§ 13-3. Customer service.

(a)

Provision of services. The grantee shall render good quality cable service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt cable service only for good cause and for the shortest time possible. Such interruption, to the extent feasible, shall be preceded by notice to the city and subscribers and shall occur during periods of minimum use of cable service.

(b)

Technical standards. The technical standards used in the provision of cable service shall comply, at minimum, with the technical standards promulgated by the FCC (47 CFR 76.601 to 76.617) as may be amended or modified from time to time, which regulations are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

(c)

Performance review and system testing. In the event the city finds that there are signal or performance difficulties which may constitute violations of applicable FCC technical standards or this franchise, grantee shall be notified and afforded ten days to correct the problems or complaints. If the performance difficulty is not resolved after the cure period has elapsed in city's sole determination, city may require grantee to demonstrate compliance via testing or other means selected by the grantee.

(d)

FCC reports. Grantee shall file with city upon written request any required FCC technical reports which demonstrate signal quality. Further, grantee shall summarize the results of any such testing provided to the city.

(e)

Regulation of service rates.

(1)

The city may regulate rates for the provision of cable service to the extent allowed under federal or state law(s).

(2)

A list of grantee's current residential subscriber rates and charges shall be maintained on file with the city and shall be available for public inspection. Grantee shall give the city and subscribers written notice of any change in a rate or change in accordance with any applicable FCC requirements, unless such change arises from changes in regulatory fees, franchise fees, access costs or franchise imposed costs.

(f)

Sales procedures. Grantee shall not exercise deceptive sales procedures when marketing any of its services within the city. Grantee shall have the right to market consistent with local ordinances and other applicable laws and regulations.

(g)

Telephone inquiries and complaints.

(1)

Availability. Grantee will maintain local, toll-free or collect call telephone access lines which will be available to its subscribers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During normal business hours, trained representatives of grantee shall be available to respond to subscriber inquiries. Grantee will ensure that: (1) an adequate number of trained company representatives will be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during normal business hours, and; (2) after normal business hours, the access line will be answered by a trained company representative or a service or an automated response system such as an answering machine. Inquiries received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained company representative on the next business day.

(2)

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

(h)

Installation, outage and service calls. Under normal operating conditions which will exclude the initial deployment period, each of the following standards will be met no less than 95 percent of the time measured on a quarterly basis: (1) Excluding conditions beyond the control of grantee which prevent performance, grantee will begin working on service interruptions promptly, and in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes known, and grantee must begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem and resolve such problems as soon as is reasonably possible; (2) The "appointment window" alternatives for installations, service calls, and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at 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 convenience of the customer; (3) grantee may not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment; (4) if a representative of grantee is running late for an appointment with a customer and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the customer will be contacted. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time during normal business hours which is convenient for the customer.

(i)

Complaint and other service records. Subject to grantee's obligation to maintain the privacy of certain information, grantee shall prepare and maintain written records of all complaints received and the resolution of such complaints, including the date of such resolution. Such written records shall be on file at the office of grantee. Grantee shall provide the city with a written summary of such complaints and their resolution upon request and in a form mutually agreeable to city and grantee. Grantee may be required to provide detailed compliance reports on a quarterly basis with respect to the objectively measurable service standards herein upon written demand by the city.

(j)

Subscriber contracts. Grantee shall provide to city upon request any standard form subscriber contract utilized by grantee. If no such written contract exists, grantee shall provide a document completely and concisely stating the length and terms of the subscriber contract offered to customers.

(k)

Billing and subscriber communications. Grantee must give subscribers 30 days advance written notice with copy to city before any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions. Bills must be clear, concise, and understandable, with itemization including, but not limited to, basic and premium charges and equipment charges. Bills will also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates, and credits. In case of a billing dispute, the cable operator must respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within 30 days.

(l)

Refunds and credits. If service is interrupted or discontinued for 24 or more consecutive hours and grantee has notice of such interruption, subscribers shall be credited pro rata for such interruption beginning with the date of notice of interruption. Credits for will be issued no later than the subscriber's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted. In the event a subscriber establishes or terminates service and receives less than a full month's service, grantee shall prorate the monthly rate on the basis of the number of days in the period for which service was rendered to the number of days in the billing. Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than the return of the equipment supplied by the grantee if service is terminated. Grantee shall not be held responsible for interruptions in programming caused by content providers.

(m)

Late fees. Grantee may assess and collect late fees in accordance with state law, as may be amended from time to time.

(n)

Additional customer service requirements. The city expressly reserves authority to adopt additional or modified customer service requirements to address Subscriber concerns or complaints in accordance with federal law.

(o)

Violations. In the event enforcement of any provision in this section is initiated by council resolution, any subsequent violation of such provision shall be a violation of this franchise.

(Ord. No. 12, 5th Series, § 2(3.1—3.15), 6-4-14)