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Cox Communications was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the company gouges customers by forcing them to rent expensive cable boxes to access premium channels they already paid for.
Lead plaintiff April Bagwell alleges in her class action lawsuit filed in Nebraska, that the cable company unfairly requires customers who subscribe to premium channels to pay rental fees for set-top boxes to access those channels, even though these customers already pay more.
The plaintiff also claims that the rental fees far exceed the cost Cox pays for the set-top boxes.
According to the complaint, the rental fee “quickly adds up to more than the cost Cox paid to purchase set-top boxes in the first place, leaving Cox with months of pure profit once the purchase price of the set-top box is fully paid off and consumers with a substantial loss.”
The class action complaint further alleges that Cox’s rental fees “have substantial adverse effects upon interstate commerce and has caused and continues to cause direct economic injury to members of the class.”
Cable companies often encrypt premium content; scrambling the program data so regular non-premium customers do not have access to the premium channels, notes the plaintiff in her complaint.
Cox does this with the set-top box that acts as a security device, unscrambling the premium channels.
According to the class action lawsuit, premium subscribers must rent the set-top box to unscramble the content from Cox.
This is not fair to consumers, argues the plaintiff, because premium customers pay extra for access to the additional channels and must rent the set-top boxes directly from Cox to access the programing they already paid for.
“There is no valid reason technologically or otherwise to bundle the device that performs this security function with the digital conversion and two-way communication functions of set-top boxes or to stifle innovation into new technologies by a competitive market,” argues the plaintiff in her complaint.
The plaintiff further alleges in her class action lawsuit that Cox is violating a mandate from the Federal Communications Commission that prohibits the bundling of services using set-top boxes.
The plaintiff argues that Cox is taking advantage of security concerns to illegally bundle set-top boxes with other services; and action that chills competition in the set-top box market.
Cox’s cable box practices have been the target of a number of class action lawsuits. The cable company faced a consolidated class action lawsuit in Oklahoma; however, in 2011 the proposed nationwide Class was rejected by the court.
Bagwell is represented by Steven M. Delaney of Reagan Melton & Delaney LLP, Todd M. Schneider and Jason Kim of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky Wotkyns LLP, Allan Kanner and Cynthia St. Amant of Kanner & Whiteley LLC, and Joe R. Whatley Jr. of WhatleyKallas LLC.
The Cox Communications Set-Top Box Class Action Lawsuit is Bagwell v. Cox Communications Inc., Case No. 8:16-cv-00406, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.
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46 thoughts onCox Class Action: Customers Unfairly Forced to Rent Set-Top Boxes
Until recently, I was with Cox for over 20yrs. I never had a problem until about 2 years ago when my bill started sky rocketing from what was already expensive ($127 a mo.) to escalating to nearly $160 and rising. So, seven weeks ago, I called Cox and complained and wanted answers as to why my cost was so sporadic. In addition, I was up graded to an internet speed of 50Mbps but was never told the the current modem/router could only handle 35Mbps. So I am thinking that all this time I’m paying for something I can’t get if I don’t have the right modem! So, I have a payment/rental issue, along with a modem that cannot carry the load that I am paying for. Now, I call Cox again and explain to the young agent over the phone what the issues are. She hasn’t a clue and leaves me on “forgot” and so, I have to call back. I get this great gal on the phone this time and is really trying to correct things and take care of this old rusty salty can in his sixties. She then tells me to talk with the loyalty dept and perhaps I can get the cost down by doing another promo. When the agent from the loyalty dept comes on, I do what I always do when speaking to men/boys that, I have a severe case of PTSD and to please not become argumentative as that could and would cause my PTSD to escalate. I do that so I can protect myself and alert the other person what he is dealing with. That being said, the agent is rude, disrespectful and argumentative. I asked for a supervisor 5 times and he just hung up on me. Then, I made my decision to go to Direct TV. They came out and did an outstanding job setting up the satellite and connecting the boxes. I now have a provider who knows how to keep their clientele and not chase them away (especially in this economy). Two days later I returned the DVR boxes to the local Cox office only to be treated with the same rude, despicable disrespect way but not only from a clerk but from the store manager as well. Then, some Cox, fat gangster wannabe, agent comes out like he’s a bouncer or something, gives me dirty looks and I challenged his intentions and did not back down. I came home, called Cox customer service and went directly to a supervisor as I wasn’t go to go through the incident all over again. The supervisor became angry herself and gave me the number to Cox Corporate in Atlanta. There, the young lady was helpful and assured me that action would be taken against those individuals. I have a lot more to say but you get the idea. Cox has lost its handle on things because their ship is sinking as we move away from cable to satellite. They know time is limited so they need to keep gouging until they turn up like the few landlines still around. I’m on board!
cox is just a rip off I am so tired of paying such high costs just to watch TV I have a bundle so I am force to get a landline cause apparently I am saving 11 dollars a month every time I turn around my bill gets higher and higher now you have to purchase these mini boxes for $2.99 more a month or you loose channels it is ridiculous.
Mary Anne, If you have an AT&T phone, either cell or landline, this can save you about 60-70 bucks by bundling with Direct TV. You can get internet as well as satellite with over 145 channels. Satellite is the future and ground cable is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Cox knows this and so, while they can, they are just burning consumers left and right. you might want to check into that, $60 saved is a blessing.
Mary Anne and to add insult to injury, they offer hundreds of channels with the same movies duplicated or nothing worth watching. Horrible business with deplorable practices.
Cox – had a 5 dollar upgrade for internet – I went up to 25 at a 46 a month after it expired the promo – but guess what??? they got rid of the 25 and sent me to 50 and been paying 66 a month – and they say – I made a contract for the 50 – but i never signed agreed to a contract for 50 megs – now – take the extra 20 a month and multiply it by 10 million – that’s 200 mill a month – they scammed us all out of !!!
Steven, the same thing happened to me. They claimed I agreed to the 50Mbps back in Oct 2014 but there’s no evidence because it never happened. In addition, the modem I got from Cox can only handle 35Mbps max. I now need to buy the correct modem (as the lady at Corporate was doing damage control,and said it was what I needed to do).
This suit needs to be expanded to include ALL boxes.
I subscribe to the very basic TV package but have to pay for boxes even though my TV is only a year old.
I had a Panasonic, personal DVR that worked perfectly; however, when Cox forced me to rent their boxes, they designed the boxes to be incompatible with personal DVRs.
Cox said I could no longer use my own DVR. I had to rent their DVR (at a monthly rental fee) or forego using a DVR.
I had to pay for three boxes for my house plus the service
Brighthouse does the exact same thing. All the cable companies should be
in the same class action case.
time Warner cable needs to be added to this lawsuit. They rent routers that are incapable of giving you the strongest signal you pay monthly form, instead they encourage you to pay for faster service when they know it won’t make a difference.
VERY TRUE.
Hi, I had Cox from Feb 1990 to Oct 2012 at two different addresses. Not sure if I even had any of my old bills any more. Yet I’m sure Cox would definitely have a record of my bills showing that. Is my claim to old?
Yes, I had cox when I first moved into my home. I had phone, cable, internet and security. I was having problems with the internet so the security system would not work. I contacted Cox and informed them it was not working but they did nothing. I called again and they said they would make adjustments to my bill. That was a laugh in itself. My bill was never adjusted and I refused to pay for something because of their being a defect on their behalf.
Patricia
cox cable has always been like that, I in fact experienced price gouged by cox and so have a lot of people I know
I cant even imagine how much they have extorted from me over the past 15 years. There is actually little need for a box considering the wireless technology we have. Now they are livid because of Netflix muscling in on their racket.
I could write a book on Cox and their duplicitous nature doing billing. I work from home and their service is th only one available to me but, they are criminals. I received two bills with over $500 in long distance charges. They said they did a thorough research and the calls were made from my home. This is an outright “LIE.” No calls of this magnitude were made from my home. I have been with them for over 30 years. If anyone were in my area who could offer me legitimate services, i would switch in a heartbeat.
Cox is absolutely one of the worst companies to do business with if you have other options. If you do not need a landline, internet service provider of cable, of cox comes calling with their loquacious, deceotful offers, run, don’t walk, run from them.
The gouging continues exponentially! Cox raises its rates by $50-75, then when you complain, they offer a two-year price lock (at the new price, of course). When the two years expires, the un-discounted price is nearly double what you were paying before the “price lock” charge. When you try to discontinue services to reduce the bill, you’re informed that the bill will actually go up, because you are no longer bundling. Not to mention the fact that Cox has a virtual monopoly in certain areas (such as Pima County, Arizona), servicing approximately 98% of the city of Tucson. I use the internet for work and school, so I don’t have the option of using lesser internet speeds. Subscribing to just the internet will cost nearly as much as my phone/tv/internet bundle.