FIRST -
Phone Comcast customer service at 866-594-1234.
State the facts briefly, and provide any additional
evidence which supports your position. It will be helpful if
you have copies of all bills, receipts, canceled checks,
letters and disconnect notices everything which supports
your position. When communicating by phone, be sure to get the
name of persons you talked with. Also keep copies of any
letters you send.
SECOND - If
you're not satisfied with Comcast's response,
contact the City's
cable administrator. There is no special form to
fill out to file a complaint. Include your name and residence
address, your residence telephone number and, if applicable, a
telephone number where you can be reached during the business
day. Describe your problem clearly and provide the names
of the Comcast representative you contacted about
complaint (and the dates you spoke with them). You may
be asked to send copies of any relevant documents such as
bills, letters, or disconnect notices.
The City will
require Comcast to review your complaint, and
contact both you and the City on a proposed resolution.
For the past
several years, Comcast adjusted its rates in August.
If you made a
change in your level of service, ordered a pay-per-view event
or received a credit during the month, or if your payment was
not received before the new bill was printed, your bill may be
more or less than usual. Call a Comcast customer
service representative at 866-594-1234 if you have a question.
Converters are not
needed to receive either the Basic Tier or the Standard Tier,
but you do need to rent a converter to receive optional
channels, like HBO, Showtime, Pay-per-view and Digital Cable
services. Federal law does not allow the City to
"prohibit, condition, or restrict a cable system's use of
any type of subscriber equipment." The specific language
is intended to permit cable operators to scramble their
signal. A converter is necessary to "unscramble" the
signal.
Cable operators
believe a scrambled signal is more secure making it more
difficult to illegally steal cable signals. In addition, each
converter used in Lake Forest has a unique address code,
allowing the customers to request changes in their level or
service merely by phoning the cable company.
Can I stop my children from watching specific channels?
Yes. The Cable TV
Converter has a Parental Control feature that lets you
lock-out and unlock channels. An Comcast customer
service representative (Phone 866-594-1234) will walk you
through the steps to activate the lock-out feature.
I want to hook up additional TV's in my house. Is there
any charge?
There's no monthly
service charge to receive Basic Tier or Standard Tier channels
on additional household outlets; however, you'll need to
rent an addressable converter to receive any channels beyond
the Basic and Standard Tiers. In addition, Comcast
will charge you for "Household Access" to any
optional Premium Channels at more than one cable outlet. There
may also be an outlet installation charge if you elect not to
wire it yourself.
Yes. Only the Basic
Tier is regulated. "Basic service"
includes signals from local television stations and public
educational and governmental access channels. The City
regulates the Basic Tier Rate.
No. Under federal law,
rates for other service tiers, pay-per-channel programming and
pay-per-program services are not regulated. This means that a
cable company can charge what it chooses for these services.
My bill shows a "franchise fee." What is this?
The City charges
Comcast a franchise fee to use the public rights-of-way for
private enterprise. The franchise fee is five percent of
Comcast's gross revenue.
Cable
Service Bureau Fact Sheets are available for viewing
on-line at the Federal Communications Commission web site. The
Fact Sheets can also be downloaded.
|
