COX Self-Setup SCAM / COX fails to provision equipment, resulting in Tech appt charging $75
I recently switched from the 1GB plan to the 2GB plan. A new router/modem was necessary and was sent in the mail. Once it arrived, COX presented us with an option to "self-setup" our equipment through their app. It was 2 steps of set-up that simply instructed us where each wire was to be connected onto our new equipment. Easy, right? Of course not, not with COX. Checking my account closer on the app, our account still showed we were only receiving the 1GB plan. First red flag. The second red flag? The immediate "need" for an appointment at my house as soon as the internet didn't connect in the first place. What's even more odd about this; whenever we made the account change from the 1GB plan to the 2GB plan, we decided to remove the insurance service costing $10 a month because we NEVER used it, not once. Well, whenever the tech team has to make a trip to your house, they charge a $75 service fee without this insurance..
Keep in mind: I switched out the 1gb router for the 2gb router while attempting the failed self-setup, then switched back from the 2gb router to the 1gb router that same day while I waited for this tech appointment the following day. I was successful doing this so I still had internet capability, which speaks to my capability in setting up this basic equipment and lack of necessity for an appointment.
Fast forward to the appointment with the 3rd party technician the following day. The technician comes out, looks at our equipment and makes sure everything is hooked up properly (it is). What's the problem? COX never provisioned our equipment to receive 2GB of service. The equipment that they sent us, or our account, was never set-up properly to receive the new equipment. COX never had to come out to my property to make any adjustments or fix anything. Cox's internal teams failed to take the necessary steps to ensure the "self set-up" option worked properly and failed in taking the necessary steps to diagnose the real problem with the service I wasn't receiving. So, the technician comes out to my property on a service call, just to be on the phone with Cox almost the whole time, who ends up fixing the problem internally that had no relation to any of the steps I had taken during self-set up... And they still want to charge $75 for COX's mistake??????????????
Fast forward to the phone call we knew was going to be necessary when Cox inevitably charges us a $75 service fee for an appointment that was never necessary due to incompetence running rampant through this provider. The "account manager" we spoke to on the phone, said we could reestablish the $10 a month insurance (that we just cancelled), and the $75 fee could be removed. They also offered free HBO Max for the "inconvenience". Ya, I really want a free 3 months of HBO just to forget about the automatic renewal and pay on unlimited months for a service I will not use... -_- Anyways, I was clear that we just cancelled the $10 a month insurance service due to it's lack of use, and that additional services were not necessary or wanted, we simply want the $75 service fee removed from the account because this was a mistake solely to blame on Cox. This "manager" held their ground completely, and would not budge. Simply stating " if a service technician has to come out, we charge the $75 fee".
Riddle me this: Cox is offering a self setup option to avoid $75 service fees, but Cox will also fail to have your equipment properly programmed causing the self set-up to not work, which then "requires" an appointment with a technician that costs $75 to come to your house to fix something that only Cox has control of and nothing to do with your property.. And then when you call to complain, they give you a blanket statement of "if the technician comes to your property, we charge $75, period." Honestly, if it wasn't for living in rural America and being limited to internet providers, this post would have never happened. I would just pay the 2 year cancellation fee and never look at a Cox product/service again.
Cox, this is complete incompetence on your part. This is more a matter of principle than it is the fee. It's disgusting business practice and I fully expect a refund for that $75 service fee based on the facts above.
