Internet Has Been Out for Days, Yet Cox Tells Me I'm the Problem
I'd like to find out if anyone else has had an experience with Cox as terrible as my recent experience in Oklahoma City, OK: My home internet has been out for 3 or 4 days now. It started when our modem suddenly stopped getting any signal from Cox. The modem has power and has shown zero issues up to this point. I thought maybe it was that particular coaxial connection, so I tried hooking the modem up in other rooms around the house that that have a connection available. Same issue: modem powers on, but no connection to Cox. I then got on the Cox website to verify that my modems MAC and Serial Numbers were correct, as well as to try and reset my modem from my online account settings. Still no improvement. So, I decided tochat with a Cox support agent. The FIRST agent I talked to looked into all kinds of things and ended up telling me that I needed a new modem (which, of course they immediately started trying to sell me one of theirs). I said no thanks, went to the store, and bought a new modem. The new modem is the exact same brand and model (Netgear CM500) as the previous modem I'd been using for years with Cox, so I know for a fact it is compatible. I get home, I hookup the new modem, but still no connection to Cox. I try to activate the modem according to both the manufacturers instructions and the instructions on the Cox website, but I can't finish it myself because, of course, Cox can't establish a connection to the modem! So, I decide tochat with a Cox support agent AGAIN. The SECOND agent has me provide the MAC and Serial Number of the new modem so that they can activate it on my account for me. I provide them all of this information, and they tell me that they have activated the modem on their end, but that they still can't establish a connection to the new modem. Then, all of a sudden, the chat session ends before I can get anything else from them. Big help that was, Cox! Once again, I reach out to a Cox support agent. I tell the THIRD agent everything that's happened up to this point, about the sudden disconnection on my old modem, going out and buying a new modem, going through the headache of getting the new modem activated, and getting disconnected from the previous agent. This agent wants all the MAC and Serial Number information again so they can make sure the modem is activated. I provide all the information to them, they tell me the modem is activated "on their end", and that I need to reset the modem (unplug it, wait 10 seconds, plug back in). Then they tell me to "wait a while", I'm assuming so that Cox can try to connect to the modem. After about 10 or 15 minutes of waiting, and still no connection, this agent tells me that it's a problem with my modem. UM, EXCUSE ME? You mean, this brand new modem that the FIRST agent told me to go buy for absolutely no reason? Not likely. At this point I told the third agent that I'd like a technician to come out to my house and check the Cox lines outside because the only remaining possibility is that there's an issue with their equipment. The third agent then told me that they can't send a technician to my house because they're not allowed to touch equipment that's not provided by Cox (in reference to the modem). I tell them that's fine, because I'm not asking them to touch my modem, I want them to check up on their own equipment! The agent then goes back to insisting that the issue is with my brand new equipment. Well, of course it is, because Cox is just infallible, right?! At this point, I'm ready to drop Cox all together. I've never had such a poor customer service experience in my life. I worked in customer service for a number of years, and it never once occurred to me to tell a customer "it's not us, it's you" if I hadn't already exhausted every possibility on our end first. It's a shame too, because this is really the first issue I've ever had with Cox. At this point, the hot spot on my T-Mobile phone isproviding a more reliable connection for my home than Cox seems able to. In the meantime, I've talked with co-workers who live in nearby cities who've told me that their Cox service has been out for the exact same amount of time, with the exact same symptoms (modem suddenly receives no signal), who've been told the exact same thing by customer service agents (go buy a new modem), then been treated the exact same way after the recommendation doesn't work ("it's not us, it's you"). Is anyone else starting to see a pattern here?
ISP drops, No downstream, No Internet…. why, oh why dear COX do you lie?
How are we supposed to trust you when… - Multiple Cox Representatives, over the phone and via chat, fail to complete account verification - Chat support does not understand the issue as described - Technical support apparently doesn’t know to use their tools and resources - Technical support misdiagnoses the issue, blames the customer, and doesn’t know to look for outages - COX outage information is not accurately reported and does not reflect on outage website - Smart Help self-service troubleshooting also does not report outage information, including from inner notes - Representatives do not know how to check inner notes - Technical support only solutions are 1) Reboot, the problem is on the customer end 2) Replace the modem 3) Charge extra for in person Technician 4) Charge extra to speak with Advanced Technical Support - Technical Support Supervisors argue with the customer in a way that implies the customer is a liar, even with issue being on Cox end - Retention department solution conflicts witheveryone else, including Technical Support Supervisors ISSUE DETAILS: Home ISP went down around 7pm PST last night, in middle of remote work shift. Spent about 6 hours troubleshooting. Couldn’t wait for tech to come last night so purchased new modem. New modem had SAME issue, with no downstream or ISP connection. Reverted setup back to OG and went to bed. Woke up today and everything magically worked. Home network logs show ISP WAN service resumed around 3:30am PST today. Technical support kept saying the issue was with my router and my modem was old (they are still selling same model on shelves btw, it's great! TY Netgear!), even when I had NO router connected, was NOT using Wi-Fi, and was directly ethernet modem connection. All cable connections, including splitter in attic, are solid with no lose or bad anything. No amount of rebooting, restarting, or resetting would fix. Logs indicated packet loss on ISP end and issue was with 2 separate modems (1 was brand new). Oddly during this, both modems did initially connect for 5-10 mins after 1 st reboot and then stopped working. Multiple agents wanted to charge me for having a technician come to home or charge to speak with “advanced support”. Called today to find out what the issue was, what changed, or what triggered the solution so could prevent a next time. Tech agent didn’t understand issue and wanted to troubleshoot an issue I wasn’t having any longer, which was nonsensical. The agent also wanted to charge me for advanced support or to send technician out, which again was nonsensical when I was no longer having an issue. The agent’s supervisor did not listen to issue and kept saying it was an issue with my router or modem. I spoke with retention, who advised me there WAS an outage last night that ended this morning. Those outage details were apparently missed by every other chat and over the phone agents? Really, really ODD. Makes me wonder if retention was blowing smoke or if their Technical Support and Chat groups are really that inadequate. From my experiences, I sadly believe the latter. Work also checks on outages and saw nada. Can’t prove to employer that COX had another outage! At least retention did help with future tech support needs with the Cox Cares support thingy. I appreciate COX not charging me for doing their jobs and supporting their own services...mostly. EFFORTS LOSS: ½ work shift, 6 hours total time last night, 2 hours today, and $300-ish on new modem which needs returning. EFFORTS GAIN: Learned most folks don’t need to pay for the unlimited plans if you keep your data under 1280 gigs a month. Check your data use history and save yourself $50 bucks a month off plan bloat! RESULT: 12/2-12/3 ISP drops – it was them not us! PS. Make sure if you talk to anyone at COX they verify your account. Lots of agents like to skip that step, give account info out, and make changes without it.
Account and EBB program
SINCE JULY I have had to have multiple days lost from.qork because you cannot connect with the correct people they the number or chat. I am accepted into the ebb program Cox removed it after 3 months and a disconnect several loud conversations with incompetent reps (which is cox fault they are not training their people) hangups . Blood pressure reaching troubling levels finally they fix it and put me back on...but NO just got a call about a disconnect again because THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO APPLY BWNWFIT WITHOUT TORTURING THE CUSTOMER... HAVE YOU HEARD THE WORD LAWSUIT...OH NOW IM ALL IN
Dishonest service
Has anyone been lied to about their service? I had switched to ATT and was going to cancel Cox. When I called to do so, I was offered a deal (gigablast and unlimited data for $90 per month) to retain my loyalty. The data was very important to me as we are home schooling and I work from home due to my wife going through chemo and the risks of Covid to her. I accepted. Fast forward one month and I am getting hit with data overage charges. I called to have the issue corrected (mistakes happen, I understand) but was told that they would not honor what I was originally told. I asked if they could listen to the original conversation and hear that I was promised the unlimited data as well. They said they are not able to listen and that only the quality department was. I asked to be transferred there and they said that I am not allowed to talk with that department. Convenient. They promised me one thing, I cancelled my previous service based on that promise, then they did not deliver. When I offer an option to prove what I was promised, they were unwilling to cooperate. What good is a quality department if they have no idea if the representative is lying or not and are unwilling to investigate to do so? I am hoping a representative reads this and is able to help me out as no one on the phone seems to care. I only want what I was promised......
Why can't I get a package with better upload speeds?
Why isn't Gigablast a symmetrical connection? Or why isn't there at least a more significant upload speed increase vs the classic 300Mbps plan? How about an option for something in between? I don't actually need more download speed... 300M down is plenty, but I would pay a little more to have something like 300-500M down with maybe 100-250M uplink for example. On the other hand looking at fiber internet service in other areas where cox doesn't have a near monopoly, fully symmetrical gigabit connections (with no data cap) can be had for around $70/month. Why do I have to pay over $50 moreper month (over $100, if I want unlimited data) to get an inferior service? I hope Cox will take this as constructive criticism as, in the meantime, I am actively seeking other service options and sending requests to competitors to provide service in my area.
Daily outages in my area. UNACCEPTABLE
There are daily internet outages in my area (92026) this is unacceptable! I need to work remotely and with 0.5Mbps upload speeds, it is impossible. I pay for 300 down/ 30 up speeds and rarely reach those speeds AND NO it's not my modem and I refuse to reboot the darn thing again! So far I have not seen any credit applied to my account for the lack of service or any notice of when the issues are going to be resolved permanently. You guys are pushing me to get ATT more every day and I hate ATT but this is just wrong. Get it together COX!!!!.
Going on 7 days of Internet Outage
We've been without internet now for 7 days because of an outage and Cox will not provide any indication whatsoever on when service will be restored. Everyday, same message on the page and text:" Our technicians continue to work to resolve the problem in your neighborhood. Currently there is no estimated time for when service will be restored." SEVEN DAYS! We are on a stay at home order from the Governor, so all my work and my children's classes are online. This is the worst experience ever! I've been working of the hot spot on my cell phone just to be able to work and now we've exhausted our data plan and have to pay and extra $300 this month in extra data charges from our wireless carrier. I've called support, done the interactive chat, called technical support, billing and anyone else that will answer or respond and nobody can give me an answer on when we will get our Internet service restored. Beyond frustrating. Does anyone here have a management contact at Cox that can escalate this to resolution? this is completely unacceptable.