Cox Communications Used Cable Modem scam. Phoenix Arizona

The rebuttals from Cox employees sound like a bunch of shills.  Numerous people have reported this same scam, so just because the employee says it doesn't occur in their office doesn't mean much.  Also Cox seems to be slamming used modems.  It's just more of the same crap to force you to buy a new and over price modem from them.

What's next?  You can't buy a used phone to plug into the wall, because the previous owner didn't pay their phone bill?  You can't buy a used car, because the previous owner hasn't paid their gasoline credit card bill?

I have Cox Communications in Omaha and purchased a used modem off of Craigslist (Motorola SBG6580 - not an old, outdated modem, but one of the best at a huge discount) and had this exact same problem. Customer service did not offer to call the previous owner and clear the account, but said it was my responsibility to get in touch with him and have him call in to clear the account. The prior owner has been unresponsive so far, and I'm afraid that this Cox policy has turned a great piece of equipment I legitimately purchased into a paperweight.

   When someone disconnects their account, or the account is closed by non-payment, the modem stays on the account. Its mostly so the customer may choose to reactivate or pay the balance if it was a non-pay disconnect. The modems usually drop off after 6 months of an inactive account (of any type). If the modem changes hands, the original owner needs to call Cox and have it removed from their account (they will even let you do this if their is a balance on your closed account).

   All that being said, I think anyone who buys a used modem from a goodwill store, a repackaged return at a retailer, a pawn shop, swap-meet, etc is just asking for a LOT of trouble. I used to work technical support for Cox, and frequently got calls from customers wanting to swap their rental modem for one they purchased. If the modem was brand new there is never a problem provisioning it, but if the modem was previously used you run into some possible bad news. Many people on the Cox cablemodem network have rental modems. It's $5 per month, and if anything happens to it, Cox will take care of replacing it for free (it's their equipment, so their responsibility). The problem comes when someone is down on their luck, their cable has been shut off for non-pay, and they need rent money or whatever. People will take these rental modems and pawn them off wherever they can. Some pawn shops will call the local cable company and make sure a modem is not a stolen rental and refuse to take it from the person, but Craigslist, swapmeets, etc are very low key on rules, so you can get stiffed for buying a cablemodem this way. I've even seen where friends/relatives of the customer give them their "old" modem since they just switched to DSL or some other BS usually to settle a financial agreement. Goodwill and other thrift stores don't have the resources to check for stolen items, and they don't even care since the items are donations etc....

   ALWAYS buy an unopened brand-new cablemodem from a reputable retailer, or buy a used modem from the cable company... they sometimes have specials to sell used modems in their inventory that have been used for over a certain amount of time, but are still otherwise good, for a fraction of the price of a brand new one... they may even offer to sell you the rental modem you currently use if used for long enough. I bought my rental modem for a penny, and no longer have a $5 per month rental fee. Call and ask. If you get a used modem shipped to you and it doesn't work out of the box (after properly provisioning it with tech support), they'll replace it for free (I've processed many transactions like that).

   The cable company is a business like any other. They have rules for use of their service, and these are ALWAYS available on the documentation from install and on their websites for you to read. They are not out to "screw you" otherwise they wouldn't have ANY customers.

   BUYER BEWARE! When it comes to buying any product from any risky vendor.

Cox does register each modem used with the service that runs to it, because the modem is the portal in which the internet is delivered. If you order internet service and Cox just sent the signal to your house, without having the portal information, you would not be able to connect. Therefore, your (or anyone else's) modem is thusly associated with your account. 

We, too, just purchased a used modem for our Cox Internet service.  We purchased ours from Craigslist in order to replace a modem that Cox wants to charge us $100 to use.  So, we bought the modem and called Cox to get it all set up and, yup, you guessed it, the stupid modem needed to be "released" to us by the previous owner first.  I got in touch with the person I bought the modem from and she called to have it released to us, but she didn't have my full name so they then wouldn't release the stupid thing to us because the wrong name was given.  She then called back and gave them the right name and we thought, "Phew, finally!  We're going to finally be able to set this thing up!".  Well, we called Cox to finalize everything and now the issue is that they couldn't release it to us because of an unresolved issue with the customer's account.  Why in the world didn't they tell us that in the first place or even the second time we spoke with them!!!???   I'm guessing the people we bought the modem from still owed money on the account and Cox won't release it until it's paid.  So, now we are the proud owners of a "paperweight" that cost us $25 and we still have to pay the $100 for the modem we're stuck having to use!!!  Buyer beware, that's for sure!!!

I have Cox High Speed Internet as well. I once used a friends cable modem and all I had to do was call Cox to have it added to my account. It was automatically removed from the old account once I activated it. Done in about 5 min or less.

They abosultly can activate a used modem on your account without the prior owner doing anything. If the modem was stolen it would be easy for Cox to track it down, even if it was activated on another account so that whole "its for the customers protection" was BS.

I really don't think they are scamming people into buying new modems. They might recomend it because some older modems won't allow you to connect at the fastest speed possible.

I am sure they want your business, so maybe you should ask for a manager and threaten to cancel if they won't activate the modem. I bet they'll suddenly find a way.