Cox Sees Your Double Payment, Raises You A Double Bill
Tamera accidentally paid her $134.61 Cox Cable bill twice, but instead of refunding or acknowledging the overpayment, Cox thought it would be fun to send Tamera an extra bill for $269. If she's lucky, Cox says they'll consider waiving their late fee.
Tamera writes:
I'm writing to tell you about my maddening odyssey with Cox Cable. Early in May, 2009, I authorized a payment to them through my bank's online bill pay service for $134.61. My husband has had his hours cut at work and we're squeaking by. We can pay our bills but since I have my priorities in order (rent, food, utilities, medical, car note, THEN extras such as cable) I scheduled it for the 18th of May, knowing the payment would be a few days late. Still it would be less than 10 days late and Cox is "usually" flexible as long as you're paid up by the time the next bill cuts. Since the hubby got a few hours overtime I changed their pay date last minute to 5/15. The payment posted that day and we wound up being less than a week overdue in the end.The following Monday, 5/18 I found the bill pay program hadn't cancelled the original payment scheduled for 5/18 and therefore Cox Cable was paid twice, once on the 15th and again on the 18th for the same amount. I quickly contacted the bank, they explained it was a computer glitch and that since Cox had already accepted the 2nd transfer they couldn't reverse it. To my surprise they have reversed ALL overdraft fees and freely admitted it was THEIR error NOT mine! They advised me to contact Cox, explain the situation and request a reversal.
I called Cox (the computer menu told me on Monday 5/18 I had a $0 balance) The 1st CSR I spoke with at Cox suggested they may not be willing to refund the overpayment since I had been late with the initial payment. I pointed out that we were now current and there was no amount currently due. When she suggested we just let them keep it for next month I asked her what I should tell the power company, for whom the funds from the overpayment had been earmarked, and what made her think cable television was a higher priority than electricity in our lives (and reminded her the cable didn't work if we didn't have electricity). She agreed to have a refund check available to pick up at the accounting office within 48 hours. She promised to call the following day with an update. Yeah, sure.
Wednesday came and not having heard from her I paid a visit to the local branch office. The young man was very confused. I had a $0 balance he said. I explained the situation to him. He went in the back to "see if the check was there". Of course there wasn't. He then typed copious notes into his computer and swore he'd let me know what he found out. Surprisingly, he did call back but we were out so he left a voice mail. He said we needed to bring in a print out from the bank showing the balances before and after BOTH transactions (WTF??) and they would go from there. I have no idea why but I still complied the following day. They got the print outs, AND a letter from the branch manager stating it was THEIR computer glitch that caused the double payment, that I had NOT authorized them !to receive 2 payments and suggesting they refund the 2nd. This time, the woman I saw said it was noted the payment WAS noted as due to be refunded but she didn't know in what form. I had been told A) they can't refund back to a checking account, only a credit card B) they can write a check and it can be picked up locally C) They can write a check and it CAN'T be picked it, it must be mailed from KY and D) Of course they can credit it back to my checking account. This woman swore she'd contact me by close of business that day with an update. Yeah, sure.
On Thursday I received an E-Bill for the EXACT amount of the overpayment, due on the 28th. And my payment on the 15th had NOT been credited. They now insist I have a past due balance AND a bill due. A week ago I owed NOTHING. Today, I owe $269! I lost my temper on the phone with the CSR and told them it was out and out theft and that if the situation were reversed I'd be hounded day and night, maybe even sitting in jail on fraud charges. Since when did the law start applying only to us and not to the entities we do business with?
If I'm lucky, they'll just finally get around to crediting all of it to my account and waiving the late fee for the 2nd payment "as a courtesy". Isn't it time we started demanding more choices and more competition for cable companies?
Tamera later added:
Each time I contact them I get a different CSR who promises to "look in to the matter and get back to me". You can guess how that works out. The last time I accessed my account online (5/28, the date the current bill is due) it still showed a past due amount of $134.61 for April and no credit for the current bill from the overpayment. I haven't seen a refund either. Paper or electronic. Obviously they haven't received a dime from me for this month but curiously, I received no E-bill this month either. At this point I plan to walk in to the Cox main office tomorrow morning and will not leave without either a credit to my bill for BOTH payments in writing and waiver of late fees or a police escort. If that should fail, the next step is opening a fraud dispute through my bank's online bill pay service. My branch manager, having made calls to Cox on my behalf himself, is ready to fully cooperate in the investigation. Imagine that. You really have to suck to piss the bank off that much with your crappy customer service!
If a visit to the local office doesn't clear things up, call Cox's executive office and ask someone with actual power and hopefully common sense to take a stab at the problem. Also, since times are tough, it doesn't hurt to threaten to cancel your services entirely if they can't cut your bill below $100.
(Photo: star5112)
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Comments:
Actually just call and cancel, cable or satellite isn't worth it anyway.
Not saying for certain that this applies to the situation, but...
I always get messed up when companies show a negative balance with parenthesis instead of a negative symbol. I know it's an accounting norm, but it throws me (and I assume others) for a loop.
The first time I ever encountered it as a younger man, I kept paying the amount in parenthesis until I finally realized I was building up quite the credit.
DOWN WITH PARENTHESIS!!!
It was complicated but it sounds like COX backed-out BOTH payments - or they're just insane in the brain. Show of hands?
I don't know of ANY company's accounting system that would be confused by two payments for the same amount in the same period.
@Inglix_the_Mad: Who are you to say what is worth it to other people. Some would say high speed internet is not worth it, or a car beyond a yugo is unnecessary. Either comment on the story or shut the hell up
@Julius Seizure: Well, even if they did that, it should be showing a due balance of $134, not $269. The only way to have $269 due is if they don't post either of the received payments to the account, and then back out both of the things they claim not to have received. Which is insane, but we are talking about cable companies here.
"AND a letter from the branch manager stating it was THEIR computer glitch that caused the double payment"
This is the bank's fault. Tell the bank to refund your money and let them deal with Cox. Then, find a new bank AND a new source of television.
@MikeF74:
Parantheses is plural. Parnethesis is singular. I know it's not really relevant, but I'd hate to have you going through life using the wrong word all the time.
@oneliketadow:
The bank isn't going to be able to get Cox to stop being dumbasses. Relying on other people to fix your problems is a recipe for disaster. If you want something done right, do it yourself.
If you're barely squeaking by, a $134.61 cable bill is a pretty big luxury. That's about half of my grocery bill for the month.
If Cox has a stranglehold on your area, then cancel and switch to the library. You can get entertainment on DVD (or paper) for every member of the family. You can use the internet. You can even get local and national newspapers and magazines, all for free.
At least then, you'll be able to pay your electric bill or put something into savings.
@gaywolverine: @gaywolverine: @jackbishop: If they backed out both payments it is entirely possible to end up this way. She already said her payment was late. The next bill could easily have hit.
Cox definitely hosed this one up something fierce, but here's a weird thing I noticed about the dates in this whole fiasco - it seems based on the info in the post that the OP has multiple due dates per month with Cox?
She scheduled a payment for the regular bill amount for 5/18, which she said would be late, but not 10 days late. So that means the due date is sometime between 5/8 and 5/17. Then she got another e-bill with a due date of 5/28 for the double amount.
Maybe it's just because Cox thinks she never paid the previous bill. I'd have to find a different provider if the billing cycles caused me to get multiple bills a month.
This is why me no do automatic withdrawals.
I honestly did a similar same thing with Comcast. My payment was due 5/16 and I have it to automatically withdraw from bank because I'd forget otherwise. I checked PNC on 5/17 and no payment was authorized so I immediately went to Comcast's site and paid the bill, hoping it wasn't too late to pay without getting a late fee.
Long story short, my June bill showed I had paid twice (5/16) and (5/17), it just wasn't posted to my accounts yet until the following Monday and I didn't own anything as basically the second payment put my balance at ($70) and since my bill didn't change in amount, I had the exact amount in credit as the bill so my paper statement said no money owed.
@Cant_stop_the_rock: I had so many nightmares with this kind of thing when I worked as a Sprint CSR. First, it took I believe a full billing cycle to cancel autopay. So if you had autopay set up and for some reason you decided to pay early and then cancelled the auto-pay, you'd end up paying twice for the month since the Autopay took so long to cancel (funny how it takes only minutes to set up and an ENTIRE MONTH to cancel, hmmm....)
Secondly let's say you have a balance of $60 and you accidentally pay us $120 that was meant for a different bill or something. You will only be able to recover $60 of the $120 if you so choose. Our system did provide a means of refunding an OVERpayment, but we had no way to simply reverse a payment in full. My own supervisor told me this. We can only refund the extra, once the due amount is paid, there's no way to reverse it.
And on another issue, in order to get an overpayment fixed through Sprint the CSR had to open a case, in which they basically filled out a report and sent it off to some mystery department which could NOT be contacted by any means (e-mail, phone, etc.) and told the customer to expect a resolution within 72 hours.
How many times do you think it took longer than 72 hours? Way too fricking many to count. It was common for cases to take a WEEK or longer (On several occasions I saw one that had been in the system for over a MONTH). You were lucky enough if you called back and there actually had been a case filed for you, many reps would say they were going to do it and then magically not do it.
AND what do you think is the only thing a CSR or Supervisor could do if you complained about the delay in resolution? If you guessed "open another case and give you a 72 hour turnaround time" you win todays prize.
That's ALL WE COULD DO. Seriously, there was a finance department, but they were called collections for a good reason. They principally dealt only with past due/unpaid accounts. They weren't any help with a refund case.
I wouldn't be surprised if Cox had some similarly stupid and convoluted system in place that's making it uber difficult for the OP to get her money back.
@lincolnparadox: I was trying to think of a way to say what you said without blaming the OP -- I think you struck a nice balance.
Protestations about having priorities in order aside, if you're strategically late with you bills so that you can pay them, you may want to make some changes to get your output more in line with your input.
I would suggest trying out a Netflix account. They have some good shows online and a whole bunch of movies that you can order on DVD. Also, get a set of cables that you can use to connect your laptop to your TV to stream the online/media player content to your TV. If you don't mind waiting a day or so to watch some shows then Hulu is a great place for lots of shows too. Also, consider getting a digital-to-analog converter for your TV (if it is the old analog one) to watch local and free-to-air channels. I don't have cable and don't miss it :)
hilarity in the article title
I cancelled my Time Warner service last year in June. They sent me a final statement showing a $0.71 credit. I called and asked when I could expect my refund check, "It will be sent out automatically" I was told. After 30 days I called again, asking when I could expect my check? This went on for six more months. I called every 30 days, each time I called the CSR would agree with me that Time Warner would have put me in collection if the situation had been reversed. It wasn't about the money, it was the principle. I finally received my check this past February, after which I called again and reminded them of my many years as a customer, how I paid my bill on time each month and that because of the poor treatment I received when the roles were reversed, I would never do business with them again. I framed a copy of the check, hung it over my desk and I smile each time I look at it.
@gaywolverine: Who are you to tell someone that they're not allowed to express their opinion? Either post something constructive or shut the hell up yourself.
@lincolnparadox: 'You can get entertainment on DVD'
Not in my local library system you can't. No DVDs, no CDs, no VHS tapes -- and even fewer books, since three branches are being closed due to budget cuts.
$134.00 for a cable bill and the person is that pressed for money to pay the electric bill? Wow. If I were that pressed for money, I wouldn't have such expensive cable.
We payed $40 a month for satellite and pay $55.00 a month now for digital cable. I can't imagine what would be worth $134.00 a month.
As far as the bill goes, I would cancel and find something cheaper so you won't have so much trouble paying your bills. We had Direct TV for years and loved it. They are a stellar company with excellent customer service.
$135?! A month?! $1,620 a year?! Jeezus!
Out of curiosity, is this the norm? Anyone have anything more than this?
@Trai_Dep: I have Cox phone, internet, and cable, and my bill is more than this actually (I have HD DVR's and 2 movie channels). Cox is the only option where I live, and they SUCK.
I would consider switching to satellite, but I'd still need Cox for internet. There are no plans to get any other ISP in my area...the state is subsidizing other counties in the immediate area, but decided not to bother here because we have Cox :(
@Cant_stop_the_rock:
Parantheses != Parentheses
Parnethesis != Parenthesis
I'd hate for you to have to go through life using the wrong spellings.
@oneliketadow: I'm with you on this. It's the bank's fault and they should refund you the money, then THEY can deal with Cox.
@TBT: Do they have DSL down there?
Mine (fair disclosure) is $14/mo for DSL, I used OTA (free, and higher rez than cable or satellite) and DVDs or BT (mainly TV shows I can't get here, and ABC, which for some odd reason, I can't get OTA in HDTV).
So, I suppose if I tossed a Netflix, add $20, or likewise vid rentals for $25/mo.
Even then $14 + $25 is a lot better than some of the quotes I see above.
It's odd that they're subsidizing other counties but not yours. THAT must annoy.
Hi Tamara- I work for Cox and am happy to personally help you- please email me at kathryn.falk@cox.com
@Cant_stop_the_rock: What do you mean? OP tried, rather valiantly, to fix the problem herself. Did you read about her odyssey, including two visits and numerous phone calls to the cable company? Did you read about how she complied with the cable company's requests for additional materials such as her bank statements showing her balances on given dates, even though there's no reason she should disclose her bank balance to the cable company? Do you understand that the next action she plans is to make yet a third visit, herself, to the cable company's offices, to try to straighten this out in person?
Since you seem to have so many answers at your fingertips, young grasshopper, not to mention impackable speling and grammer as we've seen from your first post today, chastising an older (by his own admission) poster for incorrect use of singular vs. plural, please do kindly tell us what you suggest OP should do to, as you say, get something done right by doing it herself.
@Dave:
Oh jeez, I was trying too hard to not screw up the italics tags that I didn't notice my typos. Surely though, you can recognize the difference between a typo and a spelling mistake, right?
@Kimberly Gist-Collins: They obviously can barely pay their bill AND opted for the higher end package since my cable w/ HD and DVR, plus internet is only $77. Of course, this is one of the special offers, but if they decided to charge me full price, you better believe I'll be telling them to give me another deal or I'll be on satellite.
I find it pretty insane to spend $134 on cable/internet a month, but I also find it pretty irresponsible to spend that much when you barely have enough to pay your electric bill. Sure, yell at me for talking bad about the OP, but seriously, if you have to intentionally pay late and can barely afford it when you do, then you're just not being very responsible for your money.
If they can't get a better deal, then leave and get satellite. If that's still pushing the budget, then just get netflix and a $100 Roku box. Worst case scenario, just use Hulu for the time being. That way, you can pay your bills more reliably, have entertainment, and you should hopefully have money to throw into savings until your financial situation improves.
@lincolnparadox: Cox is at fault but I do agree with the previous posters, $134 for cable without an income is a bit much. I'm squeaking by and Im on basic cable for less than $30 a month.
@Trai_Dep: I pay about this much from Time Warner. However, my bill is split with my two apartment-mates, so I really wind up paying about $40 a month. If I lived alone, I would certainly downgrade to basic cable.
It shouldn't take a complaint to the Consumerist to get finally get some help from these sharks.
@Trai_Dep: Our Comcast cable & internet package comes to about $120 a month, and the only add-ons we have are the cheapo HD tier (+$7), an HD-DVR in one room ($5 I think) and a second box in the bedroom (+ $4? I can't remember).
FWIW, when I lived in Manhattan Time Warner charged about $135 a month for the same services.
Ah, isn't life under a monopoly grand?
@Trai_Dep: In Southern California, with Time Warner, I pay about $125 a month, but that's one level above basic cable, and it includes internet.
@Trai_Dep: It really depends on where you live, which company has the monopoly over your area, and how much they think they can suck out of the local market. In NC, I had digital cable + HD + DVR + internet for about $120 from Time Warner. Moved to SC, just the equivalent TV package, no internet, was going to be about $130 from Comcast, with another $50 or so if we wanted internet. Didn't want to pay that much, and really didn't want anything to do with Comcast here. Ended up going with DirecTV and DSL from the phone company for about $110 combined, even less now that we've gotten a couple of DirecTV's refer a friend credits.
What I find funny is that people assume cable companies have a monopoly in an area .... they don't you always have options. directv, dish, fios, u-verse ...
And [I] will not leave without either a credit to my bill for BOTH payments in writing and waiver of late fees or a police escort.
If I had to place money on which is more likely, I'd go with the police escort. I'm just saying. I know it's frustrating, but if the OP plays that hand, she's going to lose. It's not worth getting arrested over, since that will only create more problems.
Take a stress pill and think things over.
@lincolnparadox:
I agree with you. $135 -- WOW. Either get a better deal out of them or find something to do other than watch TV. It's summer -- go for a walk, play in the park, something. It's NOT the OP's fault that the bank and Cox are screwups, but if just one instance of double-billing sends your checking account into overdraft, it's time to start cutting expenses. Cable TV should be the first thing to go (or at least cut back to the very basic package), along with cell phone extras like mobile interweb, text messaging... maybe even the entire cell phone. Cut back to the most basic home internet plan, or even cancel altogether if possible. Those things could save over $200 a month, or over $2,500 per year.
@Inglix_the_Mad: Yah I agree. I have been without Cable for 2 years now. I was using Joost and now I have good ol Hulu!! =)
@Joeb5:
Basic home phone + basic DSL + OTA TV = <$50/month where I live = $84/month savings. That should be enough to pay most or all of the electric bill.
Just call and cancel. Say you're going to satellite. They'll fix it post haste.