A.
Franchisee shall maintain a local, toll-free or collect
call telephone access line which will be available to its subscribers
24 hours a day, seven days a week. Trained company representatives
will be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during
normal business hours. After normal business hours, the access line
may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including
an answering machine. Inquiries received after normal business hours
must be responded to by a trained company representative on the next
business day.
B.
Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer
time by a customer representative, including wait time, shall not
exceed 30 seconds when a connection is made. If the call needs to
be transferred, transfer time shall not exceed 30 seconds. These standards
shall be met no less than 90% of the time under normal operating conditions,
measured on a quarterly basis.
C.
Franchisee is not required to acquire equipment or
perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering
standards set forth above unless a historical record of complaints
indicated a clear failure to comply.
D.
Under normal operating conditions, the customer will
receive a busy signal less than 3% of the time.
E.
Customer service center and bill payment locations
will be open at least during normal business hours and will be conveniently
located.
Under normal operating conditions, franchisee
shall meet each of the following standards no less than 95% of the
time measured on a quarterly basis:
A.
Standard installation will be performed within seven
business days after an order has been placed. "Standard" installations
are those that are located up to 125 feet from the existing distribution
system.
B.
Excluding conditions beyond the control of the franchisee,
the franchisee will begin working on service interruptions promptly
and in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes
known. The franchisee must begin actions to correct other service
problems the next business day after notification of the service problem.
C.
The "appointment window" alternatives for installations,
service calls and other installation activities will be either a specific
time or, at a maximum, a four-hour time block during normal business
hours. (The franchisee may schedule service calls and other installation
activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience
of the customer.)
D.
A franchisee may not cancel an appointment with a
customer after the close of business on the business day prior to
the scheduled appointment.
E.
If a franchisee representative is running late for
an appointment with a customer and will not be able to keep the appointment
as scheduled, the customer will be contacted. The appointment will
be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the
customer.
F.
Upon request, franchisee shall provide customers a
refund in the form of a credit for cable outages or interruptions
in service which exceed six hours. The amount of the credit shall
be based on the length of time of the cable interruption and the number
of channels affected by the outage.
A.
The franchisee shall provide written information on
each of the following areas at the time of installation of service,
at least annually to all subscribers, and at any time upon request:
(1)
Products and services offered.
(2)
Prices and options for programming services and conditions
of subscription to programming and other services.
(3)
Installation and service maintenance policies.
(4)
Instructions on how to use the cable service.
(5)
Channel positions of programming carried on the cable
system.
(6)
Billing and complaint procedures, including the address
and telephone number of the local franchise authority cable office.
B.
Customers will be notified of any changes in rates,
programming services or channel positions as soon as possible through
announcements on the cable system and in writing. Notice must be given
to subscribers a minimum of 30 days in advance of such changes if
the change is within the control of the franchisee. In addition, the
franchisee shall notify subscribers 30 days in advance of any significant
changes in the other information required by the preceding paragraph.
A.
Franchisee bills will be clear, concise and understandable.
Bills must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not
limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges.
Bills will also clearly delineate all activity during the billing
period, including optional charges, rebates and credits.
B.
In case of a billing dispute, the franchisee must
respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within 30 days.
D.
Credits for service will be issued no later than the
customer's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit
is warranted.
For purpose of this Article VIII, the following definitions apply:
Those hours during which most similar businesses in the community
are operating to service customers.
Those service conditions which are within the control of
the cable operator. Those conditions which are not within the control
of the cable operator include, but are not limited to, natural disasters,
civil disturbances, power outages, telephone network outages and severe
or unusual weather conditions. Those conditions which are ordinarily
within the control of the cable operator include, but are not limited
to, special promotions, pay-per-view events, rate increases, regular
peak or seasonal demand periods and maintenance or upgrade of the
cable system.
The loss of picture or sound on one or more cable channels.
Franchisee shall provide parental control devices
to all subscribers who wish to be able to cut off any objectionable
channel or channels of programming or data service from the communications
service entering the subscriber's home. This control option shall
be at no charge.
A.
Each franchisee shall state in its proposal to enter
into an agreement for the award of a franchise hereunder its initial
monthly rates and installation and all other charges for service.
Such initial rates and charges shall maintain in effect for at least
one year following the completion of construction as set forth in
the franchisee's comprehensive plan of cable television and or telecommunications
system.
B.
Franchisee shall give at least 30 days' notice of
its intention to change monthly rates and installation charges for
residential service by mailing notices thereof to each of the current
subscribers to whom such charges will apply.
C.
By acceptance of the franchise agreement, the franchisee
agrees that its rates and charges to subscribers shall be in compliance
with the FCC regulations governing rates and charges for cable services.
D.
The franchisee shall not, as to rates, charges, service
or service facilities, make or grant any undue privilege or advantage
to any party, nor subject any party to undue prejudice or disadvantage;
provided that the franchisee may establish reasonable classifications
of customers. Nothing in this ordinance prohibits the reduction or
waiving of charges in connection with promotional campaigns or for
the purpose of attracting subscribers or users or providing a senior
citizen discount.
Subject to compliance with federal law, if, at any time during the existence of any franchise granted pursuant to this ordinance, the Board shall find that it is in the public interest to regulate rates or services for the franchise, the provisions of Article VIII, § A87-45 of this ordinance shall have no further effect, and the rates and service of the franchise hereunder shall thereafter be regulated by such one or more resolutions as may be adopted from time to time by the Board establishing rates or services applicable to the franchise.
