[Ord. No. 379 §I, 9-7-1993]
A.
The rules
contained in this Chapter are adopted to set forth standards regarding
the operation of the business office of any cable television systems
operating within the City. Nothing in this Chapter should be construed
to prevent or prohibit:
1.
The
City from amending or subsequently changing its ordinance or cable
television franchise agreement and thereby imposing customer service
requirements that exceed the standards set forth herein;
2.
The
City from enforcing, through the end of the franchise term, preexisting
customer service requirements that exceed the standards set forth
in this Chapter.
3.
The
City from enforcing any existing State consumer protection law to
the extent it has not been specifically preempted by the Federal Communications
Commission, or
4.
The
establishment or enforcement of any local ordinance or regulation
concerning customer service that imposes customer service requirements
that exceed, or address matters not addressed by the standards set
forth by the Federal Communications Commissions in Title 47 of the
Code of Federal Regulations Part 76, Subpart H.
[Ord. No. 379 §II, 9-7-1993]
A.
Any operator
of a cable system within the City of St. Robert shall maintain their
system subject to the following minimum requirements:
1.
The
cable operator will maintain local, toll free or collect call telephone
access lines which will be available to the cable operator subscriber
twenty-four (24) hours per day seven (7) days a week.
a.
Trained
company representatives will be available to customer telephone inquiries
during normal business hours.
b.
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 reported to by a trained
company representative within the first (1st) four (4) hours of the
next business day.
2.
Under
normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a customer representative,
including wait time, shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds when the
connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, transfer
time shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds. These standards shall be
met no less than ninety percent (90%) of the time under normal operating
conditions, as measured on a weekly basis:
a.
If
a customer complains that their telephone call has not been answered
within the time limits herein established, the cable television operator
shall have the burden of proving either that the telephone was answered
within the time limits herein established, or that the cable company
does answer its telephone calls within these time standards. In the
absence of affirmative evidence from the operator, demonstrating compliance
with this rule, credible evidence that a particular call was not answered
within these standards shall establish a presumption that the operator
is in violation of said rule.
b.
The
operator is hereby required to acquire telephone equipment and perform
surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards
above, it being clear that the operator has a historical record of
complaints indicating a clear failure to comply with these types of
standards in the past.
3.
The
customer will receive a busy signal on the telephone no more than
three percent (3%) of the time. If a customer alleges that he/she
made two (2) successive telephone calls and each was the subject of
a busy signal, it shall be presumed that this standard has been violated.
However, on an affirmative showing by the company of some extraordinary
operating condition (a temporary outage due to a storm is not an extraordinary
operating condition) or that the average for the customer for a busy
signal is less than three percent (3%) this presumption shall be overcome.
[Ord. No. 379 §III, 9-7-1993]
The cable operator shall provide a customer service center and
a bill payment location that is open at a minimum during normal business
hours and which is conveniently located to the customers. This customer
service center shall be located within the corporate limits of the
City.
[Ord. No. 379 §IV, 9-7-1993]
A.
Under
normal operating conditions, each of the following four (4) standards
will be met no less than ninety-five percent (95%) of the time measured
on a weekly basis.
1.
Standard
installations will be performed within seven (7) business days after
an order has been placed. "Standard" installations
are those that are located up to one hundred twenty-five (125) feet
from the existing distribution system. Other installations will be
performed within fourteen (14) business days after an order has been
placed. If a customer complains that he/she placed an order and the
installation was not completed within that period of time, the company
shall have the burden of proving compliance with this standard, or
providing a reasonable explanation of why the standard was not met.
Merely demonstrating statistical compliance, without a specific reason
why this particular installation did not occur will not overcome the
presumption of neglect of these customer service standards.
2.
Excluding
conditions beyond the control of the operator (storm damage is not
a condition unexpected to the operator and is a circumstance that
the operator should anticipate and be within the operator's control)
the cable operator will begin working on "service interruptions" promptly
after being notified and shall initiate a response no later than twenty-four
(24) hours after the interruption becomes known. The service interruption
work should be completed promptly thereafter as conditions require.
3.
The
cable operator shall establish an "appointment window" for installations,
service calls and other installation activities at a specific time
or, at maximum, a two (2) hour time block during normal business hours.
The operator may schedule service calls and other installation activities
outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the
customer.
a.
The
cable operator may not cancel an appointment with a customer after
the close of the business day prior to the scheduled appointment.
b.
If
a cable operator 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 and the appointment will be rescheduled
as necessary. However, this rescheduled appointment will be at a time
which is convenient for the customer and the cable operator will provide
a service representative at that time.
c.
If
the cable operator cancels an appointment less than two (2) hours
before the scheduled time or the beginning of the "appointment window"
the cable operator shall compensate the customer for the inconvenience
created by the cancellation an amount equal to twenty-five dollars
($25.00) or twice the customer's missed wages from work required to
meet the appointment, whichever is the greater amount. This compensation
shall be made to the customer within one hundred twenty (120) hours
of the canceled appointment; in addition the company shall provide
credit for the customer against its bill for the time that service
was disconnected to the extent that service was unavailable for twenty-four
(24) hours or more.
[Ord. No. 379 §V, 9-7-1993]
A.
The cable
operator shall provide written information on each of the following
areas at the time of installation of service; at least annually to
all subscribers; at any time upon request of any person; and shall
provide copies to the City which shall be available for distribution
at the City Hall:
1.
Products
and services offered.
2.
Prices
and options for programming, services and conditions of subscriptions
and other services.
3.
Installation
and service maintenance policies.
4.
Instructions
on how to use the cable service.
5.
Channel
positions of probate carried on the system.
6.
Billing
and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number
of the City's cable complaint officer.
[Ord. No. 379 §VI, 9-7-1993]
Customers will be notified of changes in rates, programming
services or channel positions as soon as possible through announcement
on the cable system and in writing. Notice must be given to subscribers
a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of such changes, unless the
change is not within the control of the cable operator. The cable
operator shall have the burden of demonstrating that the change is
not within his/her control, and in so doing must make available documents
showing previous costs and increased costs, and when the cable operator
becomes aware of them. In addition to changes in cable rates, the
cable operator shall notify subscribers thirty (30) days in advance
of any significant changes in any of the policies required by the
preceding Section.
[Ord. No. 379 §VII, 9-7-1993]
A.
Bills
will be clear, concise and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized,
with itemization 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 cable operator must respond to a written
complaint from a subscriber within thirty (30) days. A copy of this
response shall be provided to the City. In the case of a telephonic
complaint from a subscriber the company must respond to that complaint
at the time of the telephone call, and must follow up with a written
response within fifteen (15) days, a copy of which shall also be provided
to the City.
[Ord. No. 379 §VIII, 9-7-1993]
A.
Refund
checks will be issued promptly but no later than either:
1.
The
customer's next billing cycle following the resolution of the request
or thirty (30) days, whichever is earlier, or
2.
The
return of the equipment supply by the cable operator if service is
terminated. Refunds shall be provided for every service outage that
occurs and which lasts longer than twenty-four (24) hours.
[Ord. No. 379 §IX, 9-7-1993]
[Ord. No. 379 §X, 9-7-1993]
This Chapter is adopted under Police power of the City, and
is expressly intended to follow the lead of the Federal Communications
Commission, with certain amendments making the provisions more strict
against the interest of the cable company with express understanding
that the Federal Communications Commission has authorized the City
to do so. Violations of this Chapter, shall be an offense under this
Code, and upon conviction the cable operator shall be fined not more
than five hundred dollars ($500.00), and the cable franchise term
shortened by up to thirty (30) days, provided that in no event shall
the cable television franchise be shortened below a thirty-six (36)
month period to allow the cable operator to exercise his/her rights
under the Communications Act of 1934 to attempt to obtain renewal
of the franchise.
