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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
Add me please and thank you
I I just recently had my service reconnected for channels and I was also told that if I did not get the boxes on the TV I would not have the lines activated also I could not get premium channels on all the TVs with the many boxes they gave me they gave me one receiver that can get the premiums in my other TVs I had to get two big boxes to get the premium channels so yes they doing that and they told me they do not connect lines and roll that does not have a box so I had to rent two more big boxes to get TV in my other two rooms , and now they even know when you move your your box to another TV because every time you move your box to another TV you have to call them to reset your box so they know when you’re moving it to another. room so they know when you unplug plug to me that’s an invasion of privacy. EO. LASVEGAS, NV
Is every Cox customer automatically a part of the suit, or must you join in? I have (4) TVs so have had to rent (4) boxes ever since they abolished “regular cable.” If it matters, I live in Vegas.
Is every Cox customer automatically a part of the suit, or must you join in? I have (4) TVs so have had to rent (4) boxes ever since they abolished “regular cable.” If it matters, I live in Vegas.
Cox Communications is one of the most unethical companies I have ever dealt with! SHAME ON YOU!!!!! Blatant disregard of agreed upon terms is ILLEGAL!
no one is holding a gun to your head making you subscribe to cox cable , there are other options available to you. Everyone screams about the changes and thinks the cable company is screwing you over .There is always dish or direct tv and others out there .Those set top boxes cost cox more than the rent for two years would pay for them . Plus they had to pay a service man to install them not to mention the numerous calls from idiots who cant figure out how to use them is costing them . 2 years of 3 bucks a month for one mini box is 72 dollars ,how much do you figure the box and remote and labor to install and maintain that one box cost them for 2 years. Not to mention the picture quality is superior digital and hd that cox needed to compete with others like dish who offered more hd channels . Do you expect Cox to ignore progress and continue to broadcast in standard definition when the competitors are moving into ultra hd broadcasting? Maybe you should start looking at these attorneys who will file a class action lawsuit to get you a few bucks and make them millions as one of the reasons your cable bill is going up and not down
Fred- Wrong, wrong, wrong. Where I live we only have Cox. Cox cable boxes cost them money yes but make them more money than if they didn’t have them. That is the cost of doing business, and the boxes constantly go out so we have unplug and reset them. We had to return the FREE boxes they gave us in the begging and install the new ones ourselves( those old boxes must have cost them much more money than the new ones). We also have ten tv”s so times that charge by ten, that is $480 a year. We signed a contract with them when we signed up and they forced us to pay more for the services we were promise for the price we were paying. So Fred If you think the cable company is loosing money over this you are an idiot. And damn right I joined the lawsuit.
You do realize that it is your choice to have 10 tv’s. And in so far as the requirement for cable boxes on each tv, every cable company is going Digital only and are requiring every tv to have a cable box connected. If you dont like that then remove TV service from the acct and go back to antenna tv.
Hello is there a current suit regarding switch and bait with Cox Communications? I was trying to lower or cancel my cable services, I agreed to try a different assortment of channels. 6 months later I am again trying to cancel and now they tell me that I agreed to a contract that they can not produce. They claim they later put my contract details in my statement and if I cancel now that I will have to pay a termination fee. I just want to turn my cable off. I spent an hour on the phone today with their “supervisor” this is ridiculous. I would of NEVER agreed to a termination fee.
I’m up for one too! I don’t know if anything turned out with your situation however I had the same exact situation. I’ve talked to so many people at Cox who said they would remove erroneous charges, claims of equipment rental pending and when I tried to cancel (account balance was ZERO) they slapped me with a $201, $360, and a $596 fee for a cable box and 3 modems! Haha! Unbelievable. I received a billing statement from them on 5/24/17 stating I owed $200 but there’s nothing on the bill. I get harrsssjng phone calls during the day saying I need to be home because a “field representative” is going to show up at my house and they reported me to the credit bureaus on the 25th!! Absolutely insane and I’m done. This has hurt me financially and emotionally as I was in the middle of taking out a loan with a credit union for a vehicle and now they say they can’t work with me. This is incredible and i just want Cox to stop the stalking, vindictive behavior. It’s kind of scary.
Turn your boxes in deadbeat and they will leave you alone
Bagwell v. Cox Communications Inc., Case No. 8:16-cv-00406, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.
I absolutely hate Cox, they are over charging me once again. There is no way to get in touch with them and get it fixed unless it’s regular business hours. I have already contacted them 3 times about it and it isn’t fixed. Now they are saying I am passed due and to pay or they will shut off service. They are crazy. There is no way I would do any more then one service with them for this very reason. They should be shut down.
According to the FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(5)(C):
Your cable provider must allow you to use your own set-top box without extra charge.
“Your cable operator may charge you to lease a CableCARD or tuning adapter, but may
not charge you an additional service fee for using your own digital-cable-ready television
or set-top box.”
Will Louisiana be included in the lawsuit? They have recently raised the cost of my Internet services to $60.00 a month. I wasn’t paying that much before and didn’t upgrade. My bill is always going up, they have no explanation for this. The service has been ok, not great. Almost $300.00 a month to watch tv ia ridiculous. I have to look elsewhere. They are the only ones that provide Internet in my area
I been giving them a hard time right back. They try to Upselling and lie to you that they don’t offer lower price options. They told me for over 1 1/2 years that they had a long distance plan that you can pay one set price vs 18¢ a minute and even that was a circus originally it was supposed to be 15¢. Well I finally got a woman to be honest and said that they did have a long distance plan. So I called back the next day, requested the retention dept and told the woman how our local news did a story on Upselling, that I was lied to and if they didn’t give me a credit for every long distance call I made I would report them to pursue and the Attorney General of CT.
SO, I got a full credit!!! I’m done being taken advantage of! But it’s not just Cox…you have no idea the things these companies have pulled on me.