A. Identification of employees and work.
1. Each grantee shall require any person working on its behalf to wear a picture identification badge indicating that they are working on behalf of grantee. This badge shall be clearly visible to the public. All company vehicles shall prominently display the name under which the grantee is doing business, and logo, if any, in a manner clearly visible to the public. Contractor vehicles shall prominently display the contractor name, contractor license number, if applicable, and prominently display the grantee name. There must be a listed local telephone number for the names displayed.
2. The telephone number posted must be a local number. The phone must connect to persons trained to receive, and respond to calls regarding employees; construction and problems (including repair problems) associated with construction.
B. General subscriber notices. A grantee will provide each subscriber at the time service is installed, at least once annually thereafter, and at any time upon request, clear and accurate written information regarding:
1. How to use cable service;
2. How to place a service call, file a complaint, or request an adjustment (including when a subscriber is entitled to refunds for outages and how to obtain them);
3. The telephone number of the City office responsible for administering the cable franchise;
4. A schedule of rates and charges, channel positions, services provided, a copy of the service contract, delinquent subscriber disconnect and reconnect procedures; notifying subscribers of the availability of parental control devices, and the conditions under which they will be provided and the cost (if any) charged;
5. Any discounts offered (other than discounts offered under bulk contracts), and description of conditions that must be met to qualify for discounts;
6. Where and how payments can be made, and description of late charge practices.
7. Any other grantee policies in connection with its subscribers, including but not limited to its privacy policies; and
8. A description of any services or specialized equipment available to subscribers with disabilities, explaining how to obtain and use them.
C. Notices in bills.
1. Each bill shall prominently display the number to be called for billing and for other complaints, and for refunds and rebates, and must identify the address to which bills should be mailed, and the local addresses for in-person bill payments.
2. Each bill shall prominently display the name of the City office responsible for regulating cable on the bill. The information shall be placed and described so as to clearly distinguish it from information regarding the grantee.
D. Each grantee will provide the City at least sixty (60) days written notice, and all subscribers at least thirty (30) days written notice of any material changes in the information required to be provided under this Section except that, if federal law establishes a shorter notice period and preempts this requirement, the federal requirement will apply. If federal law preempts the requirement for written notice in certain cases, this provision will require that the grantee use another reasonable method for providing notice to the extent the written notice requirement is preempted. To be reasonable, grantee must be able to demonstrate that each subscriber responsible for making pertinent decisions had actual knowledge as to the means by which notice would be given, and that the grantee had some valid, empirical basis for concluding that notices so given were being received and understood by subscribers.
E. A grantee shall notify the City Manager immediately if a service interruption affects fifty (50) or more subscribers for a time period greater than three (3) hours. The City Manager shall establish appropriate methods for the notification required herein, including any procedures for notification after normal business hours.
F. A grantee shall provide the City with copies of all notices provided to its subscribers. If notice is given by some means other than in writing, the City must be provided a copy of the notice, as given. For example, if notice was given via the cable system, a tape of the notice must be provided to the City. Further, the City must be advised precisely how and when the notice was provided. If notice was provided on particular channels, the City must be told what channels were used.
G. A grantee must take appropriate steps to ensure that all written grantee promotional materials, announcements, and advertising of cable service to subscribers and the general public, where price information is listed in any manner, clearly and accurately discloses price terms. In the case of telephone orders, a grantee will take appropriate steps to ensure that price terms are clearly and accurately disclosed to potential customers in advance of taking the order.
H. A grantee shall not charge a subscriber for any service or equipment that the subscriber has not affirmatively requested by name. A subscriber's failure to refuse a cable operator's proposal to provide such service or equipment is not an affirmative request for service or equipment. A subscriber's affirmative request may be made orally or in writing, but it is the grantee burden to show that the affirmative request was made, and to retain records sufficient to prove that the affirmative request was made. This Section shall be read to require affirmative subscriber consent to take service whenever there is a change in the nature of an existing service or tier of service being received by a subscriber.
I. Each grantee will maintain a file, available for public inspection during the hours its office is open to the public, containing all notices provided to subscribers under these customer service standards, as well as all promotional offers made to subscribers. The notices and offers will be kept in the file for at least one (1) year from the date of such notice or promotional offer.
J. Billing credits.
1. All first billing statements after a new installation or service change will be prorated as appropriate and will reflect any security deposit.
2. All billing statements must be clear, concise, and understandable; must itemize each category of service and equipment provided to the subscriber; and must state clearly the charges therefor.
K. A grantee's billing statement must show a specific payment due date not earlier than the later of:
1. Fifteen (15) days after the date the statement is mailed; or
2. The tenth (10th) day of the service period for which the bill is rendered.
L. A late fee or administrative fee (collectively referred to below as a "late fee") may not be imposed for payments earlier than thirty (30) days after the due date specified in the bill.
M. A grantee must permit a subscriber to remit payment by mail or in person at the grantee's local office. Subscribers may not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by a grantee, including failure to timely or correctly bill the subscriber, or failure to properly credit the subscriber for a payment timely made. Payments will be considered timely if received by mail by 6:00 p.m. on or before the date the late fee would otherwise be due and if payment is made in person at any time up to the time the local office is closed on or before the date the late fee would otherwise be due.
N. Credit for service impairment.
1. A subscriber's account will be credited a prorated share of the monthly charge for the service upon request if a subscriber is without service or if service is substantially impaired for any reason for a period equal to or exceeding three (3) hours during any twenty-four (24) hour period; or automatically if the loss of service or impairment is for twenty-four (24) hours or longer.
2. A subscriber shall be deemed to have requested a credit if the subscriber requests a credit or complains about a service interruption within sixty (60) days of the outage.
3. A grantee need not credit subscriber where it establishes that a subscriber would obtain a credit for a loss of service or impairment caused by the subscriber or by subscriber-owned equipment (not including, for purposes of this Section, in-home wiring installed by the grantee). The grantee bears the burden of proving that the subscriber caused the service loss or impairment.
4. Refunds and/or credits for service will be issued no later than the next billing cycle of the customer following the determination that a credit is warranted.
O. A grantee may require a reasonable, non-discriminatory deposit on equipment provided to subscribers. When deposits are placed in an interest-bearing account, grantee will return the deposit, plus interest earned to the date the deposit is returned to the subscriber, less any amount the grantee can demonstrate should be deducted for damage to such equipment. The deposit must be returned within thirty (30) days of the date the equipment is returned, or the next billing cycle, whichever is sooner.
(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))