OnDemand Unavailable After Cox Software Upgrade on May 1, 2024
At 1:26 AM on the morning of May 1, 2024 I was watching CNN when the screen suddenly blipped and there on the TV screen was a message from Cox Communications informing me that a software upgrade of the cable set top box was underway. After about 20 minutes the box had rebooted and I was returned to CNN. I used my remote to see if functionality was OK, and it was mostly, but I had lost the ability to access OnDemand. Every time I tried to access OnDemand I received an alert box in the lower right hand quadrant of the TV screen (and I have a brand new, top-of-the-line 60 inch Samsung Smart TV) that appeared and disappeared so quickly that I couldn't make out what the message was. So I used my cell phone to make a video of the TV screen when I tried to access OnDemand, and I was able to capture a screenshot of this error message:
Sorry, we are currently experiencing some technical difficulties. Please try again in 15 minutes. If the problem continues, please contact Cox Customer Service at 1-866-961-1207. Reference 7.1.404 when calling.
Well, here it is May 20, 2024 and after 12 or so calls to Cox Customer Service, I still do not have access to OnDemand. Talking to the customer service people supplied by Cox is akin to talking to a brick wall. Judging by their accents and the less than ideal phone connection on every call, I strongly suspect I was talking to someone in a call center in India or Viet Nam or Taiwan or the Philippines - somewhere on the other side of the planet - most likely in South Asia or even Southeast Asia. Their response was always to reset the cable set top box. Sometimes they reset it, sometimes I did. I reset it from my phone, I reset it from the TV, I reset it from my laptop, and I reset it by pulling the plug from the wall, letting it sit for a few minutes before plugging it back in. Nothing worked.
I am a disabled 78-year-old who depends on OnDemand a lot because I am housebound. In addition to the lack of access to OnDemand my Cox cable TV reception is often punctuated by frozen screen images, pixillation of the image, an image with no sound or error boxes appearing that tell me the signal has been lost. My Cox plan is bundled with Internet and phone service as well as TV, and I'm currently paying Cox $328 a month for really lousy service. I'm just days away from signing up with Dish Network, Direct TV, Century Link or some other provider since I am thoroughly disenchanted, dismayed and disgusted at Cox's poor performance regarding both product and customer service. I'll try once more with this post to get someone from Cox to address the issue with OnDemand, which I suspect is a software bug in the maintenance done on May 1, 2024. But, hey, what do I know? If I get no response, it's sayonara, arrividerci Coxy, auf Wiedersehen, au revoir.