A. Complaints to Grantee. Grantee shall establish written procedures for receiving, acting upon, and resolving customer complaints. The written procedures shall prescribe the manner in which a customer may submit a complaint, either orally or in writing, that grantee has violated any provisions of this chapter or the franchise granted by city to grantee pursuant to this chapter. At the conclusion of the grantee’s investigation of the customer’s complaint, but in no event more than ten days after receiving the complaint, the grantee shall notify the customer of the results of the investigation and its proposed action or resolution, if any. The grantee shall also notify the customer of the customer’s right to file a complaint with the city in the event the customer is dissatisfied with the grantee's decision. All written procedures established by the grantee for receiving, acting upon and resolving customer complaints shall be filed with the city.
B. Complaint to the City. A customer who is dissatisfied with the grantee's proposed decision or who was not sent a written decision within a 10-day period after the grantee received the complaint, shall be entitled to have the complaint reviewed by the director or designee as follows:
1. Initiating Complaint Review. A customer shall initiate complaint review by the city by filing a written request for such review with the director of public works and by serving a copy of the request for review on the grantee. Such request for complaint review shall be filed by the customer within twenty days of the receipt of the grantee's decision, or, if grantee's decision has not been provided, within thirty days after filing the original complaint with the grantee; provided, however, that the director may extend such time limits for good cause shown. Such request for complaint review shall set forth the substance of the customer’s complaint together with the grantee's decision, if any, on the complaint.
2. Complaint Review Procedures. Upon receipt of a request for complaint review, the director, on the basis of the information set forth in such request, shall determine whether further review is warranted. In the event the director determines that further review is not warranted, then the grantee's decision shall be final. On the other hand, if the director determines that further review is warranted, the director shall require the grantee and customer to submit, within ten days after notice thereof, a written statement of the facts and arguments in support of their respective positions. The grantee or the customer may request in such statement that a hearing be conducted by the director. If requested, a hearing shall then be conducted by the director following notice in writing specifying the time and place for the hearing. The hearing shall be conducted informally by the director and the parties may offer any evidence relative to the dispute. In addition, the grantee and the customer shall produce any additional evidence requested by the city manager, including testing reports from the grantee, which the director may deem necessary for a full understanding and determination of the dispute. Within fifteen days of the conclusion of the hearing, the director shall render a written decision on the dispute, which decision shall fully resolve the matter and which shall be final as to the parties thereto.
(Ord. 2107 §1, Ord. 2136 §3, Ord. 2268, Ord. 2364 §96)