Informal
Complaints
If you have a problem with your telephone bill or service, contact
the phone company first. You may call or send a letter to the
company. You may contact Horizon at 772-8200 from 8:30 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. weekdays.
Mail
address:
Horizon
PO Box 480
Chillicothe, OH 45601
If your concern is not resolved after contacting a customer representative
from the phone company, you may ask to speak with a supervisor.
If your problem is still not resolved, contact the Public
Utilities
Commission of Ohio's (PUCO) consumer call center for help. The
call center staff will review rates with you, advise you
of your
rights, and if needed, will work with you and the company to
try to solve your problem.
You may contact the PUCO at 1-800-686-7826 (toll freeee) or for
TTY at 1-800-686-1570 (toll free) from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m.
weekdays, or at www.PUCO.ohio.gov.
Mail
address:
Service Monitoring and Enforcement Dept.
Public Utilities Cruising of Ohio
180 E. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3793
Residential customers may also contact the Ohio Consumers' Counsel
for assistance with complaints and utility issues at 1-877-742-5622
(toll free) from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays, or at www.pickocc.org.
Formal
Complaints
If you are not able to reach an agreement with the company through
the PUCO's informal complaint process, you have the right to file
a formal complaint. You may obtain a formal complaint form from
the call center representative, by writing to the PUCO or by accessing
the PUCO's web page.
If
you are a residential customer, you may represent yourself
in
the formal complaint proceeding or hire an attorney to represent
you. The Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) represents residential
utility customers in matters before the PUCO. OCC can be contacted
toll free at 1-877-742-5622 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays,
or visit www.pickocc.org.
In most instances, business customers must be represented by an
attorney.
After
you file a formal complaint form, the PUCO determines if reasonable
grounds exist for proceeding with your complaint and will notify
you as to its determination. If reasonable grounds are found
to
exist, you will be notified by mail of a date and time for a
hearing, to take place at the PUCO offices in Columbus. The
PUCO may set
a prehearing conference with both the company and you (and your
attorney if you have one) for one last attempt to resolve the
matter before the scheduled hearing begins. However, if the
case
remains unresolved, once the hearing begins you will have the
responsibility to prove the merits of the complaint. After
the
hearing is over, the PUCO will then review all the evidence presented
at the hearing and make a decision on the case.
Ordering
or Changing Service
When you order new local service or change your existing local
service, your phone company will explain the choices available
to you. If you are a low income consumer, or are currently receiving
assistance (such as HEAP, food stamps, etc.) from government
agencies,
you may be eligible for a discount on your basic local service,
a waiver of service establishment fees and deposit, and/or a
special
payment plan. If you are interested in this assistance, be sure
to tell your phone company.
After you've placed your order for new service or for a change
to your existing service, you should receive, within ten
business
days, a welcome letter in the mail (or by e-mail if you signed
up over the Internet). The welcome letter will include an
explanation
of the service(s) ordered, including the price, terms and conditions.
It is important that you review this letter to confirm your
order.
If you believe that the letter does not accurately reflect the
service you ordered, you should contact the company immediately.
You have 30 days from the postmark of the letter to change
your
initial order for regulated services at no additional charge.
Your
local phone company may charge you a one-time installation
or "service establishment" charge when your first
establish service and each time you transfer service to a new
address. Residential
customers establishing basic local exchange service have the
option to spread the payment of these charges over three billing
periods.
Your local phone company normally must install new local service
within five business days of receiving your order, unless
you
agree to a later date. If you are a residential or small business
customer and the company does not provide service within
this
time frame, you may receive a full or partial waiver of the installation
charges.
Your local phone company must also give you a four-hour appointment
window for a technician to install service if you need to be present
at the premises. If the company misses your scheduled installation
appointment, without giving you 24 hours notice, you may be eligible
for a waiver of a least one-half of the installation charges for
the affected regulated local services.
When you order service and once each year, your local phone company
will provide you with a free directory(ies), unless the company
chooses to provide free directory assistance. You have a right
to receive, upon request, a directory or directories listing all
of the extended area service numbers within your local calling
areas.
Repairing
Your Service
Your local phone company is responsible for repairs and maintenance
to the telephone network and outside wires leading up to your
home or business. You or the property owner are responsible for
the wiring inside your home or business, jacks, and equipment
like telephone sets, answering machines, modems, fax machines,
etc.
The
point where the telephone company's network ends and the inside
wiring begins is called the network interface device (NID).
Many
homes and businesses have located on their premises a NID, which
can be used to check whether the problem with your service
is
your responsibility or the responsibility of the phone company.
If your phone service is not working, contact your company's
repair office immediately. If you're not sure whether the
problem is
your responsibility or the company's responsibility, check in
the directory or with your phone company for an explanation
as
to how to check your NID to see who's responsible and to find
out what your repair options and charges are for repairs,
if
it is your responsibility. If you don't have a NID, the local
phone company will diagnose the problem and install a device
at
no charge. If you rent, check with your landlord prior to scheduling
any repairs.
Be
aware that if the phone company makes a service trip to your
premise
and the problem is in the wiring inside your home or business,
the repair is your responsibility and you may be required to
pay
a service charge to the company. You will not be charged if the
repair is the company's responsibility.
Your local phone company must also give you a four-hour appointment
window for a technician to repair service if you need to be present
at the premises. If the company misses your scheduled repair appointment,
you may be eligible for a waiver of one-half of one month's charges
for the affected regulated local services rendered inoperative.
If
the phone company takes more than seventy-two hours to restore
your phone service, you may receive a credit on your next
bill
for one month's charges for the regulated local services rendered
inoperative.
Paying
for your Service
The phone company will send you a bill every month and allow
you at least 14 days to pay it- If you do not pay your bill on
time,
the company may disconnect your service. Before disconnecting
your service, the phone company must send you a disconnect notice
at least seven days before the shut-off date. If you cannot pay
your entire bill, contact the phone company. You may be able
to
keep part of your service if you pay enough to cover the charges
for basic phone service, or you may be able to work out a payment
plan with the company to keep your service.
Be aware that payment to an unauthorized payment agent does not
guarantee same day posting to your payment.
Your
service cannot be disconnected after 12:30 p.m., if the possibility
of service reconnection on the next day is not
a possibility.
Should your service be disconnected, contact the company to find
out what you need to do to have it restored.You may have to pay
a fee and/or a deposit to have your service reconnected.
Toll
blocking, along with other blocking services, are available
to help manage your bill. To learn more about
blocking
options such as blocks to 900 services, collect calls, third
party calls, or pay-per-use features, contact your phone
company.
Some or all of these options are free of charge.
If you have a billing dispute, and you have made an informal
or formal complaint to the PUCO, the company will not disconnect
your service if you pay the undisputed portion of the bill.
While
the complaint is being investigated, you must pay all current
undisputed amounts and continue discussion with the company
to
settle the complaint.
Privacy
Options
Two options are available to prevent your phone number from displaying
on a Caller ID device. Per call blocking is provided with your
service at no additional charge. To use this, dial *67 from touchtone
phones (rotary dial 1167) before each call you want blocked.
Per
line blocking, available for an additional charge, will block
all your calls. Using this service, you may unblock individual
calls by dialing
*82 (rotary dial 1182). If you wish to have per line blocking,
you should contact your* local phone company and request it.
Due
to technical limitations, either service (per-call blocking or
per-line blocking) may not be able to block the appearance of
your phone number on caller ID
devices when you dial an "800" number. The monthly
rate for per line blocking will not exceed the monthly rate
for
a non-published number service. Further, there will be no additional
monthly charge for per-line blocking to customers who subscribe
to a non-published number service.
Slamming
You have the right to choose your local and long distance providers.
No one can switch your providers without your permission. This
is called slamming, and it is illegal. If you are slammed, you
must contact your chosen company to re-establish service with
that company. You must also contact the company which slammed
you to cancel service with them and to arrange for any credits
or refunds. If you are not satisfied after these calls, contact
the PUCO call center.
Cramming
If your bill has charges on it for services you did not order,
that is called cramming. Cramming is illegal. If these charges
appear on your bill, call your local phone company and let
them
know you have been crammed. If the charges are from another company,
they may also require you to call the cramming company to
have
them take you off their customer list. Otherwise, the charges
may reappear on your next bill. If you are not satisfied
after
these calls, contact the PUCO call center.
