58 Comments

• Dennis says:

  January 31, 2010 at 9:05 am

  As far as I’m concerned, this is just another nail in the coffin for Cox. I’ve been with them for land line phone, cable and Internet for years, but I’ve just about had it with the increasing number of problems with their cable service (intermittent, unexplained outages ranging from a few minutes to all day and affecting multiple cable channels) and the HORRIBLE customer service I’ve put up with whenever I’ve had to contact their McAfee team (firewall, antivirus, etc.). The latter is especially bad – I’ve encountered rudeness beyond belief from these employees or, on another occasion more recently, been passed off from person to person and one call center to another, and finally just gave up after being on hold for 30+ minutes (I wasted over two hours on that episode). When I called their RSM customer service and left a vmail message about this problem (it happened on a Saturday; they were closed), no one bothered to even return my call. I solved the problem myself by canceling their “free” McAfee service and bought a subscription to a different firewall/antivirus software package. At least I’m not constantly getting messages any longer telling me that my software is expiring, which meant I had to uninstall and reinstall their “free” software that Cox provides to its customers as part of their Internet package. Cox apparently didn’t get the memo – AT&T is offering comparable services with attractive pricing that includes better DVR features than Cox offers. I understand price increases due to their costs going up, but those would be a lot easier to take if I knew I was getting value for my money.
• Interested Observer says:

  January 31, 2010 at 9:08 am

  This is no big shocker! Years ago, Cox was the only way to get TV in San Diego–They knew it and took advantage of it. Didn’t have the alternatives we have now. Even then, I lived with 2 1/2 channels instead of feed that monopoly! Cox now feels the economy is stable enough to push price increases.

  As technology changes, Cox will have to learn how to behave to retain subscribers or face extinction!

  So Cox–Treat your subscribers poorly, they will find other places to go. Enough of your customers leave–so will you.
• ed mosche says:

  January 31, 2010 at 9:10 am

  Cox has to raise rates because they’re losing their shorts to UVerse in South OC and Vios in other areas. Both services charge half of what cox does. I switched to UVerse six months ago and love it (and so does my budget!). BTW, the hype about cox customer service is hogwash. last time i called cox i was on hold for 20 mins.
• ed mosche says:

  January 31, 2010 at 9:11 am

  i have no sympathy for cox. they’ve been ripping people off for years. and i have no sympathy for the sheeple that stay with cox.
• daboss46 says:

  January 31, 2010 at 1:19 pm

  They must be taking lessons from Comcast…what a rip-off. I had Cox when I lived in Laguna Hills. Poor service and poorer customer relations. Just about done with all of them. Ready to go back to the antennae on the roof.
• C.Criner says:

  February 1, 2010 at 8:20 am

  I’m in Aliso Viejo, so we’re stuck with Cox. And our location (sitting between two two story homes) blocks most all TV signals for OTA.
  Our $160/month bill is just sad – we probably watch 20 of the channels, yet pay for all of them. I guess it’s time to drop HBO, not worth the $$ anymore.
  When I read of FIOS’ 35MB/s internet, I just sob quietly to myself…sigh
  • OC4truth says:

    February 2, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    I’m also in Aliso Viejo and sort of felt that way. Plus they offered what seemed an attractive basic package when I moved. But it didn’t last long. just long enough so that I missed out on the govt offers for digital converter boxes.

    I know the tenant who lived here before had Dish and a previous one had the other satellite provider but I’m not thrilled with that.

    I’m wondering if there is a way to tell whether I would be able to get a TV signal here with some reliability before going out and spending the $ on a converter box and special antenna?

    I like their phone service with the wider coverage area than AT&T. Not sure what alternatives there are for internet.

    That could make an interesting column to provide a table showing other providers for the different services cox offers with some comparisons on speed, quality and cost.
• Mike says:

  February 1, 2010 at 9:27 am

  There are plenty of other companies to choose from. Cox has never been a monopoly.

  Everyone who is posting about going to fiber optics-AT&T… Look it up. They are a cable company just like cox. Cox uses fiber optics too, its the infrastructure of any cable company.

  Of course you can get free channels from an antenna. The channels that cost money are the “Cable channels” -ie ESPN, Discovery, Disney…

  HSI prices will continue to go up with every company. The more bandwith people use to stream media the larger the servers will get and the more the monthly rate will become with every Internet provider. Compare the speed you get with AT&T with the price/Cox. Plus the fact that Cox is the local company for tech support.
  • Chris in Aliso says:

    February 2, 2010 at 7:35 am

    Mike
    Not sure where you live, but here in AV the only options are Cox or AT&T dsl (which doesn’t offer TV service in our area, only 3 MB/s internet). So yes, Cox IS a monopoly here.
    • Just Switched says:

      February 2, 2010 at 11:35 pm

      I live in ALISO VIEJO – by SOKA University…and the ATT UVERSE rep scored big in our neighborhood. I know of 8 neighbors who had Cox and just switched to UVERSE – I am one of those. The switch was PAINLESS. The ATT service rep showed up on time to convert all the hardware – he walked me through everything – setting up new emails / how to work the remotes/ he even set up all the remotes to work with my other components. He was gone in 2 1/2 hours. It was nice to be able to watch a recorded show in any room I wanted. OH YEA – my bill dropped by $20 with increased channel options along with quicker internet speeds. 24 hrs later I get a call from ATT to make sure the install went well. Did I mention that I will also be getting a $300 gift card to use anyway I want…
      By the way – when you return the cable box to Cox – just tell them you are moving so you don’ t end up on the CUSTOMER WIN BACK list and get swamped with sales calls.
      • Chris in Aliso says:

        February 4, 2010 at 12:23 pm

        re: Just Switched, UVerse

        Just now checked for availability in my area (we’re just about 1/2 mile from Soka, and no luck (we are AT&T customers for phone service.)
        • Just Switched says:

          February 4, 2010 at 6:08 pm

          RE: Chris

          we are over by Westridge / Wood Canyon – strange how they would have it set up in our neighborhood and not yours – relatively the same area.

          I would guess it’s coming…patience grasshopper.
• Mike says:

  February 1, 2010 at 1:09 pm

  There are plenty of other companies to choose from. Cox has never been a monopoly.

  Everyone who is posting about going to fiber optics-AT&T… Look it up. They are a cable company just like cox. Cox uses fiber optics too, its the infrastructure of any cable company.

  Of course you can get free channels from an antenna. The channels that cost money are the “Cable channels” -ie ESPN, Discovery, Disney…
• Chris says:

  February 1, 2010 at 3:47 pm

  My family dropped their services, since we were paying over $150 a month for internet and TV. A few months after, the internet started going to a crawl. I did some research on dslreports and an out of state cox representative said that the “node” was overloaded but not to the point that they would fix it. I was paying for 10mbit, getting 1mbit. I think that more and more people are switching to internet TV. We now have AT&T DSL and it works flawlessly. Not many people know this but you can actually get a lot of your basic TV (IN HI DEF) over the air waves. Even if you got static before when the signal was analog, now that they are digital it goes much further. Give it a try to your flat screen TV – it probably has a tuner built in.
  • OC4truth says:

    February 2, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    Curious about that–how you get TV over the internet.

    I have a basic TV that is a few years old and I’m pretty sure came out just before they had to be digital. No flat screen. Just a basic 20 in TV which is enough.

    I don’t know in Aliso Viejo what is available. Maybe we should contact our city council to ask about the options they allow us to have.

    I know satellite is available. Not sure about internet or other phone options.
• LGT says:

  February 2, 2010 at 9:42 am

  What sucks is that I have no other options than an antenna (no uVerse, no FIOS, no nothing in RSM).
• Theedon says:

  February 2, 2010 at 10:26 am

  I am dropping my COX cable service after the super bowl. I don’t that and extra dollar to give them so I am going to give them nothing.
• Peter says:

  February 2, 2010 at 12:23 pm

  The wave of future TV is online, folks. Time to leave those cable companies in the dust!
• wen says:

  February 2, 2010 at 12:30 pm

  Wow. I have a bundle service (basic phone+DSL Internet+TV basic) for about $50/month. I watch TV less than 10 times/year and seldomly use the phone line (since I have a cellphone). I try to cut cost more. Anyone has an idea? In regards to the customer services, Cox is much better than AT&T. I was with AT&T for years and suffered a lot. First, they hooked up my phone line with my neighbor’s who racked up $200 on my bill. Every time I picked up my phone, the line was busy as my neighbor was using it. He even told me to get off the phone. I got to make at leat 10 phone calls to AT&T to complain. Each time I called, AT&T suggested me to go test this and test that. Their reps. threatened me all the time that the problem was on my part (for example the phone jack or phone line is deteriorated,etc.). They even hinted that I lied to get a free $200 on my bill. After 3 wks of complaining and testing all of the theories that AT&T suggested, I finally was able to have one of their technicians come out. to check. The technician found out that whoever hooked up my phone line did it wrong by hooking up my line to my neighbor’s. They finally cleared all my charges. But, for 3 weeks I was not able to use my phone and even the DSL Internet. In contrary, I haven’t had any bad experience with COX’s customer services. Maybe, it depends on the area where we live. Cox were actually helpful with my questions. I’m not trying to defend them. This is just my honest observation. But, the bottom line is saving. I’ll jump away from COX if I can find a way to save. Thanks for any input.
  • OC4truth says:

    February 2, 2010 at 12:58 pm

    I also have the basic package from cox for about $50 a mo although it started out at $38. But the internet is cable not dsl, but is slower than the package we had at my Dad’s place.

    I had trouble when they came to set me up the day before I moved in. The tenant (who had satellite and was evicted for not paying rent) had cut off the cable in the upstairs bedroom so it was really short. Plus the plastic outlet cover was mostly broken off so the cable was just hanging out the wall.

    The first installer i think must have tried to jerk more line out of the wall and instead it recoiled into the wall. His solution? They could run the cable around the wall rather than pulling it so it was run inside the wall. Or they said I could hire a cable puller but they didn’t do that.

    so there I was for about a week. He did install a splitter downstairs by the TV so I could hook my laptop up there but that was really awkward with no table or anything plus my peripherals such as printer were all upstairs at my desk.

    Then we were playing telephone tag but finally another guy came out. In the mean time I had put a small flashlight through the opening into the wall and was looking to see if I could see the end of the cable.

    I didn’t but did see a hole bored in the board down at floor level inside the drywall which I figured must be to run the cable.

    I told that installer and with me helping hold the flashlight and all he finally was able to find the end of the cable and then he asked if he could make a hole in the wall since it was too short. I said ok as it was in a corner where it woudn’t be seen and I wanted it to work. I thought he meant he would cut a hole like 3×5 or something. No he just bored a hole just big enough to pull the cable out the hole below the outlet so he could splice it. Then he pulled it back through and brought it out the normal way. And he puttied the small hole and may have even cleaned up the dust. I can’t remember.

    But before that I went through some runaround to get them to fix it so I had service.

    And yeah, back when it was PacBell and I was on dialup I was getting super slow connections and they kept saying run this test or that that showed it was ok. Finally I did run something else that showed line noise and then I got an exceptional tech who had stepped down into that position who said that I was too far from their station so the signal was attenuated (weakened) so it slowed it down. He then hooked me up to a pair gain line which I guess was cable up to about a block away or something which increased my speed from about 26 to 49.

    My experience is that most tech support stinks with some notable exceptions.

    Of course another reason that I stuck with cox when I moved was that I didn’t want to have to change my email addresses and notify everybody–including ones that I don’t hear from all the time.

    Oh, but that brings up other bad memories of cox.

    My Dad had service in Mission Viejo that was in his name. I was the internet user. I transferred it to my new address in Aliso Viejo but they didn’t get everything quite transferred right to my name and account #. I was getting bills in my name but when I tried online it was still linked to my Dad’s closed accounts.

    They were supposed to have fixed it last Spring several months after I moved. But then some time last Fall when they were making changes they did change it without telling me.

    So then it was saying that my email wasn’t valid. That is pretty egregrious I would think to make a change in someones account such that it shows it as an invalid email address or not currently active one and it also changed my spam preferences which I didn’t realize for awhile. I had it set up so that it would still send me the ones that it labled as spam but they would go in my junk folder which I had learned to check because they wrongly labled a lot of valid mail as spam–and repeatedly so even after I told them it wasn’t.

    So I had to call them and we got the email fixed on the primary line, but didn’t get the other 2 email addresses fixed right then so don’t know how many people I lost.

    And I didn’t discover the spam change for awhile until it registered that I wasn’t getting any “spam” messages.

    To me, that is a very serious thing when they make changes so that people are told it is an invalid email address, or that affects important settings like that for spam without even telling me so that I would know to fix it immediately.

    When I complained, they just said sorry but there isn’t anything we can do.

    So not happy but not sure what alternatives I have that would be any better.

    I have a cell phone but not lots of minutes and don’t like to use it all the time for calls.
• OC4truth says:

  February 2, 2010 at 12:34 pm

  Kind of interesting that while they justify the rate increases because of the increased costs by saying their costs are going up and mentioning programmers like CNN and all. But yet the greatest % increases are for the low end that doesn’t even include those–only broadcast channels.

  Oh, I got a mailer from them on a large postcard about freezing the rates for 2 years if you sign a contract but the print in the foot notes was so small I couldn’t even read it.

  I have not been real happy with cox for awhile. Paying for basic TV that I hardly use. Tech support that only helps with the software that they want you to use when many of us prefer non-microsoft programs when we can get them.

  There tech support was also rather lame some time ago when I had failure on multiple things. I lost connection to both internet and phone–I wasn’t watching TV and it was downstairs away from my computer. It worked one time when the other went down–but maybe it had come back up when I checked.

  The connection cut out when I was in the middle of a phone call. It was off for awhile. Then was off and on for awhile. I was watching the modem online light to see when it was connected to know when I could make a phone call.

  But then their tech support was trying to trouble shoot internet and phone in isolation. they were asking questions about the individual service as though my settings might be wrong or something or the problem inside my house.

  I’m not a techie but when I lost both internet and phone I could tell that it was further outside than just on one system, but they didn’t seem to have tech support to address failure of the connection to the house.

  Oh, yeah, recently I got a reply back on other issues where the “tech” obviously didn’t read my email and was trying to talk about setting up my email programs when the problem was about getting email to work on my windows mobile device.

  Of course this isn’t unique to cox–using supposed techs who really are script readers apparently and can’t really understand the problems. I guess it would be ok to start with them to eliminate basic stuff if they could figure it out quicker that they needed to bump it up higher.
  • Mike says:

    February 4, 2010 at 9:06 am

    It seems like you want the company to be almost free, able to install service in any type of house no matter what the previous wiring situation was, and trouble shoot every type of software.

    Try being a little more open minded.
• Chris in Aliso says:

  February 4, 2010 at 12:29 pm

  We’ve been with Cox since 1997, and am pretty pleased with them overall as far as performance & fixing things fairly quickly. But their price tiers are just getting to be too much, and this latest increase is making me take a long hard look at where the value per dollar is. It isn’t where it used to be. We’ll be dropping channels & features come March, just cannot justify the prices any more.
• rightintwo says:

  February 5, 2010 at 7:21 am

  Cox Communications sucks! I used to have FIOS a week ago and then moved and now I realized why I hated Cox Digital Cable so much. It takes 4 seconds to tune channels. There is no way to quickly scroll through the menu and when you unplug the cable box there is a 5 minute wait to refresh all the channels every time.

  I’m also missing 3 channels I regularly watch on FIOS, not to mention all the extra college and professional sports channels like CBS College Sports that are missing in Cox’s lineup.

  The tiers are all messed up and make no sense. Verizon grouped everything logically with sports channels going from 70 to 90, the Cartoon Channels in the 250′s, etc. Cox is all over the place. “Variety Tier, Discovery Tier, etc.” Place is being run by monkeys.
• Chris K says:

  February 23, 2010 at 11:35 am

  So, a Canadian satellite company can supply ‘al-a-carte’ channels – why can’t cox? Scroll to the end of this pdf and see how we’re getting hosed by Cox, a FCC licensed corporation.

  http://www.shawdirect.ca/english/documents/programming_guide_02_01_2010_west.pdf

  pick-and-pay packages of three channels, and single channel costs. It’s obvious the technology is there, so why do we have to pay for 200 channels we DON’T WATCH?
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