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My parents had their ISP, television and phone services through Cox Communications of Phoenix, Az. My father passed away September 2004 and my mother kept all services active. My mother passed away June 2006. I informed Cox of her passing and canceled internet and television services with no problem. As the house had a security system using phone lines I kept the phone active and had the billing transferred to my address. All of these actions were done over the phone with no requested identification of me.
In January 2007, I notified Cox that we no longer needed the phone. I was told that I could not make changes (including cancellation of services) without first showing a copy of the trust showing I was the trustee along with a death certificate. I refused their request for such information. They have continued to send bills (now up to 4 months for a total of over $87) despite repeated notifications that the service is canceled. I have been hung up on 3 times when I insisted to speak to a manager rather than to the lead worker at the call center I was speaking to.
I wrote a letter to corporate and received a letter back from someone identifying herself as a manager but with no phone number; the main phone number to the call center. She also noted in her letter to me that my refusal to provide a copy of my parents death certificates was "frustrating their attempts to help me".
I have called in and gone in-person to cancel services. I have written a 2 page letter to Cox canceling the service explaining in detail the history of this account and that it has been canceled. I am now just returning bills with a note indicating that the account has been canceled due to my parents deaths.
Once there is actual competition of services for High Speed Internet I will cancel Cox as my ISP and television services. Deregulation of the Cable industry has been a slam against the consumer.
I keep seeing responses as to why the person doesn't provide a copy of the death certificate. Probably because they make you take it to a store. In this age of technology, you should be able to email it. I am having that issue. I have a lot to take care of and going to a Cox store is not something I am going to do. Good luck trying to collect from a dead person!
Not only that, I just read a PDF from Cox's site that states, you can disconnect over the phone without providing proof of death.
Here is what they claim:
We at Cox understand what a trying and difficult time you are going through
as you attend to your loved one’s affairs. We would like to offer our
condolences, as well as to provide you with the support and information to
make the closing or transferring of the account holder’s service as seamless
as possible.
We are committed to protecting the privacy of all of our customers’ accounts
and appreciate your understanding why we must strictly follow these
procedures without exception. Please follow these steps to disconnect or
assume ownership of the account.
Step # 1: Review your options.
To Disconnect the Account:
You can request disconnection over the telephone and will not need to
provide proof of the account holder’s death. If you prefer to mail or fax us
your disconnection request instead, we will close the account on the same
day we receive your written instructions.
Please be aware we will need verification of the account holder’s death if you
would like us to backdate the account disconnection.
Why don't you just provide them with a copy (photocopy) of the death certificate? You are making this harder than it needs to be.
The above two posters are obviously employee's (and probably supv/mgmt stooges) of cox communications. I have had conversations with other people who have gone through the same difficulties with Cox.
As a post script when the bill was finally sent to collections and they called I explained the difficulty and situation with Cox and they said they have had this problem before and cleared the debt and I haven't heard from them since.
Agree with the last poster, all it takes is a simple copy of a death certificate & the account can be closed. That's it. You were informed of it, but chose to ignore it. How can Cox know that your parents are deceased if you refuse to bring in records indicating it? Kind of silly, right?
Around November 2006, there was a change in policy where only people listed on the accounts are able to access the account. This was done to increase security of customer's accounts, and prevent unauthorized changes. It seems like this change occurred between the times when you called to disconnect the cable and internet, and when you called to try to cancel the phone. This is why you were not successful when attempting to disconnect the phone. You simply were not authorized. Obviously situations do arise where customer's do pass away, and leave nobody listed as authorized on their accounts, but there are ways around this, ie. Death Certificates. I'm sure this was explained to you when you called in, probably every time, but i can see why you would leave it out of your complaint, because it makes your post seem less valid. :)
It seems to me, this situation would have been resolved much sooner had you just brought in a copy of the death certificate when this was suggested to you. I'm not really sure why you would not have done that, as it would be much easier than calling in over and over, and writing letters to the corporate office.
I personally feel more secure knowing that a person cannot randomly call my phone company, tell them I'm dead with no proof, and have my account shut down. Don't you?