Amendment AA2-SA1-AB207

AB207-SA1-AA2,17,12 (18) Consumer complaints; mediation. A video programming provider shall implement an informal process for handling inquiries from municipalities and customers concerning billing issues, service issues, privacy concerns, and other consumer complaints. If an issue is not resolved through such informal process, a municipality or customer may request nonbinding mediation with the video programming provider, with each party bearing its own costs of such mediation. Selection of a mediator shall be by mutual agreement and preference shall be given to mediation services that do not charge a consumer for their services. If the informal process does not produce a satisfactory result to the customer or municipality, enforcement may be pursued as provided in sub. (19) (f).

AB207-SA1-AA2,17,13 (19) Enforcement. (a) The department may do any of the following:

AB207-SA1-AA2,17,15 1. Exercise its authority under ss. 93.14, 93.15, and 93.16 to investigate violations of this section.

AB207-SA1-AA2,17,19 2. Commence an action in the name of the state to restrain by temporary injunction a violation of this section. Before entry of a final judgment, the court may make any necessary orders to restore to a person any pecuniary loss suffered by the person because of the violation.

AB207-SA1-AA2,17,22 3. Except as provided in subd. 4., commence an action in the name of the state to recover a forfeiture to the state of not less than $100 nor more than $10,000 for each violation of this section.

AB207-SA1-AA2,17,25 4. Commence an action in the name of the state to recover a forfeiture to the state of not more than $50,000 for a person's first violation of sub. (17) and of not more than $100,000 for each 2nd or subsequent violation of sub. (17) by a person.

AB207-SA1-AA2,18,4 5. After public hearing, issue a special order under s. 93.18 against a video programming provider enjoining the provider from employing practices that violate this section and requiring the provider to employ practices or take actions that are determined by the department to be in compliance with this section.

AB207-SA1-AA2,18,8 (b) A municipality may enforce this section with respect to complaints received from residents within the municipality, but the municipality may not impose or require compliance with any additional or different customer service or performance standards than those specified in this section.

AB207-SA1-AA2,18,11 (c) A municipality may enact an ordinance that provides a schedule of forfeitures for any material violation of this section by video programming providers that are in addition to the penalties provided under this chapter, except as follows:

AB207-SA1-AA2,18,13 1. No forfeitures may be assessed for a material violation if it is out of the reasonable control of a video programming provider or its affiliate.

AB207-SA1-AA2,18,15 2. The forfeitures shall apply on a competitively neutral basis to all providers of video service within the municipality.

AB207-SA1-AA2,18,17 3. The forfeitures may not exceed $750 for each day of the material violation, and may not exceed $25,000 for each occurrence of a material violation per customer.

AB207-SA1-AA2,18,21 (d) The department or a municipality shall give a video programming provider written notice of any alleged material violations of this section and allow such provider at least 30 days from receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material violation.

AB207-SA1-AA2,19,2 (e) For purposes of this subsection, "material violation" means any substantial failure of a video programming provider to comply with this section and, for purposes of assessing forfeitures, a material violation is considered to have occurred for each day that a material violation has not been remedied by a video programming provider after the expiration of the period specified in par. (d).

AB207-SA1-AA2,19,13 (f) The department and, subject to sub. (18), a municipality or customer may bring an action against a video programming provider for violation of this section, except that a municipality may bring an action only if a customer residing in the municipality is adversely affected by the violation and a customer may bring an action only if the customer is adversely affected by the violation. A video programming provider may bring an action to review a municipality's assessment of forfeitures against the video programming provider. A municipality is immune from civil liability for its acts or omissions related to the enforcement or review of any terms, conditions, or rights under this section, except that a court may require the return of any forfeiture that the municipality incorrectly assessed against a video programming provider.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,2 (20) Credits. (a) A video programming provider shall credit customers for violations of this section in the amounts specified in par. (b). The credits shall be applied on the statement issued to the customer for the next monthly billing cycle following the violation or following the discovery of the violation. A video programming provider is responsible for providing the credits and a customer is not required to request the credit. If a customer is no longer taking service from a video programming provider, the video programming provider shall refund the credit amount to the customer by check within 30 days of the termination of service. A municipality may enact an ordinance that requires a video programming provider to give credits directly to customers for violating this section, if the ordnance applies on a competitively neutral basis to all video programming providers in the municipality, and except that the credits may not exceed the credits specified in par. (b).

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,4 (b) A video programming provider shall give customers the following credits for the following violations of this section:

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,6 1. Failure to provide notice of customer service standards upon initiation of service, $25.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,9 2. Failure to install service within 7 days, waiver of 50 percent of the installation fee or the monthly fee for the lowest-cost basic service, whichever is greater.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,12 3. Failure to install service within 14 days, waiver of 100 percent of the installation fee or the monthly fee for the lowest-cost basic service, whichever is greater.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,15 4. Failure to remedy service interruptions or poor video or audio service quality within 48 hours, a pro rata credit of total regular monthly charges equal to the number of days of the service interruption.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,17 5. Failure to keep an appointment or to notify the customer prior to the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment, $25.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,18 6. Violation of privacy protections, $150.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,19 7. Failure to comply with scrambling requirements, $50 per month.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,21 8. Violation of customer service and billing standards in sub. (8) or (9), $25 per violation.

AB207-SA1-AA2,20,24 9. Violation of the prohibition under sub. (13) (a) 1. against requiring subscription to other services as a condition of access to video service, $25 per month.".".

AB207-SA1-AA2,21,1 2. Page 1, line 5: after that line insert:

AB207-SA1-AA2,21,7 "(1g) In the schedule under section 20.005 (3) of the statutes for the appropriation to the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection under section 20.115 (1) (jb) of the statutes, as affected by the acts of 2007, the dollar amount is increased by $65,000 for fiscal year 2007-08 and the dollar amount is increased by $65,000 for fiscal year 2008-09 to increase funding for the purpose for which the appropriation is made.".

AB207-SA1-AA2,21,8 3. Page 1, line 6: delete "(1)" and substitute "(1r)".

AB207-SA1-AA2,21,9 (End)