Last week I told you about a local couple who had suspicions about a door-to-door salesman who claimed to represent Qwest, the phone company.

After I sounded the alert about the potential scammer, Qwest began investigating.

Several things are now happening. For one, local homeowners are slamming the door on salesmen claiming to be upgrading Qwest's Internet system. Meanwhile, Qwest is in the process of tweaking its neighborhood marketing strategy because it turns out the so-called imposters are legitimate.

But when a strange man walked to Brent Flathau's Renton home, he didn't know what to think.

"He had a scratched-up badge attached to him. And he real quick showed me the badge, but you couldn't see anything," he said. "The strange thing is he was offering us this deal, but we had to sign for it right away."

His wife, Doryan, got suspicious because the guy was oddly-dressed and was not carrying any professional Qwest material.

"He never mentioned any name. No, he just said he was from Qwest," she said.

The man asked to see their phone bill, and Doryan says he wanted them to sign a work order for upgraded Internet service on the spot.

"I said, 'I'll just call Qwest if I want that later,' and he said 'oh no, you have to sign up right now,'" she said.

When I called Qwest, they started an internal investigation. It turns out Qwest hires third-party contractors for door-to-door marketing. And salespeople are out right now selling Internet upgrades, and that guy at the Flathaus' house was one of them.
But he should have had better identification and he should never have pressured the couple to buy anything.

Qwest spokeswoman Dana Dyksterhuis says the company appreciates these issues being brought to its attention.

"It has resulted in our retraining the contractors for the program. We are also re-educating other employees who may be in call centers so they are aware that these contractors in the field," she said.

Qwest says it is currently reviewing contractor backgrounds, updating and replacing photo identification and making sure salespeople are wearing appropriate Qwest-branded clothing on the job.

The salespeople will also have Qwest paperwork explaining what's going on, and anyone with a question can contact the company.