Poor Reviews for Comcast in Golden Valley

Hundreds of area residents and city leaders are giving their input about Comcast Cable Television in their city, and some of the most influential customers don't have a lot of good to say about the company.

Golden Valley Mayor Linda Loomis was one of the city leaders to provide survey feedback during the franchise renewal process. Loomis says residents have regularly contacted her about problems with Comcast, stating outages, multiple calls for customer service, rates and the digital conversion have been the main topics of concern.

It was those criticisms, among others, Loomis communicated as feedback on the survey.

“Residents wish they could go somewhere else [besides Comcast], but there is really no other option,” she says.

The request for feedback via a survey is one step in a process for a franchise agreement to be renewed between Northwest Suburbs Cable Communications Commission (NWSCCC) and Comcast. Golden Valley is one of nine cities in the northwest suburbs that make up the joint powers entity of NWSCCC, which serves as the franchise authority for cable television services. NWSCCC received a request from Comcast in January to renew its agreement with the member cities.

“We are working every day to make a difference for our customers,” Comcast Corporate Affairs Vice President Mary Beth Schubert said in a statement to Patch about the feedback. “We still have work to do, and we are continuing to focus on having the tools, systems, bundles, and people in place to change our customers’ experience, perception and overall satisfaction with Comcast.”

Comcast has been the local cable television provider for the cities of Golden Valley, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale since 1982. Its last contract was renewed in 1994.

As part of the renewal process, NWSCCC is researching whether Comcast has complied with their previous agreement and is asking leaders and residents in cities like Golden Valley to give feedback about their experience Comcast.

“We look back and we look forward,” NWSCCC Executive Director Greg Moore said.  “Right now, we’re just collecting information.”

The process to renew Comcast’s franchise agreement, according to an executive summary on the NWSCCC website, will include “review of past performance of Comcast and identify future needs for cable television services important to each member city.”

A survey has been sent to about 500 cable subscribing households in the nine NWSCCC cites, 130 city leaders and about 1,200 online subscribers.  Survey recipients are asked questions about Comcast’s rates, programs and services, quality of services, customer satisfaction and future needs and interests.

Once the surveys are collected, Moore said the NWSCC will compile the data and present it to the member cities at a meeting in May or September.

After the information is collected and reviewed, the Northwest Suburbs Cable Communications Commission will negotiate with Comcast about possible changes it before reaching a final agreement. The deadline for the agreement is January 2014.

According to Moore, the NWSCCC's authority is limited to oversight and review of rates and charges for Basic I, which includes only the first 23 channels of cable service.