City Threatens to Revoke Century’s Cable Franchise

Disturbed by a deluge of complaints about Century Cable Television, Los Angeles city officials are threatening to begin proceedings to revoke the company’s operating franchise.

The Los Angeles Department of Telecommunications reports that 57% of the complaints the department receives about cable carriers concern Century, even though the company serves only 23% of the city’s cable subscribers.

The Los Angeles Department of Telecommunications, which oversees cable providers in the city, has notified Century that the number of complaints about the company is higher than at any time in the past five years.

Century has a grace period of roughly 45 days to rectify the situation before the department recommends to the Board of Telecommunications Commissioners, an appointed body, that the city begin revocation proceedings.

“They’re only as good as they deliver, and they’re not delivering,” said Susan Herman, general manager of the Department of Telecommunications. “They are the most complained-about company that we deal with.”

Century, which serves nearly 100,000 subscribers in West Los Angeles, Brentwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, among other areas, acknowledges that it has received the city’s warning. But company officials attribute the current problems to growing pains in the cable industry, and they say they are taking steps that have already improved customer service.

“We’ve been conducting focus groups with our customers, and they have said they think it is becoming a new and better system,” said Pennie Contos, general manager of Century’s Santa Monica office, which handles much of the service for the Westside.

Customer satisfaction, to be sure, is not the only hurdle Century must negotiate.

Like all cable operators, Century faces new competition, primarily from direct satellite television broadcast services, which beam to satellite dishes secured on rooftops and offer programming nearly identical to cable. And telephone companies, which boast strong customer loyalty, are gearing up to offer video dial tone services.

In addition, Century’s reputation in other Westside cities, though not sterling, seems better than it is in Los Angeles. In Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, for example, the company has actually improved its services, according to officials from both cities.

“It’s our enforcement efforts,” said John Risk, president of Communications Support Group, a consulting firm that has contracted with the City of Beverly Hills to oversee its cable franchise. “We call Century five times a day to see how long it takes them to answer the phone.”

But in Los Angeles it’s a different story.

The Department of Telecommunications has determined that Century, based on the number of complaints it receives, is guilty of a material breach of its franchise, Herman says. Among the problems: responding too slowly to customer service calls, poor TV reception, distributing inaccurate information and billing customers for services they do not want.

“Century’s customers are paying the highest rates in the city, but the service is the worst and the customers know it,” Herman said. “It adds insult to injury.”

To begin revocation proceedings, the city’s Board of Telecommunications and, ultimately, the Los Angeles City Council, must first agree to revoke the company’s franchise.

In 1989, Century came close to losing its license to operate in Los Angeles over similar issues, Herman said. However, the company improved its customer service record and the city took no action.

In its latest attempt at a turnaround, the cable operator started hiring new staff this summer and has developed a strategy to improve its reputation.

The changes at Century start at the top, with new managers both on Century’s regional level and in the Santa Monica office. Contos herself has been with the company only a few months.

Some of the new managers oversee what the company terms “customer care etiquette.” The cable company has also hired 20 new employees to make follow-up phone calls to Century customers who have received repair or installation services.

In Santa Monica, Century is experimenting with a new three-person customer service team that can solve simple technical problems over the telephone. The Santa Monica office plans to hire 10 additional customer service operators.

The company is also developing a new program to train its customer service employees in telephone etiquette, cable technology, the details of the company’s billing system and new programming.

Repair and installation services are on the increase at Century, the company says. The company will add Sundays to its current six-days-a-week schedule for house calls, and it will provide repair, installation and other types of technical services until 9 p.m., Contos said.

“We’re looking at the business in a new way,” Contos said.

Some, however, remain unconvinced.

Said Sylvia Siegel, president of Consumer Cable Cop, a consumer group based in San Francisco: “It’s just a PR ploy.”