A. Regulation Of Service Rates: The city may regulate rates for the provision of cable service, equipment, or any other communications service provided over the system to the extent allowed under applicable laws. The city and commission reserve the right to regulate rates for any future services to the extent permitted by applicable laws. Any rate regulation undertaken by the city shall at all times comply with the rate regulations of the FCC, at 47 CFR section 76.900 et seq., as may from time to time be amended.
B. Nonstandard Installations: Grantee shall install and provide cable service to any person requesting other than a standard installation; provided, that said cable service can meet FCC technical specifications. In such case, grantee may charge for the incremental increase in material and labor costs incurred beyond the standard installation.
C. Sales Procedures: Grantee shall not exercise deceptive sales procedures when marketing any of its services within the city. In its initial communication or contact with a prospective subscriber and in all general solicitation materials marketing the grantee or its services as a whole, grantee shall inform the prospective subscriber of all levels of service available, including the lowest priced service tiers. Grantee shall have the right to market door to door during reasonable hours consistent with applicable laws.
D. Consumer Protection And Service Standards: Grantee shall maintain a convenient local customer service and bill payment location in Dakota County for receiving subscriber payments, handling billing questions and equipment replacement. Grantee shall comply with the following consumer protection standards:
1. Cable System Office Hours And Telephone Availability:
a. Grantee will maintain a local, toll free or collect call telephone access line which will be available to its subscribers twenty four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week.
(1) Trained grantee representatives will be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during normal business hours.
(2) After normal business hours, the access line may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine. Inquiries received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained grantee representative on the next business day.
b. 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 percent (90%) of the time under normal operating conditions, measured on a quarterly basis.
c. Grantee will not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards above unless a historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply.
d. Under normal operating conditions, the customer will receive a busy signal less than three percent (3%) of the time.
e. Customer service center and bill payment locations will be open at least during normal business hours. Payment drop boxes shall be emptied at least once a day, Monday through Friday, with the exception of legal holidays, and payments shall be posted to subscribers' accounts within forty eight (48) hours of pick up. Subscribers shall not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by the grantee to empty a drop box as specified herein, or to properly credit a subscriber for a payment timely made. Grantee shall provide subscribers with notice regarding drop box payment, pick up and posting procedures.
2. Installations, Outages And Service Calls: Under normal operating conditions, each of the following four (4) standards will be met no less than ninety five percent (95%) of the time, measured on a quarterly basis:
a. Standard installations will be performed within seven (7) business days after an order has been placed. "Standard" installations are those that are located up to one hundred twenty five feet (125') from the existing distribution system.
b. Excluding conditions beyond the control of grantee, grantee will begin working on service interruptions promptly and in no event later than twenty four (24) hours after the interruption becomes known. Grantee must begin action to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem.
c. 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. (Grantee shall schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the customer.)
d. Grantee may not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment.
e. If grantee's 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.
f. For purposes of determining conditions beyond the control of grantee under this section, power outages of grantee's power supplies or telephone system may be within the control of grantee.
3. Communications Between Grantee And Subscribers:
a. Notifications To Subscribers:
(1) 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:
(A) Products and services offered;
(B) Prices and options for all levels, including free programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services;
(C) Installation and service maintenance policies;
(D) Instructions on how to use the cable service;
(E) Channel positions of the programming carried on the system; and
(F) Billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the commission's office.
(2) Customers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible in writing. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of such changes if the changes are within the control of grantee. In addition, the grantee shall notify subscribers thirty (30) days in advance of any significant changes in the other information required by subsection D3a(1) of this section. Grantee shall not be required to provide prior notice of any rate changes as a result of a regulatory fee, franchise fee, or other fees, tax, assessment or charge of any kind imposed by any federal agency, state, or franchising authority, on the transaction between the operator and the subscriber.
b. Billing:
(1) 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.
(2) In case of a billing dispute, grantee must respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within thirty (30) days.
c. Refunds: Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than either:
(1) The customer's next billing cycle following resolution of the request or thirty (30) days, whichever is earlier; or
(2) The return of the equipment supplied by grantee if service is terminated.
d. Credits: Credits for service will be issued no later than the customer's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.
4. Customer Service Compliance Report: Grantee shall provide the city with a quarterly customer service compliance report which shall, at a minimum, demonstrate grantee's compliance with the terms and provisions of this subsection and any additional customer service requirements contained in this franchise, FCC customer service obligations, and other applicable laws, and include a summary by category of subscriber complaints summarizing the number and nature of such complaints.
E. Subscriber Contracts: Grantee shall file with commission any standard form subscriber contract utilized by grantee. If no such written contract exists, grantee shall file with the city a document completely and concisely stating the length and terms of the subscriber contract offered to customers. The length and terms of any subscriber contract shall be available for public inspection during normal business hours.
F. Refund Policy: In the event a subscriber establishes or terminates service and receives less than a full month's service, grantee shall prorate the monthly rate on the basis of the number of days in the period for which service was rendered to the number of days in the billing.
G. Late Fees: Fees for the late payment of bills shall not be assessed by grantee until after the service has been fully provided and then, only if the bill remains unpaid after the subscriber is notified of a delinquent balance. Late fees shall be based on a reasonable estimate of projected costs to grantee of late payment of bills and the servicing and collecting of such accounts. (Ord. 353, 2-15-2000)