By Kate Callen
When I felt stuck in a fractured romance just after college, a wise friend told me: If you walk out now, tomorrow is a new day. If you stay, tomorrow is the same day.
I want tomorrow to be a new day. That’s why I’m breaking up with Cox Communications.
Doomed affairs often languish until one final transgression breaks the glass. For legions of Cox customers in San Diego, that break may have come with the wholesale dumping of Cox email accounts into unwanted Yahoo email accounts.
Looking back, the early days with Cox were great. All our needs for connectivity were covered. We could call anytime we needed help.
That ended decades ago. Cox now gaslights its customers. “Refurbished” cable boxes need constant rebooting. Internet service is erratic. Monthly bills are bloated
with itemized fees that resemble hieroglyphics.
But the coerced “transition” from Cox to Yahoo email has become a bridge too far.
In 2019, Cox announced it would no longer offer new email accounts. This made Cox customers uneasy. But we figured we had a commitment. Email is a lifeline to family, friends, business associates. We didn’t think Cox would drop the email accounts of loyal customers with full-package services.
We were right about that. Bad boyfriends don’t leave; they string you along. They count on the “the sunk cost fallacy”: You’ve invested too many years in me to throw this away and start over.
Cox said it would honor its commitment to us but… We would have to navigate a twisted entry into the notoriously bad Yahoo Email. How bad? In a Trustpilot survey, 74 percent of Yahoo Email customers gave it an abysmal 1-star rating.
I struggled for days to make the switch. I received no help from the Cox service rep in the overseas call center. She told me to visit a local Cox store. I received no help from the counter guy at the Hillcrest Cox store. He said, “We don’t do troubleshooting. We just do sales.”
My hybrid Cox/Yahoo account is clunky. It keeps freezing up, and it’s jammed with ads; some pop up as emails and can’t be deleted. Meanwhile, the dead Outlook icon for my Cox email lingers on my desktop like the ghost of happier times.
When I decided to ditch my long-ago boyfriend, I was methodical. I lined up a new apartment and a new phone number before I pulled the plug. I’m being just as careful with this exit. I’m asking all my Cox contacts to use my Gmail account instead. I’m studying up on local Internet providers. I’m checking out Dish and DirectTV.
This transition will take time and patience. And it will involve risk. What if the next company is worse?
I’m okay with risk. I’m not okay with dysfunction and disrespect. I’ve finally had it with the devil I know. Sorry, Cox, but it’s time to move on.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Doesn’t matter the provider, you’re always fighting the cost hikes, and bad service despite the claims. But yeah, one day when my wife was on the phone negotiating Cox again, after being thanked for being a 26 years customer, she had said we’d be looking for another alternative since they didn’t want to negotiate, and the guy ended our service right then and there, everything, bam, flipped the switch and we were dead. It took hours and apologies from Cox to get us running again, but we did leave. Another improvement to people that just costs more and more.
For this very important topic, keep us all informed. I would like to send an email. As a complication, there is occasionally an attachment. I do not want the service to decide what conversation it is part of. I want it to look like outlook. What to do? Tell us!
For e-mail I went to Hushmail a decade ago. I’ve had no problems with
the company or my e-mail account. It’s about $35/year & based in Canada.
Check it out.
I despise Cox for doing this.
An update: This OB Rag post prompted a call from Gary, a lovely man in the Cox “Executive Resolutions Center.” Gary was hoping Cox might find a way to keep my business after 30+ years. I thanked him but said I’m already gone. He explained that too many Cox customers with free email accounts weren’t using them. Maybe so. But why not offer the option of paying for something we value? I would have gladly paid to keep my Cox email.
It’s fairly easy to sign up with other cable TV and Internet providers. Rates are competitive, so the switch will save me money. And I already had a Gmail account; I just have to send out change-of-address notifications.
Nostalgic, I found a way to connect my Gmail account to Microsoft Outlook. This will help enormously with the notifications because Outlook still has all my old Cox email contacts. Best of luck.
And special thanks to Frank Gormlie for printing a reader’s rant that spurred a corporation to reach out to me.