Every franchise agreement shall require a franchisee
to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local customer service
requirements and shall specify the minimum customer service requirements
the franchisee must satisfy. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, every
franchisee must satisfy the following requirements whether or not
specified in its franchise agreement.
A.
A franchisee shall maintain a business office at a
location where subscribers may readily visit and may call without
incurring toll charges that shall be open at least during normal business
hours, which shall include evening hours and some weekend hours.
B.
A franchisee shall render sufficient service, make
repairs promptly, and interrupt service only for good cause and for
the shortest time possible. A franchisee shall generally respond to
all service calls within 24 hours and correct cable malfunctions as
promptly as possible and shall maintain a competent staff sufficient
to provide adequate and prompt service to its subscribers. A franchisee
shall provide a pro rata credit to subscribers for periods of interruption
of service in accordance with applicable law.
C.
A franchisee shall maintain adequate telephone lines
and personnel to respond to subscriber complaints or inquiries and
schedule service calls in a timely manner. A franchisee shall respond
to written subscriber complaints in writing within five business days,
with a copy to the Township. A franchisee shall also respond to Township
complaints in writing within five business days.
A franchisee shall give at least 30 days' notice
to subscribers and the Township of any change in programming decisions
or channel realignment.
A franchisee shall restore service to customers
wishing restoration of service, provided customer shall first satisfy
any previous obligations owed including the full payment of previous
balances, penalties and interest.
Subscribers shall have the right to have cable
service disconnected. A refund of unused service charges shall be
paid to the customer within 30 days from the date of termination of
service.
A franchisee shall provide parental control
devices to all subscribers who wish to be able to cut off any objectionable
channel or channels of programming from the cable service entering
the subscriber's home.
The Township Manager shall be responsible as
the Township official for receiving and acting upon any unresolved
complaints. Written notice of this complaint procedure, including
the identity of the Township official responsible for receiving unresolved
complaints, shall be given to each subscriber at the time of initial
subscription to the cable system.
