Cox Communications
In Abilene Texas
The company that helped ruin my life
I am hoping that in building this page that people realize how the cable company in Abilene TX. can ruin a persons life and not lose any sleep over the chain of events that follow. Below is my story, very true and very accurate. I hope that anyone who sees this page will help in either boycotting or at least call or send a letter to the company letting them know how unfair their employment policies are and send them links to this page letting them also know that people are seeing it and care. I ask that you please be patient and read all of this story to understand it. Thank You
My story goes as follows.
I was an employee for Cox Communications for 6 years. I did my job well and never got below a 97% on any of my jobs that were QC'd to my knowledge. I remember this because they started making us look them over and signing them. My wife and I decided to move and so we found a place to rent. I put in my transfer of services for my cable the day before we moved into the house. At this time we were slow at work and the services could have been put in the next day. A week rolls by and still no word on my transfer, well I was working in dispatch one day because they needed me too. I looked up my account and still nothing, well I looked up my old account and well it had never had a disconnect even put in for the old address and I was still being billed for services I was not getting. 2 weeks went by and still no work order had been scheduled and my old address was still being billed. So shortly after that I decided to go ahead and hook the service up myself and low and behold the very next day I was scheduled, sounded funny to me but I thought oh well. The next day nothing was said to me in the morning but I had a feeling something was going on. I headed out and did my work and like it had been for the past month or 2 I was done at noon and came in to the office to see if there was anything else that needed to be done. That is when Mark Brashear my supervisor at the time approached me saying he needed to speak to me in the conference. Right then I knew I was set up, I looked over at him as we walked to the conference room and said, I guess this is going to be another Johnny incident huh ( Johnny being a guy terminated a couple weeks earlier for another ridiculous reason) he didn't say anything. Well we get to the conference room and I sat down. Robbie Horton the head of the HR department was also there. I was then asked if I had hooked my own cable up, well I am not going to lie so I said yes. I was then told I was being terminated because of it and that hooking up my own cable was considered theft of service. I know there is nothing I can say to change their mind in this matter because the decision was already made to get rid of me. All I said before we left the conference room holding back the tears because I didn't want to give them the satisfation was, what am I going to do about my children. As I was being escorted to my truck to clear out my personal belongings we passed a friend of mine working on the computer I just looked over and said watch your back they are looking to get rid of people. All I can say now to them is How is it theft of service when they knowingly keep billing me at my old address while I am at my new address with no service and for no reason. They also mentioned that I had been on a 90 day probation over a year ago for conflict of interest. OK I don't understand to whole idea behind that either. I went to a persons house one night after work and hooked up a networking router for them. I showed them how to use it and I knew I would probably have to help them in the future because of their age and not really understanding how it all worked. Well I was put on 90 day probation for hooking up a router on my own time. Where is the conflict of interest, Cox Communications didn't install routers or any other kind of networking and I did it on my own time. I didn't get paid 24 hours a day to be under Cox Communications control . People knew I worked for the cable company and that is why I had a terms of service agreement contract for them to agree to before I did work releasing Cox Communications and others from any responsibilities from services or work performed by myself. Oh well that didn't matter to them, it just showed them that I was out there making money on my own. After my termination I tried to make contact with the head office for Cox Communications in Atlanta GA. via written and emailed letter. I wanted to let them know that their Company in Abilene had keys to storage rooms at the local military base that they were not supposed to have.
Well the only response I got was an email from Robbie Horton telling me that she seen no where a policy was broken and that the decision on my job would stand. All I was thinking was where in my letter was I even asking for my job back. So I contacted the military base and let them know they had the key and trust me they were very interested in knowing this, they emailed me and sent a letter to my house thanking me for letting them know this. Well a little time passed and I got a knock on the door, I answered it and there was Kirk very upset obviously. He started by saying I want to thank you for turning me into the base for having that key. I said I never put mentioned your name in the email anywhere, but I did apologize for getting him in trouble. Now keep in mind I am no longer an employee I am now a customer. All the while my wife is sitting at the table around the corner of the door. He began swearing me up one side and down the other all this while dressed in his uniform and driving a company truck on company time. He then finishes and leaves, well a few days later a friend of mine came by and asked me if Kirk came by and I said yes a few days ago. He then told me that he had came into the office bragging on how he came over and really gave it to me before it was over 4 people told me the same thing. Guess what folks, he still has his job. This tells you that if a Cox employee comes to your house and curses you out that he is not going to lose his job over it. I was also told by 3 other people that they had lost a laptop computer and was accusing me of taking it when I left. Now how was I going to take a laptop with me when I left when I was escorted to my truck and watch while I got my stuff out and then gave him the keys to it, went to my car and left. I will tell you how, they always left the laptops laying around the office for anyone to pick up and take as well as cable modems and other various equipment. Someone took it and I was a good target for them to blame and I can tell you this they don't have a clue on how long it was gone before they even noticed it was gone. Now more about the key, the management was aware of the key and don't let them say they weren't because they had it hanging in dispatch for anyone to use. They had the key because it got them into storage rooms at the base, where before the key they couldn't install after 4:30 in the afternoon because offices were closing, it was all about getting more customers and making more money. Well shortly after I had turned them in for the key my old supervisor Mark Brashear had decided to step down as installation supervisor, coincident? I don't think so, but he still had his job. Here is the names of all that should be held responsible for this one incident Alvin Ritz plant manager, Billy Deel technicians supervisor, Mark Brashear installations supervisor and for not reporting the email I had wrote to the head office about the situation Robbie Horton HR department. Now this goes out to the new Cox Communications employees of Abilene because the ones that have been there awhile already know this that if your looking to advance in that company you either need to transfer to a more unbiased company or adopt yourself a strong Good Ole Boy attitude and be a yes man. I seen many examples of this also. I could go on all day about things in the company that are not right but this is mainly what I had to say, email me if you want other examples I have plenty. So look at me now I have sold everything I own no money to buy propane to heat my house, a wife with a history of cancer that I cant even take to the doctor to make sure it has not come back and now I am losing the rights to my children and for what? Hooking up something I was already paying for. If anything this company owes me for over 2 weeks service I was paying for. What a great company.Thanks for your time and attention
James Short
6807 N CR 41
Big Spring TX 79720
432-399-4534 or 432-213-3395
Below is contact information for Cox Enterprise Inc. Don't contact the Abilene office because nothing will get done or passed on. Thanks
To see the emails and the response letter from Robbi Horton concerning the matters I informed them about click here
Call Cox Enterprises at:
(678) 645-0000
or
E-mail them:
[email protected]
or
Write to them:
Cox Enterprises, Inc.
Attn: Corporate Communications
6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30328
This page was created 02/06/2004