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Note: More fallout from the Michigan State Video Franchise - on top of the Comcast PEG channel switch which has ended up in court. Apparently "more competition = less service and more complaints".

from: The Morning Sun
Charter Faces Complaints

January 13, 2008
By Lisa Satayut

Charter Communications, the monopoly that controls the cable TV in mid-Michigan, is either cutting back and ignoring its customers or trying hard to be the best it can be, depending on who you talk to.

Jan Howard, executive director of the Mid Michigan Area Cable Consortium, said the number of complaints she has received from customers about Charter Communications have increased dramatically since the inception of the Uniform Video Services Local Franchise Act last year.

“There have been a number of concerns about billing and customer service,”Howard said. Although municipalities can no longer provide protection for Charter customers, they are still the primary resource of customer complaints because the city is the local franchising authority. On Dec. 21 2006, Gov. Granholm signed the legislation to promote competition among video service providers in Michigan. That legislation went into effect January 2007.

One year later, some have concerns that the law is having a detrimental effect on cable customers.

Prior to the law, cable providers in Michigan were subject to federal laws and regulations that were uniform across the country. These laws were designed to protect all parties including the cable provider, the customer and local governments. Enforcement was implemented by local communities, which could apply local standards and in turn invoke fines on the cable providers if they were not following the standards.

Under the act, that is no longer possible.

“They (Charter) have no fear. Who is going to bother them? What do they risk by not listening to these people?”Howard said.

“To us they are citizens, to Charter they are customers,”she said. “They have no responsibility except to continue to collect money and to provide a service.”

Charter spokesman Tim Ransberger said he strongly disagrees with Howard and said there has been no difference in the way Charter responds to customer complaints since the legislation.

“I couldn’t disagree more regarding our attitude toward customers,”Ransberger said. “We like to think of ourselves as being a responsive company to our customers, which is not the same to say that occasionally we don’t make mistakes. We do the best we can.” Howard also said that Charter, in the past year, has laid off technicians and customer service representatives.

According to Ransberger that is not true. “That is completely untrue. “I have increased employment in the past two years… I added 150 jobs in Michigan just last year,”he said mentioning a call center that was opened in Bay City last year.

“I have employed more, not fewer,”he said.

The number of people answering phones for the company has increased by 55 percent in the last two years, he said.

“People who are on the outside of the company don’t get a glimpse into the inside, we are focused on improving the customers’ experience, from the first time the customer picks up the phone to call us, to when the technician leaves the house,”Ransberger said.

Over the holidays there were numerous complaints about the picture on the TV screen freezing. According to Howard, customers were told by Charter customer service representatives that it was the cold weather that caused the picture to freeze.

“It had nothing to do with the bad weather,”Howard said. “The customer was told that by a customer service representative who either didn’t understand why it was freezing, or didn’t think the customer would,”she said.

Ransberger said this was due to an upgrade to the network. Charter is in the process of preparing its network to go all digital through simultaneous transmission, where it uploads analog signals from analog channels and converts them to digital. During the video archiving process the picture freezes.

“We fixed the problem,”he said.

“The customer could have misheard the customer service representative,”he said of the discrepancy.

Some Charter subscribers may have also noticed that when they turn to the Weather Channel, they get the weather for Big Rapids and not Mt. Pleasant.

There was also a time period when the Weather Channel was showing weather for the Houghton Lake area.

According to Ransberger that problem has been fixed. During the simultaneous transmission Charter switched satellite receivers for the Weather Channel. The satellite receivers the company switched to was in Big Rapids.

“It’s been resolved,”he said.

Ransberger said he would like to find out who these customers are that are complaining.

“If she (Howard) let’s me know who the customers are, I can steer them in the right place,”he said.

Prior to the act being passed, the Michigan Public Service Commission had nothing to do with cable TV, MPSC spokeswoman Judy Palnau said. Now, under the law, the commission has two responsibilities. One of those responsibilities was to put together a suggested dispute resolution process. The commission created one and turned it over to the Legislature for approval.

The Legislature has not taken any action with the MPSC’s suggested dispute resolution yet. “To date nothing has happened,”Palnau said. A report is due in February from the MPSC regarding the effects of the legislation.

“We will know more then,”she said.

Palnau also noted that the commission has not received an unusual number of complaints regarding Charter in the last year. “We have gotten complaints, but there hasn’t been a sudden spike in them,”she said.

The complaints the commission received were not related to specific issues, Palnau said. They were related to general billing problems or service problems.

Although currently the commission has no authority over Charter, it may be able to help on an informal basis, Palnau said.

Howard said that she is highly skeptical of how the MPSC can make a comparative statement when officials have nothing to compare it to. “This is the first time they are in the watchdog role, with respect to customer complaints,”Howard said. “What numbers do they have to compare it to?”

Howard said she has been sending copies of written complaints to the MPSC in groups.

“It seems impossible there has not been an increase in the number of complaints the MPSC has received,”she said.

“The MPSC has been of no help at all,”Howard added. “They have always sided with the cable companies.”

Howard believes that the legislation was “unnecessarily rushed”and filled with ambiguities.

“This first year of the act has seen a negative impact on municipalities and customers,”Howard said.

A call to Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, who voted for the legislation, was not returned. Cropsey represents Isabella and Montcalm counties in the state Senate.

State Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mt. Pleasant, who also voted in favor of the legislation, said he knew that there have been concerns regarding Charter. He has met with Howard once and hopes to sit down and speak with her in more detail and “clear up things that are being implemented inappropriately.”

“The intent of the act was not to complicate customer service,”Caul said.

Mt. Pleasant City Manager Kathie Grinzinger is also the vice chair of the Mid Michigan Area Cable Consortium.

“It’s very unfortunate that the state law has removed any kind of authority for local government officials to provide assistance to customers that have problems,”Grinzinger said.

“If residents are unhappy they should first direct a complaint to the MPSC,”she said. Next, they should contact their local lawmakers and explain their situation, Grinzinger said.

“If customers are unhappy they should talk with the folks who voted for the law,”she said.