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(A) Bills will be clear, concise and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic, tiered 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 30 days.
(C) Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than either the customer’s next billing cycle following resolution of the request or 30 days, whichever is earlier.
(D) Credits for service will be issued no later than the customer’s next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.
(Prior Code, § 13.20.160) (Ord. 96-13.20, passed - -1996)
Under normal operating conditions, each of the following four standards will be met no less than 95% of the time measured on a quarterly basis.
(A) Standard installations will be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed. “Standard” installations are those that are located up to 1,000 feet from the existing distribution system.
(B) Excluding conditions beyond its control, a cable operator will begin working on “service interruptions” promptly and in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes known. A cable operator must begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem. Except in emergency situations, all service problems shall be handled or corrected within 48 hours from the time the cable operator first received notification (except for intermittent problems not present at the time of the service call).
(C) The “appointment window” alternatives for installations, service calls and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at maximum, a four-hour time block during normal business hours. A cable operator may schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of a customer.
(D) A cable operator may not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment.
(E) 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. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the customer.
(Prior Code, § 13.20.170) (Ord. 96-13.20, passed - -1996)
A 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, and at any time upon request:
(A) Products and services offered, itemizing the basic, premium and informational services offered, as well as the service tiers offered;
(B) Prices and options for programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services;
(C) Installation and service maintenance charges and policies;
(D) Instructions on how to use the cable service;
(E) Channel positions of programming carried on the system;
(F) Billing and complaint procedures, including:
(1) The address and telephone number of the cable operator’s local office;
(2) Payment due and delinquent dates;
(3) Amount or percentage of late charges, if any; and
(4) Resolution procedures for billing disputes, complaints and inquiries.
(G) The customer service hours and telephone number(s);
(H) The method of securing a voluntary disconnection;
(I) The extent of the credit/refund policy;
(J) The equipment use and return policy together with any required security deposits;
(K) The additional rights of blind, hearing-impaired or ambulatory impaired customers; and
(L) Notification of a subscriber’s ability to purchase or lease from the cable operator a lock box, parental control mechanism, or other device which will prohibit the viewing of a particular cable service during a period determined by the subscriber. Subscribers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming services, channel positions or service tiers as soon as possible through announcements on the cable system and in writing. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of 30 days in advance of these changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator. In addition, the cable operator shall notify subscribers 30 days in advance of any significant changes in the other information required by this section.
(Prior Code, § 13.20.180) (Ord. 96-13.20, passed - -1996)
(A) (1) A cable operator shall provide a subscriber with credit or a rebate for a service outage or interruption exceeding eight hours in duration beyond the time that the customer notified the cable operator of the outage.
(2) The credit for purposes of determining the amount of the credit or rebate shall be deemed to be equivalent to or the same as a 24-hour service outage.
(3) No credit or rebate shall be required where the outage was due to matters beyond the immediate control of the cable operator.
(B) In addition:
(1) For notifications by the customer after hours, these credit refund requirements shall only apply if three customers have provided notice in a given area;
(2) In the case of a regional or area outage, all affected subscribers shall be due a credit or refund if the cable operator is able to reasonably determine the subscribers affected. If the cable operator is not able to reasonably determine the subscribers affected by a regional or area outage, a credit or refund shall be given to all customers affected by the outage who make a claim for credit or refund within 30 days of the outage; and
(3) In the case of a charge for unsolicited service, a cable operator shall provide a subscriber with an adjustment or billing credit on the next available billing statement, and the subscriber shall not be considered delinquent for failure to pay a charge for unsolicited service.
(Prior Code, § 13.20.190) (Ord. 96-13.20, passed - -1996)
(A) (1) A cable operator shall not, as to rules, regulations, rates, changes, provision of service or use of a provider’s facilities and equipment, make or allow, or grant undue preference or advantage to any person, nor subject any person to prejudice or disadvantage on the basis of age, race, creed, color, sex, national origin, handicap, religious affiliation or location of residence.
(2) Cable operators shall not deny cable service, or the extension of cable service, to any group of potential residential cable subscribers because of the income of the residents of the local area in which such group resides.
(B) The provisions of this section shall not, however, prohibit a cable operator from:
(1) Offering a promotional or incentive discount rate or charge as long as the rate or charge does not exceed 120 days in length;
(2) Denying service based on location of residence, if that residence is outside the parameters for line extension as detailed in a franchise agreement, if applicable;
(3) Implementing a carefully designated no-frills service tier for “lower income”, and/or fixed income individuals; and/or
(4) Making agreements or entering into cable service agreements with multiple dwelling unit owners, including hotel, motel and mobile park owners, to provide cable service under a bulk billing or other type of arrangement.
(Prior Code, § 13.20.210) (Ord. 96-13.20, passed - -1996)
A customer shall maintain any equipment rented or leased from a cable operator in good working order, and operate the equipment only in the manner specified by the cable operator or the manufacturer of the equipment.
(A) If needed for proper operation, or requested by a customer, a cable operator shall deliver to a customer written instructions detailing the proper use of rented, loaned or purchased equipment. A cable operator may comply with this section by delivering the manufacturer’s instructions to a customer.
(B) A customer shall totally and fully reimburse a cable operator for any damage to a cable operator’s equipment that is due to the customer’s failure to properly maintain and operate the equipment.
(C) A customer shall be relieved from any responsibility for reimbursing a cable operator for equipment which malfunctions or does not operate due to a hidden or latent defect in the equipment or for which fails to operate or improperly operates due to natural occurrences conditioned by the normal wear and tear of the equipment, of for equipment damaged or destroyed by an act of nature.
(Prior Code, § 13.20.220) (Ord. 96-13.20, passed - -1996)
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