when we were first forced to use those fisher-price mini boxes just to get the tv we used to get by plugging in & turning on, i got the same charge. i was furious because i did all the work! including 2 25mi round trips to the facility the furthest from my house (the only cox store that had them!) because they gave me the wrong kind first. turns out, if your tv is more than 5 minutes old, you need one of the "special" brand that they kept in another room. so all the coax twisting & programming had to be done twice as well. i called and they removed the charge.