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7 Past Peformance ‐ Customer Service Issues The performance review conducted by The Buske Group was done in the Fall of 2011. Had it been done in 2013, it would have told a very different story about Comcast’s customer service. Historically, the NSCC office would receive two or three customer complaints per month, but in January 2013 the complaint calls spiked. The staff quickly discerned two primary causes. First, beginning with the January bills and with ineffective notice to subscribers, Comcast began charging $1.99 for the digital transport adaptors (DTA’s) that the company had been providing at no charge since it began its transition to a digital cable system in 2010. Second, Comcast’s Western Division had implemented a restructuring of its call centers, going from regional call centers that handled the full range of customer issues to call centers that specialized in specific issues, such as billing, installation, retention, Internet service, etc., and the transition did not go well. The result was long wait times to talk to a customer representative, with many calls routed to off‐shore contract call centers unprepared for the influx of customer referrals and many of whose staff did not have adequate English language skills. Although the call center transition should have been resolved by now, the NSCC office still hears from customers, in addition to their primary complaint, about long wait times and the English language skills of the customer service representatives. Generally, by the time customers call the NSCC office, they are extremely angry and frustrated with a customer service system that provides different information everytime they call, that seems more intent on blaming the problem on the customer than accepting responsibility and fixing it, and whose pricing is less than transparent, from DTA fees that include both equipment and “service” to annual service rates that seem to go in $3 to $5 increments. In contrast, the PEG fee about which Comcast complains has gone from $3.75 in the early 2000’s to $4.15 in 2014, an increase of only $0.40. In determining the needs and interests outlined in the Staff Report and the RFRP, the NSCC strongly considered the lack of any subscriber complaints about the PEG fee and the constant rate increases for cable services to substantiate the inclusion of a request for Comcast to voluntarily continue operational support payments that would allow the NSCC to continue to meet the historical and future needs and interests of the communities. The NSCC cannot recommend the adoption of Comcast’s proposal regarding its PEG commitments. NSCC/NSAC Financial Operations Comcast consultant Andrew Elson of E‐Consulting Group has questioned the allocation of the Executive Director’s time as reported on the NSAC’s IRS Form 990 in 2011 and 2012. The report is prepared by the NSCC/NSAC contract accountants and auditors, Harrington Langer & Associates, and reviewed by staff, who simply missed this error. While an error, it has no place