isn't the least busy day, but the fact that hold times are shortest combined with it being on the busy side tells us that CenturyLink staffs up on Wednesday to handle the higher call volume, and that makes it the best time to call.
Calling this number for CenturyLink was slightly confusing, but eventually, I did get to talk to someone, and they were able to assist me and answer my questions. I assumed that I had CenturyLink service because that is the internet provider that I signed up with, but apparently, someone else under their umbrella handles my area service. So I got transferred to another customer service line, which was a bit unexpected. However, the agent, Dora, explained the system to me when I spoke with her, and she was clear and helpful. Therefore, I wouldn't call this an entire waste of my time.
My original reason for calling was that I noticed that my bill was slowly sneaking up, and I wanted to see if they had any new promotions to offer me. I just wanted to talk to a sales agent because I know many times they can offer you promotions that you cannot find online on your own. Given that they are an internet provider, I bet there are thousands of reasons people could need their assistance. From technical support with internet service that isn't working to complaints about speeds to help with billing, they probably get a lot of phone calls. So the fact it only took me about two minutes to talk to someone was actually impressive.
When I first called, after an introduction, it said, "If you are already a customer or calling about a recent order, press 1 or say yes. Otherwise, say no or press 2." I pressed 1, and then it asked me to input a ZIP Code. This is where it got funny because the voice assistant stated, "Brightspeed is now servicing your account," and then I was moved to another service line. It only took a second, though, and a new voice assistant said welcome to Brightspeed and offered this directory: "If you are calling to sign up for a new service, press 1. If you are an existing customer, press 2. If you recently placed an order, press 3. If you need technical support, press 4."
I pressed 2, and then almost immediately, I was transferred to Dora, who spoke clear English and explained to me why I got moved. She also helped review available options and promotions that I could opt into, which helped reduce my bill. Overall, I would call again if I had any issues with my internet.
Christian has been writing about long hold times and customer service call center experiences since 2010. He's been featured in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.
Why Customers Call CenturyLink
If you have time to do a bit of reading before you call CenturyLink, we recommend you read over some of our problem-specific articles.
Click the link above to get answers to just about any CenturyLink customer service question, including step by step guides for the most complex issues. You can also detail a new issue and get answers instantly.
Below is a sample of recent calls to CenturyLink, and their purpose. Are any of these similar to the reason you are trying to call?
Inquiring about options: "What are my options?"
- From a call lasting 9m 4s , Jul 15, 2025 8:56 PM
Information about why customers call CenturyLink is extracted from issues that customers have reported to GetHuman.
Once you arrive at their help page by clicking this link, click "Chat" in the lower left corner
If phone-based customer service is not available, or the wait times are long, many people prefer chat as a next-best option. Some even prefer it to calling on the phone. Luckily, CenturyLink provides this option.
CenturyLink Customer Service on X (formerly Twitter)
Use the link to connect with customer service through Twitter
CenturyLink, like many companies, provides customer service on the X platform (formerly Twitter). While it rarely entails live dialogue with a customer service rep, this channel can yield rapid response times and can be a useful option if you have an X/Twitter account.
As a last, sometimes only, resort- CenturyLink customer service can be accessed through their website. This can entail digging through help articles before finding a form and "being allowed" to submit a problem to their team, and rarely leads to a real-time conversation, which is why GetHuman does not recommend this unless it's the only way.
Conclusion and closing notes
This is CenturyLink's best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a CenturyLink agent. This phone number is CenturyLink's best phone number because 1,908 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 800-201-4099 include Setup Service, Lower My Bill, Transfer Service, Technical Support, Cancel Service and other customer service issues. Rather than trying to call CenturyLink first, consider describing your issue first; from that we may be able to recommend an optimal way to contact them via phone or chat or web or twitter. In total, CenturyLink has 4 phone numbers. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to CenturyLink representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.
GetHuman does not provide call center services or customer support operations for CenturyLink. The two organizations are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information to help customers of companies like CenturyLink. For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line to get a live human rep. We continue to work on these tools to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service. As long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.
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