Cox vs. Verizon service? (Annandale, Falls Church: taxes, live, costs)

[agreeableone]

Originally Posted by garfigator

Can anyone tell me which company is better for the bundle package service(phone, internet, tv) in centreville, va.?

I've used Cox since it landed the cable contract in Fairfax County and started servicing my neighborhood, Oak Hill (fifteen years ago, I guess.) I have the bundled Internet, Phone, and TV services and find them to be excellent.

Of course, I now find them to be too expensive. I've been sorely tempted to dump Cox and get Direct TV or even Verizon for awhile to get the extra cash in my pocket. However, I hesitate changing for the sake of somebodies introductory tease offer. Cox should come out with a new LONG-TIME user offer like the first year's offer. [Hey Cox, are you reading this?]

During the last few years I feel that COX has done an excellent job at keeping up with new technology and maintaining their service. You will receive everything that Verizon is offering and maybe more.

The phone is the least important to me, but that is the least expensive of the bundled services, so I am not about to change. It would be nice if COX introduced wireless phone services for iPhones and gave me a big discount. AT&T is excellent, but I could use the extra money, if Cox is a good. [hint, hint, to Cox]

[Jesco White]

I've had both (Cox and now Fios). Both charge a lot, but I think Verizon offers more for about the same price. Additionally, the Menu, Interface and general GUI of Fios absolutely blows away Cox. On-Demand is better, I have more HD options, and more premium channels available in HD. Fios also allows me to stream from my computer to any box, which is nice.

My bonus is that Cox is an uber conservative company founded by a bunch of religious wingnuts, which I prefer not to support. I know Verizon isn't looking out for me, but at least I know they aren't coming from where Cox does.

[car54]

Originally Posted by agreeableone

I've used Cox since it landed the cable contract in Fairfax County and started servicing my neighborhood, Oak Hill (fifteen years ago, I guess.)...

Actually, a company named Media General landed the original cable TV contract in Fairfax County....in the late 70's or early 80's. Cox bought the cable operation from Media General about 10 years ago.

[sdcfsdf]

I had Verizon; it is the worst provider one could choose. Verizon's billing is downright extortion, they bill and charge for services never authorized by customers. Google NEWS Verizon billing; they are being investigated for fraud +double billing.

[MSUdom5]

Originally Posted by sdcfsdf

I had Verizon; it is the worst provider one could choose. Verizon's billing is downright extortion, they bill and charge for services never authorized by customers.

I have to agree.

I moved to a new house down the street, literally about 300 yards from my old house. The new house already had FiOS equipment installed. To transfer service, the Verizon guy came by, plugged in my DVR, twiddled his fingers, and was done. Took him 10 minutes. Everything was fine until I got my bill. They charged me an installation fee ($199 spread over 3 billing periods), and my bundled package was $100 more expensive. I was furious.

I called Verizon, trying very hard to keep my cool, and asked them why I was charged an installation fee for transfer of service and why my service was $100 higher. They admitted that the installation fee was a mistake, and corrected it. However, they told me that my service was higher because the same bundled package I was getting at my old house was not available at my new location. I reminded them that I only moved a few football fields away. To that he responded that he was sorry, but that's how much my bundle now costs. I told him I wanted to cancel my service, and he transferred me to someone else, I'm assuming in the retention department.

The retention department is much nicer. They asked how they could keep me as a customer. I told them to give me the same bundled service at the same price I was paying before. All of a sudden, they discovered a "special package" in my "new location" which offered better perks and was less expensive (by $5) than my previous monthly rate. AND, for my troubles, they would offer me free HBO and Cinemax for 3 months. I asked if I'd automatically be charged after 3 months, and they said no. Of course, under their breath they muttered that I'd have to sign a new 2-year commitment to get this fantastic deal. Fine.

Next month's bill charged the second installment of the installation charge. I called, kept my cool again, was apologized to and ensured that the problem would be corrected this time. The next two months bills were fine.

Within the first month of our free HBO and Cinemax, we grew tired of it. Same movies over and over again, and at night, the very awkward family moments when accidentally channel surfing over on an adult film. By the second month, we had forgotten about our "free" channels.

I pay my bill automatically by credit card. I went a couple months without checking my bill. Big mistake. I happened to check it a couple of weeks ago, and lo and behold, I'm being charged $35 a month for HBO and Cinemax. I called, unable to keep my cool this time, and demanded a credit. They agreed. We'll see if I actually get it.

Their billing policy seems to be one of, "Charge now and ask for forgiveness later." I wonder how many people don't check their bill and are paying for unauthorized charged. The problem is that the actual services Verizon offers are fantastic. You can't beat FiOS in my opinion. But their billing practices are abysmal and probably illegal.

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

FIOS product is much better, Cox customer service is much better.

This is true. I've had both(currently have Fios) and can say Fios internet is VASTLY superior to Cox. I would give Fios the edge on tv as well since it's more reliable and they get the NFL channel and Cox didn't, at least not when I had it years ago. Fios customer service does leave alot to be desired though.

[car54]

I switched to FiOS from Cox a couple years ago...signed a 2-year agreement on a phone/tv/internet bundle. The ONLY edge I give FiOS is that it's more reliable than Cox was (is?)...I haven't had a single outage that I'm aware of. (disclaimer: I'm NOT a tv connoisseur...the only flat screen I own is on my boat...the rest are old CRTs). I can't see where the internet is the slightest bit faster than Cox, if it's as fast.

But, I was saving a little money with FiOS, so I was happy....UNTIL the 2 year contract was about to expire. One night my wife asked, "what happened to such and such a channel, it's gone" (a non-premium channel that's included on all basic cable). So I started surfing around and Speed Channel was gone too!

So, I called the buggers and they told me that those channels are no longer included in my bundle. To get them back, I have to sign a new one-year contract....for 5 bucks more a month! Is it a co-incidence that two channels that we watch just happened to be dropped from our bundle? I think not! If they had taken off the Spanish Shopping Channel...or any of a couple hundred other channels, we wouldn't have even noticed. I think it was a stunt to get us to renew the contract and accept a rate increase.

If they do it again next time, I'm GONE!

Anybody else have this happen?

[ReblTeen84]

I've had both. Cox while living with the grandparents in college, FiOS in the townhouse for me and the wife. I honestly had zero problems with Cox internet and it was fairly quick for the time (early 2000s). However, no comparison to FiOS. Picture quality is fantastic, speed is literally through the roof and the phone is, well, a phone. My wife and I can both be streaming music or movies, downloading, surfing the web plus running netflix (yes, i've tried this just to see if it bogs) on one of the TVs elsewhere and theres no slowdown. Verizon cust support isn't bad, at least not for me, but others are not playing when they say it's a 45 minute call.

[rkenning]

Here are my observations of Cox and Verizon service in Northern Virginia.

Regarding customer support in Fairfax, VA, I'd say both are fairly even and provide adequate response.

Regarding quality, Internet outages with Cox were annoying as you did not get any warning. However, most of them happened during the day and lasted less than an hour. As best I can recall, they occurred about three times this past year.

Cox sent me reminders that I was exceeding their 200 gig per month limit as my Apple TVs consume quite a bit in HD quality mode. However, they never charged me more. Verizon states they do not put a cap on usage. Overall, my 50/25 Mbps service is great. However, I did not have any problems with my Cox 30/15 Mbps service.

Cox without set top boxes is superior. Any digital TV tuner can get HD quality TV. You do not have that option with Verizon unless your TV is cable ready. No matter what, there is always an extra charge for a device (box, sd adapter, cable ready card) that you rent from Verizon to access their channels. However, I like the cable ready option at about $4/month. Unfortunately, I do not have any cable ready TVs. Granted, you get less channels without a set top box.

Verizon will not allow you to have Internet service only and requires you to pay for TV service with at least one set top box. They make you think you're saving money by bundling local phone service. But, comparing prices it is negligible with our without phone service. Cox allows you to have only Internet service if you wish. For the most part, as consumers we should insist that Verizon NOT force us to use a set-top-box.

The Verizon set-top-box response using up/down hours is extremely annoying using the remote. Cox set top boxes I used about two years ago were slow in response too. Neither box Cox or Verizon provides is worth it when you have such wonderful devices out there such as Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Boxee. Ideally, I'd prefer no TV or phone service from Cox or Verizon. That is actually an option with Cox but not with Verizon.

Although providers such as Cox and Verizon will will expend huge resources to slow its growth, in the long run, Internet only service will provide all we will ever need as it is a complete waste of time to channel surf.

[farplaner]

Originally Posted by rkenning

Verizon will not allow you to have Internet service only and requires you to pay for TV service with at least one set top box.

This is absolutely not true. In fact you can look at their sign up page and they have pricing for internet only service:

Fastest Internet Plans | FiOS Quantum Internet | Verizon