HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS-2219 - Adding Article III to Chapter 15 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code, Regarding Cable TV Subscriber Protection053
6/16/94
ORDINANCE NO. NS-2219
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA
ADDING ARTICLE III TO CHAPTER 15 OF THE
SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE, REGARDING
CABLE TV SUBSCRIBER PROTECTION
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: That the Santa Ana Municipal Code is amended by
adding an article, to be numbered III, and to consist of sections
numbered 15-300 through 15-307, to Chapter 15 thereof, which said
article reads as follows:
ARTICLE III. CABLE TELEVISION SUBSCRIBER PROTECTION.
Sec. 15-300. Definitions.
a. "Operator" means a business providing cable television
service in the city of Santa Ana.
b. "Subscriber" means a residential subscriber of cable
television services in the City of Santa Ana.
15-301. Consumer service standards.
Any operator shall maintain a local office which provides the
necessary facilities, equipment and personnel to comply with the
following consumer standards under normal conditions of operation:
(a)
The operator shall provide sufficient trained and
knowledgeable customer service representatives and toll-
free telephone line capacity at all times to assure that,
except during system outages impacting more than five
percent (5%) of the basic subscriber base within the
city, a minimum of ninety percent (90%) of all calls will
be answered within 30 seconds, ninety percent (90%) of
all callers for service will not be required to wait more
than thirty (30) seconds after the completion of the
automated message before being connected to a live
representative. If the call needs to be transferred,
transfer time shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds.
Caller will receive a telephone busy signal less than
three percent (3%) of the time on an annual average.
(b)
The operator shall maintain a business and service office
within the city open during normal business hours,
defined as those hours during which most similar busi-
nesses in the community are open to serve customers.
ORDINANCE NS-2219 055
Page 2
(c)
(d)
(e)
Normal business hours shall include at least eight (8)
hours daily, and at least four (4) hours weekly in the
evenings after 6:00 p.m. or on weekends, and adequately
staffed with personnel capable of accepting subscriber
payments, handling converter exchanges and responding to
service requests and complaints. The operator in advance
may request city to change the operator's business hours
or to reduce hours if the extended hours are not justi-
fied by subscriber demand.
The operator shall maintain a technically competent
emergency system maintenance and repair staff, capable of
responding promptly to and repairing service interrup-
tions on a twenty-four (24) hours basis.
The operator shall maintain a staff of employees fully
qualified to install cable service meeting the require-
ments of California Public Utilities Commission's General
Order 95 and General Order 128 and this ordinance,
capable of performing "standard" installations within
seven (7) business days after an order has been placed 95
percent of the time measured on a quarterly basis.
,,Standard%' installations are up to 125 feet from the
existing distribution system. The installation or
initiation of a new service shall begin in thirty (30)
days from the date of receipt of an order, unless the
delay in installation is at the customer's request.
Bills sent by the operator to subscribers shall be clear,
concise and fully itemized. Full itemization shall
include, but not be limited to, "basic and premium
service charges. Bills shall delineate all activity
during billing period including optional charges, rebates
and credits.
(1)
In case of a billing dispute, the cable operator
must respond to a written complaint from a sub-
scriber within thirty (30) days from receipt of
complaint.
(2)
Every customer who pays his or her bill directly
shall have at least fifteen (15) days from the date
that the bill for services is mailed to pay the
listed charges. Customer payments shall be posted
promptly. The cable operator shall not terminate
residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent
account without fifteen (15) days prior written
notice. Such notice shall not be mailed until
after the sixteenth (16th) day from the time the
bill for services was mailed to the customer. The
cable operator may not assess a late charge earlier
than the forty-fifth (45th) day from the time the
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ORDinANCE NS-2219 0§?
Page 3
(f)
(g)
bill for services has been mailed.
The notice of delinquency and impending termination
may be part of a billing statement mailed to the
customer.
(3)
(4)
(5)
Every notice of termination of service shall in-
clude: name and address of customer whose account
is delinquent; the amount of the delinquency; the
date by which payment is required in order to avoid
termination of service; the telephone number of a
cable company representative who can provide addi-
tional information and handle complaints or initi-
ate an investigation concerning service and charges
in question.
Service may only be terminated on days in which the
customer can reach a representative of the cable
company either in person or by telephone.
Any service terminated without good cause shall be
restored without charge for the service restora-
tion. Good cause includes, but in 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.
Refund checks must be issued within forty-five (45) days
of customer's next billing cycle, whichever is earlier
following the disconnection of service or return of
equipment if service is terminated. Credits must be
issued within forty-five (45) days of the resolution of
the outage.
The operator shall provide written information on each of
the following areas at any time upon request, prior to
installation of service upon request, at the time of
installation of service, and at least annually to all
subscribers:
(1) products and services offered;
(2) prices and options for programming services and
conditions of subscription to programming and other
services;
(3)
(4)
installation and service maintenance policies;
instructions on how to use cable service with home
interconnections, including but not limited to
VCR's, operator-supplied Converters, and operator-
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ORDINANCE NS-2219 05~
Page 4
(h)
(i)
(J)
supplied Remotes;
(5) channel positions of programming carried on the
system;
(6) billing and complaint procedures, including the
address and telephone number of the operator's
office;
(7) charges, refunds and credits procedures;
(8) disconnection and termination of service proce-
dures;
(9) customer service telephone number and office hours;
(10) service call response time scheduling and;
(11) a summary of this ordinance as approved by the
city.
After the customer service standards established have
been in effect for one year, the operator shall submit a
summary annually on its performance in meeting its
customer service standards. This summary shall be
included in the required annual notice.
Customers will be notified of any changes in rates,
programming services or channel positions as soon as
possible through announcements on the cable system and in
writing. 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 operator. In
addition, the operator shall notify subscribers thirty
(30) days in advance of any significant changes in the
other information required by section 15-301(g).
The operator shall refrain from providing equipment which
has been removed from service in other areas due to age
or disrepair without quality control.
Sec. 15-302. Cable service and repair standards; notice.
(a)
The operator shall render efficient service, make repairs
promptly and interrupt service only for good cause and
for the shortest time possible. Scheduled interruptions,
which are expected to exceed a cumulative total of more
than sixty (60) minutes during any twenty-four (24) hour
period, shall be preceded by no less than twenty-four
(24) hours prior notice to the affected subscribers and
the city. Such interruptions shall occur during periods
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ORDINANCE NS-2219 061
Page 5
from midnight to 6:00 a.m. local time, unless the
affected area requires access to private property.
(b) The operator shall maintain a written outage and service
call log, or an equivalent record stored in computer
memory and capable of access and reproduction in printed
form, for all service interruptions and requests for
service that result in a service call. Such record shall
be retained for at least one (1) year and shall be
available to the city upon request.
(c) The operator shall maintain a technically competent
repair staff of technicians capable of responding to
subscriber requests for service within the following time
frames:
(d)
(e)
(1)
For a system outage: Within three (3) hours,
including weekends and holidays, of receiving
subscriber calls or requests for service which
identify a system outage of all channels, affecting
at least ten (10) subscribers of the system.
(2)
For a service interruption: Within twenty-four
(24) hours, including weekends and holidays, of
receiving requests for service identifying a
service interruption of all channels, excluding
conditions beyond the operator's control.
(3) For other service problems: Within forty-eight
(48) hours, including weekends and holidays, of
receiving a request for service identifying a
problem not described in (c) (1) or (c) (2).
The operator shall schedule all service call appointments
within a designated four (4) hour morning or afternoon
time frame. Whenever reasonably possible, the operator
shall make an effort to verify the appointment by
telephone prior to the four (4) hour period. The
operator may schedule service calls and other installa-
tion activities outside of normal business hours for the
express convenience of the customer.
An operator may not cancel an appointment with a customer
after the close of business on the business day prior to
the scheduled appointment time. If the operator 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 which is convenient
for the subscriber. In the event the operator fails to
meet any scheduled or rescheduled appointment other than
for delays beyond the operator's control, the affected
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ORDINANCE NS-2219 083
Page 6
(f)
(g)
consumer shall receive a credit of one (1) month's basic
service even if the appointment is rescheduled and
completed. No credit shall be given if the consumer
fails to be present for the same call and shall relieve
the operator of a duty to respond.
No charge shall be made to the subscriber for any service
call unless the service request can be demonstrated to be
non-cable system in origin, or to involve subscriber
negligence.
Unless excused, the operator is required to respond to
and begin work to correct all service problems within
twenty-four (24) hours of notification of problem and
resolve all cable system related problems within three
(3) days unless technically infeasible. Failure to
resolve any cable system related problems within thirty
(30) days of the call for service shall be a violation of
this article. "Technical infeasibility" resulting from
the cable system's failure to meet required standards
established in the city franchise or state or federal
legislation does not constitute a defense to such
violation.
(h)
(i)
In the event of an outage of four (4) or more hours in a
twenty-four (24) hour period, the operator shall provide
a credit equal to one day's service for basic or premium
services upon oral or written request by a subscriber.
For standard installations of up to one hundred twenty-
five (125) feet from an existing distribution system,
there will be no additional installation charge. For
installations in excess of one hundred twenty-five (125)
feet from an existing system, the operator shall provide
the potential subscriber with a written price for such
installation within five (5) days of a regular request
therefor. Such price shall not exceed the actual cost of
construction. Upon payment by subscriber of the price
quoted, the operator shall install the line within thirty
(30) days.
sec. 15-303. Notice of rate and service changes.
The operator shall provide all subscribers and the city with
at least thirty (30) days written notice prior to the implementa-
tion of any change in rates or programming services.
sec. 15-304. Identification of employees.
Every field employee of the operator
subcontractors shall wear on his/her
or its contractors or
outer clothing an
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ORDINANCE NS-2219
Page 7
065
identification card bearing their name and photograph. Every
vehicle of the operator shall be clearly identifiable on sight to
the public as belonging to the operator.
Sec. 15-305. Tenant rights.
It is the city's intent that tenants not be discriminated
against in the ability to subscribe to cable services. The
operator shall be required to provide service to tenants in
individual units of a multiple housing facility with all cable
television services offered to other dwelling units within the
city, so long as the owner of the facility consents in writing, if
requested by operator, to the following:
(l)
To the operator's providing the cable television service
to units in the multiple housing facility;
(2) To reasonable conditions and times for installation,
maintenance, and inspection of the system on the facility
premises;
(3) To reasonable conditions established by the operator to
protect the operator's equipment and to encourage
widespread use of the system.
(4) Ail consideration will be given to the safety and welfare
of the operator's employees.
This requirement will be waived if the operator can
demonstrate installation in a multiple housing facility will pose
a high risk of danger to employees or equipment.
Seo. 15-306. Operator rules and regulations.
The operator shall have the authority to establish such
reasonable rules, regulations, terms and conditions governing the
conduct of its business as shall be reasonably necessary to enable
the operator to exercise its rights and perform its obligations and
to assure an uninterrupted service to each and all of its custom-
ers; provided, however, that such rules, regulations, terms and
conditions shall not be in conflict with [the provisions hereof or]
applicable local, state and federal laws, rules and regulations.
Sec. 15-307. Enforcement.
A residential subscriber of cable television aggrieved by a
violation of a provision of this article has a private right of
action to enforce the provision of this article violated:
(a) Pursuant to the "Consumers Legal Remedies Act", sections
1750 et seq. of the California civil Code; or
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ORDINANCE NS-2219
Page 8
067
(b) In accordance with the "Cable Television and video
Provider Customer Service and Information Act, California Govern-
ment Code sections 53054 et seq.
SECTION 2: In adopting this ordinance, the City Council of
the City of Santa Ana finds and determines as follows:
1. The Cable Communications Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-584),
as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and
Competition Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-385), permits cities to
establish and enforce consumer protection standards governing
operators providing cable service within the city, 47 U.S.C. 521 et
seq.).
2. It is in the public interest and necessity to adopt the
consumer protection standards contained in this ordinance.
3. Cable communication is a product consumed by subscribers
which must be maintained as a marketable product with standards
comparable to the trade.
These findings do not create any rights not heretofore
mentioned.
SECTION 3: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held to be
invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of
competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity
of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council of
the city of Santa Ana hereby declares that it would have adopted
this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or
more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or
portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4: Neither the adoption of this ordinance nor the
repeal hereby of any ordinance shall in any manner affect the
prosecution for violation of ordinances, which violations were
committed prior to the effective date hereof, nor be construed as
affecting any of the provisions of such ordinance relating to the
collection of any such license or penalty or the penal provision
applicable to any violation thereof, nor to affect the validity of
any bond or cash deposit in lieu thereof, required to be posted,
filed or deposited pursuant to any ordinance and all rights and
obligations thereunder appertaining shall continue in full force
and effect.
ORDINANCE NS-2219 08~
Page 9
ADOPTED this
ATTEST:
5th
~eo~' t~Ycounci~
COUNCILMEMBERS:
Young Aye
Pulido Aye
Lutz Aye,
McGuigan Aye
Mills Aye
Moreno Aye
Richardson Aye
day of July
Dan~H. Young X~
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney
1994.
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY & PUBLICATION
State of California
County of Orange
I, JANICE C. GUY, Clerk of the Council, do hereby certify the attached Ordinance
/V~- >->-r q to be the original ordinance adopted by the City Council of the City
of Santa Ana o ,,{~,~Z; and that said ordinance was published in accordance
with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana.
Date: ~/~//,f' 9Z'
9
· ~/' Clerk of the Cou~{cil ~
City of Santa Ana "--/