Cable Television and Other Services FAQs

shutterstock_51406678Although the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) has jurisdiction over many aspects of cable television services in the state, protections for customers of these services are more limited than those of other utilities. In particular, there is no equivalent for cable television customers of the Home Energy Fair Practices Act (HEFPA) which applies to electricity, natural gas and water service or the Telephone Fair Practices Act (TFPA) that applies to telephone service.

Please click on the arrow ( V ) to access the answer to each question.

Getting Service

 

Q. Can I get cable service if I rent my residence?

A. Tenants in primary service areas may not be denied cable television service by a landlord regardless of any existing private satellite or master antenna system.

 

Billing Practices

 

Q. What are the cable company’s responsibilities when billing me?

A. Every cable television company must notify its subscribers, in writing of its billing practices and payment requirements. The notice must describe or define, at a minimum billing procedures including payments necessary to avoid discontinuance of service and payment due dates, late charges, advance billing options, billing disputes and credit given for service outages. This notice must be given to new subscribers at the time of initial installation and to all subscribers whenever there is a change in the company’s billing practices or payment requirements and semi-annually.

Copies of the company’s billing practices and requirements must be filed with the Public Service Commission and available at the company’s local office upon request by the subscriber.

Q. What are the rules about late charges and collection charges?

A. A collection charge is a fee or charge imposed upon a subscriber by a cable television company for its effort at collecting or attempting to collect an overdue bill by personal visits at a subscriber’s home or place of business. A late charge is a charge which is added to a cable television subscriber’s account or bill for nonpayment of a previously due account.

No late charge may be imposed prior to 45 days from mailing of the bill. A reasonable collection charge can be added to a subscriber’s bill when a subscriber pays the amount of money in arrears in lieu of disconnection of service. Such collection charge must be in compliance with PSC regulations.

Q. What is “cramming”?

A. “Cramming” is the practice of including additional services onto a bill that a customer didn’t request when he or she agreed to try another service for a trial period.  The technical term for this practice is “Negative Option Promotional Marketing.”

Cable providers may say they don’t need customer approval to continue billing unrequested services after the trial if the customer, not noticing the services on a bill, mistakenly pays for them just once. The company may argue that this slight of hand is legitimate if – during the trial – it advertized that the customer didn’t have to accept the added services, and that the mistaken payment creates a contract requiring continued payment for the unauthorized services.

Q. What if I disagree with the charges on my bill?

A. All cable bills must itemize rates and charges. Payment of bills is due no sooner than 15 days from mailing.

Every company must allow 30 days from the date of receipt of the bill for a subscriber to register a billing dispute before an account may be considered delinquent. A subscriber must remit the undisputed portion of his/her bill and be responsible for the undisputed parts of current and future bills pending resolution of the dispute.

Cable television service cannot be disconnected solely for non-payment of the portion of the bill in dispute during investigation of the complaint.

A subscriber must be notified of the results of the investigation within 20 working days of filing the complaint.

If a dispute is not resolved within 30 days after it was received, the subscriber may refer it to the PSC. If the subscriber is not happy with the resolution and does not file a complaint with the PSC within 30 days of the company’s reply, the company may initiate service disconnection procedures as appropriate in accordance with PSC rules.

Q. What is advanced billing?

A. Every cable television company must notify its subscribers of any advance billing options available. A subscriber, upon request, must be given the option to pay monthly. If the company uses coupon books for remittance of monthly payments, this satisfies the monthly payment option request.

 

Service Problems

 

Q. What do I do when I have a cable television service problem?

A. Contact your cable operator and report the problem.

Q. How quickly does my cable company have to respond to my service problem?

A. Any trouble call should be responded to on the day it is received by the company but in no event shall the response be later than the following business day. The cable television company must maintain a local exchange or toll-free telephone number available to all subscribers for those who wish to obtain information or to report a service problem.

Subscribers may request morning or afternoon appointments for service calls or evening or Saturday hours where available. Missed appointments may entitle you to a free service call or installation.

Q. What if my problem doesn’t get addressed?

A. If your concerns have not been resolved, you have a few options. You can call the PSC at  1-800-342-3377, complain through PSC website, or write to:
Customer Service Representative

New York State Public Service Commission Office of Customer Services

Three Empire State Plaza

Albany, New York 12223-1350

Your cable television company is required to let you know at least once a year of its complaint procedures. This must also be done at the time of your initial subscription or upon reconnection of service. Your cable television company additionally must advise you of the fact that any unresolved complaint may be referred to the PSC.

Q. Can I get a credit for periods when my service wasn’t available?

A. Every cable television company must give credit for every service outage not caused by a subscriber in excess of four continuous hours to any subscriber who applied for it either by written or verbal notice. The four-hour period starts at the time the cable television company first becomes aware of the outage.

The credit must be pro-rated by multiplying the applicable monthly service rate by a fraction whose numerator equals the number of days (or portion thereof) of the outage and whose denominator equals the number of days in month of outage. In no case shall the refund be less than a 24-hours credit. A subscriber may request a credit up to 90 days after the outage. The company is responsible for every outage and must provide credit to each affected subscriber who applied for it within 90 days of an outage.

Q. Does the company have to notify me of programming changes?

A. All subscribers are entitled to notice of all programming and service changes by the cable company. Notice is to be provided at least semi-annually and at the time of initial subscription, when services are changed or upon request.

If a network is deleted or moved from one service level to another, a subscriber is entitled to notice and may be able to terminate or change service free of charge. Under special conditions subscribers may be entitled to a refund or credit.

 

Disconnection of Service

 

Q. When can my service be disconnected?

A. A subscriber is not considered delinquent in payment until at least 30 days after the due date of the bill and payment has not been received by the company.

The procedure for service disconnection for nonpayment of bills must include the following:

  • Subscriber must be in fact delinquent in payment for cable television service; and
  • At least five days have elapsed after written notice of disconnect has been personally served upon the subscriber; or
  • At least eight days have elapsed after mailing written notice of disconnect to the subscriber; or
  • At least five days have elapsed after subscriber has either signed for or refused a notice of disconnect.

The notice of disconnection must clearly state the amount owed, the total amount required to be paid to avoid disconnection and the date and place where such payment must be made.

Disconnection of service for non-payment may not occur on a Sunday, public holiday or a day when the local office of the company is not open for business. Receipt of a “bad” check by the company in response to a notice of disconnect does not constitute payment, and a company need not give further notice of disconnection.

A reconnect charge may not be imposed solely because a subscriber was previously delinquent with their account.

 

Cable Rates

 

Q. Are cable television rates regulated?

A. Basic cable television rates can be regulated by state and/or local governments through the application of a federal price formula. Cable programming services (expanded basic) are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). An individual subscriber can no longer file rate complaints directly to the FCC. The PSC or local franchising authority can file a complaint with the FCC within 90 days of the rate change after it receives at least two subscriber complaints.

Expanded basic and premium and pay-per-view services are unregulated. All rate changes require 30 days prior notice, unless notice is waived by the FCC.

Q. What are the rules about late charges and collection charges?

A. A collection charge is a fee or charge imposed upon a subscriber by a cable television company for its effort at collecting or attempting to collect an overdue bill by personal visits at a subscriber’s home or place of business. A late charge is a charge which is added to a cable television subscriber’s account or bill for nonpayment of a previously due account.

No late charge may be imposed prior to 45 days from mailing of the bill. A reasonable collection charge can be added to a subscriber’s bill when a subscriber pays the amount of money in arrears in lieu of disconnection of service. Such collection charge must be in compliance with PSC regulations.

Q. What is “cramming”?

A. “Cramming” is the practice of including additional services onto a bill that a customer didn’t request when he or she agreed to try another service for a trial period.  The technical term for this practice is “Negative Option Promotional Marketing.”

Cable providers may say they don’t need customer approval to continue billing unrequested services after the trial if the customer, not noticing the services on a bill, mistakenly pays for them just once. The company may argue that this slight of hand is legitimate if – during the trial – it advertized that the customer didn’t have to accept the added services, and that the mistaken payment creates a contract requiring continued payment for the unauthorized services.

Q. What if I disagree with the charges on my bill?

A. All cable bills must itemize rates and charges. Payment of bills is due no sooner than 15 days from mailing.

Every company must allow 30 days from the date of receipt of the bill for a subscriber to register a billing dispute before an account may be considered delinquent. A subscriber must remit the undisputed portion of his/her bill and be responsible for the undisputed parts of current and future bills pending resolution of the dispute.

Cable television service cannot be disconnected solely for non-payment of the portion of the bill in dispute during investigation of the complaint.

A subscriber must be notified of the results of the investigation within 20 working days of filing the complaint.

If a dispute is not resolved within 30 days after it was received, the subscriber may refer it to the PSC. If the subscriber is not happy with the resolution and does not file a complaint with the PSC within 30 days of the company’s reply, the company may initiate service disconnection procedures as appropriate in accordance with PSC rules.

Q. What is advanced billing?

A. Every cable television company must notify its subscribers of any advance billing options available. A subscriber, upon request, must be given the option to pay monthly. If the company uses coupon books for remittance of monthly payments, this satisfies the monthly payment option request.

Service Problems

 

Q. What do I do when I have a cable television service problem?

A. Contact your cable operator and report the problem.

Q. How quickly does my cable company have to respond to my service problem?

A. Any trouble call should be responded to on the day it is received by the company but in no event shall the response be later than the following business day. The cable television company must maintain a local exchange or toll-free telephone number available to all subscribers for those who wish to obtain information or to report a service problem.

Subscribers may request morning or afternoon appointments for service calls or evening or Saturday hours where available. Missed appointments may entitle you to a free service call or installation.

Q. What if my problem doesn’t get addressed?

A. If your concerns have not been resolved, you have a few options. You can call the PSC at  1-800-342-3377, complain through PSC website, or write to:

Customer Service Representative

New York State Public Service Commission Office of Customer Services

Three Empire State Plaza

Albany, New York 12223-1350

Your cable television company is required to let you know at least once a year of its complaint procedures. This must also be done at the time of your initial subscription or upon reconnection of service. Your cable television company additionally must advise you of the fact that any unresolved complaint may be referred to the PSC.

Q. Can I get a credit for periods when my service wasn’t available?

A. Every cable television company must give credit for every service outage not caused by a subscriber in excess of four continuous hours to any subscriber who applied for it either by written or verbal notice. The four-hour period starts at the time the cable television company first becomes aware of the outage.

The credit must be pro-rated by multiplying the applicable monthly service rate by a fraction whose numerator equals the number of days (or portion thereof) of the outage and whose denominator equals the number of days in month of outage. In no case shall the refund be less than a 24-hours credit. A subscriber may request a credit up to 90 days after the outage. The company is responsible for every outage and must provide credit to each affected subscriber who applied for it within 90 days of an outage.

Q. Does the company have to notify me of programming changes?

A. All subscribers are entitled to notice of all programming and service changes by the cable company. Notice is to be provided at least semi-annually and at the time of initial subscription, when services are changed or upon request.

If a network is deleted or moved from one service level to another, a subscriber is entitled to notice and may be able to terminate or change service free of charge. Under special conditions subscribers may be entitled to a refund or credit.

 

Disconnection of Service

 

Q. When can my service be disconnected?

A. A subscriber is not considered delinquent in payment until at least 30 days after the due date of the bill and payment has not been received by the company.

The procedure for service disconnection for nonpayment of bills must include the following:

  •          Subscriber must be in fact delinquent in payment for cable television service; and
  •          At least five days have elapsed after written notice of disconnect has been personally served upon the subscriber; or
  •          At least eight days have elapsed after mailing written notice of disconnect to the subscriber; or
  •          At least five days have elapsed after subscriber has either signed for or refused a notice of disconnect.

The notice of disconnection must clearly state the amount owed, the total amount required to be paid to avoid disconnection and the date and place where such payment must be made.

Disconnection of service for non-payment may not occur on a Sunday, public holiday or a day when the local office of the company is not open for business. Receipt of a “bad” check by the company in response to a notice of disconnect does not constitute payment, and a company need not give further notice of disconnection.

A reconnect charge may not be imposed solely because a subscriber was previously delinquent with their account.

 

Cable Rates

 

Q. Are cable television rates regulated?

A. Basic cable television rates can be regulated by state and/or local governments through the application of a federal price formula. Cable programming services (expanded basic) are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). An individual subscriber can no longer file rate complaints directly to the FCC. The PSC or local franchising authority can file a complaint with the FCC within 90 days of the rate change after it receives at least two subscriber complaints.

Expanded basic and premium and pay-per-view services are unregulated. All rate changes require 30 days prior notice, unless notice is waived by the FCC.

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