§ 12-21. Customer service requirements.

(A)

A franchisee shall maintain all parts of its system in good condition and in accordance with standards no less than those generally observed by the cable television industry. A sufficient number of employees shall be retained to provide safe, adequate, and prompt service for all of its customers and facilities.

(B)

The franchisee's billing statement shall show a specific due date no earlier than ten (10) days after the date of the beginning of the service period. Any balance not received within twenty-five (25) days after the due date may be assessed an administrative charge not to exceed either (1) $4.00 or (2) the actual costs directly related to the collection of balances overdue, whichever amount is higher. However, if the franchisee intends to assess or as of September 15, 1998 was assessing an administrative charge which exceeds $4.00, before assessing or continuing to assess such charge, the franchisee shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the County that its actual costs exceed $4.00. (A franchisee who was assessing an administrative charge which exceeded $4.00 as of September 15, 1998 shall have ninety (90) days from September 15, 1998 to so demonstrate.) Thereafter, whenever the franchisee intends to raise such charge by any additional amount, before raising such charge, the franchisee shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the County that its actual costs necessitate raising such charge. The charge shall appear on the following month's billing statement. For purposes of this subsection, "actual costs" do not include such items as bad debt, the costs of field disconnection, and fixed costs which exist regardless of costs caused by late payers. In the event it is determined by the County that a franchisee has assessed a late fee in violation of this chapter, the County shall have the right to order the franchisee to pay its subscribers a refund retroactive to the date that such fee was assessed in violation of this chapter.

(a)

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

(b)

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

(C)

In addition to complying with the customer service requirements set forth in this chapter or in a franchise agreement, a franchisee shall comply with all customer service requirements applicable to cable systems as adopted by the FCC and any other applicable law concerning customer service requirements, consumer protection, and unfair or deceptive trade practices.

(D)

Negative option billing is prohibited. Accordingly, a cable operator shall not charge a subscriber for any service or equipment that the subscriber has not affirmatively requested by name. For purposes of this subsection, a subscriber's failure to refuse a cable operator's proposal to provide such service or equipment shall not be deemed to be an affirmative request for such service or equipment.

(E)

To the extent not inconsistent with any applicable law, the County expressly reserves the right to consider violations of the customer service requirements in evaluating any renewal, transfer or modification of any franchise agreement.

(Ord. No. 98-20, § 1, 9-15-98)