DENVER -- Qwest is getting its hand slapped for poor customer service and it's going to cost a pretty penny.

In a landmark settlement concerning its alleged deceptive marketing practices, Qwest has agreed to pay $1 million to the state and restitution to the customers who have filed complaints, the Colorado attorney general said Tuesday.

"This is a good settlement for consumers because it will ensure that Qwest customers in Colorado will not be misled about the cost and range of services available to them. This settlement will also improve customer service and reduce customer frustration," said Attorney General Ken Salazar.

According to officials, one of Qwest's biggest problems was allegedly misleading its customers about basic service.

Qwest sales people were accused of "selling up," so even if a customer called and wanted just basic service, which costs $14.92 a month, they were guided to more expensive programs like the $32 package, which includes caller ID and call waiting -- services that consumers didn't want in the first place, the attorney general said.

With this settlement, the high pressure tactics will stop as will the practice of "cramming" which is to bill customers for services that weren't authorized.

Qwest admits no wrongdoing but promises to improve customer service.

The settlement comes after a year-long investigation in which the attorney general's office reviewed 1,000 consumer complaints, 25,000 pages of confidential company documents, and interviewed 24 Qwest employees and 100 former sales consultants.

Here are the key terms of the settlement:

Qwest will pay $1 million in damages and attorneys fees to the state, with some of the money also going for consumer education and law enforcement.
The telecommunications giant will pay restitution to Colorado customers who have filed written complaints over the last year, or who will file in the coming months, against Qwest about the sale of its telephone service. New consumers complaints will be taken by the Attorney General's Office and the Better Busines Bureau until mid-December.
Qwest also promises to improve customer service by making sure that a customer's question or complaint is answered within the first call so that the person isn't tranferred to other people several times during one call.

An independent third party will be hired to monitor Qwests' telephone sales and customer service calls to make sure that the company meets these terms.

They are monumental tasks for a company where the corporate culture was sales, sales, sales.

"They knew they had aggressive sales without the customer service back-up," said Jean Herman, president of the Better Business Bureau in Denver and Boulder.

But Salazar said that this massive consumer protection settlement signals a changing of the guard, and a changing of corporate attitudes at Qwest.

A year ago, there were more than 200 complaints a month from the customers in Qwest's 14-state region, and now it is down to 100 complaints a month, so Qwest is definitely trying to improve, the attorney general said.

Consumers wanting to file complaints about Qwest's telephone sales practices can call the Attorney General/Better Business Bureau Colorado Consumer Line at (800) 222-4444. Customers can also file a complaint onlin through the Better Business Bureau Web site.