Forum Discussion

K_in_Omaha's avatar
K_in_Omaha
New Contributor
5 years ago

My Data Usage bug

We consistently average around 30 GBs per day, but got notified this morning (21 days into the billing cycle) that we are almost 250 GBs over for the month.  After checking My Data Usage, it shows that the average for the first 20 days is consistent, but yesterday (10/03/2020) was 1,090 GBs just for that one day!!!  We were outside almost all day, and didn't stream or download any more than a typical day.  There is clearly a bug w/ Cox's data usage tracking. See below for images of our daily usage as reported by Cox.

Is anyone seeing anything similar?

I've already been on chat w/ two level 1 support reps.  The first one, "Shireida J.", had no clue what I was talking about, said she would create me a ticket, but after about 20 minutes transferred me to another level 1 support rep (without even telling me).  The second one, "Miah D.", verified that a ticket had not been created and had no idea why I was transferred.  

Current month

https://ibb.co/8sQ8Cht

Previous month

https://ibb.co/ysjvKtX

Thank you to anyone who can help.

  • Yes, I just experienced the same problem. Someone responded that there is congestion in the bandwidth, whatever that means. The big concern is Cox charging people extra without asking for permission. As I understand it, they will increase your rate $10 a month for each 50 gig above 1.25 terabytes. Is there possible fraud here on the part of Cox?

    • K_in_Omaha's avatar
      K_in_Omaha
      New Contributor

      I finally got escalated to level 2 support, and they opened a ticket for their data usage back-end team to investigate.  The level 2 tech said Cox uses NetForecast (an independent 3rd party) for calculating the data usage, and the Cox data usage team could reach out to them if needed, so we'll see what happens.

    • holmess89's avatar
      holmess89
      New Contributor

      "Congestion in the bandwidth"

      Probably the funniest thing I've read all day. 

      Apologies if this is explaining something you already know, but "Bandwidth" is essentially the overall data rate one connection can handle. Basically how big the pipe data travels through is. Internet trunk lines can handle immense transfer speeds, but then they branch off hundreds and thousands of times to branches which splits that signal up. "Congestion" of those lines indicates they are reaching their limit because usage is very high which SLOWS DOWN everyone's speed.

      How then would congestion of the lines cause YOUR data usage to skyrocket when you are using no more than you normally do?

      This is a BS answer someone gave you, especially if it came from Cox. 

  • Cox_User_So_Far's avatar
    Cox_User_So_Far
    New Contributor II

    Cox service is being replaced particularly by AT&T who are extremely responsive and easier to contact.  The pole with the Cox wiring feeding to our home is completely covered with vines and not even visible. Cox has made NO effort to address this although I have the best and most expensive service available in my area, it is compromised by Cox's not keeping the lines clear on the poles in our area.

  • holmess89's avatar
    holmess89
    New Contributor

    While this is of no help to you unfortunately, I have just experienced this myself this weekend.

    I received 3 sudden texts early Saturday morning notifying me that I had gone over my 1.25 TB limit. I use the internet constantly both for work at home and personal use, but rarely over go over 20-30 GB in a month. Now it is Sunday, and I am 200 GB over for no apparent reason. I have also run virus scans out the wazoo, checked services and processes on both of my computers. Nothing, everything is normal except for this outrageous usage coming out of nowhere. Then there is the fact that Cox Tier 1 is useless, and I have to wait until tomorrow to even attempt to get to a tier 2 tech while "using" God knows how much more data.

    This is much more than a simple issue with someone's computer, this is a networking issue that COX needs to investigate and resolve. 

    • K_in_Omaha's avatar
      K_in_Omaha
      New Contributor

      Good luck... I still haven't received an answer, and it's been over a week.

  • K_in_Omaha's avatar
    K_in_Omaha
    New Contributor

    Update to the community - still no answer from Cox regarding my support ticket.  My billing cycle ended on the 14th.  I requested, at a minimum, that someone from Cox reach out to me before my billing cycle ended to assure my that I wouldn't have to pay the overage, or so I could pay for one of the additional data tiers instead of being charged for overages.  No one called.  #shocking

    Here is the full month of daily usage per the Cox My Data Usage:

    https://ibb.co/RDtgcVn

    • K_in_Omaha's avatar
      K_in_Omaha
      New Contributor

      Update: Another 2 weeks has passed, and Cox has still not addressed the issue.  No update from the ticket, which was opened 25 days ago!

      Here is my current daily usage from 10/15 - 10/30:

      https://ibb.co/VH3YQdK

      • K_in_Omaha's avatar
        K_in_Omaha
        New Contributor

        Update: Another 2 weeks has passed and it's been over 6 weeks total since my support ticket was created.  Does Cox not have an SLA at all?

        Here is my current daily usage from 10/15 - 11/14:
        https://ibb.co/pJSLKGn

  • Amdaxiom's avatar
    Amdaxiom
    New Contributor

    Really curious what eventually happened with your case? I'd assume someone would see that and simply toss it out to being some error on their end. I mean if it were 30 GB a day to 100GB or 150GB maybe they wouldn't but to go to 1TB in a day? Sounds like just an obvious issue that would get thrown out without a second thought.