Speed Increase?

So, I suppose it's just mere coincidence that the latest bill announced a $5 increase in the monthly payment?

 Oh... thanks for posting that. I just looked at my Bill too. $5.00 increase to $59.99 for my preferred service starting next month. It might be time for me to look at hooking up with the competing service. $60 a month is steep for internet. I remember paying less than $50 for the same tier not that long ago. .

Hi Skynet,

I certainly appreciate your frustration with any rate increase, as price increases are never fun for anyone. We really try hard to keep our prices as low as possible while providing the best value for the services we offer.

As consumers spend more time online using more bandwidth than ever to support their entertainment and communications needs, Cox's costs for providing high speed internet service has increased proportionately. Cox is aggressively rolling out new technology to support the integrity of the Cox network for our customers. Price increases are needed to help cover these costs. We have increased internet speeds eight years in a row!

We have improved the free McAfee Security Suite to include free coverage for up to 5 computers, a MAC user option, and enhanced Parental Controls. We've expanded our free Online Backup product by offering free storage for all internet customers. Some of our competitors are charging up to $199 for the same safety and security services that are free for our internet subscribers.

Cox recently introduced TV Online and TV Connect which provides online access to On Demand content via a computer and real time access to Cox video programming to the iPad. TV Online is available at no additional charge to all Cox customers and TV Connect is available to all Cox Preferred, Premier, and Ultimate Internet customers.

Other high speed internet providers face the same challenge with infrastructure costs and have also raised their prices. Cox tries to absorb most of the increases we encounter, but we simply are unable to absorb them all. Cox continues to be a better deal than other providers.

Bogus.  I have never used your security suite, nor do I use your cloud services (maybe if cloud services didn't count against our Bandwidth Cap).  $199 a month for that at competitors? No, they aren't.  TV Online/TV Connect?  What does that have to do for me as an Internet subscriber?  I don't pay for TV.  

Bandwidth costs is not an issue (BW is cheap).  

I can only hope for Google Fiber to come to my area.  I will be the first to jump ship.  

  Cox offers a lot of extras that don't effect me since I don't use them. I don't want McAfee and don't subscribe to your TV service. All I care about is a fast internet connection at a reasonable price. Today I found a better offer. It looks like I'll be canceling my Cox service this Friday. To bad to.since I've been a loyal customer for years.

I think Cox should trim down it's service. Get rid the backup and security software, even the email. Offer Gmail, Avast, Dropbox, Google Drive, Picasso and other free options instead. The quality of product would go up (lets be honest) and Cox's costs would go down. Take a percentage of that saved income and invest it in a fuller support options for your customers. Free, in-house, remote access, computer support for all customers. Would put Cox on top of the customer support war and show that Cox knows how to slim down and adapt to the changing economical ideals. Invest more into data, move away from cable and phone. JMHO.

With that said, to do it right, Cox would have to fully commit. Something like that can't be done on a customer by customer basis, a la carte. The cost to support the features is so much more then just the cost for license per customer. So to save enough money to make it worth it, all support would have to be stopped. 

Skynet,

Share the wealth! Who are you going to and what are their rates?

Thanks!

 I don't want to say to much here. Cox doesn't really need to know my future plans. I'll just say that companies will show you a good value and even make special rates available to you if they actually want you as a customer. It doesn't have to be as cut and dry as pay this rate or you can't have us. A smart company knows the meaning of the word negotiation. Cox could keep me as a customer, but not for this new rate they can't. So Cox can have some of my money or none of my money. At this point it looks like none of my money.

Seems reasonable to me. Vote with your wallet.

At the same time, many companies reserve the best deals in order to increase their customer base. It is perceived as better to spend 100$ getting a customer then keeping a customer. Why spend 100$ to keep a customer who may stay anyway. Unlike a new customer who will either be locked into the service by a contract or unlikely to switch again because of the hassle.Not saying I agree with the practice, but it seems to be the norm in the industry. That is why the turn over between ISP's are so high. It's a game of Red Rover.

 I currently pay Cox 53.99 a month. That's more than $647 a year. So if they don't want my $647 I'll be happy to not give it to them. LOL. But once again, I'm not giving them $60 dollars more a year for the same service I'm getting now. That much I know.

Cox is not looking this through a logical customer driven lens. The eye test simply does not pass. If you came to my residence and spent the last three months using the internet on our computer, you would be hard pressed to feel that anything had changed. While I understand rising cost of business, a business also has to understand that with a price increase must come additional benefit for consumers.

Stating a number of services which are irrelevant to a large population of subscribers does not justify cost rises either. I have the most basic internet package and I am now paying $47.99 per month for this service in a day in age when internet availability has reached places like McDonald's, local grocery stores and Starbucks. In a world in which the need for personal internet is becoming more and more obsolete the reason we are being given is that Cox needs to pay more for higher bandwidth. Cox claims to have "increased internet speed 8 years in a row". Please, please take the time to review with your customers this information and see how many of them have noticed this or for that matter even believe it is true. There has been no discernible increase in connectivity speed with our internet speed in the entire time we have used Cox services. While you may think that I do not have the tools to measure this statistic, this is where Cox is outright backwards in their thinking.

If I cannot tell that my internet is faster in anyway year after year, and am often frustrated that it seems so slow then this is a failure as far as these internet speed ups go. The difference should be blatantly obvious to any user or they should be deemed an ineffective increase.  If you asked me the last time my internet speed increased I would have no logical performance based answer to that as I have not seen any change in performance for years. If you want to know the last time Cox sent me a letter claiming that my internet had sped up, well that was just a few weeks ago...still waiting to notice.

Yeah so I just cancelled my service because of this. Just a heads up guys, they're willing to lower the price for a year, IF you sign a 2 year contract LOL. The cable company is at a new low... and COX I never use any of your worthless extras such as email and the sorry excuse for an AV McAfee ($199 for protectiom?!?!?! Where did you come up with that number?) Cox you must think we're really that stupid. Good Bye!