Magnolia phone and internet outage could last three weeks

SEATTLE — Niko’s Gyros in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood is currently cash-only.

The phone lines don’t work to process credit cards or take orders.

“In the restaurant business you depend on phone orders,” said Alexandra Serpanos, who said her family’s business is losing thousands of dollars because of a CenturyLink phone and internet outage that started last Thursday and is affecting customers in Magnolia.

“We’ve been in business for 25 years and this has never happened to us before,” Serpanos said.

CenturyLink is part of Lumen.

The company would not do an interview, but reports theft and vandalism of fiber and copper lines beneath the Magnolia Bridge last Thursday and Friday.

The company said crews immediately started repairs, but the completed work was vandalized again.

Lumen now estimates restoration could take two to three weeks.

“We’re not going to be able to handle another three weeks,” Serpanos said.

The restaurant might switch to cable.

Justin O’Neill is considering that, too, as he tries to work from home.

“We’ve been trying to stay connected as best we can just taking our phones and making them hotspots and those sorts of things but it’s been tough,” he said.

Lumen is not saying how many customers are affected, citing competitive reasons.

A spokesperson also did not detail why it will take so long to fix the outage other than to write, “there are many moving parts to this restoration.”

©2022 Cox Media Group