La Mesa Municipal Code Ch. 26.10 Operations and Maintenance

(a) The grantee shall maintain an office location within five miles of the boundaries of the city, or at an alternative location to be approved by the grantor. Grantee's office shall be open during all usual business hours, but in no case less than forty-eight hours per week including at least one weekend day per week. Grantee shall have a publicly listed non-toll-charge telephone number. It shall be operated so that an employee with dispatching capability can receive subscriber complaints and requests on a twenty-four hour basis.

(b) The grantee shall employ and deploy a force of technicians on a twenty-four hour basis capable of responding within four hours after receipt of request for repairs relating to any service outage and forty-eight hours including Sundays for all other complaints and requests for repair. No charge shall be made to the subscriber for such a service or repair except that grantee may charge for service calls beyond the first call for problems not related to its system.

(c) Telephone Service. Except in the case of system outages or unforeseeable and unforeseen events outside the grantee's control, telephone answer time by a customer service representative, including wait time, and the time required to transfer the call, shall not exceed thirty seconds. Those systems which utilize automated answering and distributing equipment will limit the number of routine rings to four or fewer. Systems not utilizing automated equipment shall make every effort to answer incoming calls as promptly as the automated systems. This standard shall be met no less than ninety percent of the time on a quarterly basis. The customer will receive a busy signal less than three percent of the total time that the cable office is open for business.

(d) Grantee shall provide and guarantee subscribers with the option of scheduling a four hour period in which the service call will be made either in morning or afternoon including Saturdays.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

Grantee's complaint handling procedures shall be designed to accomplish the following:

(a) Receipt and acknowledgement of any complaint made in person or by telephone within four hours, regardless of the time the complaint is made.

(b) Acknowledgement of any complaint received by mail at Grantee's office within ten business days of the date such complaint is received.

(c) Maintain a record available, subject to state and federal privacy laws, to grantor upon grantor's request, of all complaints, including the complainants' name, address and telephone number, the date of its acknowledgement, and information given as to how the complaint would be resolved, and the action taken.

(d) Provide information to the complainant regarding his ability to take his complaint to the grantor's representative if it is not resolved by the grantee.

(e) Grantee shall respond within eight business hours to complaints made or referred by grantor.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

The following remedies for loss of service are hereby established:

(a) Except for rebuild outages for which grantee receives prior approval of grantor or outages which are the result of unforeseen and unforeseeable acts of third parties, in the event that any subscriber service is interrupted, grantee shall provide a credit of one day service upon written or oral request of the affected subscriber.

(b) In the event that the system fails to meet any material performance standards based upon a system-wide test as specified in the franchise agreement, for a full six month period after being put on notice by grantor, for any reason within grantee's control, grantor may require grantee to reduce all subscribers' fees by twenty-five percent until all performance standards are met. The grantor shall notify grantee during the first month of the six month period that the system has failed to meet performance standards.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

Grantee shall submit to grantor copies of all FCC required proofs of performance, or other forms of required technical testing, within thirty days of completion.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

Grantee shall maintain and provide to grantor, at its request but not more than annually, at no cost a complete and up-to-date set of as-built system maps. As-built drawings show all lines and installed equipment, and tap values and spigots. The scale of maps and drawings shall be sufficient to show the required details in easily readable form and size. Technical data at the office shall also include approved pole applications, details and documentation of satellite and microwave equipment, mobile radio units, heavy construction vehicles and equipment, computer systems and their program documentation, video and audio equipment, and all other equipment and facilities normally used in the operation of the system.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

All technical data and all correspondence with, to, or from the FCC relating to grantee's system shall be available to grantor's inspection during normal business hours, upon reasonable notice, and, in the event of system failure or other operating emergency, at any time, so long as the provision of said data does not unreasonably interfere with grantee's operations.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

It shall be grantee's responsibility to assure that its personnel qualified to make repairs are available at all reasonable times and that they are supplied with keys, equipment location instructions, and technical information necessary to begin repairs upon notification of need to maintain or restore continuous service to the system.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

(a) Information to Customers. The grantee shall, at the time service is initiated provide each new customer written information covering:

(1) The time allowed to pay outstanding bills.

(2) Grounds for termination of service.

(3) The steps the grantee must take before terminating service.

(4) How the customer can resolve billing disputes.

(5) The steps necessary to have service reconnected after involuntary termination.

(6) The fact that customer service personnel shall identify themselves by first names immediately.

(7) The fact that customers shall have the right to speak with a supervisor, and if none is available, supervisor shall return customer call within one working day.

(8) The appropriate regulatory authority with whom to register a complaint and how to contact such authority.

In addition, at least once each calendar year, grantee shall notify each customer that information is available upon request concerning items (1) through (8) above.

(b) Written Notices. Written notices of all terms of customer agreement, of all equipment and fee options, of name, address and telephone number of company, availability of parental control devices, company practices with respect to privacy of customer, and other relevant information shall be made by grantee to customers before service is begun, at least once each calendar year and at any time upon the request of the customer. Disclosure should include but not be limited to: availability of A/B switches, as may be required by law, any reduced rates for seniors or other subscribers, company billing and credit practices, the telephone numbers for customer complaints of the company and the city, company practices regarding protection of customer privacy. Notices should be sent to the grantor of current policies and practices at least once a year and whenever changes are made.

(c) Advance Notices. Advance notices of changes, including increases in fees or charges and in channel lineup of stations or services, shall be sent to city and to subscribers promptly, that is, at least one month before the changes are made, except for changes not known sufficiently in advance by company and not under company control. Notices should be clearly identified and in print large enough to be easily readable.

(d) Billing.

(1) Except as provided in Section 26.08.050, bills for service shall be rendered monthly, unless otherwise authorized by the customer and the grantee or unless service is rendered for a period less than one month. All bills shall contain a telephone number and mailing address for billing inquiries or disputes and shall clearly delineate all changes and the basis for those changes.

(2) Billing envelopes shall be individually marked to indicate the date mailed. This postmark date shall constitute proof of the date of issuance.

(3) Disputed Bills:

a. In the event of a dispute between the customer and the grantee regarding the bill, the grantee shall promptly make such investigation as is required by the particular case and report the results to the customer. In the event the dispute is not resolved to the satisfaction of beth parties, the grantee shall inform the customer of the complaint procedures of the grantee. If the customer wishes to obtain the benefits of paragraphs b. and c. of this subsection, notification of the disputed bill must be given to the grantee within five days after due date.

b. The customer shall not be required to pay the disputed portion of the bill until the earlier of the following:

1. Resolution of the dispute,

2. Expiration of the forty-five day period beginning on the date of issuance, provided that the procedures established in paragraph a. above have been followed.

c. Pending resolution of the bill dispute, no termination notices shall be issued for the disputed portions of the bill, nor shall any other collection procedures be initiated for said amount. Any such activity may be interpreted as an attempt to avoid the provisions of these rules and shall constitute violation of the regulations.

(e) Referral of Accounts to Collection Agencies.

(1) Uncollected accounts may be referred to private collection agencies for appropriate action if the bill has not been paid by the earlier of (a) thirty days following date of involuntary termination or (b) the sixty-first day following the date of issuance of the original uncollected amount, provided no notification of billing dispute has been made, or if procedures for resolution of billing disputes have not been followed as required above.

(2) If the account was voluntarily terminated, for any reason, the account may not be referred to a collection agency until at least thirty days following rendering of the final bill. If notification of a billing dispute is made, all collection procedures shall be delayed as required in paragraph c. of subsection (d)(3), "Disputed Bills." Referral to collection agent shall then occur no sooner than the sixty-first day following issuance of the original uncollected amount.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

When a subscriber voluntarily discontinues service, grantee shall refund the unused portion of any advance payments after deducting any charges currently due through the end of the present billing period within thirty days of discontinuance of service and upon return of any grantee-owned equipment. Unused payment portions shall be the percentage of time for which subscriber has paid for service and will not receive it because of his discontinuation of service.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

The grantor shall annually, within sixty days of the anniversary date of the effective date of the franchise agreement, hold a service quality review, which shall contain one or more hearings where subscribers are provided the opportunity to express their input, regarding, among other topics to be selected by the grantor, compliance with this ordinance and any franchise agreement, service quality, customer service practices, customer satisfaction and the general state of cable television technology. The grantor shall provide to the grantee a written report of said proceeding including its determinations and recommendations.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)

(a) Photo Identification. All field service personnel and contractors must carry or wear photo identification tags. All service vehicles, including contract vehicles, must be identifiable as cable operator vehicles.

(b) Deposits on Equipment or Service. If customers are charged deposits for equipment or service, these deposits should be reasonable in relation to the cost of the equipment and theft deterrence. In the event deposits are refunded after twelve months without a payment delinquency, interest thereon shall be credited to consumers.

(c) Rate Regulation. Fees or charges for cable television service shall be subject to regulation pursuant to the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, as amended from time to time.

(d) Communication Between Grantee and Grantor. The grantee and grantor should adopt procedures to insure that each is informed in writing on a regular schedule or as needed of complaints and resolution of complaints, time of response to telephone calls and other matters. The grantee shall file at such times as specified by grantor, but no more than monthly, summary service reports including information about such matters as service calls response time, telephone response data and other appropriate items.

(e) Consumer Education. The grantee should engage in a continuous customer education program regarding scheduling service calls, trouble shooting and video recorder and converter operation when viewing cable and regarding other issues that frequent complaints draw to their attention or the attention of the grantor.

(f) Employee Courtesy and Promptness in Response to Requests and Questions. Grantee shall use its best efforts to hold its employees to a high standard of courtesy and promptness in their dealings with citizens, customers and grantor's representatives both in person and on the telephone.

(Ord. 2621 § 1 (part); March 23, 1993)