When Qwest discontinued Choice TV which I loved, it was the dilemma between DIRECTV and Cox. While DIRECTV would offer me a bundling discount with Qwest (we can't have Cox internet for some reason my husband understands), I hate the whole 2-year contract deal and their unwillingness and inability to answer a simple question. Call them and you'll get someone who knows nothing except how to present a sales pitch. So Cox and their overpriced service won.
First off when I called to inquire about setting up service, I asked about incentives. I gotta hand it to the guy, he didn't pitch me the merits of Cox. Instead he told me Cox isn't big on incentives. At least he's honest. He offered me a small discount for the first 2 months and agreed to free installation when I asked for it. However, he couldn't set up the order and put me on hold. When he came back he told me his supervisor confirmed they could offer the discount or free installation, but not both. I ended the call and went to their website.
The website had a promotion of a bigger 2-month discount AND free installation, but ALL the promotions listed expired in May or June. I did the instant live chat and asked why they can't manage to update their website. They had a web sales person call me and I got the promotion which really hadn't expired. She did tell me you have to go through web sales to get the specials. Stupid.
So we needed cable cards which have to be professionally installed. The guy arrived at 2 pm and left at 8! After the first couple hours, he called a second guy over. The two of them together couldn't get them to work. They called several other people before they had it working.
But as it turns out, the free Variety tier is not on. So now I have to call again to make sure I don't start getting billed for it 2 months from now. And I'm also prepared for a bill for the "free" installation with some convoluted explanation. But I can cancel any time, and that's a plus!