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Codified Ordinances of Loveland, OH
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711.12 OUTAGES.
   (a)   Interruption of Service. TWC shall exercise its best efforts to limit any scheduled interruption of any cable service for any purpose to periods of minimum use.
   (b)   Time Periods by Which Outages Must Be Corrected and Repairs Made. 
      (1)   TWC shall maintain sufficient repair and maintenance crews to correct outages promptly and, excluding situations beyond TWC's control, no later than twenty-four (24) hours after TWC becomes aware of the outage. TWC shall maintain sufficient repair and maintenance crews so that, under normal operating conditions, service problems will be repaired within thirty-six (36) hours after TWC receives the request if received during the normal work week and within forty-eight (48) hours if received on weekend days.
      (2)   In cases where it is necessary to enter upon a subscriber's premises to correct any service problem, the appointment window alternatives will be morning or afternoon during normal business hours. Based on community needs, TWC may schedule supplemental hours during which appointments can be set.
   (c)   Failure to Meet Time Periods May Be Excused. TWC's failure to correct outages or to make repairs within the stated time periods shall be excused if TWC could not obtain access to the Subscriber's premises. TWC shall provide written notice at the Subscriber's premises that they were present.
   (d)   No Charge For Repair Service. TWC shall not impose any fee or charge any Subscriber for any service call to his or her premises to perform any repair or maintenance work, unless such work was necessitated by an intentional act or gross negligence of such Subscriber, or if the Subscriber's equipment was determined to be at fault.
   (e)   Service Calls to be Provided on a Nondiscriminatory Basis. TWC shall provide all service calls on a nondiscriminatory basis.
   (f)   Refund Policy. TWC agrees to voluntarily refund a pro-rata share of Subscriber's bill when service has been unavailable for twelve consecutive hours within a twenty-four (24) hour period. Such refund will be issued by Grantee without any action by Subscriber. Such refund will be credited to the Subscriber's bill. In addition, TWC agrees to refund a pro-rata share of the Subscriber's bill upon Subscriber's request if service is unavailable for two consecutive hours within a twenty-four (24) hour period.
(Ord. 1994-51. Passed 8-9-94.)
711.13 TERMINATION OF SERVICE AND DISCONNECTION.
   (a)   Notice of Termination of Service. "Termination of Service" shall be defined as a physical disconnection of service at the subscriber's residence or business. As described in Section 711.14, TWC may terminate service to any subscriber who bill has not been paid after it becomes delinquent, so long as TWC gives proper notice to the subscriber as provided in this chapter.
   (b)   Termination on Sundays, Holidays or Evenings. TWC shall not terminate service to subscribers at any time when the service center is closed.
   (c)   Length of Time to Disconnection. If disconnection occurs at the subscriber's written or oral request, then, for billing purposes, it shall be deemed to have occurred three (3) days after TWC receives the request for disconnection unless:
      (1)   It in fact occurs earlier; or
      (2)   The subscriber requests a longer period.
   (d)   Restoration of Subscriber Premises. TWC shall ensure that the subscriber's premises are reasonably restored to their original conditions if damaged by TWC's employees or agents in any respect in connection with the installation, repair or disconnection of cable service.
   (e)   No Fee for Disconnection. TWC shall not charge any fee for disconnection. If, however, the subscriber pays the amount in arrears to TWC when TWC is on the subscriber's premises to disconnect service, then TWC may charge the subscriber a reasonable collection fee, provided that such subscriber is notified of such collection fee in the notice required by Section 711.14.
(Ord. 1994-51. Passed 8-9-94.)
711.14 BILLING.
   (a)   Format of a Subscriber's Bill. The bill shall be designed in such a way as to present the information contained therein clearly and comprehensibly to subscribers. The bill shall contain itemized charges for each category of service and piece of equipment for which a charge is imposed (including the late charges, if any), an explicit due date, the name and address of TWC, and the telephone number for TWC's office responsible for inquiries and billing. The bill shall state the billing period, amount of current billing and appropriate credits or past due balances, if any.
   (b)   Billing Procedures. TWC shall have a written description of billing and collection policies and procedures which shall, at a minimum, incorporate the provisions of this chapter. All bills shall be rendered monthly, unless otherwise authorized by the subsciber, or unless service was provided for less than one (1) month. TWC shall promptly credit any subscriber who has voluntarily interrupted cable service and/or returned equipment, but no later than the earlier of forty-five (45) days or the customer's next billing cycle, with a refund check or credit on his or her monthly bill for the period(s) during which service was voluntarily interrupted and/or equipment returned. TWC may charge any such subscriber a reconnection charge.
   (c)   Procedures for Collecting Late Bills and Discontinuance of Service.
      (1)   No bill shall be due less than twenty-eight (28) days from the date the statement is created by TWC. TWC will ensure that statements are promptly put in the mail after creations.               
      (2)   A bill shall not be considered delinquent until at least forty-five (45) days have elapsed from the mailing of the bill to the Subscriber and payment has not been received by TWC, provided that no bill shall be mailed more than fifteen (15) days prior to the date Services covered by such bill commence, except in cases where a Subscriber requests advance billing.
      (3)   TWC shall not physically or electronically discontinue service for nonpayment of bills rendered for service until the subscriber is delinquent in payment for service and at least eight (8) days have elapsed after mailing to the subscriber a separate written notice of impending discontinuance (for which postage is paid by TWC), addressed to such person at the billing.
      (4)   Notice of Service discontinuance must clearly state the amount in arrears, reconnection charges if applicable, and the date by which such payment must be made, the location of the service center where such payment may be made and the telephone number for information as to where each payment center is located where such payment may be made. Such notice shall be written in English.
      (5)   Receipt of a subsequently dishonored negotiable instrument in response to a notice of discontinuance shall not constitute payment, and TWC shall not be required to issue an additional notice prior to discontinuance.
   (d)   Procedures for the Resolution of Billing Disputes.
      (1)   TWC shall have a written billing dispute resolution process which, at a minimum, incorporates the provisions of this chapter. The billing dispute resolution procedure shall be initiated once a subscriber contacts either TWC's department which handles billing questions or the City or its agent in writing, so long as such contact occurs within thirty (3) days from the date of receipt of the bill by the subscriber. If the subscriber contacts the City or ICRC, the City or ICRC shall notify TWC, by mail, by telephone or by electronic means, that the dispute resolution procedure has been initiated and TWC shall then contact the subscriber to discuss the dispute.
      (2)   TWC shall promptly undertake whatever review is necessary to resolve the dispute, and shall notify the subscriber of the results of the review as soon as it is completed, but in no case later than twenty (20) business days after receipt from the subscriber of the billing dispute, problem or complaint notification.
      (3)   TWC shall notify the subscriber in writing of its proposed resolution of the billing dispute.
         (Ord. 1994-51. Passed 8-9-94.)
711.15 RECORDS REQUIREMENTS.
   (a)   General. TWC shall maintain all on-line computer subscriber information for a minimum of twelve (12) months. Microfiche copies of computerized subscriber records will be maintained for a minimum of three (3) years. Written subscriber correspondence will be maintained for a minimum of twelve (12) months. These records shall be assembled continuously.
   (b)   Complaint Records. TWC shall maintain complaint records, which shall record the date and time a complaint is received, the name and address of the affected subscriber, a description of the nature of the complaint, the date of resolution, and a description of the resolution.
   (c)   Records of Requests for Cable Service. TWC shall keep records capable of showing all requests for cable service, which shall contain, with respect to each request for service, the name and address of the person requesting service, the date on which service was initially requested, the date and appointment period on which service was initially scheduled to be provided and the date and appointment period service was actually provided.
   (d)   Records of Repair Service Requests. TWC shall keep records capable of showing all requests for repair service and information on outage correction (to the extent available with respect to each of the following types of information), which shall show, at a minimum, the name and address of the affected subscriber, the date and the approximate time of request, the date and approximate time TWC responds, the date and approximate time service is restored, and the type and the probable cause of the problem. Such records shall also describe the corrective action taken, if any, and in the case of outages shall estimate the number of subscribers affected. For the purposes of this section, "time" means the time of request or appointment period, as applicable.
(Ord. 1994-51. Passed 8-9-94.)
711.16 MISCELLANEOUS REQUIREMENTS.
   (a)   New Customer Service Standards. The City Council reserves the right to amend these standards to meet community needs or to the full extent the exercise of such authority is permitted under Section 632 of the Cable Act (47 U.S.C. 552).
(Ord. 1994-51. Passed 8-9-94.)
711.17 PROCEDURES FOR CONTACTING SUBSCRIBERS.
   (a)   Following the scheduling of an appointment with any subscriber within the appointment windows specified elsewhere in this chapter, TWC shall arrive at the subscriber's or potential subscriber's premises as promised and arrive at the subscriber's premises within the appointment window specified.
   (b)   The grantee's employee or representative shall make a reasonable effort to arrange for the premises to be telephoned immediately prior to a scheduled appointment to provide service or installation at the subscriber's premises to confirm the appointment is still required. TWC shall maintain documentation that an attempt was made to telephone the subscriber. If the subscriber is not contacted, TWC shall still complete the appointment if it desires but can reschedule the appointment as well.
   (c)   If, at any time due to circumstances beyond TWC's control, an installer or technician is running late and will not arrive at the customers premises by the end of the appointment window, the customer will be contacted as soon as the installer or technician is aware of the delay and the appointment rescheduled as necessary at a time which is convenient for the customer.
   (d)   In connection with any transaction between TWC and a subscriber which involves a visit to a subscriber's premises or place of business, TWC will, in each such case, provide such subscriber a written receipt briefly describing such transaction and the date and time thereof.
(Ord. 1994-51. Passed 8-9-94.)
711.18 FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THESE REQUIREMENTS.
   (a)   Material Requirements. TWC agrees that substantial failure to comply with any material requirement set forth in these customer service standards shall constitute a failure to comply with a material provision of this chapter.
   (b)   The City's Remedies for a Failure to Comply With These Customer Service Standards. In addition to the City's other remedies, TWC understands that if it fails substantially to comply with a material requirement set forth in this chapter, it shall pay to the City liquidated damages.
   (c)   Liability for Contractors'/Subcontractors' Failure to Comply. TWC shall be liable for any breach of these customer service standards committed by its contractors, subcontractors, or agents just as if TWC itself had committed the breach.
(Ord. 1994-51. Passed 8-9-94.)