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Unimpressed's avatar
Unimpressed
New Contributor II
2 years ago

No Internet Service for a Week and no Resolution in Sight - FELLOW CUSTOMERS BEWARE!

I have not had stable internet for a week and am at my wits end with Cox. As a bit of background, my wife and I both work from home so we need strong, reliable internet. I am also signed up for the extra monthly tech-support fee. The first day without internet was 02/14. I contacted Cox on 02/14 through live chat and after an hour of troubleshooting the problem was fixed....for about an hour or so. Once again I called back and had to go over the troubleshooting process and the issue was once again fixed. This happened about a few more times on 02/14 and I spent probably 4-5 hours connected with Cox agents.
On 02/15, I woke up and once again no internet. I called Cox and this time they were not able to get the internet fixed. The agent scheduled a technician to come out on 02/17 between 8am-10am, so I was without internet until 02/17. The technician showed up at 9:59am and after a few minutes my wife and I could tell that there was a complex issue going on. He supposedly did a "temporary fix" and said that a technician supervisor would contact us within 24 hours. He mentioned there being an issue with a "pedestal" or something similar, which the supervisor would need to correct. The internet did work when he left and worked for about 12-16 hours.
I woke up on 02/18 and once again no internet. I contacted Cox through a live agent and was now told that there was an outage in my area and technicians were out working on it. The customer service/honesty had been pretty lackluster up until now and this is where is really began to take a nosedive. I am the only one of my neighbors with an internet outage and there were no technicians in my neighborhood, so where exactly were these technicians and who's internet were they fixing instead of mine? The agent also couldn't tell me what the issue actually was or when the outage would be fixed. They just said that I need to be patient and Cox would reach out to me when the issue is resolved. I signed up for text updates hoping that I would get some information. Fast forward to the night of 02/18, I still had not received any updates so once again I contacts Cox and get the same run around; "outage in your area, no ETA, be patient". My fear was that there would be no resolution by Monday morning and my wife and I would have to take time off of work again due to Cox's internet issues.
On 02/19, once again no internet. I contacted Cox live chat agents numerous times throughout the day and again same response and no outage resolution ETA. I also tried calling the Cox phone number but kept getting disconnected after being told by the automated message that there was an outage in my area - the fact that Cox would hang up on a customer without even trying to resolve my issue is incredible. On 02/20 I called and was able to reach a live person on the phone. I escalated my issue to a supervisor who told me a similar story about how there is an outage and no ETA, but this time I was told that it was an "internal network issue" and there were no technicians out. So the story suddenly has changed, which I am guessing is because I mentioned I had physically gone around my neighborhood looking to see if any Cox technicians were around. I asked the supervisor to transfer me to their manager or to the engineering department so I can speak with someone who is involved with fixing the issue and can get a better understanding of what is going on and the expected timing, however the supervisor refused and would only go so far as scheduling a call back from their manager (which I have not yet received, or quite frankly expect to receive).
Once again my wife and I are forced to take time off of work because of Cox's downed internet. Will Cox pay us for our PTO days? I always thought Cox was a "premium" internet provider, but the only thing premium about them is their price. Their service and customer support is terrible (and many lie directly to you) and they don't care about their customers. I have been a customer for over 5 years and have been tossed around this last week as if I was not even a customer. I even pay the extra monthly technical support charge, but for what? I am hoping someone from Cox reads this and contacts me to resolve this problem. I have a feeling of hopelessness that my internet issues will be resolved even this week.
I most likely will be cancelling my Cox subscription and advise other customers to seriously look at other options that may be cheaper and provide the same level (or even better) of service.

  • Unimpressed's avatar
    Unimpressed
    New Contributor II

    Day 12 update.

    Another technician came out yesterday afternoon. He worked on a few pedestals/external posts throughout the neighborhood. My internet issues still remain and I'm unsure if the technician thought he had fixed the problem and it came back, or if Cox is still working on the problem. I sent an email to Dustin at Cox.Help.com asking for an update and also called the technician who previously came out earlier this week asking the same. Still waiting to hear back. At this point I think it's doubtful my internet will be back before Monday.

    • LisaH's avatar
      LisaH
      Moderator
      Hi Unimpressed. The purpose of the Cox Internet Forum is to allow customers to discuss technical topics related to residential Cox Cable, Telephone and High-Speed Internet services with other customers. This appears as if you may need someone to look into your account personally. We would definitely be able to assist you with this. Please reach out to us on Twitter at @CoxHelp via DM, visit us on Facebook via private message, or email us at cox.help@cox.com. Provide us the name on the account with the complete service address with a link to this thread so we can look to see what is happening. - Lisa, Cox Support Forums Moderator
      • Unimpressed's avatar
        Unimpressed
        New Contributor II

        Hi Lisa,

        I am aware of the purpose of this forum. I posted here as Cox has been unable to fix my issue for nearly 2 weeks now. I have reached out to Cox via phone, text and email over 30 times and still no resolution. I guess I can try reaching out on twitter, FB or whatever other social media platform Cox would like me to waste my time with, but I doubt it’ll help any.

        Also, it’s day 13 now. 

  • Darkatt's avatar
    Darkatt
    Honored Contributor

    what did you do during the calls that "fixed" the internet? Have you tried replacing the cable wire, and any splitters or barrel connecters? Have you setup with Cox to get a tech out?

    • Unimpressed's avatar
      Unimpressed
      New Contributor II

      When I reset the modem my internet comes back for a period of time (sometimes minutes, sometimes 2-3 hours), but it never lasts. I had a tech come out on 2/17 and he told me that he could do a "temporary fix" but that a supervisor would need to come out and permanently fix the issue. The technician checked all the wiring and said it was an issue with a "pedestal" outside. 4 days late I am still waiting on the supervisor to come out, or even call me. I'm now going on my 8th day with limited or no internet. 

      I called Cox again this morning and was able to get another technician scheduled to come out tomorrow afternoon. 

  • Unimpressed's avatar
    Unimpressed
    New Contributor II

    Day 14 update.

    Three Cox technicians were in the neighborhood this afternoon. I spoke with one briefly to ask about the problem and was told that the frequencies on the pedestals/posts need to be adjusted and another supervisor needs to come out, which might only happen tomorrow. Considering there is a winter storm in my area tomorrow, I find this unlikely so Wednesday will probably be the earliest someone will come out. The frequencies explanation is the same exact one that was given to me last week by the last technician who was here. Why did these technicians not come prepared to fix the issue? To make matters worse, I now have ZERO internet, even when I hard reset my modem. Previously, I was able to reset my modem and get some internet (however it would drop, sometimes within minutes, sometimes 1-2 hours), but at least I had that. 

    I am appealing to any Cox employees monitoring this forum and am asking that you please provide a name and phone number of a supervisor who I can speak with directly and explain this issue so that the next technician who arrives can fix the problem once and for all. I just need someone who will take ownership of this and see the problem fixed. There appears to be an extreme lack of communication on Cox’s end and it will be more efficient for me to speak with whoever can fix this problem, rather than relying on Cox customer service.
    • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
      WiderMouthOpen
      Esteemed Contributor
      please provide a name and phone number of a supervisor who I can speak

      Good luck getting a supervisor via the moderators here. I tried when all my posts were deleted for no reason(ongoing 4month problem) and it was like talking to a stone wall. They said they had the power to act as supervisors so escalation wasn't possible. It got me pretty ticked off. I hope you have better luck.

      • Unimpressed's avatar
        Unimpressed
        New Contributor II

        To my surprise another Cox technician came out today. I went out to speak with him and he told me that the issue is actually damaged cable in front of my neighbor's house (nothing to do with frequencies/pedestals/external posts despite what most of the other technicians told me). It's amazing that it took 2 weeks and 7 technicians to diagnose this problem, I would have thought it would be one of the first troubleshooting steps an outside technician would perform, but I suppose not. Unfortunately, the technician did not have an ETA on when the cable will be fixed as it involves a team coming out to excavate the area and laying down new cable, so my internet issues remain. At least I have some comfort in knowing the actual problem has been discovered.