(A) General standards.
(1) Bills shall be clear, concise, and understandable.
(2) Bills shall fully itemize cable services, equipment, and any other items for which a cable operator charges a subscriber, including basic and premium service charges and equipment charges.
(3) Bills shall clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates, and credits.
(B) Refunds. Refund checks to subscribers shall be issued promptly, but no later than:
(1) The earlier of the subscriber’s next available billing cycle or 30 days following resolution of the refund request; or
(2) The return of all equipment supplied by the cable operator if cable service is terminated.
(C) Credits.
(1) Credits for cable service shall be issued no later than the subscriber’s next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.
(2) The account of any subscriber shall be credited a pro rated share of the monthly charge for cable service, upon the reasonably prompt request of a subscriber, or without a subscriber’s request if the cable operator is aware of an outage and can identify the affected subscribers; if the subscriber is without cable service for a period that exceeds 12 hours during any 24-hour period; or cable service is substantially impaired for any reason for a period that exceeds 12 hours during any 24-hour period.
(3) The provisions of division (C)(2) above do not apply if it can be documented that a subscriber seeks a refund for an outage or impairment that the subscriber caused, or a planned outage occurred between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. and the subscriber had prior notice.
(D) Payment information; late fees.
(1) A cable operator’s billing statement shall show a specific payment due date not earlier than the midpoint of the period for which the cable service being billed is rendered (e.g., the fifteenth day of a 30-day billing cycle).
(2) If a balance due is not received by seven days after the end of the period for which the cable service being billed is rendered, the cable operator may assess a late fee in accordance with state and local law and judicial decisions.
(3) Any late fee shall appear on the following month’s billing statement.
(4) A subscriber may not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by a cable operator, including a failure to timely or correctly bill the subscriber or a failure to properly credit the subscriber for a payment timely made.
(E) Deposits.
(1) A cable operator may require a reasonable, nondiscriminatory deposit on equipment provided to subscribers, in addition to any allowable monthly rental fees.
(2) A subscriber deposit shall bear interest in accordance with applicable law or at the going rate, which may not be less than the prime rate of the bank being used by the County Commissioners for the conduct of ordinary business. All deposits, with interest, shall be returned to the subscriber within 30 days after return of the equipment.
(F) Billing inquiries. If a subscriber requests a written response to a written billing inquiry, the cable operator shall respond in writing within 30 days of receipt.
(2004 Code, § 93-16) (Ord. 41, passed 4-28-1983; Ord. 08-10, passed 12-18-2008)