The Cox technician came out today to perform the necessary changes to fix my land line. [Editordude: please see Judi’s earlier complaints about COX.]
I had several things I wanted to have done:
(1) the modem needed to be changed;
(2) whenever someone called me with an unlisted phone number they had to dial “*82” in order to reach me. That meant that they were dialing 13 numbers to ask me a question.
(3) Somehow Cox has their own “answering machine” and it had circumvented my own answering machine. It frequently told people that I was too busy to talk to them; that the phone was disconnected; their number was blocked, etc.
When I spoke to the tech at the Cox support yesterday he (Robert) told me that the tech coming out – a day after he was really scheduled to come out – would be able to fix everything.
Ha! When “Joe” came out to the house and I began telling him the problems I was having with my land line he looked puzzled and blank. He said the work order was only to change the modem. He said he had no idea how to do the other things. Great. My frustration was reaching a level I don’t like to have. He told me that it was “Cox support” that I should be talking to.
The moment he was out of the house with the old modem in hand I called Cox support. I talked to someone at the “tier 1” level and he gave me lots of reasons and ways to fix what was wrong. I told him I was a blond and was having trouble with his explanation and he told me that I needed to talk to someone at “Tier 2”. And people – I talked to Dwayne – an intelligent, coherent individual, that, for the first time in the 20 years I have had Cox, knew what to do about the problems. It was so simple to get rid of *82; let me share it with you.
Dial *87. That’s it. Fini! It removes the *82 blockage. Now people can call me without dialing 13 numbers. Could anything be more simple? Then why did I have to talk to 7 people at Cox before this one man could tell me the remedy?
And when Cox put in their digital phone line they also put in their own answering machine. That system superseded my own machine. It was a little more complicated to remove the system, but I could do it from my computer; my iphone; and there are two apps that can be downloaded to your cell phone that will also aid in restoring the phone the way it “used to be.” In case you are interested, one app is called “Coxconnect” and the other is “Cox Voice Anywhere”.
I can hardly wait to tell my daughter about this so that from now on when I call her I won’t be told that she is too busy to talk to me; I can leave a message without “talking slowly”, and I know that she will not have to struggle through a translation that makes no sense.
I will say that Dwayne told me that in the future – and we know this is not the end of it – always ask to talk to someone on Tier 2. You might have to go through some hoops to get there, but they know more than Tier 1 techs.
It worked for me; hope it works for you.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
In case this is helpful – these codes must be standard and info on usage is present at
https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/local-long-distance/KM1052856?gsi=JwJ7GPQ8
Feature Description Turn On Turn Off
Anonymous Call Rejection Prevents anonymous calls from callers who block delivery of their Caller ID information (name and/or phone number) Dial *77 Dial *87
Call Block Prevents calls from select phone numbers and gives callers a recorded message that lets them know you’re not accepting calls currently Dial *60 Dial *80
Call Forwarding Forwards your incoming calls to another number Dial *72 or 72# Dial *73 or 73#
Call Return Redials the most recent number that called you Dial *69 Dial *89
Call Trace Traces the number of the last incoming call received, when the call warrants legal action1 Dial *57
Call Waiting Allows you to take another call without disconnecting the one you’re on by putting the first call on hold while you answer the second Dial *70
Caller ID Block Prevents your name and number from being displayed on the Caller ID of the person you’re calling Dial *67
Repeat Dialing Calls a busy number and alerts you when the line is free Dial *66 Dial *86
Speed Calling 8 Allows you to assign a one-digit code for up to 8 frequently called numbers so that they can be dialed quickly Dial 74#
Here is the info for cox
https://www.cox.com/business/support/using-anonymous-call-rejection.html
They charge an awful lot for those vertical services which most do not need or use. I saved $20/month by having them removed. They will make you think you have to have them, you do not.
Also, if you have cable and you get your phone and internet through it then you might be paying $10 plus/month for a cable modem rental fee. Go look at your bill if you are being charged rental fees then go find your modem, see what you have and find a used or refurbed one on the internet for about $40 to $100 dollars. Why would you pay $120/year for a $40 box? Ez pz to swap out and save a buttload.
After trimming my phone service to what I use and offing two rental modems I save $40/month or $480/year.
When I worked for ATT I came across an elderly customer that was still paying the grand fathered rental fee for an old rotary wall phone that they had for 50 years. Look at your bills, they are not your friends.
“They will make you think you have to have them, you do not.”
Eric. could you explain the above about vertical services on a
a landline?
I empathize with Judy’s telecommunication problem.
But there’s an old adage, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,”
meaning lured into thinking cable is the only solution.
We’ve got both, Cox (premium hbo/wired protection/dvd) & At&t (landline with
worldwide/usa calling/caller id/anon caller rejection/wired plan), both amount
to $230.00 a month, both are premium services, both provide excellent service.
Did you know we keep a ‘dial/rotary’
phone in case of black outs as the wireless landlines don’t work
in black outs.
Do regularly audit your bills and if you see no solutions then do
follow up complaints to the Calif. Public Utilities Commission.
Had to do that once/twice with AT&T
because we were paying for a call blocking services and calls
(scammers) were still getting thorough. Now, they don’t which is why
you should get your number unlisted and caller ID.
Strongly agree. That cable and landline phone should be competition,
after all there is wireless competition. So.
If you have elderly parents with landlines, please audit their bills.
Anything that us not just plain old telephone service (POTS line) is a vertical service.
Cox lets you use your own modems. You can even find them used for $15-20 on craigslist. ATT, however, requires that you rent their modem. Even if you use your own, the “rental fee” can’t be removed.
I also had an elderly relative scammed by the “phone rental” charge by AT&T. She paid $6 a month for “rental” of three phones for 25 years. So $1800 in total for basic phones worth about $30. She didn’t even have those phones anymore. People should help elderly relatives who have lived in the same house for a long time to check their phone bills for this scam which is still going on. Adding unused services to phone bills without permission is also very common.