Internet Has Been Out for Days, Yet Cox Tells Me I'm the Problem
I'd like to find out if anyone else has had an experience with Cox as terrible as my recent experience in Oklahoma City, OK: My home internet has been out for 3 or 4 days now. It started when our modem suddenly stopped getting any signal from Cox. The modem has power and has shown zero issues up to this point. I thought maybe it was that particular coaxial connection, so I tried hooking the modem up in other rooms around the house that that have a connection available. Same issue: modem powers on, but no connection to Cox. I then got on the Cox website to verify that my modems MAC and Serial Numbers were correct, as well as to try and reset my modem from my online account settings. Still no improvement. So, I decided tochat with a Cox support agent. The FIRST agent I talked to looked into all kinds of things and ended up telling me that I needed a new modem (which, of course they immediately started trying to sell me one of theirs). I said no thanks, went to the store, and bought a new modem. The new modem is the exact same brand and model (Netgear CM500) as the previous modem I'd been using for years with Cox, so I know for a fact it is compatible. I get home, I hookup the new modem, but still no connection to Cox. I try to activate the modem according to both the manufacturers instructions and the instructions on the Cox website, but I can't finish it myself because, of course, Cox can't establish a connection to the modem! So, I decide tochat with a Cox support agent AGAIN. The SECOND agent has me provide the MAC and Serial Number of the new modem so that they can activate it on my account for me. I provide them all of this information, and they tell me that they have activated the modem on their end, but that they still can't establish a connection to the new modem. Then, all of a sudden, the chat session ends before I can get anything else from them. Big help that was, Cox! Once again, I reach out to a Cox support agent. I tell the THIRD agent everything that's happened up to this point, about the sudden disconnection on my old modem, going out and buying a new modem, going through the headache of getting the new modem activated, and getting disconnected from the previous agent. This agent wants all the MAC and Serial Number information again so they can make sure the modem is activated. I provide all the information to them, they tell me the modem is activated "on their end", and that I need to reset the modem (unplug it, wait 10 seconds, plug back in). Then they tell me to "wait a while", I'm assuming so that Cox can try to connect to the modem. After about 10 or 15 minutes of waiting, and still no connection, this agent tells me that it's a problem with my modem. UM, EXCUSE ME? You mean, this brand new modem that the FIRST agent told me to go buy for absolutely no reason? Not likely. At this point I told the third agent that I'd like a technician to come out to my house and check the Cox lines outside because the only remaining possibility is that there's an issue with their equipment. The third agent then told me that they can't send a technician to my house because they're not allowed to touch equipment that's not provided by Cox (in reference to the modem). I tell them that's fine, because I'm not asking them to touch my modem, I want them to check up on their own equipment! The agent then goes back to insisting that the issue is with my brand new equipment. Well, of course it is, because Cox is just infallible, right?! At this point, I'm ready to drop Cox all together. I've never had such a poor customer service experience in my life. I worked in customer service for a number of years, and it never once occurred to me to tell a customer "it's not us, it's you" if I hadn't already exhausted every possibility on our end first. It's a shame too, because this is really the first issue I've ever had with Cox. At this point, the hot spot on my T-Mobile phone isproviding a more reliable connection for my home than Cox seems able to. In the meantime, I've talked with co-workers who live in nearby cities who've told me that their Cox service has been out for the exact same amount of time, with the exact same symptoms (modem suddenly receives no signal), who've been told the exact same thing by customer service agents (go buy a new modem), then been treated the exact same way after the recommendation doesn't work ("it's not us, it's you"). Is anyone else starting to see a pattern here?
You're Not Crazy It's Happening To Everyone
I can't read one more. I can't read one more post that says, "my modem drops dozens of times a day, and comes back up minutes later, sometimes it's unusable for HOURS, I've rebooted, and reset, and refreshed, and I've replaced ALL of my equipment, I've called Cox dozens of times, techs have visited my house over and over, and it's STILL HAPPENING, EVERY DAY." It's not a user-end issue, and I can't believe that with ALL OF THESE IDENTICAL REPORTS (and you can add mine - identical), that Cox is just plum mystified (and always, EXTREMELY RETICENT TO ISSUE ANY KIND OF CREDIT FOR THEIR BREACH OF CONTRACT). It's too much. That's enough. The Federal Communications Commission is there to protect consumers from this fraud and abuse, and by God, I'll be calling on them to do so. Investigative journalists live to expose greed and corruption, and the lack of antitrust measures governing utilities like Cox is fertilizer for the kind of stink Cox gives you for hundreds of dollars a month. So anyway, does anyone have any suggestions, he asked rhetorically. (incidentally, the sheer VOLUME of tags, crowd-sourced, shows where the stakeholders are:)
1TB CAP - Seriously?
I started my relationship with Cox in 2013. I had a complete bundle (TV+Phone+Internet) and paid a fair amount per month. They sold me on some guarantee lock, and other non-sense that were misrepresented. I was under the impression I was good for 2 years based on the guarantee lock. However, after 1 year, the cost of my bill went up by a hundred bucks. I called and managed to work a few things and eventually it only went up 30 bucks. A year later, it went up 70 dollars. I made a call talked to their LOYALTY department and managed to get discounts, so instead of 70 dollars, the bill went up by an additional 25 dollars. The following year, again the bill goes up and they tell me things have changed. I called loyalty department and managed to get some discounts even though bill still on the rise. Anyways, make a long story short, the loyalty department is there to make you feel better, as your bill rises by 100 dollars, the loyalty department applies some discounts for loyalty and drops it by 20 or 30 bucks. You feel like a winner and you commit to paying your bills even though it went up by 70 to 80 dollars. Point being its just a "MONOPOLY" system. Most people in my area have no other cable option other than COX. Therefore, COX can do all they want to jack up prices until they strike the nerves and eventually people like myself say "ENOUGH is Enough" after 5 years. I eventually cut off my cable and phone because it was too expensive and stuck with just the premier internet, which gave me 150 mbps, and unlimited usage. I learned yesterday, that as of September 2017, they changed the rules and capped it at 1 TB. I get a notification a few days ago and the notification stated that I am about to hit 1 TB and that i will have to pay additional sums for going over limit. I called the company and talked to a rep, they told me that I can pay an additional 49.99 for unlimited, or 25.99 for 500 GB more. I said why would i do that? this is ridiculous? they forward me to loyalty department, loyalty department was willing to add a 17 dollar discount, however, that doesn't change my situation. I still have to purchase additional Gigs... or I'll keep running into this issue. So I sat there thinking about every year, how COX continues to jack up contracts and change plans and steal money. I am sick and tired of this corporate thievery. I understand that you are not in the business of handing out free things, you are in the business of making money but a company that cannot adhere to a contract and continues to change policies is a company that you just cannot trust. Therefore, I have decided to completely end my relationship with this company period. In addition, I have also decided to inform every living soul that engages with the large youtube and social media following to discuss this on their next episodes. This is the beginning of something great. It's not for me it's for everyone that continues to have this issue. I know Cox is not the only cable company with such problematic business. Majority of them are in the same game. This is why they partitioned areas in order to monopolize by only providing one option, while the alternative options for internet are DSL. I am just not going to put up with this anymore. Nor is anyone else. Completely done with the nonsense. Can't wait to see these companies struggle, while the online world continues to take over the TV business.If you are tired of daily internet dropouts...
If you, like many others, are experiencing daily internet drop-outs, horrible customer service, technicians who don't understand the problem, who simply test, then leave, replace the line to the house NOT UNDERSTANDING when you tell them it's everyone in the neighborhood, apparently customer service is not responding. After the 10th time of going in circles with a "remote" subcontracted customer service system that continues to just promise "We'll work on it", I found there is another option. Cox communications is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to provide a specified level of data capability, pursuant to the cost, service, and expectations that many customer pay a premium amount of money for. Since the new protocol ALSO provides television broadcast service through said internet service (at an additional premium), they ALSO must meet federal service standards per their FCC licensing. The federal government ALSO subsidizes them millions to support EMS, Amber Alerts, and local television stations for reasons of public safety, and times of crisis such as COVID. Daily loss of internet, my employment productivity, and TV, without a REASONABLE attempt to correct the repeated, ongoing problem is a violation of their promise to you, the customer, and the federal government (FCC). IF you have tried over and over to get this issue corrected, only to be met with the same "run around" and lack of action, the FCC complaint portal is a very powerful tool. I just finished my detailed complaint, and you should too if you are experiencing the same problems of lack of service, lack of action, and lack of basically any motivation to correct a repeating problem. https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/115002206106-Internet-Form-Descriptions-of-Complaint-Issues Go to this URL and PLEASE take the time to explain your situation. With enough of these, Cox will be held accountable for their failure to provide a service that YOU are paying a small fortune for.
