§ 26-35. Communications with customers, bills, and refunds.

The franchisee shall abide by the following requirements governing communications with customers, bills, and refunds:

(1)

Each franchisee shall provide to subscribers written information about each of the following at the time of installation, at least once annually, and thereafter at any future time upon request of a subscriber:

a.

How to use the cable service;

b.

Installation and service maintenance policies;

c.

The products and services offered;

d.

Prices and service options;

e.

Channel positions of programming carried on the system;

f.

Franchisee's procedures for the receipt and resolution of complaints;

g.

Franchisee's address and telephone number to which complaints may be reported, and the hours of operation;

h.

The availability of a parental control device and the conditions and costs to obtain such devices;

i.

Franchisee's information collection and disclosure policies for the protection of subscribers' privacy as required by federal law.

(2)

The franchisee shall include the telephone number and address of the county's office designated to handle cable television complaints and inquiries on subscribers' bills. At the request of the county, a franchisee shall provide notice on its cable system or written notice to all subscribers of any county meeting regarding the franchisee's renewal, transfer, or modification of its franchise. The county shall make such a request in writing, no less than 60 days prior to the mailing of any billing by the franchisee. Said notices shall be made at the franchisee's expense and said expense shall not be considered part of the franchise fee assessed pursuant to this article and shall not be regarded as a franchise fee, as the term is defined in §622 of the cable Act, 47 U.S.C. § 542.

(3)

Franchisee's bills to subscribers will be clear, concise, and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized consistent with FCC regulations.

(4)

Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than the earlier of 30 days or the subscriber's next billing cycle following the resolution of a refund request, or the return of the equipment supplied by the franchisee if service is terminated.

(5)

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

(6)

A franchisee shall provide subscribers and the county with at least 30 days advance written notice of any changes in rates, charges, channel lineup, change in subscriber procedures and policies that affect rates or charges, or initiations or discontinuations or changes of service or services offered over the cable system within the control of the franchisee. Notice to subscribers and the county of such changes not within the control of the franchisee shall be provided as quickly as practicable.

(7)

Service credits for outages.

a.

A franchisee shall credit a subscriber's account at a minimum the proportionate monthly charge for service upon request if a subscriber is without service or if service is substantially impaired for any reason for a minimum of four hours. Service interruption includes the loss of picture or sound on one or more channels or, to the extent not inconsistent with applicable law, the loss of cable modem internet service provided by a franchisee.

b.

A subscriber shall be deemed to have requested a credit if the subscriber requests a credit or complains about a service interruption within 30 days of the outage.

(8)

Billing.

a.

The franchisee's first billing statement after a new installation or service change shall be pro-rated as appropriate and shall reflect any security deposit.

b.

The franchisee's billing statement must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges. Bills will also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits.

c.

The franchisee's billing statement must show a specific due date not earlier than ten days after the date the statement is mailed or ten days after the beginning of the service period. If the franchisee charges a late fee or administrative fee, the bill must show the date after which such fees will be imposed and the amount. Any balance not received within 25 days after the due date may be assessed an administrative charge as a late fee. Any administrative charge imposed as a "late fee" must be reasonable and consistent with applicable law. The county may require the franchisee to demonstrate the reasonableness of any late fee charged to subscribers in excess of $5.00 per billing period (adjusted for changes in CPI since the effective date of this article).

1.

Any administrative charge applied to unpaid bills shall be subject to regulation by the county consistent with applicable law.

2.

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

3.

In the event of a billing dispute, the franchisee may not charge a late fee while the dispute is pending.

(9)

The county may fine a franchisee for violation of this section $500.00 for each violation with each day of a continuing violation constituting a separate violation.

(Ord. No. 02-18, § 2, 7-30-02)