I'm 71 years old. My parents had Cox for television. I had Cox for television. Then I got married in 1985, moved into our home in 1986 and we had Cox for television. Then the internet started and we had Cox for television and internet.
They had loyalty programs for people who stuck with them. They had an actual phone number where you could pick up the phone, call a phone number, choose what you wanted to discuss (billing, service changes, service problems, internet problems, etc).
No longer. If you have questions, there's a chat. And the people behind that chat are outsourced to different countries. You no longer speak to a representative who actually gives a shit about the person (the customer) on the other end of the line. And last Sunday, I was done. I canceled our Contour Ultimate service. Why?
Because during the previous decade they started having bundles with a set price. There was no longer any kind of discount. What you saw was what you got. Unless there was a promotion going on. And the only way to find out?
Via chat.
Every year, I jump through the hoops. In December 2023, I jumped through the hoop and signed up for a 24-month promotion where the cost for the service would not change. When I checked the account, it was still "processing." On January 8, 2024, I initiated a chat to double-checked that the promotion had taken effect. I was assured it had. I questioned the representative multiple times about the length of the promotion. Twenty-four months it was.
Imagine my surprise to see on Sunday morning, January 12, 2025, that my new price was twenty dollars (plus fees) higher. Uh, nope. My 24 months wasn't up. I initiated a chat. It took hours. I am not exaggerating.
I kept getting transferred from representative to representative. Without warning. The only way I knew it was a different rep was each time, I had to repeat my name, my address, my PIN, my problem.
And each time was met with "do you want to sign up for our mobile service, that will bring down your monthly bundle charge". Here's the thing with mobile. I have Cricket Wireless. I pay $30 a month for unlimited text and talk and get 10GB of data. Cox has a pay-as-you-go plan, $15 for 1GB or a plan for $45 and 20GB. Since I'm pretty much always home, I've rarely even used a full gigabyte in a month. It would be a waste of money. So, thanks, but no thanks.
And not once did anyone address the fact that they were not honoring their promotion. But sure, we can drop your price if you reduce your services. Well, damn. Why didn't I think of that?
Not gonna happen.
So, while I'm in the chat, I have another browser window open, checking for other streaming services. We have antennas, so OTA stations won't be a problem. But we like TBS and TNT and Lifetime and SyFy and History and others. We'd lose access to just three movie channels. So, I'm sitting here, doing the math, comparing what we were getting with Cox compared to the ala carte options for other streaming services (Sling, YouTube, Fubo, Hulu, etc).
When the rep I was chatting with said, "No, your new rate isn't $173 (plus fees); it will be $228 (plus fees)" (!!), I said, "Cancel my Contour, not the internet, but the television service."
We already paid for a bundle with Hulu and Disney+ (no ads) which was $20 a month. Going with Hulu Live with no ads is $96 a month. Add $28 for the three other channels we were getting through Cox. We will now pay $124 and not that $228 (plus fees).
And a couple of actual WTF moments after this all took place?
I see on the Cox website that they have a 24-month promotion for $10 less for their Gigablast service (which we get). I applied for that promotion. I screenshotted everything. Their website, the date, the specifications and the terms as listed in my account.
Then I get an email "hey, come back! Here's an offer of a nice discount if you come back but it won't last long, click this link!" Sorry, too little, too late.
I'm gone.
A day after all of this happened, I saw this new lawsuit.
I use an HDHomerun device for the OTA stations and it has a streaming app so the signal goes to all house devices. I bought a cheap antenna on Amazon in 2023 (after one of the networks wanted more money from Cox and shut off that service until Cox cried UNCLE and agreed to pay more). Which I'm happy I did right now. Brian set it up on the roof where the antenna from our BUD (big ugly dish) used to be. I didn't do much with it at the time, because we didn't need it. We do now.
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