Chapter 13.89 — CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS

"Material breach" means any substantial and repeated failure to comply with the service standards set forth in this chapter.

"Normal business hours" means those hours during which similar service-oriented businesses within the City are open to serve customers. This shall include some evening hours at least one night per week and/or some weekend hours.

"Normal operating conditions" means those service conditions within the control of the grantee. Conditions not in the control of the grantee include natural disasters, civil disturbances, power outages, telephone network outages and severe weather. Conditions which are ordinarily in control of the grantee include, but are not limited to, special promotions, pay-per-view events, rate increases, regular peak or seasonal demand periods, and maintenance or upgrade of the cable system.

"Service interruption" means the loss of picture or sound on one or more channels, whether partial or complete. (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

Each grantee shall construct, install and maintain its cable system in a manner consistent with and in compliance with all applicable laws, ordinances, construction standards, governmental requirements and technical standards equivalent to those established by the franchise agreement and/or by the FCC. Each grantee shall provide, upon request, written reports of the grantee's annual proof of performance tests conducted pursuant to FCC standards and requirements. Upon complaint to the City by a subscriber and upon City request, grantee shall make a demonstrable showing that it is meeting the technical standards required by this section. (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

• A. Telephone Availability. The grantee shall maintain a local toll-free telephone access line which is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The number of this access line shall be listed in the most widely circulated telephone directory in the City. Trained company representatives shall be available to respond to telephone inquiries during normal business hours. After normal business hours, the access line may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine. Inquiries received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained company representative on the next business day.

Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a subscriber representative, including wait time, shall not exceed 30 seconds from when the connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, transfer time shall not exceed 30 seconds. Under normal operating conditions, the caller shall receive a busy signal less than three percent of the time. These standards shall be met no less than 90% of the time, measured on a quarterly basis.

• B. Office Hours and Location. Customer service center and bill payment locations will be

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City of Orange, CA § 13.89.030

ORANGE CODE

§ 13.89.040

open at least during normal business hours and will be conveniently located. The grantee shall maintain an office within the City. Such office shall be open during normal business hours for the purpose of receiving, investigating and responding to complaints regarding the quality of service, equipment malfunctions and other similar matters pertaining to the cable system.

• C. Subscriber Complaint Log. Grantee shall maintain a written record or log which lists the following:

  1. Date of subscriber's complaint;

  2. Identity of subscriber;

  3. Description of the nature of the complaint;

  4. Action taken by the grantee to resolve the complaint.

This written record shall be maintained in the grantee's office and shall be available for inspection during normal business hours by the City.

• D. Response to Complaints. The grantee shall maintain a repair force of technicians capable of responding to complaints or requests for service the next business day, or such other reasonable time period as determined by the City Manager, after receipt of a written complaint, except in the case of natural disaster, in which case the grantee shall use its best efforts. Charges for service calls will be in accordance with FCC regulations.

The City shall ensure that all subscribers, programmers and members of the general public have recourse to a satisfactory hearing of any complaints, where there is evidence that the grantee has not settled the complaint to the satisfaction of the person initiating the complaint. The City shall establish procedures for handling and settling complaints.

• E. Penalties for Failing to Respond to Complaints. A subscriber whose complaints have not been satisfied shall have the right to file a complaint in writing with the City.

If a subscriber files a written complaint with the City for a service problem which is preventable and reasonably within the grantee's control, as determined by the City Manager and if the grantee fails within 24 hours or such other reasonable time period as determined by the City Manager, following receipt of such written notice to remedy the problem, the City Manager may levy a civil penalty up to $500.00 for any occurrence or series of related occurrences. Such civil penalties may be collected by the City from the security fund. If the franchisee objects to the fine in writing to the City Manager, the grantee and City shall conduct arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association. (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

Under normal operating conditions, each of the following five standards shall be met no less than 95% of the time as measured on a quarterly basis:

• A. Installation. Standard installation shall be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed. "Standard installations" are those that are located within 125 feet from the existing cable system.

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City of Orange, CA

PUBLIC UTILITIES

§ 13.89.040

§ 13.89.050

• B. Service Interruptions. Excluding conditions beyond the control of the grantee, the grantee shall begin working on service interruptions promptly and in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes known. The grantee shall begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem. Any scheduled service interruptions shall be preceded by notice and shall be for as brief a period as possible. Such interruptions shall be scheduled during those times when the cable system is being the least utilized by subscribers.

• C. Appointments for Installation. The appointment window for installations, service calls and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at a maximum, a four-hour time block during normal business hours. The grantee may schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the subscriber.

• D. Subscriber Appointments. The grantee may not cancel a scheduled appointment with a subscriber after the close of business on the business day prior to such scheduled appointment.

• E. Rescheduling Appointments. If the grantee representative is late for an appointment with a subscriber and will not be able to keep the appointed time as scheduled, the subscriber shall be contacted and notified when the grantee representative will arrive. The appointment shall be rescheduled, at the subscriber's option, to a specific time when the grantee representative will arrive or to a specific time that is convenient for the subscriber.

• (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

• A. Communications. At the time of installation of any service, at least annually to all subscribers, and at any time upon request, the grantee shall provide written information in each of the following areas:

  1. Products and services offered;

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

  3. Installation and service maintenance policies;

  4. Instructions on how to use the cable service;

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

  6. Billing and complaint procedures, including name, address and telephone number of the City as the franchising authority; and

  7. Procedures for blocking or deleting unwanted channels.

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City of Orange, CA § 13.89.050

ORANGE CODE

§ 13.89.050

The grantee shall notify customers of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible through announcements on the cable system and in writing. Written notice must be given to customers at least 30 days in advance of such changes if the changes are within control of the grantee. In addition, the grantee shall notify customers 30 days in advance of any significant changes in the other information required by this section. If the change is not within the control of the grantee, the grantee shall provide written notice to all customers as soon as possible.

• B. Customer Invoices. Invoices shall be clear, accurate, concise and understandable. Invoices must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges. Invoices shall also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits. In case of a billing dispute, the grantee must respond to a written complaint from a customer within 30 days. Any unresolved complaint shall be referred promptly by the grantee to the City.

• C. Refund Checks. Refund checks shall be issued promptly, but no later than either:

  1. The subscriber's next billing cycle following resolution of the request or 30 days, whichever is earlier; or

  2. If service is terminated, the return of equipment supplied by the grantee.

• D. Credits. Credits for service shall be issued no later than the customer's next billing cycle following determination that a credit is warranted.

• E. Billing Period. The grantee must allow all subscribers who pay their bills directly to the grantee at least 15 days from the date the bill is mailed, to pay the listed charges unless otherwise agreed to pursuant to a residential rental agreement establishing tenancy. Subscriber payment shall be posted promptly.

• F. Delinquent Payments and Termination of Service. The grantee may not terminate residential service of a delinquent account unless the grantee has furnished notice to the subscriber of the delinquency and impending termination at least 15 days prior to the proposed termination. Such notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the subscriber to whom the service is billed. Such notice shall not be mailed until the 16th day after the date the bill for services was mailed to the subscriber. The notice of delinquency and impending termination may be part of a billing statement. The grantee may not assess a late charge, as prescribed in this section, any earlier than the 22nd day after the bill for service has been mailed. Every notice of termination of service shall include all of the following information:

  1. The name and address of the subscriber whose account is delinquent;

  2. The amount of the delinquency;

  3. The date on which payment is required in order to avoid termination of service; and

  4. The telephone number of a grantee representative who can provide additional information and handle complaints or initiate an investigation concerning the service and charges in question.

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City of Orange, CA

PUBLIC UTILITIES

§ 13.89.050

§ 13.89.090

Service may only be terminated on days in which the subscriber can reach a grantee representative either in person or by telephone.

Any service terminated without good cause shall 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.

Upon termination of service to any subscriber, the grantee shall promptly remove all of its facilities and equipment from the premises of such subscriber upon the subscriber's request, without any charge to the subscriber for such removal.

• G. Late Charges. The grantee may impose a late charge of one and one-half percent per month, or the maximum rate permitted by law.

• (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

The grantee shall offer lock boxes to each subscriber. (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

The grantee shall, at no cost to the subscriber, insure that programming, which constitutes "harmful matter", as defined in the California Penal Code Section 313, or indecent programming, as defined by federal law and FCC regulations, is effectively blocked unless a customer, age 18 or older, has specifically requested such programming. (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

The standards set forth herein are minimum standards that shall be met by the grantee. The grantee is free to establish policies and take actions which exceed the standards set forth herein. Those standards and policies set by the grantee which exceed the standards set forth in this chapter shall not be subject to enforcement by the City, unless otherwise set forth by federal, state or local law or pursuant to an agreement between the grantee and the City. (Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

Within 10 business days of a written request from the City, grantee shall provide sufficient documentation to enable the City to determine if the grantee has complied with the customer service standards set forth in this chapter.

In addition to those additional penalties and remedies provided for by law, Section 13.89.020 of this code, or pursuant to an agreement between the grantee and the City, the City may, at its option, impose monetary penalties against the grantee for material breaches of this chapter. A material breach shall be any substantial and repeated failure to comply with those customer service standards which are set forth in both this chapter and the Video Customer Service Act, California Government Code Sections 53088 et seq. The grantee shall be subject to the following monetary penalties for any material breach:

1. $200.00 per day not to exceed $600.00 for the first material breach;

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City of Orange, CA § 13.89.090

ORANGE CODE

§ 13.89.090

2. $400.00 per day not to exceed $1,200.00 for a subsequent material breach of the same nature which occurs within a 12-month period;

3. $1,000.00 per day not to exceed $3,000.00 for any additional material breach of the same nature which occurs within the same 12-month period.

No monetary penalties shall be assessed until the City has provided the grantee with written notice of the material breach. The grantee responsible for the material breach shall be given 30 days from receipt of the notice to cure the specified breach. The written notice shall be provided by first-class mail, postage prepaid and shall be deemed received within three days of deposit into the United States Mail. For the purpose of assessing penalties under this section, penalties shall be deemed to have occurred for each day, following the expiration of the 30-day period, that the material breach has not been remedied by the grantee. Monetary penalties for material breaches occurring after the first material breach shall only be imposed if the City gave notice of the previous material breach(es) and penalties were assessed in each instance.

(Ord. 12-94; Ord. 23-95)

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City of Orange, CA

PUBLIC UTILITIES

§ 13.90.010

§ 13.90.030