(A) Office Hours and Telephone Availability.
(1) The grantee will maintain a customer service office within the city which shall be open during normal business hours and a local and toll-free call telephone access line which will be available to its subscribers twenty four (24) hours a day, seven days a week.
(a) At least one (1) trained representative of the grantee shall be available at the customer service office within the city to respond to customer inquiries during normal business hours. Each such representative shall be trained to perform efficiently the various tasks, including responding to consumer inquires and complaints, necessary to provide consumer services in a responsible and courteous manner.
(b) After normal business hours, the telephone access line may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine. Inquires received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained representative of the grantee within twenty four (24) hours after receipt of the complaint.
(2) Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a customer representative, including wait time, shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds when the connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, transfer time shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds. These standards shall be met no less than ninety (90) percent of the time under normal operating conditions.
(3) Under normal operating conditions, the customer will receive a busy signal less than three (3%) percent of the time.
(B) Install outages and service calls: Under normal operating conditions, each of the following standards will be met no less than ninety five percent (95%) of the time measured on a quarterly basis:
(1) Installations located within two hundred fifty (250) feet from the existing distribution plant and that are pre-wired for cable service shall be performed within five (5) days after an order has been placed unless scheduled at a later time by customer request.
(2) Installations located within two hundred fifty (250) feet from the existing distribution plant and that are not pre-wired for cable service shall be performed within seven (7) days after an order has been placed unless scheduled at a later time by customer request.
(3) Grantee will begin working on "service interruptions" promptly and in no event later than twenty four (24) hours after the interruption becomes known. The grantee must begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem. Under normal operating conditions, all repairs must be completed within forty-eight (48) hours. If conditions exist which are not within the control of the grantee, as defined by § 113.99 (B)(6) of this chapter, repairs must be completed as soon as reasonably possible.
(4) When a subscriber requests a change in the type of cable service or non-cable service he/she is currently receiving, the grantee must begin action to change the type of service provided the next business day after notification. If the desired change is not made within seven (7) days of notification, and the change would decrease the subscriber's bill, the grantee shall credit the subscriber's bill despite the fact that the service has not been changed.
(5) The "appointment window" alternatives for installations, service calls, and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at maximum, a four (4) hour time block during normal business hours. (The grantee may schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours for the expressed convenience of the customer.)
(6) The grantee may not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment.
(7) If a representative of the grantee 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.
(C) Communications Between Grantee and Cable Subscribers.
(1) Notification to subscribers-
(a) The Grantee 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:
1. Products and services offered;
2. Prices and options for programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services;
3. Installation and service maintenance policies;
4. Instructions on how to use the cable service and non-cable service;
5. Channel positions of programming carried on the system;
6. Billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the government's cable communications officer;
7. A description of grantee's policies concerning credits for outages and reception problems, consistent with these consumer protection standards; and
8. The local and toll-free numbers for grantee's subscriber service telephone system.
(b) Customers will be notified of any change in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible through announcements on the cable system and in writing using any reasonable means at the grantee's sole discretion. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the grantee. In addition, the grantee shall notify subscribers thirty (30) days in advance of any significant changes in other information required by the preceding paragraph.
(2) Billing
(a) Bills will be clear, concise and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic 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 cases of a billing dispute, the grantee must respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within thirty (30) days.
(c) The grantee shall not assess a late fee on subscribers' bills which are paid within thirty (30) days.
(3) Refunds. Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than either:
(a) The customer's next billing cycle following resolution of the request or thirty (30) days, whichever is earlier.
(b) The return of the equipment supplied by the grantee if service is terminated.
(4) Credits.
(a) Credits for service will be issued no later than the customer's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.
(b) When the use of service or equipment furnished by the grantee is interrupted due to any cause other than the negligence or willful act of the subscriber or the failure of equipment provided by the subscriber, a pro rata adjustment of the fixed monthly charges involved will be allowed, upon the request of the subscriber, for the service and equipment rendered unless and inoperative by reason of the interruption during the time and said interruption continues in excess of four (4) hours from the time it is reported to or detected by the grantee. For purpose of this section, every month is considered to have thirty (30) days.
(Ord. 1999-13, passed 11-8-99)