Cox Calls Internet Outage ‘One-Shot Deal’

All 47,000 customers were offline for at least six hours, but much longer disruptions are reported.

By Noozhawk Staff | Published on 11.19.2008

  • E-mail
  • Print this page Print
  • Post | View Comments (29)
    • Share
 

All of Cox Communications’ South Coast Internet customers experienced a “planned outage” for several hours late Tuesday and Wednesday, but a company spokesman said there shouldn’t be a need for such a long outage to happen again.

David Edelman, Cox’s vice president for public affairs, said the company did not feel the need to give advance warning to its customers about the outage because the work was done during its “maintenance window,” which is generally from midnight to 6 a.m. In fact, Cox’s service went down just after 11 p.m. Tuesday and, as late as 6 p.m. Wednesday, Noozhawk was receiving reports from Cox customers of continued outages.

Edelman said the aim of the work was to increase bandwidth and, ultimately, Internet speed. He added that all customers should be able to notice the difference by sometime in December.

Edelman said Wednesday’s upgrade shut off Internet service to all of Cox’s 47,000 customers from Carpinteria to Goleta. He said the service went down for everyone simultaneously, but was turned back on gradually.

He said most people were back up and running by 5 a.m., with some exceptions. For instance, Edelman said there were pockets of customers in Montecito and Carpinteria who remained offline after 5 a.m., as well as other customers scattered throughout the South Coast. He said he did not know how many customers remained offline after 5 a.m.

Edelman said the scope of Wednesday morning’s upgrade was rare.

“This was really a once-in-a-lifetime switchover that we needed to do,” he said. “This is a one-shot deal.”

He added that on Wednesday, Cox responded to numerous complaints, and occasionally had to send service workers to people’s homes and offices to get their computers back online.

Comments

Noozhawk's comments are moderated, but by posting here you accept your responsibility to follow our rules as part of Noozhawk's shared online community. Please keep your comments civil and helpful. Don't attack other readers personally, and do not use vulgar, abusive or discriminatory language. Use the "Report Abuse" link if a comment violates these standards or our Terms of Use.

You must be a registered user to comment. Create a user account

Log in




Auto-login on future visits

Forgot your password?

» One shot on 11.19.08 @ 07:11 PM

I’ve given Cox way too many shots. Today I pulled the trigger and signed up for Verizon DSL.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Sick of Cox on 11.19.08 @ 08:24 PM

What are they going to do to compensate us for this failure? While I still have Cox internet, I did change to DirecTV two weeks ago and love it. I encourage all of you to make the change.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Vonage Customer on 11.19.08 @ 08:27 PM

They saw no reason to warn us. I use Vonage and was without phone service. Are Cox and Edelman really that clueless? That’s why people are leaving Cox in droves.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Customer service on 11.20.08 @ 01:25 AM

Why did the technical support persons (when the line was not busy) not inform customers that the outage was planned by Cox? They were deceptive in claiming that Cox was not aware of cause of problem or any estimated time to fix.  Why did the technical support persons continue to report that service outage was in the entire Santa Barbara area during the afternoon? Was Cox phone service out? One did suggest that a “billing adjustment” was planned based upon the lack of internet service but did not know how it would be carried out.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Residential customer on 11.20.08 @ 03:26 AM

No advanced warning is unacceptable! I was in the “pockets of customers” without internet nor phone service until about 8 PM. was Not mentioned is those with business accounts did not lose connection. Why residential accounts and not business?

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Jan Smyth on 11.20.08 @ 03:40 AM

[Editor’s note: Why don’t you try this again without the personal attacks. Your lawyer and ours will be much happier. Thanks.]

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» timeless on 11.20.08 @ 04:49 AM

Upgrades are a necessity, and unavoidable. At least Cox is continuing their efforts to give us better high speed data speeds ( remember when we all had to endure dial up? )more HD channels, more true 100% digital services not like DISH or DTV, who have up-converted and overpriced broadcasting.
I’ll re-read this article in 30 days when we are all saying to ourselves I can’t believe how fast my new computer / internet services are!
Can’t beat the speed for the price!
Ps. I ditched the dish years ago, along with my toaster!

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Verizonless on 11.20.08 @ 04:56 AM

Hey Verizon makes changes to their services in the middle of the day, I have the same phone line to my house since the 70’s they won’t change it out for free like Cox does!
Free upgrades are a bonus, when was the last time the freeways were worked on in SB in a after hour “window”?

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» David S. Dvorak on 11.20.08 @ 05:14 AM

Cox is full of Crap! Not only were we off until 5 PM, but they kept giving conflicting reportson what was going on!

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Paul Arganbright on 11.20.08 @ 05:16 AM

And COX is in the communication business? They pull the plug on us without any warning? A friend in the Las Positas area is still without service Thurs. AM. How about they spend less on promotions and mailers trying to get us to move our phones service to Cox, too, and more on reliable internet service? Bunch of bums…

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» David S. Dvorak on 11.20.08 @ 05:21 AM

Cox is not candid. we were out until 5 PM. Most frustrating was their seeming inability to explain the problem. I went through the complete frustration of about five telephone contacts-and after the usual telephone ladder mess, received a varying explanation each time. DSL, here I come.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Robert C. Meltzer on 11.20.08 @ 05:28 AM

Cox should have notified their customers.  But their service is still way faster than Verizon for similar pricing.  And normally quite reliable.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Lucky 13 on 11.20.08 @ 07:09 AM

For those of you crying due to necessary upgrades that happened the other night, I think you have better things to worry about like the economy. With that in mind who did you call and complain to during te gap fire power outages??? keep in mind that Cox phone service was working if you had had a phone that was not on power. Also Cox has maintained a close relationship with the community along with donating thousands of dollars to local charities and helping children in our local schools by providing internet service at a fraction of the price. Unlike Dish, Verizon or Direct Tv.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Cal on 11.20.08 @ 08:59 AM

CalTrans at least puts up advisory signs days, even weeks, ahead of the start of its major road work. And they’re in the road business not the COMMUNICATIONS business.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Cox HD is a joke on 11.20.08 @ 09:08 AM

Get the Dodgers on in HD then we’ll talk. Cox’s HD line-up is pathetic.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Jay Ballou on 11.20.08 @ 10:25 AM

“David Edelman, Cox’s vice president for public affairs, said the company did not feel the need to give advance warning to its customers about the outage because the work was done during its “maintenance window,” which is generally from midnight to 6 a.m.”

What incredible BS. That’s not a reason not to give warning. There is no reason not to give warning, other than that you simply don’t care about your customers or what they think of you.

Boy am I glad that I switched to Verizon. Not that I have any love for Verizon, but Cox sucks in every possible way.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Jay Ballou on 11.20.08 @ 10:42 AM

“But their service is still way faster than Verizon for similar pricing.”

That simply isn’t true. And these people defending Cox are offering ridiculous arguments—the complaint is not about free upgrades, or upgrades in a maintenance window, it’s about no warning when they easily could have provided one—if this was really a planned outage. Such warnings are simply good business practice.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» John Q on 11.20.08 @ 11:40 AM

Screw you Cox. I give you money for a service. I expect to be notified in these instances.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Robert C. Meltzer on 11.20.08 @ 01:11 PM

Cox at 5 Megabits $42. How much for Verizon at what speed?

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» PD on 11.20.08 @ 02:17 PM

Just to clarify, business customers were not spared from Cox’s outage.  Our business was down until just before noon, and there is no doubt the outage cost us sales.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Disappointed in Carpinteria on 11.20.08 @ 02:23 PM

Cox continues to be an absolute disappointment. The frequency of disruptions of service makes me feel that we are in a 2nd world nation.
My home in Carpinteria, frequently looses coverage. My office in Santa Barbara, is frequently out as well.  My business neighbor who blew it and took their internet phone service is frequently out,  with out the ability to communicate with their customers. 

Face it folks, Cox has a near monopoly in this area.  Their reliability and their service is horrible. BUT, since it is a little faster than Verizon’s DSL.. many of us have Cox.  IF we were in Ventura County, we would have several phone and cable providers to choose from, but not here. 

The interesting thing, and the reason why I have Dish Net for Satellite TV, is that NEVER out, offers more service and options for less cost.  Just wait Cox.. once satellite internet is better, you will loose many customers.

I hope the day arrives very soon.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» monopoly on 11.20.08 @ 05:41 PM

Cox does not have a monopoly, any communications provider can come into the area and try to provide the JD POWERS AWARD winning service Cox provides year after year, nobody can match it.
Utilities throughout SB have monopolies, water, gas, electric,phone, those are monopolies Cox is not, you can put up your antenna and try to receive reception, of course you better move the mountains out of the way first
.
The different cable companies down south and up north are pothetic. We are spoiled in SB, as you can tell by the threads. Ask a co worker who comutes how there cable company is….that is the real deal!

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» rms on 11.20.08 @ 09:38 PM

All I want is some advance notice so I can plan my workdays (I work from home, usually) around the outage.  My internet was out for 19 hours, and when I called I was told it was an “unplanned outage”, and that they had no estimate for when it would be back up.  I understand the need for upgrades and the like, but I do NOT appreciate the lack of information from Cox.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Downtown SB User on 11.20.08 @ 11:35 PM

How do YOU spell Monopoly?

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Robert C. Meltzer on 11.21.08 @ 06:53 AM

Monopoly is a factual matter, not one of opinion, defined as a single provider of service.  The electric and gas companies are regulated monopolies.  But you can get TV from Cox, DirectTV, off the air, or to some extent off the Internet.  You can get Internet service from Cox, Verizon, via cellphone to some extent, or from any of many dialup services.  Cox is clearly not a monopoly.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Two Shot Deal on 11.21.08 @ 07:31 AM

The internet was out again last night (11/20/05) in the evacuation area. I thought it was a “One shot deal.”

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» treedom on 11.21.08 @ 08:43 PM

Our Cox cable internet at this house and the last one has frequently gone out for lengthy stretches at random times.  It has been out three times in the last week.

It is rare that they admit there is a service interruption, as they have done here. Note that they were not candid about the times and lengths of it, either, and denied it even existed when people called. When I’ve called to report outages in the past, they’ve offered to send a technician out at MY expense, with no guarantee of a resolution.

I am glad that they now are upgrading their system, given that it frequently fails or briefly drops to dial-up speed.

But they should give us advance warning of these outages, and prorate our bills for every hour that service is down.  That’s just basic respect.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Robert C. Meltzer on 11.22.08 @ 04:37 AM

We’re in the evac area and our service was not out at all (at least while we were not evaced).  We’ve had Cox cable for 5 years in this location and had 2, maybe 3 outages in all that time.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

» Linda Perry on 11.26.08 @ 09:00 AM

I don’t know if it’s just us, but we’re experiencing continued interruptions in service. I keep having to reboot the modem. Whatever they’ve done, it doesn’t seem like an upgrade.

You don't have permission to flag this entry.

More Local News »

Goleta Seeks Public Input on Law Enforcement Services

Participants are needed for two focus groups scheduled for Feb. 15

Goleta Woman Accused of Having Sex with Teen Boy

Sheriff's Department says victim recently came forward about 2008 relationship

Goleta Police Warn Public About Recent Home Burglaries

Witnesses report seeing a suspect going door to door in the neighborhood around Scripps Crescent Street

Approval from Santa Barbara County Supervisors the Last Step for Venoco’s New Pipeline

The board will consider an ordinance allowing the company to begin transporting oil via a pipeline that has already been built, instead of by barge

Pacific Storm Expected to Bring Rain, Wind Back to Santa Barbara County on Tuesday

Weather officials say South Coast could receive up to 1½ inches of rain with wind gusting to 30 mph

Weather: Fair 46.0º


© Malamute Ventures LLC 2007-2012 | ISSN No. 1947-6086

Web Design & Development by PixelFive