Residents in Orion Township weren’t very happy to see Comcast Cable move its customer service office from Orion to Independence Township, and neither were the Orion Cable Commission and Orion Township Board of Trustees.
“In the contract they were to maintain an office in Orion and it’s in Independence (now),” said Orion Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk. “We’re talking to an attorney…we want to see if an office can be moved back to Orion.”
Comcast moved its customer service office recently from the office shared with Orion Neighborhood Television on Lapeer Road to an office on Maybee Road. Orion Cable Commission Chairperson Doug Corliss said that move was in violation of their customer service ordinance.
“One of the things (in the agreement) is that if a customer has a converter problem or remote control problem, Comcast has to dispatch someone out,” he said. “It’s no charge to the customer, and they are supposed to have someone out within 24 hours on Monday through Friday.”
The commission was assured at its last meeting that Comcast would continue that practice.
“We didn’t want them to move,” he said. “They were looking for space in Orion but it fell through. The number of people that used this service center was unbelievable…it was a great location.”
The Orion Cable Commission includes two representatives each from the Orion Township Board and the Lake Orion Village Council. The commission meets every other month, in the village hall.
“Something people need to understand is that we don’t control rates or channels,” he said. “Those are things customers care about most, and those are the two items we are precluded by federal law to do anything about.”
The Cable Act of 1984 was amended in 1988 to take those powers away from local commissions.
“We were asking people (at that time) to write their representatives,” he said. “In the next couple of months we’ll be doing another customer survey; we do one every three years. It’s going to be more geared at asking the customers ‘what do you want to see from Comcast?'”
The cable commission bears the responsibility for franchise enforcement, and they are currently on year three of a 15-year franchise agreement with Comcast.
The commission did try to get other cable companies to come into the township when the cable agreement was refranchised.
“It sounds crazy with all the growth, but they really didn’t think we were big enough to warrant another company coming in,” said Corliss.
Besides overseeing that the franchise agreement is carried out for the township and village (subject to those governing bodies’ approvals), the cable commission also oversees the board of directors for ONTV.
“It’s non-profit…we have paid for cable facilities for the township, village and school administration,” Corliss said. “I know it’s frustrating for people to say ‘my bills are too high’…but there’s nothing we can do under federal law. People always have the option of going to a dish, we know that, but with a dish you lose out on a great resource in this community.”
That resource, according to Corliss, is ONTV, which he said provides outstanding public access for the community.
“When we don’t put a meeting on, people let us know they are watching this stuff,” he said.
“People are looking for information,” added Diane Griffiths of ONTV and the cable commission. “We need to hear from people…ifyou go in with a stack of papers, complaints that have been filed, it gives more weight.”
Griffiths said Comcast does provide a senior discount, but it is 10 percent only on analog expanded basic.
The Orion Cable Commission will have their next meeting on Oct. 9 at the Lake Orion Village Hall at 7:30 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend, or citizens can call the commission at 693-7420 to talk to someone or leave a voice mail with their concerns.