[CC 1990 § 7.5-21; Ord. No. 947 § 1, 9-19-1994]
A. The rules contained in this Article are adopted to set forth standards
regarding the operation of the business office of any cable television
systems operating within the City or business office responsibility
for the operation of the cable franchise for the City. Nothing in
this Article should be construed to prevent or prohibit:
1.
The City from amending or subsequently changing its ordinance
or cable television 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 service requirements that exceed the standards set forth
in this Article;
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 Commission in 47 CFR 76, Subpart
H.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-22; Ord. No. 947 § 2, 9-19-1994]
For the purposes of this Article, certain terms shall have the
meanings ascribed to them in this Section, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise.
COMPLAINT
Includes notice of dissatisfaction by customers about service
or operations by the cable operator that requires a service call or
that are made in writing but shall exclude those matters that are
resolved on the phone between customer and the cable operator. Complaints
as defined herein shall not include requests for additional channels
or programming.
NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS
Those hours during which most similar businesses in the community
are open to serve customers. In all cases, "normal business hours"
must include some evening hours at least one (1) night per week and/or
some weekend hours.
NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS
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.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-23; Ord. No. 947 § 3, 9-19-1994]
A. Any operator of a cable system within the City of Chesterfield 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 responded
to by a trained company representative within the first 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 quarterly 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 these 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, if 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 not
more than three percent (3%) of the time under normal operating conditions.
If customers allege that they 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, upon an affirmative showing
by the company of some extraordinary operating condition or that the
average for the customer for a busy signal is less than three percent
(3%), then this presumption shall be overcome.
4.
The City, upon request, may review all written complaints on
file with the cable operator within one (1) year of the request.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-24; Ord. No. 947 § 4, 9-19-1994]
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.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-25; Ord. No. 947 § 5, 9-19-1994]
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 quarterly 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 they are located within one hundred twenty-five (125) feet from
the existing distribution system. 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, 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 four-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 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 in the amount of fifteen dollars ($15.00)
unless such cancellation is necessitated by severe weather conditions.
This compensation shall be made by providing credit to the customer
against their next bill.
d.
If an appointment is missed and verified, the company shall
provide credit for the customer against their bill for the time that
service is disconnected/interrupted to the extent that service is
unavailable for twenty-four (24) hours or more.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-26; Ord. No. 947 § 6, 9-19-1994]
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 extra 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.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-27; Ord. No. 947 § 7, 9-19-1994]
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
became 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 information required by the preceding
Section.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-28; Ord. No. 947 § 8, 9-19-1994]
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 which shall also be provided to the City.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-29; Ord. No. 947 § 9, 9-19-1994]
A. Subscriber refunds due to service outages will not be issued automatically.
The subscriber must affirmatively ask for the refund, either orally
or in writing, and describe the event which triggered the request.
The cable operator has the right to confirm that such a refund is
necessary under the circumstances.
B. Cash refunds, authorized by the cable operator and due to service
outages or for other reasons, will be provided only to those subscribers
that disconnect their cable service. Active subscribers who are due
a refund will have their accounts credited the requisite amount.
C. Refunds will be issued promptly, but not later than either:
1.
The next billing cycle following resolution of the subscriber
request or thirty (30) days, whichever is earlier, or
2.
Thirty (30) days after the return of the equipment supplied
by the cable operator if service is terminated.
D. A "service outage" shall be defined as one occurring to any individual
basic and satellite channels or individual premium channels being
unavailable on the system for more than twenty-four (24) hours that
is caused by the cable operator. Upon customer notification and verification
that service outage occurred and lasted longer than twenty-four (24)
hours, they shall be given a credit to that account.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-30; Ord. No. 947 § 10, 9-19-1994]
This Article modifies the existing cable television franchise
agreements now in full force and effect and the City shall enforce
all other existing customer service obligations imposed by Federal
or State law, local ordinances or by the franchise agreement unless
specifically amended and waived in writing.
[CC 1990 § 7.5-31; Ord. No. 947 § 11, 9-19-1994]
This Article is adopted under the police power of the City and
is expressly intended to follow the lead of the Communications Commission,
with certain amendments making the provisions more strict against
the interest of the cable company with this express understanding
that the Communications Commission has authorized or does not prevent
the City from doing so. Violations of this Article shall be an offense
under the Ordinance Code of the City and upon a finding by the Municipal
Judge the cable operator violated the terms of this Article, the operator
shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) per violation.
Each complaint or multiple complaints arising out of conditions under
the control of the cable operator shall be a separate violation subject
to the maximum fine as set out herein.