Sec. 5A-109. Consumer protection

Nothing in this Subtitle may be construed to prevent or prohibit:

Nothing in this Subtitle in any way relieves a franchisee of its obligation to comply with other applicable consumer protection laws and its franchise agreement.

A subscriber's preference as to the point of entry into a residence shall be observed whenever feasible. Runs in building interiors shall be as unobtrusive as possible. A franchisee shall use due care in the process of installation and shall repair any damage to a subscriber's property caused by said installation. Such restoration shall be undertaken within thirty (30) days after the damage is incurred and shall be completed as soon as reasonably possible thereafter.

In locations where a franchisee's system must be underground, drops must be placed underground as well. In all cases where new developments and subdivisions are to be constructed and to be served in whole or in part by underground power and telephone utilities, the owner or developer of such areas shall provide reasonable notice to the franchisee of the availability of trenches, backfill, and specifications of all necessary substructures in order that the franchisee may install all necessary cable facilities. In no event shall such undergrounding be at any cost or expense to the County.

Where a franchisee is required under Section 5A-106 to provide service to a person that resides within two hundred fifty (250) feet from the franchisee's distribution system, the franchisee must provide such service within seven (7) business days of the person's request. If, however, the person resides less than two hundred fifty (250) feet, but more than one hundred twenty-five (125) feet, from the franchisee's distribution system, the County may waive this seven (7) day requirement upon a showing of good cause by the franchisee and provided the franchisee specifies the time period within which service will be provided. This standard shall be met ninety-five percent (95%) of the time, measured on a quarterly basis.

A franchisee shall adhere to FCC regulations regarding antenna switches. A franchisee shall not, as a condition to providing cable service, require any subscriber or potential subscriber to remove any existing antenna structures for the receipt of over-the-air television signals.

A franchisee shall use its best efforts to collect on delinquent subscriber accounts before terminating service. In all cases, the franchisee shall provide the customer with at least ten (10) working days written notice prior to disconnection.

The franchisee shall notify the general public prior to commencing any proposed construction that will significantly disturb or disrupt public property or public rights-of-way, or have the potential to present a danger or affect the safety of the public generally. Where possible, the franchisee shall publicize proposed construction work at least one week prior to commencement of that work by notifying those residents and others in the immediate vicinity of where work is to be done and most likely to be affected by the work in at least one of the following ways: by telephone, in person, by mail, by distribution of door hangers or flyers to residences, by publication in local newspapers, or in any other manner reasonably calculated to provide adequate notice. Notice to affected persons must include the name and local telephone number of a franchisee representative who is qualified to answer questions concerning proposed construction. In addition, before entering any person's property for proposed construction work in connection with the rebuild for the system upgrade of franchisee's cable system, the franchisee must have permission of the property owner and shall contact the property owner or (in the case of residential property) the resident at least two (2) days in advance, when possible.

Each franchisee shall maintain offices at convenient locations within County, as specified in its franchise agreement, that shall be open during normal business hours to allow subscribers to request service, pay bills, and conduct other business.

Each franchisee will maintain at least one local, toll-free, or collect call telephone access line which will be available to subscribers twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. Trained representatives of a franchisee shall be available to respond to subscriber telephone inquiries during normal business hours.

Each franchisee shall be subject to the following standards, except that such franchisee shall not be subject to penalty as long as it meets such standards under normal operating conditions at least ninety percent (90%) of the time, measured quarterly.

In any case, at all times a franchisee shall provide an answering machine so that callers will have the option to leave messages.

A franchisee must hire sufficient competent customer service representatives and repair technicians so that it can adequately respond to customer inquiries, complaints, and requests for service in its office, over the phone, and at a subscriber's residence; provide prompt and effective service to subscribers; and, as a rule, complete repairs within a subscriber's home upon a single visit.

Excluding conditions beyond the control of the franchisee, repairs and maintenance for service interruptions must begin promptly and in no event later than twenty-four (24) hours after the subscriber reports the problem to the franchisee or its representative or the interruption or need for repairs otherwise becomes known to the franchisee. All such work must be completed within three (3) days from the date of the initial request, except installation requests, provided that a franchisee shall complete the work in the shortest time possible where, for reasons beyond the franchisee's control, the work could not be completed in those time periods even with the exercise of all due diligence; the failure of a franchisee to hire sufficient staff or to properly train its staff shall not justify a franchisee's failure to comply with this provision.

Each franchisee shall perform service calls, installations, and disconnects at least during normal business hours. In addition, maintenance service capability enabling the prompt location and correction of major system malfunctions shall be available Monday through Friday from the end of normal business hours until 12:30 A.M., and from 8:00 A.M. until 12:30 A.M. on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

The appointment window for installations, service calls, and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at a maximum, a two (2) hour time block during normal business hours, or such greater time as the County may authorize. Where a subscriber cannot conveniently arrange for a service call or installation during normal business hours, a franchisee shall also schedule service and installation calls outside normal business hours for the express convenience of the subscriber.

A franchisee may not cancel an appointment with a subscriber after the close of business on the business day preceding the appointment. If a franchisee's representative is running late for an appointment with a subscriber and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the subscriber will be contacted, and the appointment rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the subscriber.

A franchisee shall keep an emergency system maintenance and repair staff, capable of responding to and repairing system malfunctions or interruptions, on a twenty-four (24) hour basis.

Under normal operating conditions, billing inquiries and requests for service, repair, and maintenance not involving service interruptions must be acknowledged by a trained customer service representative within twenty-four (24) hours, or prior to the end of the next business day, whichever is earlier. A franchisee shall respond to all other inquiries within five (5) business days of the inquiry or complaint.

If a subscriber experiences a missed appointment due to the fault of a franchisee, the franchisee shall credit the subscriber's account Twenty Dollars ($20.00) for each missed appointment, or grant the subscriber such other equivalent remedy as the subscriber and franchisee may agree. This is in addition to any other penalties or liquidated damages.

Upon subscriber request, each franchisee shall arrange for pickup and replacement of converters or other franchisee equipment at the subscriber's address or by a satisfactory equivalent (such as the provision of a postage-prepaid mailer). At a subscriber's request, a franchisee shall make such pickup or replacement at the same time as any disconnection or other related service call, so as to avoid an additional visit. If a franchisee charges a fee for such pickup or replacement, such fee shall be clearly disclosed at the time of the subscriber's request.

A franchisee shall, when practicable, schedule and conduct maintenance on its cable system so that interruption of service is minimized and occurs during periods of minimum subscriber use of the cable system. The franchisee shall provide reasonable prior notice to subscribers and the County before interrupting service for planned maintenance or construction, except where such interruption is expected to be one (1) hour or less in duration. Such notice shall be provided by methods reasonably calculated to give subscribers actual notice of the planned interruption.

A franchisee may intentionally interrupt service on the cable system after 7:00 A.M. and before 1:00 A.M. only with good cause and for the shortest time possible and, except in emergency situations, only after publishing notice of service interruption at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the service interruption. Service may be intentionally interrupted between 1:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M. for routine testing, maintenance, and repair, without notification, any night except Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, or the night preceding a holiday.

Unless otherwise provided for herein, a franchisee shall provide the following materials to each subscriber at the time cable service is installed, at least annually thereafter, and at any time upon request. Copies of all such materials provided to subscribers shall also be provided to the County.

Subscribers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming services, or channel positions, and any significant changes in any other information required to be provided by this Section as soon as possible, in writing, unless such notice is waived by operation of applicable law. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator. Notwithstanding the above, a cable operator shall not be required to provide prior notice of any rate change that is the result of a regulatory fee, franchise fee, or any other fee, tax, assessment, or charge of any kind imposed by any Federal agency, State, or franchising authority on the transaction between the operator and the subscriber.

All franchisee promotional materials, announcements, and advertising of residential cable service to subscribers and the general public, where price information is listed in any manner, shall clearly and accurately disclose price terms. In the case of pay-per-view or pay-per-event programming, all promotional materials must clearly and accurately disclose price terms; and, in the case of telephone orders, a franchisee shall take appropriate steps to ensure that price terms are clearly and accurately disclosed to potential customers before the order is accepted.

Copies of all notices provided to subscribers under these customer service standards, as well as all promotional or special offers made to subscribers, and of any agreements used with subscribers, shall be filed promptly with the County.

Bills shall be clear, concise, and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic service, cable programming service, and premium service charges and all equipment charges. Bills shall clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates, and credits.

Refund checks to subscribers shall be issued promptly, but no later than the later of:

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

A franchisee's first billing statement after a new installation or service change shall be prorated as appropriate and shall reflect any security deposit.

Late fees will not be assessed for payments after the due date until forty-five (45) days after the beginning of the service period for which the payment is to be rendered.

A franchisee must notify the subscriber that he or she can remit payment in person at the franchisee's business office and inform the subscriber of the address of that office.

Subscribers shall not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by a franchisee, including failure to timely or correctly bill the subscriber, or failure to properly credit the subscriber for a payment timely made.

A subscriber who asks a franchisee for credit for an outage shall receive credit for the actual time period of the outage as a pro rata fraction of the monthly charges for any outage lasting between two (2) and six (6) hours, without reference to the time the subscriber contacts the franchisee. A subscriber shall receive credit for one full day's monthly charges for any outage of between six (6) and twenty-four (24) hours, whether or not the subscriber reports such an outage, if the franchisee becomes aware of such outages, either through reports by subscribers or otherwise. Each franchisee shall place a message in subscribers' bills at least quarterly, explaining how to report an outage, how to obtain a credit, and under what conditions credits are available. A franchisee shall also establish a mechanism by which subscribers may reliably and immediately contact the franchisee by telephone and report an outage for credit purposes, either by ensuring that they can reliably and immediately reach a live person or by another method (for example, by leaving a voice message or entering the subscriber's telephone number). Upon receiving such reports, the franchisee shall promptly contact the subscriber to confirm that the report has been received, and apply the credit to the subscriber's bill unless the franchisee reasonably concludes that the subscriber's report is false.

Franchisee shall respond to all written billing complaints from subscribers within thirty (30) days.

A subscriber may terminate service at any time.

A franchisee shall promptly disconnect or downgrade any subscriber. No period of notice prior to voluntary termination or downgrade of service may be required of subscribers by any franchisee. So long as the subscriber returns, or permits the franchisee to retrieve, any equipment necessary to receive a service within five (5) business days of the disconnection, no charge may be imposed by any franchisee for any cable service delivered after the date of the disconnect request.

A subscriber may be asked, but not required, to disconnect a franchisee's equipment and return it to the business office.

Any funds due the subscriber shall be refunded on disconnected accounts after any customer premises equipment provided by the franchisee has been recovered by the franchisee. The refund must be made within thirty (30) days or by the end of the next billing cycle, whichever is earlier, from the date disconnection was requested (or, if later, the date on which any customer premises equipment provided by the franchisee is returned).

If a subscriber fails to pay a monthly subscriber fee or other fee or charge, a franchisee may disconnect the subscriber's service, however, such disconnection shall not be effected until at least forty-five (45) days after the bill is due, plus at least ten (10) days advance written notice to the subscriber in question of intent to disconnect, but in no event before the date when the franchisee would be entitled to charge a late fee. If the subscriber pays all amounts due, including late charges, before the date scheduled for disconnection, the franchisee shall not disconnect service. After disconnection, upon payment by the subscriber in full of all proper fees or charges, including the payment of the reconnection charge, if any, the franchisee shall promptly reinstate service.

A franchisee may immediately disconnect a subscriber if the subscriber is damaging or destroying the franchisee's cable system or equipment. After disconnection, the franchisee shall restore service after the subscriber provides adequate assurance that it has ceased the practices that led to disconnection, and paid all proper fees and charges, including any reconnect fees and amounts owed the franchisee for damage to its cable system or equipment.

A franchisee may also disconnect a subscriber that causes signal leakage in excess of federal limits. A franchisee may disconnect a subscriber without notice where signal leakage is detected originating from the subscriber's premises in excess of federal limits, provided that the franchisee shall immediately notify the subscriber of the problem and, once the problem is corrected, reconnect the subscriber.

The disposition of cable home wiring in residential single-family homes shall be governed by FCC rules regarding cable home wiring as of December 1, 1998.

A franchisee shall reconnect service to customers wishing restoration of service, provided such a customer shall first satisfy any previous obligations owed.

At the time a franchisee alters the service it provides to a class of subscribers, it must provide each subscriber thirty (30) days notice, explain the substance and full effect of the alteration, and provide the subscriber the right to opt to receive any combination of services thereafter offered by franchisee.

No charge may be made for any service or product that the subscriber has not affirmatively indicated it wishes to receive.

A franchisee shall keep such records as are necessary to show compliance with these customer service standards and FCC customer service standards.

The County shall have the right to observe and inspect a franchisee's customer service procedures.

Except as prohibited by federal law, a franchisee shall be subject to penalties, forfeitures, and any other remedies or sanctions available under Federal, State, or local law, including, without limitation, this Subtitle and a franchisee's franchise with the County if it fails to comply with the standards herein.

A franchisee shall not be subject to penalties or liquidated damages as a result of any violations of these customer service standards that are due to force majeure as characterized in its franchise agreement.

No franchisee or OVS operator shall demand the exclusive right to provide cable service to a person or location as a condition of extending cable service or a cable system. This provision is not intended and shall not be interpreted:

No franchisee or OVS operator shall engage in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices, the purpose or effect of which is to hinder significantly or to prevent any multichannel video programming distributor, as defined in federal law, from providing cable service or services similar to cable service in the County. This provision does not apply to methods, acts, or practices allowed by Federal or State law. Any allegation that a franchisee has engaged in methods, acts, or practices that would be prohibited hereunder will be considered by the County only after exhaustion of federal remedies. This provision is not intended to create a private cause of action.