Cox Calls Internet Outage ‘One-Shot Deal’

» One shot wrote on 11.19.08 @ 08:11 PM

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

» Vonage Customer wrote on 11.19.08 @ 09:27 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.

» Residential customer wrote on 11.20.08 @ 04:26 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?

» timeless wrote on 11.20.08 @ 05:49 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!

» David S. Dvorak wrote on 11.20.08 @ 06:14 AM

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

» David S. Dvorak wrote on 11.20.08 @ 06:21 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.

» Lucky 13 wrote on 11.20.08 @ 08:09 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.

» Cox HD is a joke wrote on 11.20.08 @ 10:08 AM

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

» Jay Ballou wrote on 11.20.08 @ 11:42 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.

» Robert C. Meltzer wrote on 11.20.08 @ 02:11 PM

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

» Disappointed in Carpinteria wrote on 11.20.08 @ 03:23 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.

» rms wrote on 11.20.08 @ 10:38 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.

» Robert C. Meltzer wrote on 11.21.08 @ 07:53 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.

» treedom wrote on 11.21.08 @ 09:43 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.

» Linda Perry wrote on 11.26.08 @ 10:00 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.