Charter closing payment center

Molly Shore

Charter Communications subscribers who wish to pay their cable bills

in person or return their cable boxes will have to break from their

routine beginning this weekend.

On Friday, the cable company is closing its Burbank payment center

at 601 S. Glenoaks Blvd, officials said.

Craig Watson, Charter’s vice president of communications and

public affairs, said closing the office is part of an overall

strategy to make the company’s operations more efficient.

“Because we have a long-standing center in Glendale, we felt it

would be another place where Burbank residents could go to pay their

bills and pick up or return equipment,” Watson said.

Serving two adjacent communities allows Charter to conduct its

business efficiently, he said.

“We can provide excellent service on the phone and in person,” he

said.

Beginning Saturday, subscribers can pay their bills in person

inside Charter’s Glendale office at 6246 San Fernando Road, or put

their payments in the drop box of the lobby at Burbank Water and

Power at 164 W. Magnolia Blvd., said Sheila Stevens, Charter’s

director of fiscal operations.

Although Charter is closing its Burbank payment center, its

administrative and marketing offices at 601 S. Glenoaks Blvd. will

remain open, Stevens said.

Notification of the closure was included in bills sent earlier

this month to all city customers, and a notice was posted in the

payment center’s lobby.

Interim City Manager Dave Newsham said he just recently learned

Charter was closing its Burbank payment center.

“It was just a business decision,” Newsham said. “They didn’t have

to come to us for approval.”

Newsham, who will renegotiate Charter’s contract, which expires

in 2005, said the city will work with Glendale in the renegotiation

process.

Both municipalities will carry out an extensive customer survey,

he said.

“We will see what citizens think about the current level of

service and what they would like to see in the future,” Newsham said.

If customers indicate they want the payment center reopened in

Burbank, that will be part of the negotiation package, he said.