Ontario Municipal Code Art. 5 Consumer Protection and Service Standards Applicable to All Video Providers

(a) A video provider must comply with all applicable provisions of the following state statutes:

(1) The Cable Television and Video Provider Customer Service and Information Act (Cal. Gov't Code §§ 53054, et seq.).

(2) The Video Customer Service Act (Cal. Gov't Code §§ 53088, et seq.).

(b) The customer service obligations imposed upon video providers by the Video Customer Service Act, Cal. Gov't Code §§ 53088 et seq.) consist of the following:

(1) Every video provider must render reasonably efficient service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt service only as necessary.

(2) All video provider personnel contacting subscribers or potential subscribers outside the office of the provider must be clearly identified as associated with the video provider.

(3) At the time of installation, and annually thereafter, all video providers must provide to all customers a written notice of the programming offered, the prices for that programming, the provider's installation and customer service policies, and the name, address, and telephone number of the City's office that is designated for receiving complaints.

(4) All video providers must have knowledgeable, qualified company representatives available to respond to customer telephone inquiries Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, during normal business hours.

(5) All video providers must provide to customers a toll-free or local telephone number for installation, service, and complaint calls. These calls must be answered promptly by the video providers.

(6) All video providers must render bills that are accurate and understandable.

(7) All video providers must respond promptly to a complete outage in a customer's service. The response must occur within twenty-four (24) hours of the reporting of such outage to the provider, except in those situations beyond the reasonable control of the video provider. A video provider will be deemed to respond to a complete outage when a company representative arrives at the outage location within twenty-four (24) hours and begins to resolve the problem.

(8) All video providers must provide a minimum of thirty (30) days' written notice before increasing rates or deleting channels. All video providers must make every reasonable effort to submit the notice to the City in advance of the distribution to customers. The thirty (30)-day notice is waived if the increases in rates or deletion of channels are outside the control of the video provider. In those cases, the video provider must make reasonable efforts to provide customers with as much notice as possible.

(9) Every video provider must allow every residential customer who pays his or her bill directly to the video provider at least fifteen (15) days from the date the bill for services is mailed to the customer, to pay the listed charges unless otherwise agreed to pursuant to a residential rental agreement establishing tenancy. Customer payments must be posted promptly. No video provider may terminate residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent account unless the video provider furnishes notice of the delinquency and impending termination at least fifteen (15) days prior to the proposed termination. The notice must be mailed, postage prepaid, to the customer to whom the service is billed. Notice must not be mailed until the sixteenth day after the date the bill for services was mailed to the customer. The notice of delinquency and impending termination may be part of a billing statement. No video provider may assess a late fee any earlier than the twenty-second day after the bill for service has been mailed.

(10) Every notice of termination of service pursuant to the preceding subsection (9) must include all of the following information:

(i) The name and address of the customer whose account is delinquent.

(ii) The amount of the delinquency.

(iii) The date by which payment is required in order to avoid termination of service.

(iv) The telephone number of a representative of the video provider who can provide additional information and handle complaints or initiate an investigation concerning the service and charges in question.

(11) Service may only be terminated on days in which the customer can reach a representative of the video provider either in person or by telephone.

(12) Any service terminated without good cause must be restored without charge for the service restoration. Good cause includes, but is not limited to, failure to pay, payment by check for which there are insufficient funds, theft of service, abuse of equipment or system personnel, or other similar subscriber actions.

(13) All video providers must issue requested refund checks promptly, but no later than forty-five (45) days following the resolution of any dispute, and following the return of the equipment supplied by the video provider, if service is terminated.

(14) All video providers must issue security or customer deposit refund checks promptly, but no later than forty-five (45) days following the termination of service, less any deductions permitted by law.

(15) Video providers must not disclose the name and address of a subscriber for commercial gain to be used in mailing lists or for other commercial purposes not reasonably related to the conduct of the businesses of the video providers or their affiliates, unless the video providers have provided to the subscriber a notice, separate or included in any other customer notice, that clearly and conspicuously describes the subscriber's ability to prohibit the disclosure. Video providers must provide an address and telephone number for a local subscriber to use without toll charge to prevent disclosure of the subscriber's name and address.

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)

(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to authorize the imposition of monetary penalties for the violation of the customer service standards established by § 4-20.37. The imposition of penalties authorized by this section will not prevent the City or any other affected party from exercising any other remedy to the extent permitted by law, including but not limited to any judicial remedy as provided below in subsection (b)(4) of this section.

(b) Administration and appeals.

(1) The City Manager or the City Manager's designee is authorized to administer this section. Decisions by the City Manager to assess monetary penalties against the grantee must be in writing and must contain findings supporting the decisions. Decisions by the City Manager are final, unless appealed by the grantee or aggrieved party.

(2) If the grantee or any interested person is aggrieved by a decision of the City Manager, the aggrieved party may, within ten (10) days of the written decision, appeal that decision in writing to the City Council. The appeal shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of OMC § 1-5.08.

(3) Schedule of penalties. The following schedule of monetary penalties may be assessed against the grantee for the material violation of the provisions of the customer service standards set forth in this section, provided that the violation is within the reasonable control of the grantee:

(i) The maximum penalty for a first material violation is Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each day of the material violation, not to exceed Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) for each occurrence of the material violation.

(ii) For a second material violation of the same nature within a twelve (12)-month period for which the City has provided notice and a penalty has been assessed, the maximum penalty is Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00) for each day of the material violation, not to exceed One Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200.00) for each occurrence of the material violation.

(iii) For a third or further material violation of the same nature within a twelve (12)-month period for which the City has provided notice and a penalty has been assessed, the maximum penalty is One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each day of the material violation, not to exceed Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) for each occurrence of the material violation.

(4) Judicial remedy. This subsection does not preclude any affected party from pursuing any judicial remedy available to that party without regard to this section.

(5) Notice of violation. The City must give the grantee written notice of any alleged violation of the consumer service standards and allow the grantee at least thirty (30) days from receipt of the notice to remedy the specified violation.

(6) Assessment of monetary penalties.

(i) If a violation has not been corrected or cured by grantee within the time specified by the City, the monetary penalties specified above in subsection (3) above may be assessed from the date of delivery to grantee of the City's written notice of violation.

(ii) In assessing monetary penalties under this section, the City Manager or the City Council, as applicable, may take into account the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation and, with respect to the grantee, the degree of culpability, any history of prior violations, and such other matters as may be relevant. If warranted under the circumstances, the monetary penalty to be assessed may be less than the maximum penalty amount specified above in subsection (3).

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)

Upon thirty (30) days' prior written notice, the City may require a video provider to provide a written report demonstrating its compliance with any of the customer service standards specified in § 4-20.37. The video provider must provide sufficient documentation to enable the City to verify compliance.

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)

No charge may be imposed for any service or equipment that the subscriber has not affirmatively selected. Payment of the regular monthly bill will not by itself constitute an affirmative selection.

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)

(a) In case of a billing dispute, the video provider must respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within thirty (30) days.

(b) At the time of the initial complaint, the video provider shall provide written or verbal notice to customers that in the event of a billing dispute, the video provider, upon resolution of the dispute when the video provider is at fault, shall waive a late fee.

(c) Subscribers shall not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by the video provider, its employees, or contractors, including failure to timely or correctly bill the subscriber, or failure to properly credit the subscribers for a payment made in a timely manner.

(d) The video provider shall afford each subscriber with a right to rescind the subscriber's ordering of service within three (3) days after ordering, provided that such right of rescission shall end upon activation of the service ordered.

(e) The grantee shall assess any late fees in accordance with California law. In no event shall a late fee exceed the maximum amount permissible under California law.

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)

(a) No person, firm or corporation in the existing service area of a video provider shall be arbitrarily refused service; provided, however, that the video provider shall not be required to provide service to any subscriber who does not pay the applicable connection fee or monthly service charge hereby authorized.

(b) It is the City's intent that tenants not be discriminated against in the ability to subscribe to the video provider services. A video provider shall be required to provide service to tenants in individual units of a multiple housing facility with all services offered to other dwelling units within the video provider's service area within the city, so long as the owner of the facility consents in writing, if requested by the video provider, to the following:

(1) Video provider's providing the service to units of the facility on such terms and conditions as are reasonable, provided that:

(i) The owner of the facility shall not seek to charge video provider any fee or consideration for access to the facility or for the right of providing video provider service to the dwelling units within the facility,

(ii) Video provider shall not seek to charge the owner of the facility any fee or consideration for installing such service other than its actual costs as provided for herein, and

(iii) Such terms and conditions shall be in compliance with applicable law;

(2) Reasonable access to the premises by the video provider for installation, maintenance, and inspection of the system on the premises;

(3) Reasonable conditions promulgated by the video provider to protect the video provider's equipment and to encourage widespread use of the system;

(4) The owner shall not discriminate in rental charges, or otherwise, between tenants who receive video provider service and those who do not; and

(5) The owner shall provide all easements, rights-of-way, and other rights of access deemed reasonably necessary or appropriate by video provider for purposes of providing video provider service to the facility.

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)

Under normal operating conditions, a video provider shall provide written or oral notice, in light of circumstances, prior to entering any private property.

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)

(a) A video provider will abide by all customer privacy requirements of federal and state law. Without limiting the foregoing, at least annually, a video provider shall provide notice in the form of a separate, written statement to each subscriber, which clearly and conspicuously informs the subscriber of:

(1) The nature of personally identifiable information collected or to be collected with respect to the subscriber and the nature of the use of such information;

(2) The nature, frequency and purpose of any disclosure, which may be made of such information, including the identification of the types of persons to whom the disclosure may be made;

(3) The period during which such information will be maintained by the video provider;

(4) The times and place at which the subscriber may have access to such information in accordance with federal and state law; and

(5) The limitations provided in federal and state law with respect to the collection and disclosure of information by the video provider and the right of the subscriber under law.

(b) Data collection. A video provider's data collection and dissemination practices regarding subscribers shall be in compliance with this chapter, including, without limitation, § 4-20.37(b)(15), and, if applicable, the Cable Act (including § 631).

(c) Revealing subscriber preferences.

(1) A video provider shall not reveal individual subscriber preferences, viewing habits, beliefs, philosophy, creeds or religious beliefs to any third person, firm, agency, governmental unit or investigating agency without court authority or prior written consent of the subscriber.

(2) Such written consent, if given, shall be limited to a period of time not to exceed one (1) year or a term agreed upon by the video provider and subscriber.

(3) A video provider shall not condition the delivery or receipt of services to any subscriber on any such consent.

(4) Such a subscriber may revoke without penalty or cost any consent previously made by delivering to the video provider in writing a substantial indication of his or her intent to so revoke.

(d) Other persons affected. This section, except the written notice requirements of subsection (a) of this section, shall apply to all of the following, to the extent they have access to subscriber information, as well as to any video provider:

(1) Officers, directors, employees and agents of the video provider;

(2) General and limited partners of the video provider;

(3) Any person or combination of persons owning, holding or controlling five percent (5%) or more of any corporate stock or other ownership interest of the video provider;

(4) Any affiliated or subsidiary entity owned or controlled by the video provider, or in which any officer, director, stockholder, general or limited partner or person or group of persons owning, holding or controlling any ownership interest in the video provider, shall own, hold or control five percent (5%) or more of any corporate stock or other ownership interest;

(5) Any person, firm or corporation acting or serving in the capability of holding or controlling company of the video provider.

(§ 1, Ord. 2833, eff. August 5, 2006)