Complaint Review: Cox Communications - Las Vegas Nevada

Late April 2003, I received a letter from Cox Communications. Here are portions of that letter, where I've capitalized some text for emphasis.

"We have just finished building a new stare-of-the-art national network to support Cox High Speed Internet......The new service has received GREAT REVIEWS from our customers, and is ready to roll out in your community. We will UPGRADE YOUR EXISTING SERVICE to the new Cox High Speed Internet service starting in late May 2003. There will be NO PRICE INCREASE associated with this new service upgrade......There is NO NEED TO CALL AT THIS TIME; please watch for delivery of your conversion package towards the end of May.......We thank you for being a VALUED COX CUSTOMER."

I was happy to receive this letter because, as one of their valued customers, I was going to receive an upgrade of some kind to my service at no cost to me. I pay $31.95/month for 256K service. Also, there was no need to contact Cox. A conversion package would be sent to me in late May.

Then I received the following e-mail. Again, I've capitalized some text for emphasis:

April 30, 2003

"We sent you a letter on April 7, 2003 letting you now that we will be discontinuing the 256k level of service. We have notice that you have not yet converted to one of our available service levels. In order to insure that you do not have a disruption in service we are extending the April 28, 2003 cut off date to May 5, 2003.

"Because you already have cable modem service installed, the process of converting you to a new service level is quick and simple and can be handled in just one brief phone call. Please make sure you contact us by May 5, 2003 or your current service will be terminated.

"Customer Care representatives are standing by at 967-3564 to review your High Speed Internet service options with you.

"Thank you for allowing us to be your High Speed Internet provider!"

This was a shock! I had received NO notification of any kind about discontinuation of my 256K service. Also, Cox had established an April 28 cut-off date that was news to me (the letter I received said there was no need to call at this time!---see above). This e-mail was in direct contradiction to the letter I received. But it wasn't until I made the phone call that I learned that it was far, far worse than that!

I called Cox Communications On May 2, 2003, and here's what I found out. Cox had discontinued the 256K service, as the e-mail had said. It's also true that the letter did not mention the 256K, but only the 128K, 1.5MB, and 3.0MB (however, the letter did not mention anything about cancellations). So I had two main options. (1) Opt for one of the three service connections (128K, 1.5MB, or 3.0MB), or (2) Discontinue my service. Well, I figured the upgrade to my service was going to be the 1.5MB. After all, according to their letter, I was going to get an upgrade at no price increase. But I should have suspected Cox was lying about everything. I was not getting an upgrade, and it was going to cost me more money, even if I downgraded!

Remember, my current connection is 256K at $31.95. So, putting aside the 3.0MB, I had two service connection options. Cut my speed connection in half, i.e., to 128K, and pay a price increase of $8/month to $40/month. Or increase my speed connection to 1.5MB and increase my bill by $18/month to $50/month.

I argued with these people for over an hour, and even spoke to the Assistant Supervisor. How does an "offer" like this make me a valued customer? How does this agree with the letter that said I was getting an "upgrade," not a "rip-off" to my service? How can this "offer" possibly agree with "no price increase associated with this new service upgrade?" And how can the e-mail state that I'd been notified of price increases when I never received any such letter?

Cox assured me I would be happy with the new plan. Hello? Why would I be happy to pay $8/month more for half the connection speed? This is how the company is getting "great reviews?"

I ethically refuse to pay 25% more for half the service. And at this time, I cannot afford to pay $50/month. I wrote Cox an e-mail and signed it "Future Ex-Customer." Unfortunately, I do not have a phone line, and so I really don't have any Internet connection options outside Cox.

In my view, here is what Cox's line of reasoning was:

"Okay, folks, we need to make more money. And we're not going to do the usual small price increase thing. We need to boost income significantly. Most of our high speed internet customers have settled in at 256K. Let's eliminate that. We can offer 128K so it looks like they have a choice, but we'll price it to within $10 of a much higher internet speed, 1.5MB. Nobody's stupid enough to pay 25% more money for half the connection speed, so our customers will think it's a "bargain" to get 1.5MB, more than 10 times that speed, for only $10 more. The result, my friends is that we will be pushing all of our $31.95/month customers to $50/month, and that means an $18/month per customer increase in revenue for our company. Oh, and it will give us an opportunity to twist the arms of those people who don't have cable TV, because we can offer a discount coupon on their first month's cable TV package! Our customers are hooked on cable, and now we can screw them royally! What a deal!"

I don't know if or when they'll cut my internet service. I need to keep it, but I'm outraged by their greedy tactics to suck money out of my pocketbook. We need to do something about this!

David E.

Las Vegas, Nevada
U.S.A.

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