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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8145 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8145 G""" rro To the Mayor and Members of the City Council July 21, 1998 dk ti �' �► Page 1 of 2 ; �x%■+ Subject. MARCUS CABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE MONITORING FOR fin SECONb QUARTER, 1998 On August 29, 1995, City Council passed Ordinance No. 12105 that approved the transfer of the cable television franchise from Sammons of Fort Worth to Marcus Cable Associates, L.P. The transfer was effective on November 1, 1995. On April 23, 1998, Marcus changed its name to Marcus Cable Associates, L.L.C. Cable staff has been monitoring the cable system for customer service since the transfer. The transfer agreement requires that Marcus comply with the established customer service standards 90 percent of the time. It also requires that Marcus abide with the NCTA (National Cable Television Association) on-time guarantee for service calls. The guarantee credits $20 to a subscriber if a service technician does not meet an established four-hour time window for service calls or installations. As a result of Marcus not meeting the minimum customer service standards 90 percent of the time during the quarter ending December 31, 1997, City Council assessed liquidated damages of $5,000 for non- compliance. This report covers customer service information for the quarter ending June 30, 1998. The city received 259 complaint calls from Marcus subscribers during the second quarter. That number is 28 fewer calls than received in the previous quarter. The breakdown by month follows. April 128 May 45 June 86 Of the 259 cal is received, • Eight calls (3 percent) complained about cable lines being down too low or cable not being buried after installation; • Thirteen calls (5 percent) came from subscribers who said they were misled about how much their bill would go up after getting the upgrade; • Thirteen calls (5 percent) came from subscribers who complained about bad reception. In most cases, the complaints about bad reception had nothing to do with the upgrade. • Twenty calls (8 percent)complained about technical problems. These complaints relate more closely with the upgrade. • Miscellaneous calls accounted for 28 (11 percent). These calls were initiated when the subscribers could not find the Marcus telephone number, wanted to know when cable would get to their neighborhood, wanted to know why their television would not work without a cable converter, and the like. ■ Fifty calls (19 percent) came as a result of outages. These calls fell into two categories; one was that the repair schedule was too long, often five days, and the other was that the outage could not be reported because the phone line was busy. The most often heard complaint was that when a customer did get through, the CSR would not dispatch anyone to check an outage until five people called in. Most felt that this practice was unfair. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS LINFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8145 TE To the Mayor and Members of the Cit Counc;1 y July 21, 1998 Page 2 of 2 %% Subject: MARCUS CABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE MONITORING FOR fin SECOND QUARTER, 1998 The largest nurnber of calls was 93 (36 percent) and had to do with custorner service issues or business practices that the subscriber did not understand or did not like. The complaints ranged from questioning why the company does not offer a bank draft for paying the cable bill to why the subscriber has to pay in advance. Several calls complained about tile Ranger game not being cablecast. Questions continue on how the company prorated its bill when they received the upgrade, especially since they had already paid for a full month of cable service. The largest number of complaints to the city questioned the procedure of having to leave a telephone number for a CSR so a supervisor could call them back. Subscribers complain that Marcus said they would receive a return call, but they never do. The cable staff also made 55 test calls to the Marcus custorner service line. The results by month as are In April, 19 calls were made. Standard met 14 Busy signal 0 Long hold or hung up 5 In May, 14 calls were made. Standard met 13 Busy signal 0 Long hold, hung up I In June, 22 calls were made. Standard met 20 Busy signal 0 Long hold, hung up 2 *Standard Met= The phone system picked up the call within 30 seconds and transferred to a CSR within 30 seconds. Customer service issues continue as a major concern of the Fort Worth cable subscriber. The telephone is being answered more promptly. An uninformed staff who can handle the customer when they have them on the phone is the major concern. City staff will continue to monitor Marcus' customer service. Attached is the Marcus customer service performance report, as required by our franchise. cl, La Bob Terrell CityManager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS =.-. Marcus Cable July 8, 1998 Mr. Bob Terrell City of Fort Worth Fort Worth Municipal Building l000 Throckmorton Street Fort Worth, Texas 76102 Dear Mr. Terrell: Attached please find Marcus Cable's report on its performance relative to the FCC Customer Service Standards for the 2Q, 1998. This report is provided in compliance with the City ordinance 12105 within fifteen days of the end of each quarter of the year. I trust you will agree that substantial progress has been made in improving our customer service to the community. Of particular note, the cable system's accessibility to customers via the telephone is greatly improved over previous quarters. In fact and as reflected in the report, calls are currently answered within 30 seconds over 90% of the time. Additionally, busy signals during normal operating conditions are the exception and occur less that 1% of the time. The massive neighborhood by neighborhood upgrade of the Fort Worth cable system remains on schedule. We now have 50,000 customers completely upgraded and enjoying the benefits of improved picture quality, enhanced reliability, more programming choices, and access to Marcus @ Home, our incredibly fast Internet access service. This upgrade is not easy - it requires significant signal interruptions and the swapout of every single converter box in the cable system. We remain convinced, however, that this investment in providing the most advanced cable system in the country will allow us to provide a wide array of products that our customers both covet and see value in. Thank you in advance for your continued support. Kindly give me a call should you, have any questions regarding our service or plans for the future. Very uly yours, V u'y yo' A Fan Collins n s Vice President Operations .......... P.O. Box 2666 - Fort North, Texas 76113 • (817) 509-6272 - Fax (817) 626-1259 olim, .............- 2Q, 1998 Performance Relative to FCC Customer Service Standards Office Hours and Telephone Availability 1. Marcus Cable maintains a local telephone line for taking customer calls. The line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 2. During normal business hours company representatives are available to respond to customer inquiries. A trained representative responds to inquiries received after normal business hours on the next business day. 3. During normal operating conditions, Marcus Cable returned a busy signal 1.29% of the time in April, .29% in May, and .23% in June. Marcus Cable defines normal operating conditions as inclusive of special promotions and the massive upgrade of the Fort Worth cable system but does not include 3rd party power outages, telephone network outages, and severe or unusual weather conditions. In April and during normal operating conditions, 79% of all calls were answered within 30 seconds, 91% in May, and 95% in June. Atttached are graphs that display this information. 4. Marcus Cable's customer service center and bill payment locations are conveniently located and open during normal business hours. Installations. Outages, and Service Calls 1. Standard installations are performed within seven days after an order has been taken. 2. Marcus Cable begins working on service interruptions within 24 hours after being notified of the problem. Marcus Cable begins to correct other service problems within the next business day after learning of them. 3. Marcus Cable schedules appointments for installations and other service calls either at a specific time or during a four-hour block during normal business hours. If the cable installer or technician is running late and will not meet the specified appointment time, the customer is contacted and the appointment rescheduled at the convenience of the customer. Additionally, if the agreed upon appointment is not met, Marcus Cable provides either a free installation or issues a $20 credit to the customers account (we call this the On Time Guarantee). Billing Practices 1. Thirty days advance notice is given to customers of any changes in rates, programming services or channel position changes. 2. Cable bills are clear, concise, and understandable with full itemization of services and charges. The bill includes charges for basic and premium services, any equipment charges, and a summary of all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates, and credits. 3. Refunds are issued no later that either the customer's next billing cycle or 30 days following the request. Communications between Marcus Cable and Customers 1. At the time of installation and at least annually to all customers, and at any time upon request, Marcus Cable provides information on the products and services offered, prices and options of programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services, installation, and service maintenance policies, instructions on how to use cable service, channel positions of programming carried on the system, and billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the local franchise authority's office. i YO • !l a <r i Ir V,Yy�l ,�11 s pa1�l 7l� Wir yr U r, / tiw YU"� �j Bi . 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