WASHINGTON, D.C. — Not happy with the level of customer service you’re getting from your cable, broadband, satellite television or voice services provider? The FCC wants to help you, says Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington didn’t want it to happen.
The Commission on Wednesday issued a Notice of Inquiry to MVPDs, broadband companies and cellular and landline phone service provider that seeks information on current customer service practices.
As the FCC sees it, “It aims to empower consumers to easily cancel subscriptions, talk to live customer service representatives, easily consent to or decline automatic service renewals, and improve the accessibility of customer service engagement among other things.”
Rosenworcel commented, “We can and should expect consistent, transparent, and helpful customer service from the communications companies that provide so many services that are so vital in our day-to-day lives. No one should get stuck in a doom loop trying to cancel a subscription or just get a human being to help resolve their service problems.”
Illustrating the divide between Democrats and Republicans, the Commission adopted the Notice of Inquiry on a party-line 3-2 vote. In a dissenting statement, senior Republican-aligned Commissioner Brendan Carr said “much of what the FCC considers here would fit more appropriately within the scope of the Federal Trade Commission’s jurisdiction. In fact, the FTC has opened up a proceeding to look at these types of things already.”
Thus, the FCC, in his view, shouldn’t be opening an inquiry that is within the scope of the FTC.
Specifically, the Commission seeks comment on:
- Simple Cancellation – Providing more cancellation options and better disclosure of cancellation practices at the point of sale and on bills.
- Automatic Renewal of Service – Ensuring providers obtain explicit customer consent for broadband and voice service providers before automatically renewing a service and/or increasing prices after a trial or promotional period expires.
- Access to Live Representatives – Helping to avoid bouncing consumers from one call menu list to another in a time-consuming effort to obtain resolution.
- Installation, Outage, and Service Calls – Extending cable operator installation, outage, and service call rules to also apply to satellite TV, voice, and broadband services.
- Individuals with Disabilities – Improving the accessibility of customer service resources for individuals with disabilities.
- Expanded Cable Customer Resources – Updating current cable operator customer service requirements to reflect marketplace and technology changes.
Additionally, the Notice explores whether to harmonize the FCC’s existing cable operator customer service rules with customer service requirements for voice, broadband, and Direct Broadcast Satellite (a.k.a. satellite TV) consumers. The Notice, Rosenworcel’s staff says, is part of a broader government effort, “Time is Money,” to “crack down on everyday headaches that waste our time and money.”
