Spinsterblog

Even though about five people read my blog, I wanted to post this here anyway (I have also submitted it directly to Cox). Perhaps somebody will do a web search on “should I use Cox Communications for my TV/internet/phone provider?” and they will get some helpful information and learn to go with someone else who might actually be responsive to their needs as a customer.

To Whom it May Concern:

I am writing, once again, to express my continued dissatisfaction with Cox’s customer service lately.

I have been a Cox customer for many years and have never had any problems. In early September, I contacted your company about upgrading my services to include internet, phone, and HD services. I have addressed these issues in detail previously, so you can look up those files if you would like more specifics, but the brief version is that it took me over a month to get anyone in your company to CALL ME BACK about the problems that were holding up my installation. That delay was not to fix the problem, it was just getting someone–anyone– to return a phone call. My favorite of all of these calls was the one where the “customer loyalty” person assured me REPEATEDLY that she would call me back after further investigation–even though no one else had–because it was her responsibility (Note: she did not call me back).

When my new HD service was installed, I found that I cannot receive all of the HD channels as a customer with a receiver because of bandwidth limitations on the CableCards. Oddly, none of my friends have this issue with their CableCards, and certainly I would have liked to have known that prior to installation.

About a week and a half after installation, I received a notice from Cox informing me that many of the channels I currently receive will no longer be available to me, starting in December. Yes, I can get a receiver from you, but then I will not be able to use my HD TiVo. No, I do not want your knockoff HD DVR. I am loyal to TiVo for a reason (not the least of which is the stellar customer service experiences I have had with them). You cannot tell me that you were not aware of this upcoming programming change when I ordered my services, so springing it on me afterward is quite the bait-and-switch.

Then about a week later, I received a notice from Cox letting me know that by choosing a package deal, I am committing to a year of service. That certainly would have been nice to know ahead of time. Oh, but Cox was certainly generous and let me know that I could cancel the package within three days of activation without penalty. Had I received this sooner than two weeks after activation, that might have been beneficial.

Additionally, I was overcharged for my installation services. I contacted billing and nearly a week later they finally replied and informed me that it would be changed on my account. As far as I can tell, it has not been, but I have altered my payment to reflect the difference anyway.

It is too late for me to return my HD TiVo, cancel my TiVo subscription, or cancel my Cox subscription without having to pay huge amounts of money because your people took so long getting back to me, getting my services installed, and informing me about changes to these services. At this point, I am stuck with Cox. And believe me, I am absolutely stuck and I hate every second of it, which is a shame since the actual cable/phone/internet work very nicely. If I had any other options whatsoever, I would be dropping your company immediately. Since I am unable to do that, however, you can rest assured that I will be telling everyone I know about your abhorrent customer service and my experiences, and that when October 13, 2009 rolls around, I will be using a new phone/internet/TV provider.

Sincerely,
Mel

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.