A. Applicability: Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit the enforcement of any federal, state or local law or regulation concerning customer service or consumer protection that imposes customer service standards or consumer protection requirements that exceed the customer service standards set out in this chapter or that address matters not addressed in this chapter.
B. Twenty Four Hour Access: The grantee shall maintain a Chicago area (standard metropolitan statistical area) telephone access line which is available to its subscribers and shall have knowledgeable, qualified representatives available to respond to customer telephone inquiries twenty four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week.
C. Telephone Response Time: Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time, including wait time and the time required to transfer the call, shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds. This standard shall be met no less than ninety percent (90%) of the time as measured on a quarterly basis.
D. Limited Busy Signals: Under normal operating conditions, the customer will receive a busy signal less than three percent (3%) of the total time that the office is open for business.
E. Payment Convenience: Customer service centers and bill payment locations will be open for walk-in customer transactions a minimum of eight (8) hours per day Monday through Friday, unless there is a need to modify those hours because of the location or customers served. The grantee and village by mutual consent shall establish supplemental hours on weekdays and weekends as fits the needs of the community.
F. Installations; Service Calls: Under normal operating conditions, each of the following standards will be met no less than ninety five percent (95%) of the time as measured on an annual basis:
1. Standard installations will be performed within seven (7) business days after an order has been placed. A standard installation is one that is within one hundred twenty five feet (125') of the existing system.
2. Excluding those situations that are beyond its control, the grantee will respond to any service interruption promptly and in no event later than twenty four (24) hours from the time of initial notification. All other regular service requests will be responded to within thirty six (36) hours during the normal work week for that system except to the extent that other arrangements acceptable to the customer can be made. The appointment window alternatives for installations, service calls and other installation activities will be: "morning" or "afternoon", not to exceed a four (4) hour "window" during normal business hours for the system, or at a time that is mutually acceptable. The grantee may schedule supplemental hours during which appointments can be scheduled based on the needs of the consumers. If at any time an installer or technician is running late, an attempt to contact the customer will be made and the appointment rescheduled as necessary at a time that is convenient to the customer.
G. Subscriber Credit For Outages: Upon service interruption of a subscriber's cable service, and upon subscriber request, the following shall apply: grantee shall provide a credit for lost cable service of not less than the value of the actual time without service due to an outage or interruption of cable service lasting at least four (4) or more hours.
H. Written Information Provided: The grantee shall provide written information for each of the following areas at the time of installation and at any future time upon the request of the customer:
1. Product and services offered.
2. Prices and service options.
3. Installation and service policies.
4. How to use the cable television services.
I. Bills: Bills will be clear, concise and understandable, with all charges for cable services and packages itemized.
J. Late, Administrative Or Other Fee: A grantee may impose a late, administrative or other fee on a customer for nonpayment of a bill after thirty (30) days have elapsed in the billing cycle which is the subject of the unpaid bill.
K. Rate Or Channel Change Notification: The grantee shall notify customers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of any rate or channel change.
L. Adherence To Regulations: The grantee shall maintain and operate its network in accordance with the rules and regulations incorporated herein or as may be promulgated by the federal communications commission, the United States congress, or the state of Illinois.
M. Maintain Standards And Quality Of Service: The grantee shall continue, through the term of the franchise, to maintain the technical standards and quality of service set forth in this chapter. Should the village obtain evidence and determine by findings of fact that the grantee has failed to maintain the technical standards and quality of service, and should it, by resolution, specifically enumerate said failures, the grantee shall correct said failures. Failure to make such improvements within three (3) months of such resolution will constitute a breach of a condition for which penalties contained in section 7-3-44 of this chapter are applicable.
N. Monthly Service Log: The grantee shall keep a monthly service log which indicates the nature of each service complaint received in the last six (6) months, the date and time each complaint was received, the disposition of each complaint, and the time and date thereof. This log shall be made available for periodic inspection by the village. (Ord. 1021, 8-12-1998)