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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPR 15101: TEXAS & KANSAS CITY CABLE PARTNERS (TIME WARNER) - PAPER STATEMENTS interoffice - _ ' MEMORANDUM To: Mayor, City Council, and City Manager - ~ ' From: .Mark Sokolow, City :Attorney ~~ ~~~~~ Date: February 11, 2009 Subject: P. R. No. 15101; Council Meeting. February 24, 2009r Attached is P,. R. No. 15101 as it pertains to the Paper Statement Service Charge of Texas & Kansas City Cable Partners LP/Time Warner. (Requested by Councilmeinber Henderson) . MTS:gt Attachment cc: Susan Patten TIME WARNER CABLE z.pr15101_memo P. R. No. 15101 02/11/09 gt RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION AS IT PERTAINS TO THE PAPER STATEMENT SERVICE CHARGE OF TEXAS & KANSAS CITY CABLE PARTNERS, L.P./TIME WARNER (REQUESTED BY COUNCILMEMBER HENDERSON) WHEREAS, the City of Port Arthur has received information as to the Paper Statement Service Charge of Texas & Kansas City Cable Partners, L.P./Time Warner as delineated in Exhibit "A"; and WHEREAS, the City Council deems it in the public interest for Texas & Kansas City Cable Partners,. L.P./Time Warner -not to implement the Paper Statement Service Charge as this is unduly burdensome on customers. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ARTHUR: Section 1. That the facts and opinions in the preamble are true and correct Section 2. That the City of Port Arthur does not support the Paper Statement Service Charge and requests Texas & Kansas City Cable Partners, L.P./Time Warner to repeal it immediately. - Section 3. That .the CitySSecretary shall send a certified' copy of this Resolution to Texas & Kansas City Cable Partners, L.P./Time Warner. Section 4._ That a copy of-the caption of this Resolution be ,spread upon the Minutes of the City Council. z.pr1510L READ, ADOPTED AND APPROVED on this day of • P:.D., 2009, at a Meeting of the City Council of the City of Port Arthur, by the following vote: AYES: Mayor ~ .. Couric i lmembe r s ATTEST: TERRI HANKS, ACTING CITY SECRETARY APPROVED AS TO. FORM: CITY ATTORNEY APPROVED FOR ADMINISTRATION: z CITY MANAGER F z.pr15101 s EXHIBIT ~~A" Page 1 of 4 Mark Sokolow From: "Patten, Susan" To: _<mark@portarthur.net> Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009 8:05 AM Subject: TWC's "Go Green" initiative Mark, in follow-up to our conversation about our "Go Green" initiative, I wanted to share the following with you. Let me know if you need-additional information or if city officials seek additional conversation. Thanks! . Many companies nationwide are launching similar initiatives to protect our environment by reducing the amount of paper generated by our billing statements. . As long ago as in 2002 the New York Times wrote about companies moving toward paperless billing. (See article below.) While this is not a new concept for companies to move to paperless billing - it is important to note that Time Warner Cafile's initiative is unique in that we are acknowledging our customers' actions to "Go Green" with a .99 credit a month. '' . Should a customer elect to continue to receive a'monthly paper bill statement, a Paper Statement Charge of $.99 per month will be added. But customers can avoid this charge and save an additional .99 per month by choosing a paperless option to receive their monthly bills: . Residential customers may choose online or telephone options to review or receive information about their bill -online access is not required. And customers can continue to choose from a variety of payment options -again, online access is not required.-For example, customers can pay by credit card or from their bank account, FREE.. . If a customer chooses to come into one of our service centers and needs assistance from our customer service representatives to set up the paperless billing they will not be charged for that service. . Other service providers have been charging monthly fees of $1.99 to $2.99 for paper invoices for years (i.e, phone company charge for itemized long distance bill) This is not a new idea. See this article from 2002! http //query nytimes com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9BOOEEDE153FF93AA15753C1A9649C86638sec=&spon=& ~ewanted=print Lhc ~\cw ~3ork L>ntcs October 29, 2002 Want~Bills By Snail Mail? It Might Cost You Money By JENNIFER BAYOT You may dread monthly bills in the mailbox, but consider them a perk. Some companies are ~nnnno Page 2 of 4 charging for them: For years, businesses have cajoled customers to viev~~ their bills online, mostly by~offering cash; gifr certificates, sweepstakes prizes and other incentives in retuni. A tough economy, though; has led to an even more `aggressive stance.. Iu a move to cut administrative costs and save on paper and postage, some have started billing customers a few extra dollars a month for paper statements. Leading the charge are telecommunications companies like Primus and MetroPCS. Some lenders and insurance providers; like State Farm Insurance and USAA, are charging a tew customers for monthly paper statements. Cieditcard issuers like American Express are adding paper fees to __ merchant accounts. and online services thatinitially,mailed statements; like NetBank and -- Ameritrade; the online brokerage firm, have bogun charging for them, setting a standard for some ~ , -new businesses that want to do the same. , ' ' These companies say consumers should be ready and even eager to go paperless because Internet transactions have become more secure, not fo mention more familiar and accessible. , Some consumers argue that charging far paper bills punishes people who are not comfortable handling their finances online. After all, not everyone owns a computer or has a fast Internet connection._About 60 percent of American households have a computer at home and Intemet access. Though many more people can use a computer with a fast link at the off ce, several said they were uncomfortable transmitting sensitive financial information while on the job. Companies that want to eliminate paper are asking for too much too soon; these people suggest. Krista S. Boughey of Hanford; Calif.. recently learned that she and her husband, Britt. would have to pay $8 a month to receive paper invoices for their auto and student loans from USAA. Online statements and automatic payments ~~ould be free. Although she preferred paper bills; Mrs. ' Boughey, 26, agreed to the electronic alternative. "If they're going to charge me if I don't do it~their way. I just don't have the time to 5ght it," she said. USAA said it generally does not charge for paper statements. ° Mrs..Boughey said she worried about her financial-information moving across the Internet. "Even though I know abouYall the secure things they have now, I'm afraid of getting bills online," she said. "I need to see the papers in front of me-and to file them." , Bills for fixed-installments like the Bougheys' are the most likely to disappear from postal routes. Afer all, many consumers are used to a coupon book without reminders to pay their mortgages and some other routine loans. State Farm warned customers this month that they would have to pay $1. for paper statements. Long-distance and wireless businesses, suffering from the poor economy and the telecommunications industry's troubles, also appear eager to cut off paper. MetroPCS; which offers wireless service in a handful of cities, and Primus, the telecommunications provider, each started charging customers $2 a month this year for mailed bills. Primus said 22,000, or 14 percent, of its customers now view and pay their bills online. "It's time to change, to educate our customer,base to get them to move with the times," said Ann Martin, Primus's director of North American sales and operations. "In order to save costs to the level 2/2/2009 Page 3 of 4 that the consumers expect, these are the steps to take." Ms. Martin and several others pointed out that years ago banks had to compel customers to use automated teller machines by penalizing them for going to tellers. Companies say that they need to cut costs and that consumers need to adapt. Many corporations invested heavily in the online billing programs, which allow their customers to save ou postage and paperwork It seems only fair, some businesses say, to bilhonline to help themselves as well. A number of studies and surveys show that the average company saves about $1 a bill by moving from a paper-based system to an electronic system. Many consumers have been happy to go paperless. John Knapp, a danc-ing instructor in New York, each month pays about a dozen bills -- the consumer average. "To keep 'track of these little things every month is annoying and time consuming;" he said. "I decided that I was tired of chasing little bits of paper around. f don't know if that's a smart~way to go, but .it's certainly convenient." The charges for bills are rarely made across the board. with companies tending to aim at certain groups, like people who are technology savvy"or their least profitable customers. Credit card companies; for example, are forcing small busihesses to pay~for paper bills, although they may someday extend the surcharges to individuals. American Express this year started charging its small merchants $10'for mailed invoices. Jim Gillespie, who coaches real estate agents from his office in Temecula, Calif.,. said he quickly, but reluctantly, switched. "Tlie thought of getting Jigged $10 a month -- ~m~ initial reaction was,'You've got to be kidding,' " he said. 'Porxmall-business people who are not technology savvy,-this has got to hurt them. They have to go out and really learn a new skill set." American Express sans many merchants prefer online billing because it is updated daily.. Paying and viewing bills online can be confusing and a bother. Although some people can c-all up several online bills at a single specialty Web site or financial services site, many must visit each company's Web site. In all cases, customers must provide personal information and the account numbers of the credit cards or checking accounts they want to use to pay their bills online. They must also create and remember low on names and passwords for each billing site. ' J. Travis, 33, says he pays all his bills online and even uses Quicken software to manage his finances, but his attempts at online billing convinced him that he needed paper bills. "When I first started getting the electronic invoices; I ended up accidentally deleting them:as spam," he said, "I thought it might be easier, but I just lost track of my billing." Even online businesses, whose customers are the most comfortable with technology, have only recently assessed fees for paper. Ameritrade, last year started charging $2 for even- mailing. NetBank. which has no branches. used to send paper statements. but in April ?001 began charging $3 for each of them. Eve McDowell, NetBank's marketing director. said 90 percent of the company s banking clients have chosen electronic statements, but she doubted that companies with more diverse clienteles could successfully charge for paper bills. "I just don't think it would be a very strategic decision." she said. Beth Robertson, an analyst who tracks electronic billing for the Tower Group, said that penalizing for paper bills often ignores how greatly consumers vary in their familiarity with the Web. Page 4 of 4 Moreover, Ms. Robertson said, the approach probably strikes consumers as too pushy So for now, many.more companies continue to push consumers to give up paper but stop short of charging them for paper bills. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and several energy companies automatically stop paper statements after customers opt to pay online. In these cases, online customers who want to continue receiving paper bills must request them. Some companies. like America Online, simply refuse to offer paper bills. Mr. Gillespie, the real estate adviser with the American Lxpress account, is also a Primus customer and thus has had rivo companies recently warn him of future charges for paper bills. "Anybody can followtheir lead," Mr. Gillespie said. "It made me wonder, what else is coming down the line?" Correction: November 2, 2002, Saturday An article in Business Day on Tuesday about companies that have started billing customers for monthly paper statements misstated the fee charged by American Express to small merchants that want them. It is $4.50 a mouth, not $10. Susan.Patten Vice President of Government Affairs Time Warner Cable 1005 Congress ,Suite 420 Austin, TX 78701 ' 512-485-6222 `~ Go Green! Print this email only when necessary. Thank you for helping Time Warner Cable be environmentally responsible. This E-mail and any of its attachments may contain Time Warner Cable proprietary information; which is privileged, confidential, or subject to copyright belonging to Time Warner Cable. This E-mail is intended solely for the use of the individual .or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient of this E-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying, or action taken in relation to-the contents of and attachments to this E-mail is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this E-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copy of this E-mail and any printout. 2/2/2009 /TIME WARNEF~2622900EGRP 2a 00003G5p,2<2009NNNNNY `` CABLE January 23, 2009 page 3 of 3 •~: . ~. J • ~f ~R~~~! .t< .Effective January 7,'2009; Time Warner Cable will initiate a Paper Statement Service ' "-,~ Charge of $:99 per month for customers that continue to receive a monthly paper bill statement. But you can avoid this charge and save an additional $.93 per month by . -.~ choosing a Paperless option to receive your monthly bill. Residential customers may register online for Yirne Warner Cable's PayXpress service and view their monthly bill To access PayXpress online, - ~~=visit www.timewarnercable.com.and select the "Account and Billing Support" page under "Customer 'C Service". Residential customers may also elect the Paperless option by calling Tirne Warner Cable's .. Customer Care at 1 800-CABLE-55. -'SMART. CONVENIENT.' GREEN. • 'Elirrtinate possible late-fees Signing up is simple and easy. Reduce paper waste. with automatic bill pay. ~~ ~ View your billing. statement Save the environment. • Avoid the 99q Paper Statement and account information '.Service Charge and save an on one secure site. _ "additional 594 per month .- pay online by credit card or with a Paperles's Statement from your bank account, FREE. -Green Credit. Save on postage. GO GREEN! Go Paperless! Sign-up for, PayXpress Paperless Billing at timewarnercable.com/PayXpress today! i f ~ h -TIME WARNER CABLE TXEPOWEa OF Y00' M1;. EUechve January.l,2(g9, TimeWamm fable rill initimea Paperless Statement Green GeAd 0130.99 per month for residen6atursmmers Nat choose apapeUess option to receire Neir fnINilhly bal. fles0entW'.pustomers may register online fa time Warcer Cattle's Pay press service ana rew Heir momMy bill. To access Pdyyy~ess antine, rind wxw.timewMrercahle.com and select tlce -ACCOUm s .and 801mg Suppal'~g¢unaer'pis[omer Senira.'Pasioen[ial arsl¢mersw0h guesticns shoutl callimp Warner fable's Customer fare at1-800-G&F-55. _ Costaners Nat iaAinue to recpve a monNly paper bdl slalemem xa U 5 Mail mll he assessetl a Paper 3talementService Charge of 30.98 per madp ~f¢cdve on dan¢ry 20(19 hBlogstatements.' ~~ S~ryectto dange vr'tMut rohce NOtaralade on a8 zre_as. Same resMChas may applYO~me Warner Cablehm All rgh6 reserves. `.~~ _. . _~-.. ^-6a68~b¢_lODt3WP1GG f..__