Cox Communications Roanoke

Review: I ordered services for my business, ([redacted]) 9/2014 but the services were cancelled due to non-payment 2/2015. I am a non-profit and money was really tight. I called to re-start services 5/2015 and service resumed. I received a bill 6/2015 which I paid with no problem. 7/2015, I received a bill which was almost double in cost. I called Cox, but no one could answer my question and referred me to the associate that re-stared my services. I tried for 3 months to reach [redacted] with no success. When I was able to get answer, the bill was pass due and services disconnected. Now I am charged with a early termination fee which I feel is unjust because of the poor attention to detail by the company. I received a bill now of over $4,000 and all I get is I understand, but....Desired Settlement: Early termination fee waived

Business

Response:

Upon receipt of the complaint on January 15, 2016 our Cox Business team contacted the customer via email per her request. In the event the customer has any further questions or concerns, we ask that she contact the Cox Business Representative at the number/email address provided to her. Sincerely Cox’s Executive Resolution team

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am not happy with the response from Cox because it took me 4 months to get a clear understanding of my bill. I was always directed to another person who never responded.No one in customer in in customer service could explain the reason for the high bills. When you call today, the response is "that's not right" but no one understands why. I have no problem with the bill, but the solution was not correct. I want another representative and also a corrected amount sent to the collection agency. Right now, cox has me owing over 4600$.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Cox Business Services has previously explained the balances and as a courtesy also issued additional credits per the customer's request. Customer contacted Collections and made a "promise to pay" and the payment was never made. Cox Business Services originally waived the Early Termination Fee(ETF) the first time and this time the ETF is valid due to her contractual agreement. The current balance on the account is $3934.75 which includes the ETF fees. However Cox Business Services will consider removing the ETF fee again if she pays her balance in full minus the ETF fee. The total payment necessary is $1173.69. Please have the customer contact Cox Business Services if she wishes to address this further. Thank you

Cox Executive Resolution Team

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I am willing to pay the balance if I can make payments. I could never get an explanation for the billing because no one understood and it took me 4 months to reach the representative that was working on my account. I am a non-profit and most of my funding comes from some donations and my own money. If Cox will allow me to pay in 4 payments, I feel that is fair because I did have service. I just didnt know my bill was the amount that it was. Regards,

Business

Response:

Cox Business Services has contacted the customer via email and explained the following information. Cox will allow the customer to make payments on the balance of $1173.69. However, until the balance has been paid in full, the services cannot be restored. Once the balance has been paid, Cox Business Services will be able to restore the services and reverse the early termination fees as previously advised. If the customer chooses not to make the $1173.69 payment for the services already rendered, then the balance for those services and the early termination fee (totaling $2684.18) will remain on the account as a write-off and will remain with the Collections agency. As the customer only made one payment to Cox over the entire life of the account from October 2014 through February 2015, we are unable to make any additional accommodations. Thank you again for allowing us to address our customer's concern.

Review: This issue also pertains to customer service issues. I received communication from a collections agency, [redacted], regarding a remaining balance of $26.33 owed to Cox Communications for unreturned equipment. Several days later, I finally received a bill from Cox saying I owed them this money. (I was sent to collections, before I was sent notice of a past due account. I contacted Cox communications, and they explained that their "system" showed that I did not return a cable modem, and that is what the 26.33 charge was for. I explained that I purchased this equipment over 10 years prior, and that I should not owe anything. They agreed, that their records did not show any leased equipment on my prior monthly statements. However, the computer was still showing that Cox owned the cable modem in question. I was able to find an invoice from 2006 from a transfer of service, that said "Has own modem" explaining I was providing my own [owned] modem, and they were only to hook up service. I asked if I could email them this proof that I owned the modem. They said there was no way to send or receive email outside the building that they worked in. This was per the customer service rep and manager of the Cox billing department. They said the best they could do was send an online form that would take up to 7 business days for Cox to make a determination of the outcome of my complaint. The manager also stated I had 90 days to pay the balance or my credit would be damaged. This is incorrect, because the collections company, [redacted] twice, insisted that my credit would be damaged after just 30 days. During this time, I had several Cox customer service representatives be rude as well as unhelpful in rectifying this situation. I was also hung up on twice. I waited 7 business days, and did not here from Cox, so I followed up myself. The first customer service rep refused to help me, and hung up on me. They also refused to give me their name and badge number. I called back, and talked to another customer service rep in the same department (internal collections). They were extremely helpful, and within 30 minutes, were able to find a past statement that showed the cable modem in question was indeed purchased 01/20/2005. She credited the account 26.33, and showed the account balance was now zero. This apparently was not even her job in her department (she said it was a billing department issue - the department that I originally contacted, that was rude, and not helpful.) Unfortunately, the rep was not able to send a confirmation that the bill that was sent to collections was sent in error, and that I am no longer under threat of having my credit damaged. I contacted [redacted] myslef, and explained what had happened. They said that "if I didn't here from them again, there was no problem."

This is not good enough, considering my credit is on the line in this situation. This is a complete mistake on Cox Communications end, and this company has made it extremely difficult and stressful for me to defend myself. There is a complete lack of followup and accountability with this issue, and the customer (me) has been left to fend for themselves. I spent over 4 hours of my time researching this issue myself, and trying to find someone to help. Threatening to damage my credit unless I pay for a piece of equipment that I already owned is not acceptable.

This was a huge negligent, (if not fraudulent) mistake made by Cox Communications that would have permanently damaged my credit. I had to speak to 6 employees and a manager over the course of a week, before someone was able to listen to my concern, and help. I was hung up on several times, and given false information from multiple employees, including a manager, and this kind of business practice needs to be addressed and corrected.Desired Settlement: I am requesting written confirmation that as of today 12/15/2015 any and all debts that I owe Cox Communications as well as [redacted] have been reconciled, and the original charge of $26.33 was sent in error by Cox Communications. My hourly wage at my current employer is $103 per hour. I am also requesting compensation by Cox in the amount of ($412) for my time spent having to defend myself due to Cox Communication's negligent mistake. I believe this is a reasonable request, as I am not asking for compensation for the stress, frustration, or fraudulent threats made to me by Cox Communications. Also, $412 is significantly less than the costs Cox Communications would accrue in litigation.

Business

Response:

In response to the above concerns, we can confirm that the customer was billed in error for equipment charges totaling $26.33. Although the collection agency, [redacted], was notified of the incident on December 01, 2015, the customer has up to 45 days to resolve any disputes before it’s sent to the credit bureaus. Given that a credit was applied to the customer’s account on December 15, 2015, zeroing out the disputed charge, we can confirm that this will not impact his credit. In accordance with the customer’s request, a written letter will be sent to the customer affirming the reconciled balance.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we will continue to work toward improving the customer experience.

Sincerely,

Cox’s Executive Resolution team

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The position Cox Communications put me due to their mistake was extremely frustrating as well as stressful. I received threats from them that that my credit would be damaged. I never received an email or phone call following up with my case, and I had to repeatedly call and plead my case to multiple cs reps and a manager in order to get this problem fixed. I am confident that had I not been so persistent, my credit would have been damaged. Also, I was given three different time periods until my credit would be damaged by three different people. Originally, [redacted] explained my credit would be damaged after 30 days. I then had a Cox Communications Manager tell me my credit would not be damaged until 90 days. Then, the responder to my Revdex.com complaint stated 45 days. The amount of varying disinformation is unacceptable. There has been no accountability for what happened, other than Cox stating that I was billed in error after I spent 4 hours trying to prove this to them, and after I filed a Revdex.com complaint. At no point in time did I receive an explanation or apology from the person or department that caused this problem. This is an unfortunate blatant example of how little appreciation or respect Cox Communications has for its customers. I have had Cox service for 10 years. I have always paid my bills in full and on time. I have had numerous outages, and problems with my service, that I was always understanding about. My reward for me being a good customer was to get sent to collections due to their incompetence. In no way shape or form has Cox compensated me for my time, frustration, and effort I had to devote to their mistake.

Regards,