Cox Communications Service in the New Orleans area is not too knowledgeable about their services. A Cox technician from out of state helping me with an internet problem I was having told me a while back that Cox in New Orleans receives more complaints than any other market they serve.
Anyway, I was forced by Katrina to move back to my parents' home in a suburb of New Orleans along with my sister (temporarily, I hope) since their house made out fine after the storm.
They currently have Cox Limited Basic and Cox Expanded service (no premium channels, no set-top boxes on their old analog TV's) for which they pay $42.94/mo.
After I lost my two TV's in the flood, I decided to purchase a new Sony 40" Bravia LCD TV equipped with a Cable Card slot. I went to a Cox Customer Service Center requesting that a cable card be installed so that I can receive HD programming with one premium channel (HBO). I was told they could schedule an appointment for a technician to come out to install/program the cable card for a $55 fee. (At least she was aware what a cable card was.) But I was told that my father, who is 88, was required to request the service upgrade since he is the legal account holder at this residence. Due to his age and limited mobility, he is in no condition to travel to a customer service center and wait 45 minutes to speak with a CSR to o.k. my request. Of course I would have to be there to explain the service I want. The CSR said all she can do is to schedule the technician to come out and install the cable card in two weeks, but in the meantime I would have to bring him in person or come with a letter giving me power of attorney to request the upgrade.
Since you get conflicting answers from Cox Customer Service depending on who you talk to, I sure would appreciate someone knowledgable about HD Service and Cable Cards. I think, but I'm not sure, you really don't need digital service to receive HD programming on Cox Cable. The website is not very helpful.
None of my other family members are interested in premium channels, which is why there are no set top boxes right now.
All I want is to be able to receive HD programming and HBO on my Sony HDTV using the cable card. My parents agreed, of course, as long as I pay for the upgrade.
One CSR from Cox acted like I was crazy when I asked what was required to fulfill my request using the cable card. She said in order to receive HBO, a set top box was required to descramble the signal. I explained to her that the TV is already equipped with a cable card slot and I don't need the set-top box. She obviously didn't know what a cable card was. She sounded baffled and I was put on hold several times. I had called Cox a few days earlier to see if they even provided cable cards. I was told yes they do offer them for $1.95/mo. vs. $4.95/mo. for the set top box.
I still have some unanswered questions:
1) In order to view the programming offered in HD and add one premium HD channel (HBO) to my Sony Bravia via the cable card (I'm not interested in PPV, etc.), is it really necessary to upgrade to Cox Digital services? I keep getting conflicting information from Cox.
2) If I must upgrade to Cox Digital, will it have an adverse impact on my other family members' current analog cable service and/or their analog TV viewing? In other words, will they all be required to have a set top box for each of their three TV's?
3) Should I just forget the cable card slot route and avoid the $55 service call and go pick up a set-top box? I'm not sure, but from what I gather from Cox, there may be a set top box for digital service and one that only allows HDTV's to broadcast in HD. But my Bravia already has HD built in.