Cable woes have customers lining up for change

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- A few blocks from South Coast Plaza, where swarms of people

braved long lines to take advantage of plummeting post-Christmas prices

Wednesday, a different camp of consumers waited it out for some answers

about their cable service.

A line -- nearly 50 deep at its longest -- curled around the lobby of

AT&T; Broadband’s Costa Mesa office at 200 Paularino Ave., with its tail

hanging out the door. Customers in the line had various service needs but

were all there for one reason: All the phone lines were busy.

“I cannot get through to disconnect my service,” said Megan Kurley, who

had trucked in an armful of cable wiring and her cable box to the office.

“I had my son stay on the line one night while I was on hold. I went

upstairs, gave my daughter a bath, and when I came back down still nobody

had answered. The only way to get a response is to come down here.”

Kurley’s testament was echoed with nods and murmurs by the people around

her. Each took a turn sharing their frustrations while waiting for the

attention of two customer service employees.

Patrick Riley made two trips to the cable office Wednesday for a total

waiting time of two hours. He said he waited 45 minutes during his lunch

hour only to get as close as the front door. He came back after work and

finally got his billing problem resolved. He summed up his experience

with the cable company in one word: frustrating.

“When they want their money, you have to give it to them right away, but

when I want service, I can’t get through to anyone,” Riley said.

Patti Rockenwagner, the executive director of AT&T; Broadband corporate

communications, said Wednesday’s problems stemmed from 18,000 systemwide

disconnections. Customers who were more than 60 days delinquent on

payments had their cable connections switched off, she said.

Because there is one regional calling center for Southern California, the

phone lines were overloaded with calls. That, in conjunction with an

overall change in the billing system and a 6% to 7% increase in rates,

must have caused the problem, Rockenwagner said.

Under normal conditions, Rockenwagner said the company’s average hold

time is between three and seven minutes, and once the customer is

connected the problem is resolved within about four minutes.

Costa Mesa city officials tell a different story.

Steve Hayman, director of administrative services for Costa Mesa, said

the city has been frustrated with AT&T; Broadband.

“There is no question that the city has been struggling with AT&T;

[Broadband] for a long time now, and their customer service levels,”

Hayman said.

The city has given the cable company a Jan. 15 deadline to prove -- in

the form of detailed numbers -- how it has improved service to Costa Mesa

residents.

“If the whole world is receiving poor service from AT&T; [Broadband] that

is not our concern. We only care about Costa Mesa,” Hayman said.

Hayman faults the company’s decision to change from a local calling

center to a regional calling center for the poor service. Since the

switch nearly two years ago, Hayman said he has received a steady stream

of calls from customers complaining about their service.

Costa Mesa resident Beth Duncombe said she has raised the cable issue

with the city.

“The city should be able to do something. [AT&T; Broadband] doesn’t care

because they have a monopoly and get their money either way,” Duncombe

said.

AT&T; Broadband has a 15-year contract with the city, which authorizes the

construction, operation and maintenance of a cable system throughout the

city. Contrary to popular belief, the contract is not exclusive, Hayman

said.

The Federal Communications Commission governs cable companies and their

contracts with different cities. Costa Mesa has certain limitations when

dealing with AT&T; Broadband, Hayman said.

“We can’t simply say, ‘Hire more people to answer the phone,”’ Hayman

said. “But we have suggested that they make their call center local

again. Unfortunately, they are just suggestions.”

Hayman said his staff is continuing to explore ways to encourage other

cable providers to compete in Costa Mesa but have no plans in motion.

“Costa Mesa is not threatening to go through the very rigorous legal

process to end the agreement, but we are serious when we say that our

expectation is that customer service should improve,” Hayman said.

Other companies are hesitant to compete in the area because AT&T;

Broadband already has the majority of the consumers, he said. Hayman said

a competing cable company would have to negotiate its own contract to

provide cable, pay the required 5% to the city for the use of public land

to install the wires and install the connections -- all without any

guarantee of a customer base.

AT&T; Broadband’s Rockenwagner said the company is more than willing to

work with city officials to increase customer service and provide the

data Costa Mesa officials are looking for.”We are not in the business of

being in an adversarial role with our cities or our customers,”

Rockenwagner said about the cable company, which provides service to 45

franchises in Southern California.

In fact, the change in the billing system was implemented in part to

stagger the billing cycle so customers would receive their statements

throughout the month instead of all at the same time. If people question

when they receive a bill, they will not have to compete with all of

Southern California to get an answer, she said.

Higher rates for customers are mostly due to AT&T; being forced to pay

more in programming fees, Rockenwagner said. Popular programs --

especially sports-related shows -- are in high demand and the price in

AT&T;’s cable package has increased, she said.

“Sports raised their rates, and we had to hand it down,” Rockenwagner

said.

Costa Mesa resident Shelley Pickens said she would not mind a slight

raise in rates if she got what she paid for. She did not have concerns

about the quality of her picture or the programming but wanted the

company to pay attention to her needs as a consumer.

“They give me service like this and then they raise their rates? This is

incredible,” Pickens said.

Rockenwagner said part of the general discontent stems from a

misunderstanding of how things work. AT&T; Broadband is constantly

investing in technology that will increase the number of subscribers, she

said, but it is not a simple equation.

“The cable business is highly technical, yet a lot of people think it is

as easy as flipping a switch,” she said.

Nonetheless, cable officials will continue to work with Costa Mesa to

resolve any problems, Rockenwagner said.

A detailed report of information specific to Costa Mesa will be turned

over by Jan. 15, she said, as soon as staff have time to compile

fourth-quarter data.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

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