O.C. Cable Firm to Pay Rebates of $1.2 Million

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO —  Enforcing federal efforts to bring down cable television rates nationwide, regulators on Tuesday ordered Orange County’s largest cable system to refund more than $1.2 million to 107,000 subscribers.

The rebate to customers of Dimension Cable Services is the seventh and by far the largest ordered by the Federal Communications Commission. The largest previous refund was a $330,000 ruling against a cable operator in Maryland.

The FCC’s Cable Service Bureau said rebates--covering overcharges and accumulated interest-- should average about $11.25 per subscriber. Customers, however, won’t see adjusted bills for at least two months.

“I love it,” said San Clemente subscriber Virginia Wimer, who was one of those who filed a complaint with the FCC last year. Dimension described the overcharges, which occurred during the six months following a 10% rate cut ordered by the FCC beginning in September, 1993, as inadvertent.

FCC spokesman Morgan Broman said the rebate ruling signals there will be many more such decisions.

“People said cable rates were too high; we are taking a serious look at that,” he said. “The complaint process shows that the cable regulations are being enforced, and this is the mechanism we use.”

In making its decision, the FCC said it was acting on 23 complaints from consumers and local governments alleging that San Juan Capistrano-based Dimension had overcharged customers.

The FCC issued a total of eight orders against the company, covering franchise areas that included San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest and San Clemente, as well as other parts of Orange County.

In 1992, Congress adopted a broad cable statute that gave the FCC authority over prices charged for channels not included in an operator’s basic cable package and for any special distribution equipment.

The law was promoted as the first step toward a 10% cut in overall cable rates, but was later derided for having so many loopholes that an estimated one-third of the nation’s cable subscribers actually saw an increase in their monthly cable bill.

The FCC followed up by ordering another cut of 7% last February, aimed at reducing rates even further.

“Dimension Cable has said consistently that since the onset of re-regulation that it is our intent to comply fully with the rules,” said spokeswoman Susan Ritchey. “We set the rates back in August, 1993, in accordance with the rules as they were issued at that time. Now we will turn our attention to reconciling the variance in their calculations and ours.”

She said that Dimension is analyzing whether it may have undercharged customers for some cable services during the same time that the FCC said it made the overcharges. If undercharging occurred, customers may receive a smaller refund, she said.

Dimension has 21 days to decide how to refund affected subscribers, the FCC said. Subscribers would not begin to receive refunds until 30 days after approval of Dimension’s rebate plan.

Dimension is owned by Times Mirror Co., which has an agreement to sell its cable television operations to Cox Enterprises Inc. in a deal expected to close in January. Times Mirror also owns the Los Angeles Times.

The rulings involved customers who had “expanded basic” service, which includes services such as MTV and Cable News Network.

The cable system was charging $23.88 a month for 44 channels during the six months it was found to be overcharging, Ritchey said. Now, the rates vary by community, but are $20.85 a month for 47 channels for the largest portion of the franchise area in South County.

While the refund ruling is the largest to date, government and industry officials say there could be many similar cases nationwide, including more in Orange County. More than 6,500 complaints are pending against hundreds of cable operators, according to the FCC.

“I’m sure that every cable company has had that same (overcharging) complaint from customers,” said Wes Scrivener, marketing manager for the Orange County operation of Century Cable in Brea.

And the Los Alamitos City Council on Monday decided to freeze basic cable rates until July, 1995, while awaiting a ruling from the FCC on whether Paragon Cable, which services the city, violated federal regulations by charging customers for a channel that was part of its basic service package before September, 1993.

Wimer of San Clemente said she filed a complaint last November after Dimension Cable raised her monthly rate to $27.57 in September from $25.19 the month earlier.

“It wasn’t very much, but (Dimension Cable) said they were going to lower it. . . . I just felt it was my civic duty” to file a complaint, she said.

Times staff writers James S. Granelli and John O’Dell contributed to this report.

Cable Refunds

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Dimension Cable Services to refund about $1.2 million to subscribers in Orange County. The details:

* Who gets a refund: About 107,000 customers in San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, San Clemente and neighboring areas.

* Average refund: $11.25.

* When checks will arrive: Dimension must set a refund schedule within 21 days and get it approved by the local franchising agencies. Refunds will be mailed 30 days after plan approval. The earliest possible date would be late January.

Source: Federal Communications Commission