$240 early termination/disconnect fee

Summary: I recently called to downgrade my cable to save a few bucks and to eliminate channels we do not watch.  I was told that I was in a 2yr contract and I could not make any changes to me TV, but I was allowed to change internet speeds.  

1 year ago: When I initially called last year to cancel TV, I was talked in to upgrading my TV and get faster internet for $5.00 more per month- I even got a titanic cable box for HD channels and a fancy remote that I only use 4 button--and she did mention that it was a 2 yr contract, but that the loophole was that I could change services at anytime, BUT I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO DISCONNECT services-- so I thought that wasn’t a bad idea, I don't not need TV, but in the future I could downgrade to basic cable and internet we do need for work--so no plans of disconnecting.

Yesterday: I explained what I wanted to do and she said that there would be a $240 early termination fee and that this was explained in my bill.  Now I receive my bill paperless, and not sure if anyone else has trouble logging into to COX services, it usually does not work for me and if you log in and click on the link to check your bill, it usually takes me to their homepage and logs me out.  So during this past year I usually just refer to my bank statement for the amount paid to make sure things are correct.  Now I noticed my bill went up ~$27 (80-->107) because I lost promotion discounts and now only receiving $13 discount.  Has anyone else ran into this problem?  The woman who helped me yesterday was not very polite and she sounded like a tape recorder trying to explain to me what I apparently signed up for.

NOW: debating to A)  pay $240 to cancel TV all together now since I has lost faith in COX (I just wanted basic cable, really that is all).  I cannot cancel Internet since we need it for work.  Any good experiences with Century Link?  I never thought about using Netflix, but it NOW seems like a good idea for the times we want to see something on the TV screen or when we have company and want to watch something entertaining.  Before this, I was turned off from Netflix after what I read what they did to their subscribers (price hike) and told myself I do not want to do business with them...  B) Or continuing to pay $107 till next February (total of $1,284) for something we do not use.  If we sit down to watch the tube, it is usually diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Food network is sadly turning into a MTV reality junk shows and Triple D is a shows that still shows how to cook stuff after 5pm), Discovery or Travel Channel, but I can live with out this "luxury."

Am I the only one out there with this issue with Cox?

thanks-