Cox agent confirms that they do throttle speeds
Just got out of a chat with an agent about speed issues I've been having for the past month and he confirmed with me that due to exceeding the data usage cap that Cox is indeed shaping/throttling my connection. I tried to point out that under Cox's own Terms of Service it states that "Cox does not shape or throttle Internet traffic based on the particular online content, protocols or applications a customer uses" but he was adamant that I was being throttled due to excessive usage. I had a feeling that was the case since my speeds have taken quite a nose dive in the past month. I'm currently on the Internet Premier plan that reportedly has 100mbps/10mbps and I'm down to 16.2mbps/768kbps on my last speed test. The download doesn't bother me so much, but the upload is killing me. I've done some troubleshooting on my end just to make sure it wasn't Cox doing this to me. I've moved the modem to every possible spot in the home, tried the connection with and without the router (same results either way), did a factory reset on my modem (Motorola Surfboard 6121), and checked my signal ratings and they appear to be in a good range for both the downstream and upstream. I feel like I've covered all my bases, and the timing of my slow down with me going over my data usage really only points to shaping happening on Cox's end. I'd love to be proven wrong, but that's what it looks like to me. I'll probably be calling in the morning to cancel service. tl;dr: Asked agent if I was being throttled, said yes even though it's not Cox's policy to do so.64KViews0likes18Comments
$25 Returned Payment Fee
I pay my Cox bill with my credit card using auto-pay. I received an updated credit card, as often happens to everyone. It has the same card number, but a different expiration date, even though the old card wasn't set to expire for quite some time. On Dec 13, the following occurred (in this order): I activated my new card, which instantly deactivated the old one. I starting going to my various auto-pay sites to change my card info, but hadn't gotten to the Cox site yet. I received an email from Cox saying my auto-payment didn't go through. I went to the Cox site, updated my card info, made a payment, and reactivated auto-pay. I continued to update my card info at other sites. A few days ago, I got a letter from Cox saying my account had been slapped with a $25 returned payment fee. My payment was due Dec 13, and I made the successful payment Dec 13. The payment was not late. The fee was not for making a late payment. Cox just happened to hit that short window between when I activated the new card (deactivating the card on file) and updated my card info @ Cox. (I have since called Cox. The person I spoke with was about 98% sure Cox would reverse the charge because I have been a customer for a long time, and there were no other issues. We'll see.) I called my credit union, which issued my credit card. I was told they do not charge Cox (or anyone else) when Cox attempts to charge a credit card, but is unable to do so. They also do not charge Cox when a paper check bounces. The credit union person I talked with suggested that now that people are moving away from using paper checks and are using paperless methods instead, companies are losing the revenue they received from bounced checks. Therefore, they (I only know of Cox doing this) are now using the "returned payment fee" for credit cards/auto-pay. Even before she suggested this, I knew Cox was doing this simply to increase revenue and rip-off their customers. Imagine all the times people run a card through a card reader at a check-out at a store, and it gets rejected because the person ddint' realize the card had expired. What if there was a $25 fee every time that happened? Totally unreasonable. In Cox's terma/agreements/policies, this situation is considered "insufficient funds." Now, if you bounce a check, that is typically because of insufficient funds, but when a credit card doesn't work, that could be due to many things. In my case, there was still about $10,000 of credit left on that card, so insufficient funds does not apply. AND the credit card number had not changed, so the credit card number was still valid! AND I paid the darned bill ON TIME! There are many lessons here. One lesson is, know all of your auto-pay due dates (they seem to be all over the place). If you get a new credit card, choose a day that is not a due date or even near a due date to activate your card and update your card info on all of your auto-pay sites. Cox will lose customers over this. It won't matter to them, though, because these returned payment fees will make up for lost customers. If they don't reverse that charge for me, or they ever do this to me again, I will also leave the company.17KViews2likes2Comments
Warning about $5 Tier Upgrade Promo
I'm not the first to write about this... I read another post of a complaint from another customer who was swindled by a Cox upgrade offer. This is clearly written intentionally deceptive. I was offered (in big bold letters) " FREE" tier upgrade from essential to preferred service. It even explicitly stated $0.00 upfront and $0.00 /month ! This offer and order confirmation number appeared in my account but has since been removed. When I call in to confirm the status of the free upgrade, no one knows what I'm talking about, and instead want me to upgrade from paying $35/mo to $52/mo "...this is a great deal", I'm told. I never intended to upgrade in the first place, until this offer appeared on my screen. I thought, after reading the confusing fine print, that "the catch" (because there is always a catch) was that instead of "FREE" as it appeared to be, the increase would cost me $5/mo in additional fees.... $5 DOES NOT EQUAL FREE, By the way. But i figured, okay why not? $5 extra for increase from 5mbps to 25mbps was worth it. BUT NOOO, it aparently means something alltogether different. The cost of the upgrade is actually to pay an increased rate of $50/month (not actually a deal, this is what they already offer on their site to anyone) But instead of charging me $15 extra to open the bandwidth (which I'm sure is just a click of a button) they will only charge me $5 extra to increase my speed and my rate! There is a reason why we switched from COX to DirecTV/AT&T Uverse... unfortunately, I'll have to deal with these deceptive games as UVerse speeds in my area are capped at less than 3mbps (That's another whole story ... they were willing to charge me for 12mbps until i caught on that the distance from our house to their station was too far to reach those speeds) Cox is not "your friend in the digital age" they are the lesser of two evils. They can be allied with to get the internet you want because you have no other choice... but as long as you know what kind of scheming you're getting yourself into.15KViews0likes3Comments
Doubled Speed just does not cut it...
Hello Cox, I was in Europe when the double your speed program was announced and I was looking forward to the enhanced speed I will be getting upon my return. Its been a month now and I have been on the phone and chatted with the hepdesk dozen times about not getting the 50mbps I am currently paying for. Yes, I got 109mbps Friday morning at 6 am but most times during the day I barely touch 40 mbps. It is Sunday, 10 am in Phoenix, AZ and my speedtest returned an inferior result of 36 mbps download when actually I am paying for 50. Why are you guys advertising Doubled Speeds if your network can't handle what people are paying for? All the helpdesk does is reset my modem from a remote location which doesn't fix squat... The problem is the high volume of subscribers on an inferior network... DOCSIS 3 modem is just fine and doing it's best to serve me well. It was connected without a router when I performed the test so NO, the router did not play any fault at all. Appreciate your time, but maybe it's time COX step up and apologize to the masses. Sincerely, Matyoka Phoenix, Arizona7.1KViews0likes13Comments
just upgraded to Docsis 3.0 modem SB6121 and my internet speeds are exactly the same as with my 5yr old sb5100
just upgraded to Docsis 3.0 modem SB6121 and my internet speeds are exactly the same as with my 5yr old sb5100. I am paying for 50Mbs but actual speed varies between 19Mbs and 32Mbs. What do I need to do to get what I am paying for?6KViews0likes16Comments
Not getting enough internet speed
Good afternoon; Considering my mother isn't as good enough with computers and internet as I am, she allowed me to make her forum account for her. We just moved to our new home last Friday (Nov 20), but have had internet/tv/phone since last Wednesday (Nov 18). During the day, our internet speeds are around 1/5 of the speeds we're paying for (up to 100 Mbps). At night however, we get anywhere from 5Mbps to around 40Mbps. I understand the speed we pay for, Premier, is "up to 100Mbps," but if we're getting Preferred, "up to 50Mbps," speeds, we might need to get downgraded. We had figured with three people using the internet and all of us playing games that require internet access, Premier would be best for us. Sadly, if we're not getting more than Preferred speeds, we shouldn't have to pay for Premier. We don't have the money right now to buy our own modem and router, or else we would. What could we do, without spending any extra money (because we just moved), to get the speeds we're paying for. My speed tests: (only person using internet is me, plugged directly into the modem DPQ3925) http://testmy.net/quickstats/HoodedDemonSolved4.2KViews0likes13CommentsChange Billing Date
When i signed up 10/29/15 i was asked what day i would like my billing date to be on. I responded with the 15th, somehow i found my bill to be on the 23rd yet you were still able to bill me for 30 days worth of service and everything i see points to 24 days of service, if i'm doing the counting thing right. Every Cox Rep seems to say the same thing. it doesn't matter what day your billing due date is because we give you 10 day grace period. My problem is, is that i'll be charged a flat rate rather than a pro-rated rate for how many days i actually use. Noone can change the billing date for me because "The system will not let them" or "since you have promotions on your account i'm unable to process your request, i can cancel all your promotions in order to change your billing date" I've even gone to the extent of trying to cancel my acct and set up a new one and they would'nt let me.4.1KViews0likes1Commentconnection optimizer
why does the connection optimizer you have only work on windows xp and internet explorer? do you actually still have customers who use windows xp? (that operating system is over a decade old at this point) or are you just trying to not offer a real connection optimization service. considering you are a tech company it makes no sense why you would intentionally offer services that are out of date. please fix this.3.4KViews0likes4CommentsBilling Nightmare - Seems No One Can Help Me!!
Finally switched my phone and internet from ATT to a Cox Bundle after a bunch of mailed solicitations and a guy who showed up at my door (Tv was already with Cox...) based on a promise of a $120 bundle, free HBO, etc. Two months in and several calls later (with some promises to fix the billing that did not happen and a "Loyalty" department person - worst customer service rep ever- who got very aggressive and said I'm not eligible for the bundle I signed up for!!) and I'm being billed for $168 (before taxes) for a bundle that was supposed to be $120! (And keep getting billed for the "free" HBO) Ready to cancel the whole deal and go back to ATT for phone and internet and just do Hulu, Netflix, etc. - extremely frustrating!!! Not saying ATT is much better - seems like every huge company just does not care anymore and its all about churn and burn with customer services or honored promises out the window... Very sad.2.9KViews0likes1CommentSuper slow speeds on PREMIER service at 85016
Streaming Amazon tv shows is laggy! Usinghttp://www.speedtest.net/ PING: 12ms DOWNLOAD: 49.96Mbps vs. 300Mbps advertised for Premier Service UPLOAD: 22.92 Mbps Also, the SPEED TEST functionality on the docis router doesn't work - "Service is not available!" Model: Cisco DPC3000 Vendor: Cisco Hardware Revision: 2.0 Serial Number: 226558032 MAC Address:: 54:D4:6F:88:60:B2 Bootloader Revision: PSPU-Boot 1.0.0.4 Current Software Revision: dpc3000-v303r2393-130613a Firmware Name: dpc3000-v303r2393-130613a.bin Firmware Build Time: 20130613153915 Cable Modem Status: Operational Downstream Channels Power Level Signal to Noise Ratio Channel 0: -5.9 dBmV 36.8 dB Channel 1: -6.3 dBmV 36.4 dB Channel 2: -5.8 dBmV 36.8 dB Channel 3: -6.5 dBmV 36.4 dB Upstream Channels Power Level Channel 0: 50.0 dBmV Channel 1: 46.5 dBmV Channel 2: 48.0 dBmV Channel 3: 48.0 dBmV2.6KViews0likes5Comments