Banning Municipal Code Art. IV Minimum Consumer Protection and Service Standards

A. Except as otherwise provided in a franchise agreement, a grantee shall meet or exceed the following consumer protection and service standards under normal operating conditions:

1. Sufficient toll-free telephone line capacity between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. local time five days a week to assure that telephone answer time by a customer service representative, including wait time, will not exceed thirty seconds; and callers needing to be transferred will not be required to wait more than thirty seconds before being connected to a service representative.

2. Emergency toll free telephone line capacity on a twenty-four hour basis, including weekends and holidays. After 5:00 P.M., the telephone calls may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine and calls received after normal business hours by such service or automated response system must be responded to by a trained company representative by the next business day. During periods when an answering device, including, but not limited to voice-mail, is used, a grantee shall provide personnel who will contact the answering device or machine, at a minimum, every five hours to check on requests for service or complaints.

3. An office in Riverside County which provides adequate staffing to accept subscriber payments and the return or exchange of subscriber equipment, and where, except for official state and national holidays, the office is open for at least forty hours a week and where, at minimum, the office is open according to the following schedule:

a. Thirty-three hours each week which hours are sometime between 8:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. on the days of Monday through Friday, with a minimum of four hours on each day.

b. Three hours one weeknight sometime between 5:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M.

c. Four hours on either Saturday or Sunday. If the hours are on Saturday, the hours are sometime between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. If the hours are on Sunday, the hours are sometime between 11:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.

The grantee may petition the city to reduce its business hours if the extended hours are not justified by subscriber demand, and the city may not unreasonably deny the petition.

4. An emergency system maintenance and repair staff, capable of responding to and repairing major system malfunctions on a twenty-four-hour per day basis.

5. An installation staff capable of installing service to any subscriber requiring a standard Installation within seven calendar days after receipt of a request, in all areas where trunk and feeder cable have been activated. "Standard installations" are those that are located up to two hundred fifty feet from the existing distribution system unless otherwise defined in the franchise agreement. However, should such an installation require trenching, the installation must be completed within thirty calendar days after receipt of a request, provided that the grantee is able to obtain all necessary easements and permits.

6. When scheduling service calls, appointments with subscribers for installation of service, and other activities at the subscriber location, the grantee shall specify a two hour time period sometime between 8:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. for the appointment. The grantee may schedule installation and service calls outside of this time period for the express convenience of the customer. The grantee may not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment. If a grantee representative does not keep the appointment within the specified two hour time period, (a) the customer must be contacted and the appointment rescheduled for a time which is mutually agreeable to the grantee and the customer; and (b) the grantee may not charge the customer for completing any of the work which was the subject of the original appointment.

B. Under normal operating conditions, the standards of subsections (A)(1) and(A)(2) of this section must be met not less than ninety percent of the time when measured within any three month period. The standards of subsections (A)(4) through (6) of this section must be met not less than ninety-five percent of the time when measured within any three month period.

C. The grantee will not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards of this section unless a historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply.

(Code 1965, § 6B-4.1; Ord. No. 1350, § 1 (part).)

Except as otherwise provided in a franchise agreement,

A. The grantee shall render efficient service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt service only for good cause and for the shortest time possible. Scheduled interruptions, insofar as possible, must be preceded by notice, and must only occur during a period of minimum use of the cable system which is generally between midnight and 6:00 A.M. local time.

B. The grantee shall maintain a repair force of technicians capable of responding to subscriber requests for service within the following time frames:

1. If at least ten percent of all subscribers are affected by an outage of video or audio on 1 or more channels, technicians must respond to all requests for service within two hours, including weekends, of receiving subscriber calls or requests for service.

2. If at least five subscribers, but less than ten percent of all subscribers are affected by an outage of video or audio on 1 or more channels, then technicians must respond to a request for service within twenty-four hours of each of the requests, regardless of whether the request was made on weekends or on weekdays.

3. If less than 5 subscribers are affected by an outage of video or audio on one or more channels, the response to the request for service must be made within twenty-four hours of the request during the week, and no later than the next business day if the outage occurs during the weekend.

4. For inferior signal quality: within two business days of receiving a request for service identifying a problem concerning picture or sound quality.

C. The grantee will be deemed to have responded to a request for service under this section when a technician arrives at the service location and begins work on the problem. If a subscriber is not home when the technician arrives, the technician must leave written notification of arrival.

D. Unless excused, the grantee shall determine the nature of the problem resulting in a request for service within two business days of beginning work and resolve all cable system related problems within five business days unless technically infeasible.

E. The grantee may not charge for the repair or replacement of defective or malfunctioning equipment provided by the grantee to subscribers, unless the defect was caused by the subscriber, or the equipment owned by the subscriber requires repair or replacement.

(Code 1965, § 6B-4.2; Ord. No. 1350, § 1 (part).)

Except as otherwise provided in a franchise agreement,

A. Subscriber bills must 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 must also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits.

B. In case of a billing dispute, the grantee shall respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within fourteen calendar days of receipt of the written complaint.

C. The grantee must provide pro rata credits or refunds to requesting subscribers whose service has been interrupted for three or more hours if the interruption was not caused by the subscriber and was caused by events beyond the control of grantee. The minimum credit must equal the charge for one day of cable service for each calendar day with outages of three or more hours.

D. Credits or refunds must automatically be provided by the grantee on a pro rata basis to any subscriber affected by an interruption of service for more than three hours due to events within the control of the grantee, exclusive of scheduled repairs, maintenance or franchise-required construction that the grantee has provided advance written notice of to subscribers. In cases where advance written notice is provided to subscribers, the time period detailed in the notice may not exceed six hours in any twenty-four-hour period. In cases where such notice has been given to subscribers and the service interruption exceeds the period detailed in the notice, the provisions of this section will apply.

E. In the event the grantee has improperly or inadvertently disconnected cable services to a subscriber, the grantee must restore the cable service without charge to the subscriber as soon as possible, but in no event later than two days of discovery of the improper disconnection. The grantee must credit or provide a refund to any subscriber improperly or inadvertently disconnected from receiving cable service for the period of time without cable service.

F. All credits or refunds for service must be issued no later than the subscriber's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted. For subscribers terminating service, refunds must be issued promptly, but no later than thirty days after the return of any grantee-supplied equipment.

G. The grantee must provide written information on each of the following areas (i) at the time of the installation of service, (ii) at least annually to all subscribers, and (iii) at any time upon request:

1. Products and services offered; and

2. Prices and options for programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services; and

3. Installation and service maintenance policies; and

4. Instructions on how to use the cable service; and

5. Channel positions of programming carried on the system; and

6. Billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the city office designated for dealing with cable-related issues.

H. Subscribers must be notified of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible in writing and in accordance with state and federal law. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the grantee. In addition, the grantee must notify subscribers thirty days in advance of any significant changes in the information required in subsection G of this section.

(Code 1965, § 6B-4.3; Ord. No. 1350, § 1 (part).)

A. Upon ten calendar days' prior written notice, the grantee must respond to a request for information made by the city regarding grantee's compliance with any or all of the standards required in Sections 5.16.140 through 5.16.160. The grantee must provide sufficient documentation to permit the city to verify the grantee's compliance.

B. A verifiable pattern of non-compliance with the consumer protection standards of Sections 5.16.140 through 5.16.160, after the grantee's receipt of notice and not less than a thirty-day opportunity to cure, may, in the city's sole discretion, be declared a material breach of the franchise agreement and violation of this title.

C. The city, pursuant to Section 5.16.140(C), may require the grantee to acquire equipment to determine compliance with the telephone answering standards of this chapter. Should the grantee have its own telephone equipment which can report on telephone line usage, the grantee, upon written request from the city, must submit such report from its own system in order to verify compliance with the telephone answering standards of this chapter.

D. The grantee must take necessary steps to ensure that adequate telephone lines and staffing are available to permit the grantee to satisfy its obligations under this title and the franchise. Consideration will be given for periods of promotional activities or outages. The monthly billing period will be considered as a normal, daily activity for purposes of determining the availability of adequate telephone lines and staffing.

(Code 1965, § 6B-4.4; Ord. No. 1350, § 1 (part).)

A. The grantee must establish written procedures for receiving, acting upon and resolving subscriber complaints without intervention by the city. The written procedures must prescribe the manner in which a subscriber may submit a complaint either orally or in writing specifying the subscriber's grounds for dissatisfaction. Grantee shall file a copy of these procedures with the city. These procedures must meet the approval of the city, which approval may not be unreasonably withheld.

B. Upon prior written request, the city has the right to review the grantee's response to any subscriber complaint in order to determine the grantee's compliance with the franchise requirements, subject to the subscriber's right to privacy.

C. Subject to applicable law including, but not limited to, the terms of the franchise agreement, all subscribers have the right to continue receiving cable service insofar as their financial and other obligations to the grantee are honored. In the event that the grantee elects to rebuild, modify, or sell the system, or the city gives notice of intent to terminate or not to renew the franchise, the grantee must ensure that all subscribers receive cable service as long as the franchise remains in force.

D. In the event of a change of control of the grantee, or in the event a new operator acquires the system, the original grantee shall cooperate with the city, new grantee or operator in maintaining continuity of service to all subscribers. During such period, the grantee will be entitled to the revenues for any period during which it operates the system.

E. The grantee's response to subscriber complaints, as well as complaints made by subscribers to the city and provided by the city to the grantee, must be initiated within one business day of receipt by the grantee. The grantee shall resolve a subscriber's complaint not later than five business days after receipt of the complaint, or a longer period if such complaint cannot reasonably be resolved within five business days. Should a grantee supervisor not be available when requested by a subscriber, a supervisor must respond to the subscriber's complaint at the earliest possible time, and in no event later than the end of the next business day. The grantee shall promptly notify the city of the grantee's progress in responding to, and resolving, any complaints forwarded by the city to the grantee.

(Code 1965, § 6B-4.5; Ord. No. 1350, § 1 (part).)

A. In the event the grantee fails to operate the system for seven consecutive calendar days other than for reasons beyond the control of the grantee, without prior approval or subsequent excuse of the city, the city may, at its sole option, operate the system or designate an operator until such time as the grantee restores service under conditions acceptable to the city or a permanent operator is selected. If the city should fulfill this obligation for the grantee, then during such period as the city fulfills this obligation, the city will be entitled to collect all revenues from the system, and the grantee shall reimburse the city for all reasonable costs or damages in excess of the revenues collected by the city that are the result of the grantee's failure to perform.

B. All officers, agents or employees of the grantee or its contractors or subcontractors who, in the normal course of work come into contact with members of the public or who require entry onto the premises of any subscriber must carry a photo-identification card in a form approved by the city. The grantee must account for all identification cards at all times. Every vehicle of the grantee or its major subcontractors must be clearly and prominently identified as affiliated with or operated by the grantee.

C. Additional service standards and standards governing consumer protection and response by grantee to subscriber complaints not otherwise provided for in this title may be established in the franchise agreement or by separate ordinance as permitted by federal law. If the city establishes such additional service standards which exceed any standards established by the federal communications commission, the grantee may be permitted by federal law or regulation to recover the incremental cost associated with meeting the more stringent standard (i.e., the incremental cost differential between meeting the existing standard and that of the newly established standard). A verified and continuing pattern of repeated and substantial noncompliance may be deemed a material breach of the franchise, provided that the grantee must receive due process, including prior written notification and a reasonable opportunity to cure, prior to any sanction being imposed."

D. The city may conduct an audit or other inquiry in relation to payments made by a grantee no more than once every three years. As a part of the audit process, the city or its designee may inspect the grantee's books of accounts relative to the franchise at any time during regular business hours and after thirty calendar days prior written notice. All records deemed by the city or its designee to be reasonably necessary for such audit shall be made available by the grantee in a mutually agreeable format and location. If the results of any audit indicate that grantee (1) paid the correct franchise fee, (2) overpaid the franchise fee and is entitled to a refund or credit, or (3) underpaid the franchise fee by five percent or less, then the city shall pay the costs of the audit. If the results of the audit indicate grantee underpaid the franchise fee by more than five percent, then grantee shall pay the reasonable, documented, third-party costs of the audit, which costs shall be limited to five thousand dollars.

E. Each cable systems operator shall be required to provide cable access to each fire station, public school, police station, public library, and other such buildings used for public purposes to the extent that such access is being provided by other cable service providers within the service area.

F. Each cable systems operator shall be required to provide at least one public, education, and government ("PEG") channel.

G. Each cable systems operator shall make a PEG support grant to the city in the sum of sixty cents per subscriber per month payable quarterly no later than thirty days following the close of each quarter. Alternatively, and pursuant to a franchise agreement, an equivalent level of support may be made by provision of in-kind services or equipment.

(Code 1965, § 6B-4.6; Ord. No. 1350, § 1 (part).)