A. Notwithstanding the definition of the term “video provider” in § 5.208.180, the provisions of this section do not apply to providers of direct-to-home satellite services, also known as direct broadcast satellite (DBS).
B. Unless the customer protection and customer service obligations of a video provider, as that term is defined in § 5.208.180 (but excluding DBS), are specified in a franchise, license, lease, or similar written agreement with the city, a video provider must comply with all applicable provisions of the following state statutes:
1. The Cable Television and Video Customer Service and Information Act (Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 53054, et seq.)
2. The Video Customer Service Act (Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 53088, et seq.)
C. All video providers that are operating in the city on the effective date of this chapter, or that intend to operate in the city after its effective date, must register with the city; provided, however, that this registration requirement is not applicable to any video
provider that has executed a franchise, license, lease or similar written agreement with the city. The registration form must include or be accompanied by the following:
1. The video provider’s name, address, and local telephone numbers.
2. The names of the officers of the video provider.
3. A copy of the video provider’s written policies and procedures relating to customer service standards and the handling of customer complaints, as required by Cal. Gov’et seq. These customer service standards must include, without limitation, standards regarding the following:
a. Installation, disconnection, service and repair obligations, employee identification, and service call response time and scheduling.
b. Customer service telephone and office hours.
c. Procedures for billing, charges, refunds, and credits.
d. Procedures for termination of service.
e. Notice of the deletion of a programming service, the changing of channel assignments, or an increase in rates.
f. Complaint procedures and procedures for bill dispute resolution.
g. The video provider’s written acknowledgment of its obligation under Cal. Gov’t Code § 53055.1 to provide to new customers a notice describing the customer service standards specified above in subparagraphs C.3.a. through f. at the time of installation or when service is initiated. The notice must also include, in addition to all of the information described above in subparagraphs C.3.a. through f., all of the following:
(1) A listing of the services offered by the video provider that clearly describes all levels of service and the rates for each level of service.
(2) The telephone number or numbers through which customers may subscribe to, change, or terminate service, request customer service, or seek general or billing information.
(3) A description of the rights and remedies that the video provider may make available to its customers if the video provider does not materially meet its customer service standards.
h. The video provider’s written commitment to distribute annually to its employees and customers, and to the city, a notice describing the customer service standards specified above in subparagraphs C.3.a. through f. This annual notice must include the report of the video provider on its performance in meeting its customer service standards, as required by Cal. Gov’t Code § 53055.2. Subject to the written notice and cure provisions of Cal. Gov’t Code § 53056(b), a video provider that fails to distribute the annual notice required by Cal. Gov’t Code § 53055.1 will be assessed a monetary penalty in the sum of five hundred dollars ($500) for each year in which the annual notice is not distributed to all of its customers.
4. Unless a video provider is exempt under federal law from its payment, a registration fee in an amount established by resolution of the City Council to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the city in reviewing and processing the registration form.
5. In addition to the registration fee specified above in subsection C.4., the written commitment of the video provider to pay to the city, when due, all costs and expenses reasonably incurred by the city in resolving any disputes between the video provider and its subscribers, which dispute resolution is mandated by Cal. Gov’t Code § 53088.2(o).
D. The customer service obligations imposed upon video providers by the Video Customer Service Act (Cal. Gov’t Code § 53088 et seq.) consist of the following:
1. Every video provider must render reasonably efficient service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt service only as necessary.
2. All video provider personnel contacting subscribers or potential subscribers outside the office of the provider must be clearly identified as associated with the video provider.
3. At the time of installation, and annually thereafter, all video providers must provide to all customers a written notice of the programming offered, the prices for that programming, the provider’s installation and customer service policies, and the name, address, and telephone number of the city’s office that is designated for receiving complaints.
4. All video providers must have knowledgeable, qualified company representatives available to respond to customer telephone inquiries Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, during normal business hours.
5. All video providers must provide to customers a toll-free or local telephone number for installation, service, and complaint calls. These calls must be answered promptly by the video providers.
6. All video providers must render bills that are accurate and understandable.
7. All video providers must respond promptly to a complete outage in a customer’s service. The response must occur within twenty-four (24) hours of the reporting of that outage to the provider, except in those situations beyond the reasonable control of the video provider. A video provider will be deemed to respond to a complete outage when a company representative arrives at the outage location within twenty-four (24) hours and begins to resolve the problem.
8. All video providers must provide a minimum of thirty (30) days’ written notice before increasing rates or deleting channels. All video providers must make every reasonable effort to submit the notice to the city in advance of its distribution to customers. The thirty (30)-day notice is waived if the increases in rates or deletion of channels are outside the control of the video provider. In those cases, the video provider must make reasonable efforts to provide customers with as much notice as possible.
9. All video providers must allow every residential customer who pays his or her bill directly to the video provider at least fifteen (15) days from the date the bill for services is mailed to the customer, to pay the listed charges unless otherwise agreed to pursuant to a residential rental agreement establishing tenancy. Customer payments must be posted promptly. No video provider may terminate residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent account unless the video provider furnishes notice of the delinquency and impending termination at least fifteen (15) days prior to the proposed termination. The notice must be mailed, postage prepaid, to the customer to whom the service is billed. Notice must not be mailed until the sixteenth day after the date the bill for services was mailed to the customer. The notice of delinquency and impending termination may be part of a billing statement. No video provider may assess a late fee any earlier than the twenty-second day after the bill for service has been mailed.
10. Every notice of termination of service pursuant to the preceding subparagraph D.9. must include all of the following information:
a. The name and address of the customer whose account is delinquent.
b. The amount of the delinquency.
c. The date by which payment is required in order to avoid termination of service.
d. The telephone number of a representative of the video provider who can provide additional information and handle complaints or initiate an investigation concerning the service and charges in question. Service may only be terminated on days in which the customer can reach a representative of the video provider either in person or by telephone.
11. Any service terminated without good cause must be restored without charge for the service restoration. Good cause includes, but is not limited to, failure to pay, payment by check for which there are insufficient funds, theft of service, abuse of equipment or system personnel, or other similar subscriber actions.
12. All video providers must issue requested refund checks promptly, but no later than forty-five (45) days following the resolution of any dispute, and following the return of the equipment supplied by the video provider, if service is terminated.
13. All video providers must issue security or customer deposit refund checks promptly, but no later than forty-five (45) days following the termination of service, less any deductions permitted by law.
14. Video providers must not disclose the name and address of a subscriber for commercial gain to be used in mailing lists or for other commercial purposes not reasonably related to the conduct of the businesses of the video providers or their affiliates, unless the video providers have provided to the subscriber a notice, separate or included in any other customer notice, that clearly and conspicuously describes the subscriber’s ability to prohibit that disclosure. Video providers must provide an address and telephone number for a local subscriber to use without toll charge to prevent disclosure of the subscriber’s name and address.
E. As authorized by Cal. Gov’t Code § 53088(q), the following schedule of penalties is adopted. These penalties may be imposed for the material breach by a video provider of the consumer protection and service standards that are set forth above in paragraph D., provided that the breach is within the reasonable control of the video provider. These penalties are in addition to any other remedies authorized by this article or by any other law, and the city has discretion to elect the remedy that it will apply. The imposition of penalties authorized by this paragraph E. will not prevent the city or any other affected party from exercising any other remedy to the extent permitted by law, including but not limited to any judicial remedy as provided below in subparagraph E.2.
1. Schedule of penalties.
a. For a first material breach: the maximum penalty is two hundred dollars ($200) for each day of material breach, but not to exceed a cumulative total of six hundred dollars ($600) for each occurrence of material breach, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
b. For a second material breach of the same nature for which a monetary penalty was previously assessed within the preceding twelve (12)- month period: the maximum penalty is four hundred dollars ($400) per day, not to exceed a cumulative total of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200) for each occurrence of the material breach, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
c. For a third or further material breach of the same nature for which a monetary penalty was previously assessed within the preceding twelve (12)-month period: the maximum penalty is one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day, not to exceed a cumulative total of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each occurrence of the material breach, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
d. The maximum penalties referenced above may be increased by any additional amount authorized by state law.
2. Judicial remedies not affected. The imposition of penalties in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph E.1. above does not preclude any affected party from pursuing any judicial remedy that is available to that party.
3. Administration, notice, and appeal.
a. The City Manager or the City Manager’s designee is authorized to administer this paragraph E. Decisions by the City Manager to assess penalties against a video provider must be in writing and must contain findings supporting the decisions. Decisions by the City Manager are final, unless appealed to the City Council.
b. If the video provider or any interested person is aggrieved by a decision of the City Manager, the aggrieved party may, within ten (10) days of the written decision, appeal that decision in writing to the City Council. The appeal letter must be accompanied by the fee established by the City Council for processing the appeal. The City Council may affirm, modify, or reverse the decision of the City Manager.
c. The imposition of monetary penalties under subparagraph E.1. above is subject to the following requirements and limitations:
(1) The city must give the video provider written notice of any alleged material breach and must allow the video provider at least thirty (30) days from receipt of that notice to remedy the breach.
(2) For the purpose of assessing monetary penalties, a material breach will be deemed to have occurred for each day following the expiration of the period for cure specified in subparagraph E.3.c.(1) above that the material breach has not been remedied by the video provider, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
(Ord. 1082, passed 11-16-04)