COX - overpriced and unreliable
Written: May 08 '06
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Pros: overpriced internet access is better then dial-up
Cons: pricey, unreliable, unfriendly, unhelpful, and misleading
The Bottom Line: Avoid if possible, watch like a hawk if you have to use them.
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| jnfryer's Full Review: Cox |
I have lived with COX in the Bryan/College Station, Texas area (internet and cable tv) for three years, the last two have been truly dreadful. My main complaint is that they continually change their services without notice in an effort to get the customer to pay more. For instance, they have changed their internet services four times since I have been with them. First I had 1mb for $30 a month, then they canceled that and I had to switch to 128 kb for the $25, then they canceled that and I had to go back to dial-up. Then they reintroduced 1mb for $30, but recently canceled that again and now I am at 4mb for $40. OK, so at least I am getting more for my money, but I don't need 4mb, I would rather have 1mb and pay $30. There is no technical reason why they can not sell me 1mb for $30, or like the local DSL 1.5mb for $25. They just like my money and look for every angle to get more of it. Hey, I know that is business, it is just that they are so sleazy about it and I have to constantly watch my services and charges.
They are just very sleazy in the way they go about changing their services, not to give the customer better choices, but to squeeze more money out of them. I am in an area where DSL is unavailable, otherwise I would have dumped Cox and gone with DSL and DirectTV.
Cox's Cable TV service is no better. Over the past month my channel line up has changed three times. With the last change they took away CNN, so I am left with only local channels and Spanish channels, I need those like I need a whole in my head. But, I have to pay for it to get the internet access, so really, I am paying $60 for 4mb, not so much of a bargain.
Their customer service is dreadful, hold times are regularly over ten minutes and that is when I can get through, often the line is busy. Then I get bounced around from one department to another because I have multi part questions, which never seem to get answered.
Their advertising is very misleading, they are currently offering Digital Cable with a DVR for $25. Sounds great, except it is bogus, you first have to order, not one, but two tiers of digital channels to get this deal (the $25 is on top of the charge for the two tiers of digital channels) and the $25 is for the first two months only, what a joke.
And to add insult to injury, Cox's service is unreliable. They internet drops anywhere from one to five times a week. Usually, after restarting the modem, it comes back in just a few minutes. It typically does this at very inopportune times, like when I am sending a large email attachment or playing an online game. Ironically, their advertisements focus on how their service will not go down in a storm, like satellite, but it does. Curiously, the internet service goes down much more frequently then dose the cable tv.
I am moving next year and will be glad to be rid of Cox once and for all.
UPDATE: I wrote this review almost a year ago, but never posted it until now. Things have not gotten any better with Cox's service. Their Internet service still drops regularly and they still have misleading 'special offers'. And for about the last ten months, they have failed to send me a bill. I now have to either call them, or trek over to their office to make a payment. They say there is no problem and that I need to check with the Post Office, who of course say there is no problem there. Curiously, even though they don't seem to be able to mail me my bill, I still get offers from them... by mail.
Now they are pushing their 9MB Internet service for 'gaming', but they fail to mention in their adds what the upload speed is which is critical for gaming. And the people in these 'gaming' adds are using Mac laptops, not really known as gaming laptops. Right on Cox, really pegged that one!
But on the upside, I was able to get through to support quickly the last time I called, and the tech was friendly. He could not do anything for my down connection (he could not even verify that it was down), but he was friendly. Thankfully, the problem resolved itself a several hours later.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 90
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Epinions.com ID:
jnfryer
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Location: TEXAS
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Funky Minimalist.
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