Cox Cable Reviews

Also our phone wires were cut in the front of our house from the utility box, and wires were hanging out onto the sidewalk, Cox claimed one of their service people cut the wrong lines. No trucks from SBC or Cox were forthcoming all weekend. We made numerous call to both to see whom would be coming to re-connect us. This went on until Monday when my husband went to a local phone booth and was on the phone for 2 hours with yet another 3-way call and the utility commission, who told them to clear this up.

We were told that at 5:00pm Monday service would be restored, didn't happen. I called a Kathy with Cox throughout the day and received her voice mail and complained that since they caused this where were they? An SBC employee showed up at my house on Tues at 2:00 pm and and made it so we could call out but not in. On Wednesday morning we were completely up and running.

Cox Cable's Kathy has repeatedly said how sorry they were and offered us 2 months of cable service free, that is a slap in the face to us. I said a year would make it right another rep. said no that was excessive. Can you imagine the nerve of them? We spent at least 4-5 hours on the phone, at the library and cell phone, no internet services, I am a Realtor with a home office. I want satisfaction.

It has now been two weeks. The cable is still lying in my backyard that has been marked by miss utility. I can't mow until they bury my cable. Because it will erase the paint lines. We have talked to four different sales reps. They have all given me NO answers. One told me they would give me a credit for the cable that wasn't installed that I was charged for. They said I had to make a complaint on the internet for the siding but there is no complaint section!!! But they want their first payment in one week!!!

In the meantime, I was told three separate times that evening that they would send out another technician. No one arrived. The following day, I was told that someone would connect the outside line and leave the cables in my door since I would not be home. They did, in fact connect outside, but failed to leave the cables (which I would have been unable to connect myself anyway) and therefore I still could not receive service.

I was finally transferred to a supervisor on the third day, after multiple requests, who was able to get a technician to come out and connect my cable. However, no one explained the difference between limited basic and expanded basic service and approximately five minutes after the technician left, I lost the upper fifty channels of my cable. Thinking this was a service problem, as I had been receiving all of the channels only moments before, I called Cox again to request the problem be corrected. I spoke directly with the supervisor, Michelle **, who assured me that she would "turn the box on" and that would fix the problem. She then said that I should call her when I returned home (she would be in the office until 9:00 p.m.) to let her know if I was receiving all of the channels.

When I returned home, I was still only getting the lower fifty. I called her direct number at 5:45 p.m. and did not hear back from anyone until I again called her direct number the following morning from my office. At that time, my complaint was transferred to a man named "James" who made the same assurance for the box to be turned on, but when I returned home that night, I still had no service to the upper fifty channels. I called James' direct line at 9:00 a.m. the following morning and still had not heard back from him by 2:00 p.m. I decided to call Cox's main line and see if someone else could assist me. I was, fortunately, connected to a woman named Samantha who explained that the source of the problem was not the box being "off" but that the service I had requested did not authorize the upper fifty channels. Had someone explained that "limited basic" meant only the local channels and not the cable channels (why would I pay for local channels when I can get them for free?).

I would have ordered the expanded service to begin with. In the meantime, I cannot understand why even the supervisor failed to note this oversight and felt it necessary to give me the run-around. It has taken me six days of calling every day, several times a day, to 1)get my cable installed to begin with, and 2)get the full service and an explanation as to why I lost it in the first place. My experience with Cox has been so negative that I am seriously considering switching to satellite. Why are the cable markets not open to competition like they should be?

After complaining to them and with a supervisor's approval, I was able to cancel our subscription. Which is a subscription that is supposed to be non-refundable. However the next week when we looked at the scheduled games, the Yankees were playing and they showed. We resubscribed. However our troubles continued, they did not show a KEY game the Yankees vs. Red Sox, which is a major baseball rivalry and one of the reasons we paid for the subscription. Things only grew worse when they ADVERTISED the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. the Boston Red Sox. Being extremely excited and planning my day around the game, when it came game time, the screen was black.

When I called and spoke to someone (after 20 minutes waiting to get through), I was told, "You were never told this? Since you live in Nevada any home teams or teams from California or Texas is blocked out. It is a stipulation from MLB, they think you live close enough to go to the game, and when any of those teams are playing away you will still not be able to view those games." Meaning any California team or Texas team will be blacked out. However we have seen Anaheim angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, LA Dodgers, and San Francisco games before which fall into the California and Texas "blackout". We were told there was nothing we could do about that.

However when I told them, "You advertise that you can watch your home team even if you are away from home, This is what you advertised!" They said there is nothing we can do about that, it's MLB. HOWEVER when flipping through the channels, we noticed that they showed the last inning of the game! It said on the schedule and it advertised for the game and it's not showing, I was just told yes, those games will be advertised but will be blacked out on your screen. I did not ask for a free handout, I asked since you are not keeping your end of the bargain (Showing 35 KEY games each week, and your home teams even when you are away from home), If I could receive a discount since we were only able to view LESS THAN HALF of the games advertised! They refused.

As I explained to her, the fact that this outstanding balance is still showing is NOT my fault, but the fault in your billing services. As I am on a fixed income (I live on a Widow's pension) and I have MS and epilepsy which keeps me home-bound much of the time unless I am at college), I have to pay all of my bills at the beginning of each month and then budget out the remainder for my general living expenses of the remainder of the month. Believe me, I am left with very little to live off of.

In addition to this "current" dilemma I have with Cox, I am still having a serious problem with the phone service which I used to have but which I demanded, in email, be disconnected back in March when I suddenly received a bill that had serious long distance charges on it from a telephone, which I specifically requested, NOT have any type of long distanced permitted on it. That particular telephone line was ** and was located in my brother's private bedroom. Due to the fact that he has serious emotional and mental disabilities we have had major problems in the past with his having access to long distance service of any kind. You can imagine my surprise to find bills in excess of 153 dollars in long distances charges on my bill. He was accepting long distance calls COLLECT!!! When I contacted your customer service I was informed that it was up to me to request the inability to accept long distance charges. Exactly what do you people think denotes "absolutely no access to long distance calls" means?

As a consumer, I am NOT aware of the specific requirements YOU may have in reference to long distance service... I said NONE! NONE is what I meant. I ended up paying that phone bill which was in excess of 300.00 and then learned that there is still another pending with additional long distance charges on it. At the beginning of April I demanded to know the full amount due to clear my account and felt I had done so. I cannot afford any more monies going out to a phone service which deliberately deceives its customers and then refuses to shut off their service at the time requested. I was totally out of the home as ** as of April 1 and living here. I am NOT responsible for any phone service usage which continued after that date and NOR am I responsible for a single long distance bill which occurred from the ** extension.

If some adjustment is not made and I am shut off due to the failure of Cox to bill in a timely and appropriate manner, I will suffer the loss of my ability to gain additional income as well as to attend my college classes, which will be on line thru the summer. Believe me, litigation will follow as will reports to Channel 3 News and any newspaper/magazine that cares to listen. I have had it with this type of abuse and ineffective service. Please fix it.

I will have absolutely NO problem paying the total 146.49 in by the third of June. There is NO way I can afford to pay the additional 22.55, which you claim, now, is past due by the 25th of this month. Nor will I be held responsible for phone service which I specifically requested NOT be permitted and which I also requested be terminated.

On Nov. 30th, 2001, the Cox Communications employee that was responsible for picking up the equipment did not show up on the time scheduled. My wife and myself made several phone calls during that day to the customer support number mentioning that it was very important that the equipment was picked up because we were leaving early next morning. For our surprise, the Cox employee never appeared. Since it was so late and the rental office of the apartment complex we lived in was closed, we left the equipment inside the apartment and left notes on the door, and at the rental office that the equipment was in the apartment and asking that when someone from Cox Communications appeared, thinking it would be the next day, the apartment should be opened to retrieve the equipment.

Around 60 to 90 days later, we received in California a bill of a little more than $439 dollars for equipment charges. Not only were we perplex of why we had received such bill, we were amazed that it only came after almost 90 days. Immediately, I called the accounts receivable department to get more information about the bill. After numerous conversations with the accounts receivable department during the following week of my call, it was brought to my attention that the problem was solved. What I was told is that there had been a problem in the system were the equipment didn't get credited to my account correctly but now was fixed. I was relieved that everything had worked out fine.

About a month later, I received a phone call from Credit Control, saying that I had an undue balance of $439 dollars with Cox Communications. I could hardly believe what I was hearing after around 30 days of what I thought was a solved problem. I immediately called Cox again talking to the same person asking what was going on, and I received no explanation at all either than I don't understand why this has happened and that the previous information that was given to me 30 days earlier was wrong. So I tried calling the apartment complex rental office to get a copy of the receipt that had the return of the equipment. Incredible when I found out that nobody from Cox Communications ever showed up to get the equipment and by then they had no idea where the equipment was.

Since my name was on the contract, even though I was not totally responsible for the problem, I decided to pay the undue balance, in an attempt to protect my credit that I was trying to rebuild after so many years out of the country. I requested to the person I was talking to how could I make the payments. We agreed that the total amount would be paid in four payments of $109 dollars using a credit card one at that time and one on every 18th of the next three months. Today after everything that happened, being on time with my bills with Cox communications as I always have been (never delaying one day) and having two of the four payments of the $439 dollars made, I received a credit report, a service that I have from my credit card company, showing that, and this is the reason for my e-mail, that I have 2 Collection items on file, that will be listed for SEVEN YEARS on my credit report from Cox Communications and Credit Control Corp because of this incident.

I am deeply hearten by this, if this situation will create in the future great difficulties for myself and my family. I never, in every phone call I made to Cox, mention that I would not pay. I always tried to be helpful even though I was not always receiving help from Cox neither from Credit Control. Even after I made two payments confirming MY WORDS that my intention was to pay in order to protect my credit, Cox Communications and Credit Control marked my credit. I could not believe that a respected company as Cox Communications let this pass unnoticed and unaddressed.

That evening when the technician was leaving he said he would return the next night to complete the job and clean up his mess. He left an exposed face plate, wires running across my living room and the aforementioned same service I had when he arrived. The next evening he did not show up to finish the job. I called Cox. The phone operator, I did not get his name, said he could have a tech at my apartment the next day AT ANY TIME I WANTED. I asked for a technician to come at 11AM the next day and I asked the phone operator, "If I have to leave at 12 to return to my office and he is not done can I tell him to leave? I only have an hour for lunch." The phone operator said "Of course". Needless to say I waited at my home for a technician and nobody showed up.

I then received a call at work from a woman around 2pm telling me a technician was on their way to my house, would I be there. I replied with an emphatic NO and explained the problem to her. She spoke with the head of dispatch and he (Pedro) assured me a Supervisor would be at my home the next Monday to remedy this problem. Last evening was Monday and around 7PM when nobody showed I called Cox again. Then I was told that an operator showed up at my apartment at 6:10 PM but nobody was home. I was at home from work at 5:45 anxiously awaiting the resolution to this problem.

The phone operator (Dexter) said he would get in touch with the technician and call me back. He never did. At 730PM when I called Cox AGAIN I spoke with Susan, who informed me that she was a Supervisor and had been with Cox for over 7 years. She then listened to me recant my Cox horror story until she interrupted me to tell me that they only schedule appointments in a 4 hour window of time and that she couldn't control anything that happened before but she could reschedule my appointment.

When I asked to be phoned at my office the next day by her supervisor before I rescheduled my appointment because I wanted some assurances that this would not happen again, she repeatedly explained that she felt as if we were talking in circles and she couldn't fix my cable over the phone, blah, blah, blah! No semblance of customer support, no accountability for her company’s actions NOTHING!!! Because without ANY cable I have no television reception, I relinquished any free will and called to schedule my FIFTH appointment to expand my cable service, thereby forking over additional monies to Cox Communications every month even though they don't give a damn about me or the quality of service they provide. I have lost a total of 7 hours of work. I earn $36,000 a year. I currently have a hole in my wall where the face plate used to be, a bunch of cable running around my living room and a seething hate for Cox.

Then I asked how much it was to. For two months of service I was thinking $100. Then she said something like $400. She told me I had a cable box and a remote that I was renting out. I explained I live in a condo and cable is paid for and I never agreed, had or signed for this other stuff. I had just ordered the internet service. She said it would go to a special group at Cox and they would give me a call in the next week.

I never get a call so I call back in and speak to Venessa. I had to explain the whole thing again and she said she would have a supervisor call me later in the day. I don't hear anything and get home from work to find a notice saying I owed a lot of money and to pay it. Well at least they had the address right now. I call back in and get Rob who I have to tell everything too again and I wanted to speak to a manager immediately. He tells me he is sending me to their leads VM and sends me to Vanessa's voicemail.

I call back in and get Vanessa and tell her I want to disconnect my service. She asks why. I'm boiling at this point and she finally talks me into giving her manager a chance to talk to me and to hold on the line. Or i could let the manager call me. I choose to stay on the line. She hangs up on me. Then Rob calls me and asks why I want my service disconnected. I'm to the last straw here so I wanted to find a group to vent to in hopes it can help this work.

I called to state I had paid and had presumably mailed it in time to get there. They said it not only had to reach Cox by the due date but it had to be processed and posted, so the next time I should mail the bill earlier. I was attached a late fee of 10% of the bill because they posted the bill two days after the due date during the Christmas season and with the postal service slow.

I tried to reach billing information on the internet but it wouldn't go through (apparently a number of other people were also exploring this avenue of checking their bills on-line). I tried to enter a password to gain access to my billing information which also wouldn't go through. In order to fill out the internet form to gain access to my billing information, part of the form that had to be filled out included my E-mail address, so they could sent Cox offers and propaganda to me. This has nothing to do with obtaining access to my billing information. This also would apparently not go through. I backed out of this application and went back to work on my computer. In about 20 minutes I received E-mail confirmation that my password had gone through and I could now obtain access to my billing information.

In the meantime, I had called the company and been informed that I could have one "late fee" waived per year and that, according to my past payment records, there had never been a problem with me paying. I was also informed that the payment not only had to be received by the due date, it had to be posted. I work from home transcribing reports for a hospital and was not able to work for the rest of the night. I was thus not paid and the hospital's work was done done. I am fed up with these phone and cable monopolies and the tricks and stunts they are playing.

Coincidentally, the NBA season, including the playoffs, ended about a week before this charge was applied to my account. As far as the extended basic charge, which consisted of $24.06 of the $510, I never asked for or received this service. Three phone calls to Cox Communications' customer service have not resolved this fraudulent charge. Every phone call returns the same response of "We're checking on it." Cox has recently started sending threatening letters. I have not paid the additional monies and have no intention to do so.

My appt for the technician to come out was for between 0800-1200 hours. I was home all morning. The phone rang 3 times about 1000 and when I answered there was no one on the line. At 1205 I called 703-378-8422 and was advised that the technician reported that no one answered the door or the phone. I fought that through and he returned before 2 that afternoon and they did credit my bill. I have made numerous phone calls to Cox and sent e-mail to them and no answers or repairs to the issue have been done.

Starting 8/21/01, Channel 61 has a picture but no sound. I called the help number and was given an appt for Monday 8/27/01. I have tried to talk with a supervisor several times only to be coerced to stay with the clerk I am on the phone with currently.

I expect full service to be provided from my Cable Company or at least a decent response as to what the problem is and when it will be fixed. I feel I have been receiving the royal runaround for over 6 weeks. Wish there were some cable competition in Fairfax. Can Consumer Affairs give me some guidance who I can contact or where to go from here? This is all very frustrating. They upgraded and went digital and I've had unsatisfactory service since that time. The only name I have is Jay -- who has responded twice to my e-mail.

Upon investigating the matter, I learned that there had previously been a problem with Cox payments being lost at this particular Dillons store location. I learned this from a Dillons employee. And Cox says it is too bad I will just have to "make up the difference." We went in person to Cox and Carla said she'd turn our cable back on if we paid $82.00 right there on the spot. However, she stated the $77.44 would remain on our bill as unpaid.

She refused to give us information about what happened to the other people who had their payments stolen. Meanwhile we are cable less. I did tell her I thought I should file a police report.

We are going to have to pay the bill twice apparently. I suffer from fibromyalgia and stress is bad for me and this has caused a great deal of undue stress for me. Plus, we had to drive all the way out to the other side of town and be embarrassed and humiliated by Carla as she refused to accept any of our statements or receipts.

It took me two or three months to get the matter resolved because they thought he gave me another box. Now I turned in the cable box last month which I already had $150.00 deposit on it already and the bill came in last month before I turned in the cable box in the amount of $128.96 which was two month billing that we only owed on and when I turned over the cable box to the tech the $150.00 dollar deposit should've taken care of the $128.96 bill which they're saying that I still owe that amount.

Approximately one week later, I received a phone call from Cox, advising me my bill was past due. I explained to the rep what I had done. She said she would not my account and everything would be fine. A week or so later, I came home and my cable service had been disconnected. When I called Cox's "customer service" number, the rep told me I had been disconnected for failure to pay my bill. I explained the saga to her. She told me that I couldn't possibly be telling the truth because they have not had problems with missing payments in the night depository before.

When I realized I was getting nowhere with the rep, I asked for a supervisor and was connected with Linda. After speaking with Linda, I realized where the rep learned her condescending attitude... from her supervisor, Linda. Linda was absolutely no help and used the age-old customer care line, "There's nothing I can do for you, sir." The call ended with no resolution. I waited a few minutes, cooled down, and called Cox back. I advised the rep what was going on and asked if I could give her my credit card to have my service restored and I would iron out the other issues later. She agreed. Before I gave my credit card to her, I asked if my service could be restored the next day. She said, "No problem." I gave her my credit card and she said, "The past due amount and reconnection fee has been charged to your credit card. Oh, one more thing, it will actually be next week before we can get your service back on."

I went through the roof, explaining that she had just promised next day reconnection. Again, I received the Cox Communication mission statement, "There's nothing more I can do, sir. " I asked for a supervisor and was again transferred to the Mother Theresa of customer service, Linda. Linda must have just returned from a smoke break because this time, she overrode the orders and had my cable turned back on the following day. I worked with Cox's billing department for over a month and was accused of being dishonest and naive (for placing cash in the depository) to no avail. It was becoming apparent to me that Cox had no intention of reimbursing me for the double payment and reconnection fee I was forced to pay. Finally, I wrote a letter to the General Manager of the local office, threatening a lawsuit. I soon received a phone call from a young lady who agreed, with a fair amount of animosity, to the refund.

Since the Cox office was about 25 minutes from my home, I went to a nearby convenience store and used my ATM card to withdraw the cash to pay the bill. I did not buy a money order because I assumed (mistake #1) that the night depository was secure. I returned to their office, placed the cash, along with my statement, into an envelope, sealed it and returned home.

Approximately one week later, I received a phone call from Cox, advising me my bill was past due. I explained to the rep what I had done. She said she would note my account and everything would be fine. A week or so later, I came home and my cable service had been disconnected. When I called Cox's "customer service" number, the rep told me I had been disconnected for failure to pay my bill.

I explained the saga to her. She told me that I couldn't possibly be telling the truth because they have not had problems with missing payments in the night depository before. When I realized I was getting nowhere with the rep, I asked for a supervisor and was connected with Linda. After speaking with Linda, I realized where the rep learned her condescending attitude...from her supervisor, Linda. Linda was absolutely no help and used the age-old customer care line, "There's nothing I can do for you, sir."

The call ended with no resolution. I waited a few minutes, cooled down, and called Cox back. I advised the rep what was going on and asked if I could give her my credit card to have my service restored and I would iron out the other issues later. She agreed. Before I gave my credit card to her, I asked if my service could be restored the next day. She said, "No problem." I gave her my credit card and she said, "The past due amount and reconnection fee has been charged to your credit card. Oh, one more thing, it will actually be next week before we can get your service back on."

I went through the roof, explaining that she had just promised next day reconnection. Again, I received the Cox Communication mission statement, "There's nothing more I can do, sir." I asked for a supervisor and was again transferred to the Mother Theresa of customer service, Linda. Linda must have just returned from a smoke break because this time, she overrode the orders and had my cable turned back on the following day.

Dec 25 we (the entire house) decided to go with cable once again as it was more convenient and we had to sign no long-term contracts. So we initiated the "turn back on process" with the cable company. In the interim the cable had been accruing charges against it. I settled my past due bill amount of $150.00 (Cox received the payment Jan 5th). We proceeded to discuss the $150 - $200 credit for services never received, or I guess you could say we didn't know we were receiving the cable ... and the cable was turned on with the promise that the charges accumulated during Oct 15th (est.) until Jan 8. (again the period which the cable company and myself agreed I was not liable for) would be credited.

The collection agency, Commonwealth Information Systems, Inc. and Cox Cable removed the negative information from my credit report and ARE supposed to refund me the $114.78. This was supposed to occur on 11/15/00. However, I still have not received the refund check. I have sent a letter to Cox and left several messages for Ms. Fenton to call me in regards to this issue and I have not had a response. Therefore, I am reporting the company to the BBB and plan on taking legal action if they do not respond. I will be suing the company for negligence as they should have checked the SSN before they provided service. I have also reported this company to the Better Business Bureau.

The time I have spent trying prove to the collection agency and Cox that this was fraudulent account. After not receiving my refund Cox and being totally ignored, is very stressful. I paid money in error for someone else's wrong-doing. I also had to file a financial crimes police report, as well as file a fraud alert status with all three credit reporting agencies. This never would have happened if Cox would have checked the information that was provided on their application. They would have seen that the SSN name and address did not match the name and address on the application. I have plenty of paperwork to prove they were negligent and am ready to sue if necessary.

After one failed attempt at a technician working from the other unit and mine upstairs due to scheduling conflicts, yet ANOTHER technician was sent out. Numerous calls to the 602-277-1000 number were made to discover "next steps". A supervisor did return ONE of my calls and scheduled this technician to my residence. He discovered that the line that the contractor cut had DROPPED DOWN INSIDE THE WALL and was unretrievable. Necessary action would now be to CUT A HOLE IN MY LIVING ROOM WALL. This would require my apartment management and Cox to work together to get this done, if possible.

My management company at Club Oasis Apartments made calls to Cox, but yet NO RESOLUTION OR AGREEMENT was reached. "Art" came by my unit UNANNOUNCED on a weekend morning. By now disgusted with the entire ordeal, I described the situation to Art and he took a look at my wall jack and the unit upstairs. He then informed me that he had "a tool" that he could use to grab the fallen cable and hook everything back up without cutting a hole in my wall, and would do so later in that week. He then said that he would call when the job was complete and the cable repaired. I have not heard from him since.

I tested the cable on January 18, 2000 and I am still without service. It is going on almost 7 weeks since the onset of my disconnected cable. I have made several calls to the customer service line and they have left messages with supervisors and/or managers to call me. I have only heard from one and she left me a message saying she would call back again. NOTHING.

• The week of January 10 I made a call to the Escalation Department at Cox and was told that a supervisor would be in touch with me within 48 hours. NOTHING.
• On January 17, I made yet another call. The operator I spoke to said she would put in a "ticket request" and asked me what a good time was for me to be called back. I gave her the time and telephone number and still TO THIS DATE I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM ANY COX REPRESENTATIVE.
• On January 20, 2000, I again called the Executive Offices 602-866-0072 escalation line and was on hold from 11:46am until I finally hung up at 12:37pm.

My last resort was to drive to the Executive Office and explain a portion of my dilemma to Ms. Michelle G., who said she would see what she could do about the situation and then she would "get back to me." Additionally, I have brought up the issue of credit to my account for this debacle. I have been told that considering I have cable in my bedroom, a credit is not in order -- that there is one flat monthly service rate no matter the amount of televisions within your household.

The television in the living room has a converter box (which is an additional fee to my service), a remote control for the converter (additional fee), and that the television in the living room is the ONLY one to receive pay-per-view movies (due to the converter). Thus, I have been unable to appropriately utilize what I pay for in this monthly service rate!