Mendocino County Municipal Code Div. IV Minimum Customer Service Standards

Grantee shall comply with the FCC customer service standards set forth at Section 76.309 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and such additional standards that may be imposed by ordinance or the franchise agreement, and each of the following requirements:

(A) The Grantee shall maintain a local, toll-free or collect call telephone access line ("access line") which will be available to its subscribers twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week;

(B) Trained, knowledgeable and qualified customer service representatives will be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during normal business hours. Normal business hours shall be a minimum of fifty-nine (59) hours weekly, from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and at least four (4) additional hours one (1) evening per week or on Saturdays (or such other times as are approved in writing by the County Administrator);

(C) During non-business hours, the access line may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine. Inquiries received during such hours must be responded to by a trained company representative during the next business day;

(D) A business and service office located within the County shall be open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and adequately staffed to accept subscriber payments and respond to service requests and complaints. Additionally, Grantee will staff the business and service office at least four (4) additional hours one (1) evening per week or on Saturdays. Other locations and hours are permissible if approved in writing by the County Administrator;

(E) Telephone answer time by Grantee's customer service representatives, including waiting time, shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds after a connection is made, and a busy signal shall not be obtained more than three percent (3%) of the time. 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;

(F) Grantee shall provide and maintain an emergency system maintenance and repair staff, capable of responding to and repairing major system malfunctions on a twenty-four (24) hour basis;

(G) 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, shall be preceded by notice and shall occur during periods of minimum use of the system, preferably between midnight and 6:00 a.m.;

(H) Under normal operating conditions, Grantee shall respond to the following subscriber complaints or requests for service, within the time frame specified below, no less than ninety-five percent (95%) of the time (measured on a quarterly basis):

(1) System Outages. Within two (2) hours, including weekend days, of receiving subscriber calls reporting a system outage which, by number of calls, identify a cable system outage of sound or picture of one (1) or more channels, or a loss of any other cable service, affecting five percent (5%) or more of the subscribers of the cable system.

(2) Service Interruptions. Within twenty-four (24) hours, excluding Sundays and holidays, after the interruption becomes known.

(3) Inferior Reception Quality. Within forty-eight (48) hours after receiving a request for service identifying a problem concerning picture or sound quality.

(I) Grantee shall be deemed to have responded to a request for service under the provisions of this Section when a technician arrives at the service location, if necessary, or otherwise begins work on the problem. In the case of a subscriber not being home when the technician arrives, response shall be deemed to have taken place if the technician leaves written notification of arrival.

(J) The appointment window alternatives for installations, service calls and other installation activities offered to a subscriber will be either a specific time or, at a maximum, a four (4) hour time block during normal business hours. A Grantee may schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours or outside the parameters of response time outlined above for the express convenience of the subscriber. Further, the following additional requirements shall apply to service appointments:

(1) A Grantee shall, in accordance with Section 1722(b) of the California Civil Code, inform subscribers of their right to service connection or repair within a four (4)-hour period, if the presence of the subscriber is required, by offering the four (4)-hour period at the time the subscriber calls for service connection or repair. Grantee also agrees to notify all subscribers by mail of their rights under Section 1722(b) at least annually during each year of the franchise.

(2) If the service connection or repair is not commenced within the specified four (4)-hour period, except for delays caused by unforeseen or unavoidable occurrences beyond the control of a Grantee, the subscriber shall receive one (1)-month of free service at the service level subscribed to by the affected subscriber.

(K) 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 fifty (150) feet from the existing distribution system.

(1) If the Grantee cannot perform the standard installation within seven (7) business days of request by a subscriber, the subscriber shall receive one (1)-month of free service at the service tier subscribed to by the affected subscriber.

(2) In the event that any services to any subscriber are interrupted for forty-eight (48) or more hours in any seven (7)-day period, except for acts of God or other circumstances beyond Grantee's control and outside the cable system, and except in circumstances for which the prior approval of the interruption is obtained from the County Administrator, Grantee shall provide a twenty percent (20%) rebate of the monthly fees to affected subscribers.

(L) Grantee shall have equipment and perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards set forth in this Section. The results of the surveys shall be submitted to the County quarterly. After one (1) year of submitting telephone-answering surveys to the County, Grantee may request that it be relieved of the requirement of submitting such surveys. The County Administrator may relieve Grantee of the survey requirement if he or she finds, based on the surveys and the level of customer complaints, that Grantee is in full compliance with telephone answering standards. County reserves the right to reinstitute the survey reporting requirement if the County receives three (3) complaints in any twelve (12)-month period of Grantee failing to meet these telephone answering standards.

(Ord. No. 4115 § 1 (part), adopted 2003.)

All personnel, agents and representatives of Grantee who have contact with subscribers and/or the public, including subcontractors, shall wear photo identification badges. Upon request by the County, Grantee shall provide a list of current employees, contractors and subcontractors performing work in the County.

(Ord. No. 4115 § 1 (part), adopted 2003.)

Grantee shall provide written information on each of the following areas at the time of installation of service, and at least annually, to all subscribers and at any time upon request by any resident of the County:

(A) Products and services offered;

(B) Prices and options for 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) Cable channel positions and identification;

(F) Customer service telephone number and office hours;

(G) Billing and complaint procedures, including how to resolve subscriber billing disputes;

(H) Credit procedures;

(I) Employee identifications;

(J) Service call response time scheduling;

(K) Time allowed to pay outstanding bills;

(L) Grounds for termination of service;

(M) Steps Grantee must take before disconnecting or terminating service, and the steps necessary to have service reconnected after involuntary termination;

(N) The subscriber's right to speak with a supervisor and, if none is then available, that a supervisor shall return the subscriber's call within one (1) working day;

(O) The appropriate regulatory authority with whom to register a complaint, including any rate complaint, and how to contact such authority;

(P) Instructions on the channel compatibility problems that occur when using a set-top channel converter to view scrambled or encrypted programming, including that subscribers may not be able to use special features and functions of their TV receivers and videocassette recorders;

(Q) Instructions regarding the availability of remote control equipment from other sources, such as retail outlets, and a list of the models of remote control units currently available from retailers that are compatible with Grantee's converters.

(Ord. No. 4115 § 1 (part), adopted 2003.)

(A) Grantee shall demonstrate compliance within the County with all of the standards contained in (or referenced by) Section 13.40.330 by providing quarterly customer service reports to the County, unless otherwise provided by its franchise agreement. The reports shall provide the following information:

(1) Volume of telephone calls received by the customer service department;

(2) Percentage of time trunk lines were busy, and the abandonment rate;

(3) Average time to complete out-of-service calls, and all other service calls;

(4) Average time to complete new installations;

(5) Detailed customer complaint and outage reports.

(B) Grantee shall maintain a written log or an equivalent stored in computer memory and capable of access and reproduction, for three (3) years indicating the time and date of all service interruptions, requests for cable service or repairs, and responses to request for cable service or repairs.

(Ord. No. 4115 § 1 (part), adopted 2003.)

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

(1) Receive and acknowledge any complaint made in person or by telephone within fifteen (15) minutes, regardless of the time the complaint is made;

(2) Acknowledge any complaint received by mail within three (3) business days of the date such complaint is received;

(3) Complaints not resolved within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt shall be listed in a log of "Delayed Action on Complaints" which shall give the detailed reasons for non-resolution within the twenty-four (24)-hour period;

(4) Provide the complainant access to the Grantee's management or supervisory personnel on a basis convenient to the complainant in the event resolution is not immediately obtained by Grantee's personnel normally assigned to handling complaints;

(5) Provide complete information to the complainant regarding his or her ability to take the complaint to the Grantor's representative if it is not resolved by the Grantee.

(B) Grantee shall establish procedures for receiving, acting upon and resolving subscriber complaints and shall submit such procedures to the County Administrator for review and approval. The Grantee shall furnish a notice of such procedures to each subscriber at the time of initial subscription to the system.

(C) Grantee shall maintain a written record, or "log" listing date and time of customer complaints, identifying the subscriber and describing the nature of the complaints and when and what action was taken by the Grantee in response thereto; such record shall be kept at Grantee's local office, reflecting the operations to date for a period of at least three (3) years, and shall be available for inspection during regular business hours without further notice or demand by the County Administrator.

(D) As subscribers are connected or reconnected to the cable system, the Grantee shall, by appropriate means such as a card or brochure, furnish information concerning the procedures for making inquiries or complaints, including the name, address and local telephone number of Grantee's employee or agent to whom such inquiries or complaints are to be addressed and furnish information concerning the County office responsible for administration of the franchise with the address and telephone number of the office.

(E) Grantee shall provide written notice to each subscriber at intervals not to exceed one (1) year of the procedure for reporting and resolving subscriber complaints, including the subscriber's right to complain in writing to the County of Grantee's failure to resolve a service complaint. The proper address of the County and Grantee to which complaints may be directed shall be included in said notice.

(Ord. No. 4115 § 1 (part), adopted 2003.)

(A) The Grantee shall not scramble or otherwise encrypt signals carried on the basic service tier. Requests for waivers of this prohibition must demonstrate either a substantial problem with theft of basic tier service or a strong need to scramble basic signals for other reasons.

(B) The Grantee shall comply with equipment compatibility rules and commercial availability of navigation equipment rules of the FCC.

(C) The Grantee shall offer subscribers the option to receive an A/B switch at the time of initial cable service installation and shall provide subscribers with written information as to how to use such a switch. The Grantee may charge a reasonable price for said switch. Upon subscriber request, the Grantee shall provide an A/B switch after the initial installation of cable service. If the subscriber requests installation of such a switch (to receive broadcast television without cable hookup), the Grantee may charge reasonable fees for such installation and equipment.

(Ord. No. 4115 § 1 (part), adopted 2003.)