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Best home phone service? Winner isn’t a phone company

September 17th, 2009, 9:31 am by

Cox CableIn this wacky world of telecom service, the highest ranked telephone service in the West isn’t a telephone company, according to the 2009 J.D. Power report on  Residential Telephone Customer Satisfaction.

Cable TV provider Cox Communications took the lead in the West and East regions of the United States for having the most satisfied telephone customers. (The North and South regions also had TV companies offering phone service ranked at top.) It was the third year that traditional cable  TV companies were at the top. (Click image below to enlarge)

J.D. Power ranks Cox as top phone service in West.

This may sound like a coup, but don’t forget, last year’s TV service winners were the traditional phone companies, AT&T and Verizon. (Read earlier story: “What TV service has most satisfied customers? (Hint: Not cable)“)

Consumers are looking for alternatives to their long time TV or telephone provider. And in Orange County in the last few years, we’ve been getting that as Time Warner and Cox add phone service, and AT&T and Verizon add TV service. What the JD Power reports really show is that competition is improving service. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: service • • • • • • • • | 12 Comments »

Cox says no to new NFL channel, but offers alternatives

September 12th, 2009, 8:45 am by

Cox has no plans to carry NFL RedZone.Football season officially starts Sunday and the NFL has created a new channel allowing TV providers to offer more games and coverage to viewers.

But neither cable company in Orange County has signed on to offer the NFL RedZone. Other TV providers — including AT&T U-verse, Verizon FIOS and Dish Network — are offering the channel.

For Cox Communications, the cable company has “no plans to carry the NFL RedZone channel,” said Lana Ong, a spokeswoman for the Rancho Santa Margarita company.

“However,” she added, “Cox knows how important football coverage is for our customers so this year, Cox will offer up to 375 football games including over 170 NFL games and more than 350 football games in HD at no additional cost for Cox customers.”

Cox offers digital cable customers access to the NFL Network, NFL Network HD and NFL On Demand including NFL Replay which offers extended highlights from every single NFL game played that week.

No response yet from Time Warner Cable, which isn’t offering RedZone or the NFL Network. But according to several reports, it looks like football fans won’t get the same coverage on Time Warner.

Earlier coverage on sports TV:
OCRegister.com football page


Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • | 33 Comments »

Help Cox Cable give $17,500 to the most deserving local charities

August 18th, 2009, 11:20 am by

Cox Cares, the community-grant-giving arm of Cox Communications, is offering $10k to local charties.As mentioned earlier, Cox Communications, Orange County’s main TV provider in the south, has $17,500 to give away to charity. Now, it’s time for the public to chime in on which organization is most worthy.

The Cox Cares program narrowed down a record 114 applications to 10 finalists. Last year, the program received 42 applications so obviously, non-profits are seeking out new funding. Cox has grants of $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000 available.

The 2009 finalists include: the American Diabetes Association, Art & Creativity for Healing, the Assistance League of Capistrano Valley, the Blind Children’s Learning Center, Family Assistance Ministries, Fristers, Human Options, the Illumination Foundation, My HERO Project and Shanti Orange County.

While Cox does rely on a group of associates and local leaders to judge a charity’s impact on youth, seniors and education, this year it wants input from the community (that’s you, dear reader).

Vote at www.cox-cares.org/grants/finalists before Sept. 4. A detailed summary of each finalist’s purpose is posted on Cox’s site. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in mid-September.

Much of the money, says Cox, was donated by its 1,000 employees in Rancho Santa Margarita. The local office has donated $600,000 over the years to 95 local nonprofit organizations.

Recent Cox Cable news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 3 Comments »

Consumers unsatisfied with TV service, says report (duh)

May 19th, 2009, 10:32 am by

Rate your TV companyUPDATE, 12:36 p.m.: Added a poll

More so now than last year, Americans are more satisfied with airline service, fast food, restaurants, and, well almost everything, according to the latest results of The American Customer Satisfaction Index. 

The one exception? Their TV provider. Not a big surprise here. 

While the overall index from the University of Michigan report was up 0.4 percent to 76 points on a 100-point scale, customer satisfaction with cable and satellite TV fell 2 percent to 63 points. (And one local exception here: Cox Communications, which improved its score to 66. More below on Cox.)

Individual results shouldn’t shock readers, who know which TV company they like to complain about most. And looking at the historical chart below, TV companies have never fared that well. If we were to grade this on an A-F ranking, that means the services scored a D- with most of the cable companies landing a big F, with the exception of Cox. (Maybe next year, the organization will include newcomers AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS TV.)

UPDATE, 12:36 p.m.: Editors wanted me to add a poll so here it is:
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Who/what's to blame for poor TV customer satisfaction?
  • Add an Answer
View Results

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However, the standout has to be DirecTV, which scored 71 out of 100. That’s been a pretty consistent number over the years, and is several points above all the cable TV companies. Check out the chart from ACSI (also posted HERE on the organization’s site). Numbers are out of a possible 100 points: 

 

  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Charter Communications 63 53 55 56 56 55 55 54 51
Comcast 64 56 55 56 58 60 56 54 59
Time Warner Cable 63 61 61 60 61 61 58 59 59
Cable & Satellite TV 64 61 61 61 61 63 62 64 63
DISH Network 71 68 71 71 68 68 67 65 64
Cox Communications NM NM NM 63 63 63 63 63 66
All Others 62 63 60 60 59 63 66 69 70
DIRECTV 70 70 72 71 67 71 67 68 71

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • | 43 Comments »

Cox Cable plans price hikes in 2009

January 2nd, 2009, 12:39 pm by

Unlike Time Warner Cable and AT&T U-verse, Cox Communications in Orange County hasn’t notified customers that its cable TV prices will go up this year. That’s because the actual increase has not been determined.

Prices are expected to go up in 2009, Lana Ong, the media representative with Cox’s Orange County division, said Friday.

Cox already raised its video prices last March, and upped its Internet service by $2 in October.

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Shoulld paid-TV prices increase in 2009?
  • Add an Answer
View Results

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With the economy still in sad shape, TV companies are moving ahead with plans to squeeze more money from their customers. Time Warner Cable and AT&T U-verse both plan 2009 rate increases (Read “Time Warner Cable raising prices in 2009 ” and “AT&T U-verse raising TV prices.”)

A very public battle showcasing the TV industry’s quest for more money occurred on New Year’s Eve, when Viacom Inc. — the owner of popular channels Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV — threatened to halt programs to Time Warner Cable customers at midnight. Viacom asked for more money per channel, which Time Warner  called outrageous. The midnight blackout was averted after the two sides came to a private agreement.

The latest round of price increases are around 5 to 50 percent, depending on the package and plan. Time Warner’s largest increases affected the lower-priced packages while AT&T’s U-Verse rate hike impacts new users the most.

Back in March, Cox’s digital TV tiers went up by $1. In exchange for the price increase, Ong said that customers got 18 more HD channels (for a total of 51 by year’s end), 13 more international channels, and more OnDemand shows. The price of its analog TV service, which includes basic and expanded service, did not increase.

“At this time, we intend to do a price increase in 2009 but we don’t have a confirmed date yet,” Ong said.

Earlier:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

Cox to host public digital TV transition forum in Irvine

December 1st, 2008, 4:23 pm by

With 78 days left before TV’s broadcast switch to all digital, it’s about time someone in Orange County hosts a forum to answer all remaining questions out there.

Cox Communications is behind the Digital Transition Town Hall meeting on Dec. 11 in Irvine. The free event will include speakers from the Federal Communications Commission, TV station KDOC and Cox and a question-and-answer session. The event is open to the public — you don’t have to be a Cox customer.

To get questions answered ahead of time, check out my past stories on the topic:

  • Guide to the 2009 Digital TV transition
  • Consumer DTV information www.dtvanswers.com
  • Coupon program www.DTV2009.gov
  • Coupon expired? Apex Digital offers $10 for expired coupons
  • Digital TV coupons now available to more users
  • 23 reviews of digital converter boxes
  • Reminder: Digital converters bought with coupons aren’t taxable

    • ::details::

    What: Cox’s Digital Transition Town Hall

    When: Thursday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m.

    Where: The Lakeview Senior Center Dining Room at 20 Lake Road, Irvine. Here’s a MAP.

    When: Thursday, December 11, 2008, 6:30 p.m.

    Cost: FREE (cookies and beverages will be provided). RSVP not required.

    More info: cox.com/ocpv/news/townHall.asp

    Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

    How to get cheaper cable TV in O.C., part 2

    October 22nd, 2008, 9:45 am by

    **UPDATE** Added comments from Cox Cable below.

    I heard from plenty of readers yesterday after mentioning that a colleague called Time Warner Cable and got $40 knocked off her $170 monthly bill. 

    Some readers have been doing this all along — calling the cable company every six months to successfully get a discount.  Others said they tried but the customer service rep shot them down.

    I heard from folks who said they squabbled with Time Warner over the $10 difference that new customers get for the same package deal. And I heard from many people who recommended cheaper alternatives to cable TV — like AT&T’s U-Verse TV, Verizon’s FiOS TV and satellite TV services.

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    How much should basic cable TV service (main channels plus CNN, etc.) cost?
    • Add an Answer
    View Results

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    I also heard from Cox and Time Warner.

    Patricia Fregoso, the media person for Time Warner Cable in our area. She said that yes, if a current customer calls in, there’s a chance their bill will be reduced via the company’s customer “retention packages.” But discounts aren’t just handed out because a customer calls to complain about a bill being too high or a promotional discount expiring.

    “Yes, of course our customer service reps do have latitude and often times, there are packages available that we can move folks to. Sometimes it works, sometimes not,” Fregoso said. Read the rest of this entry »

    Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 10 Comments »

    Cox wants to give back to O.C.’s women-owned businesses

    October 15th, 2008, 7:03 am by

    Cox Communications, which services a good portion of OC’s southern and central cable TV customers, has $21,000 worth of goodies up for grabs for an enterprising women entrepreuneur. 

    The company’s “Digital Growth Contest” will award the lucky lady a year of fiber-based data and voice services from Cox Business (valued at up to $12,000), and a 30-second TV commercial to air on top cable channels like CNN and CNBC for 6 weeks (valued at $9,100).

    The contest is co-sponsored by Ladies Who Launch and organized by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing.

    How to enter?  Read the rest of this entry »

    Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

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