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MaxxSouth Policies & Procedures

The following information summarizes our policies and procedures affecting the cable/ broadband services you receive from us:

General Policies & Procedures

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF OUR SERVICES. Please see the general terms and conditions of the Service Agreement for MaxxSouth Broadband Services for more information.

OUR INSTALLATION AND SERVICE MAINTENANCE POLICIES. The installation and/or maintenance work we perform and the materials we use will be free from defects for a period of 90 days after such work is completed. If any defects in workmanship or materials are reported to us within 90 days of when the work is completed, we shall correct such defects without charge to you. Correction of such defects shall constitute our sole obligation, however. This obligation will not apply to defects resulting from abuse, misuse, tampering, acts of God, or repairs performed by unauthorized persons. We provide free service calls for any interruption of service resulting from the failure of our equipment, such as digital set-top boxes, that we install and continue to own, or from weather or other conditions clearly beyond the control of the customer. Other service calls including cable installation, repairs (such as failure of your equipment and cable home wiring that is not covered by the free service policy), and calls related to changes in the level of cable service will be billed at our standard rate.

CABLE HOME WIRING. Federal law defines “cable home wiring” as the internal wiring contained within your premises, which begins at the demarcation point. The “demarcation point” is defined by federal law as the point at (or about) 12 inches outside of where the wire enters the outside wall of your single family home or, in the case of an apartment building, 12 inches outside of where the cable wire enters the outside wall of your individual unit. Cable home wiring does not include any active elements such as amplifiers, digital set-top boxes or remote control units that may be located within your premises. Cable home wiring is your property and its maintenance, repair and replacement is your sole responsibility.

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE OUR CABLE SERVICE. Our cable television service is delivered by a broadband RF or digital QAM signal. We encode this signal with multiple visual, audio and text information. Our cable television signal may be split using conventional broadband splitters available through us or competitive sources. Directional switches or A/B switches also may be used to alternate between our RF signal and other broadband RF signals provided by competitors. Customer-owned equipment, such as cable-ready digital television sets with QAM capable tuners or cable-ready digital video recorders (DVRs) generally are capable of directly receiving the non-scrambled portions of our broadband signal. You can receive these unscrambled signals typically by selecting the appropriate channel number on a cable-ready digital television, DVR or digital set-top box. We also scramble or encrypt a portion of our broadband signal, including our non-basic service tiers, premium and pay-per-view channels and our high definition and other digital video, audio and text services, to secure it from unauthorized use. Our scrambled or encrypted programming can be received with equipment that is leased from us or through equipment purchased from retail sources; however, if you purchase the equipment from a retail source, you will need to make sure that it will be capable of using a “CableCARD” security device that is leased from us to decode our encrypted broadband signal.

CHANNEL POSITIONS OF BROADCAST PROGRAMMING CARRIED ON OUR SYSTEM. Federal law requires us to inform you of any broadcast stations that cannot be viewed without a digital set-top box. The specific broadcast stations that we carry on our cable system are listed in the Basic Service portion of our channel line-up and each can be viewed without the use of a digital set-top box if you have the correct equipment. If you want to view without a digital set-top box the standard definition and high definition digital broadcast signals that we offer you will need to have a cable-ready digital television set with a QAM capable tuner or such other device that can receive such unencrypted digital broadcast signals. Some of our service areas may be fully encrypted and require a set-top box to receive our digital broadcast signals.

PARENTAL LOCKS AND VIDEO/SOUND BLOCKS ON “R” RATED PREMIUM OR PAY-PER-VIEW CHANNELS. A digital set-top box provided by us offers you the ability to limit viewing of certain channels through parental control options. Such options allow you to select which channels should not be viewed in your absence, through use of a customer created code, which can be enabled or disabled at your discretion. Please consult your digital set-top box manual or contact one of our Customer Service Representatives for additional details and assistance.

BILLING AND COMPLAINT PROCEDURES. You will be billed monthly for services. We bill for our current month’s service in advance and we bill for pay-per-view and video on demand services following their delivery. All charges are due upon receipt of our invoice. Our billing cycles vary by area; payment is expected by the due date identified on our monthly statements. Balances which remain unpaid 45 days after the billing date will be subject to disconnection. Reconnection fees will be charged to restore service. There is a fee charged for returned checks. You will be billed for chargeable work at our standard service rates. We will issue a credit or refund for any billing error which is brought to our attention by you within 60 days of the invoice date. If we receive partial payment of any amounts you owe, we will apply such payments first to any outstanding amount due for telephone service if you are a telephone customer and then to the oldest outstanding invoice and any remaining amounts will be applied to any other invoices in the amounts and proportions as we reasonably determine.

REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT. We may require you to pay a refundable deposit: (i) when you activate MaxxSouth services; (ii) when you order MaxxSouth equipment such as a digital set-top box; or (iii) if you fail to pay charges owed to us when due. If we collect a deposit from you, we will refund the deposit, less any amounts owed to us, to your last known address within 45 days after the date: (x) you terminate MaxxSouth services and return all MaxxSouth equipment; or (y) we disconnect the services we provide you. We will withhold from the deposit all amounts owed and unpaid for MaxxSouth services and for any MaxxSouth equipment you ordered that is damaged or that you do not return within 30 days of termination of the applicable services. Any amounts withheld by us from a deposit become the property of MaxxSouth and will be applied against any amounts you owe us. If applicable law requires us to handle deposits differently than described above, we will adjust our procedures accordingly.

LATE OR NON-PAYMENTS AND COLLECTION COSTS. You may be billed fees, charges and assessments related to late payments or non-payments if for any reason (i) we do not receive from you, by the payment due date, any required payment for the services we provide you, or (ii) you pay less than the full amount due for the services.

We urge you to call us any time you have questions or concerns about your service, equipment or any other aspect of the broadband services which we take pride in providing to you. We maintain customer service telephone numbers and addresses for each area on our website at https://www.maxxsouth.com/contact-us/ and specific information for your local office is included on your monthly statement.

MaxxSouth Cable TV Signal Quality Complaint Procedure

This notice summarizes the procedures to follow to help us resolve problems you may have with the quality of the television signals that we deliver to you.

  1. If you’re experiencing reception problems, there could be a quick, easy solution right in your home. Before you call us, please review the following troubleshooting checklist: (1) Make sure your TV and the digital set-top box are plugged into a live electrical outlet and are turned on. Press the ‘On’ button. (2) For digital set-top box use, make sure your TV is tuned to channel 3 (channel 4 for some televisions) by pressing the ‘Channel’ button on your remote that controls your TV. (3) Check the tightness and security of all the connections to your TV, VCR, DVR and other video equipment. (4) Switch all cable-ready TVs to “CATV.” (5) If you have more than one cable outlet, check to see if the problem is occurring on all TVs connected to our cable television service. (6) Check all the channels to determine if the problem is on only one channel, on all channels, or on a group of channels. (7) Make sure the batteries in your remote are working properly. If you continue to experience a problem with picture or signal quality, you should review your TV, VCR, DVR and/or digital set-top box manual for proper adjustment. If the problem does not clear up, you should call our office and describe the problem to a Customer Service Representative (CSR). Our business office hours and telephone numbers can be found on your monthly statement or at https://www.maxxsouth.com/contact-us/. Alternatively, if you wish to put your comments in writing, your letter should be addressed to MaxxSouth at the mailing address listed on your monthly statement.
  2. When you call about a service problem during normal business hours, all complaints received concerning the technical quality of the cable television signals will be logged in on the day of receipt. The date, time, and nature of your complaint will be noted, as well as your name, address, and telephone number. A CSR will attempt to determine the nature of the problem and, if possible, will help you resolve the problem over the phone. If the problem cannot be resolved during the call, the CSR will schedule a service appointment with you, usually within 24 hours of the time you call, excluding weekends and holidays. In order to correct the problem, we may need access to your premises. If access is not granted, we will ensure our service is working properly from the origination point of the service drop wire connecting your residence to our cable system network. Without access, we cannot check the service integrity of the residential in-home wires, connectors or the equipment we provided you to receive our service. If our service technician is unable to correct the problem to your satisfaction we will, at your request, schedule a second service appointment. If we remain unable to correct the problem, you will be notified of this fact and the reason why. There is currently no charge for service appointments if our equipment causes the problem.
  3. If you are unable to get a problem resolved to your satisfaction, you may submit your complaint to us in writing. We will maintain complaint records for at least a two-year period. In addition, those records will be available for inspection by the local franchising authority or the FCC. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you may contact the local franchising authority. The address of the responsible officer for your franchising authority is located on your monthly statement.

Service and Rate Information

Visit our website at www.MaxxSouth.com for information on services and prices, including, products and services offered, prices and options for subscribing to services, and channel position information.

"Cable-Ready" and "Cable-Compatible" Equipment

Customers may have TVs or other video equipment that can tune to all of the non-scrambled channels we provide. Others may have older sets that do not tune to the upper cable channels. To ensure that you receive all the channels MaxxSouth offers, we can lease you a digital cable set-top box or boxes as necessary.

Even if you have a TV or other video equipment that was advertised as being “cable-ready” or “cable-compatible” when you purchased it, the equipment may not perform as you expected when connected directly to a cable television system without a digital set-top box. Certain digital televisions, recording devices, and other video equipment, known as Unidirectional Digital Cable Products (“UDCPs”), that are connected to digital cable systems may not be labeled using the terms such as “digital cable ready” unless they accept a separate “CableCARD” security device and comply with certain FCC technical requirements. CableCARDs are available from MaxxSouth for a low monthly fee and allow UDCPs to connect directly to digital cable systems without a digital set-top box. UDCPs, however, cannot access two-way cable services such as pay-per-view events and video-on-demand without a digital set-top box that MaxxSouth will provide for a monthly fee. MaxxSouth also offers a variety of High Definition (“HD”) services. You must have an HD compatible television or other HD compatible video equipment to view those services in High Definition format.

You also may encounter other problems or interference when your TV or other video equipment is connected directly to cable. For example, you may encounter interference from over-the-air broadcasts or an inability to receive higher cable channel numbers. These problems often are solved through the use of a digital set-top box, which is available through MaxxSouth for a monthly fee. The digital set-top box will “convert” the cable channels to a designated channel (usually channel 3 or 4) on your TV. The process of converting all of our channels to a designated channel means that you can only receive one channel on your TV at a time through the digital set-top box. You consequently may be unable to use certain features of your TV or other video devices without additional equipment. For instance, recording one program on a VCR while watching another, recording two or more consecutive programs that appear on different channels, and the use of picture-in-picture may not be possible without additional equipment. As explained below, MaxxSouth can provide that equipment to you.

Availability of Additional Equipment

Some of the channels offered on our cable system also may be scrambled and viewed only if an advanced digital set-top box is used. The digital set-top box may limit your ability to use certain advanced features on your TV or other video equipment. Should you wish to use some of these features, please contact MaxxSouth regarding your equipment needs. We will discuss alternatives with you and provide a schedule of equipment charges. This equipment might include an additional digital set-top box or a set-top box with dual tuning capability, or, if you have a receiver that can tune in all our cable channels, an A-B switch that will enable you to bypass the digital set-top box and tune in all unscrambled channels with your TV or other video equipment.

If your television cannot receive UHF television broadcast signals or the standard or high definition digital signals of television broadcast stations, you may need a digital set-top box to view these stations on additional outlets you may connect, on your primary outlet or both. MaxxSouth will lease you digital set-top boxes as necessary to ensure that you can receive local television broadcast stations on all the cable connections in your home. You also may purchase bypass switches and additional digital set-top boxes, if available, at retail outlets. If you purchase or plan to purchase cable services that are encrypted, such as premium, pay-per-view, or digital services, you should make sure that any digital set-top box or other equipment you obtain from a retail outlet is capable of working with the separate “CableCARD” security device MaxxSouth will provide to you for a monthly fee. Upon request, we will provide you with the technical parameters necessary for any compatible video equipment acquired from a retail outlet to operate with our security devices and cable television system. Please remember, however, that receivers with descrambling capabilities and separate security devices can only be obtained from MaxxSouth.

If you see advertisements for digital set-top boxes with built-in descramblers (so-called “pirate boxes” or “black boxes”), please remember that these devices are illegal to sell or use unless authorized by your cable company. To protect our cable system and the quality of the services we provide you, MaxxSouth will not authorize the use of any “pirate boxes.” People who use illegal receivers/descramblers are actually stealing cable service and will be prosecuted, as this practice unfairly results in increased prices to our honest subscribers and may damage our cable system.

Remote Controls

MaxxSouth currently offers customers compatible digital set-top boxes and remote control units. MaxxSouth offers these digital set-top boxes for an additional monthly fee; however, the remote control units are provided at no extra charge when you lease the digital set-top boxes from us. Replacements for lost or damaged remote controls can be purchased from MaxxSouth at an additional cost.

The remote control that may have come with your TV or other video equipment also may be capable of controlling the digital set-top boxes MaxxSouth provides. If you choose, you may buy a “universal” remote control unit from a retail store that is capable of working with our digital set-top boxes. Although features and functions of remote controls vary significantly, many universal remote control models from Sony, RCA, Radio Shack, and Universal Electronics may be programmed to operate customer equipment. Although these remote control units may be compatible with the digital set-top boxes that we currently offer, these remotes may not be functional if we change the type of digital set-top boxes we offer to subscribers. If you have any questions about the compatibility of your remote control unit with MaxxSouth’s equipment, please call your local Customer Service Department; contact information can be found at https://www.maxxsouth.com/contact-us/ or on your monthly statement.

"Adult at Home" Policy

Our company’s policy is that our installers and technicians will not enter your home to perform work if a responsible adult is not present. MaxxSouth considers an adult someone who is 18 years or older. We recognize that this may cause inconveniences for some of our customers, but we feel strongly that this policy is essential to protect both you and our employees.

Our Policies & Procedures May Change

We regularly review our services, policies and practices as part of our commitment to improve the quality of services we provide to our subscribers. We may change these services, policies and practices in the future and, if that occurs, we will notify you of any material changes and the effective date of those changes through written, electronic or other appropriate means as permitted by law. If you find the change unacceptable, you have the right to cancel your service; however, if you continue to receive services after the effective date of any change, we will consider that your acceptance of the change. Our privacy policies for our Internet services can be found here.

A Word About Cable/Broadband Services Theft

Federal law contains both civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized use or theft of cable/broadband services and for manufacturers, suppliers and users of unauthorized devices that facilitate the theft or unauthorized use of cable/broadband services. This federal theft-of-service law supplements any existing state or local laws, and provides a remedy against any person who, without authorization, intercepts or receives any communication service which is provided over a cable/broadband services system. This would include the theft of audio, video, textual data or other service, including data transmitted to or from a customer over a system that has interactive capability.

Cable/broadband services theft increases our costs in delivering quality service to our customers. We prohibit tampering with our equipment or the use of any equipment to receive unauthorized cable/broadband services or other communications services. We will take action to deter theft of service, including service termination, restitution, civil actions for legal damages and, in some cases, criminal prosecution.