The Denver Office of Telecommunication received 76 complaints about Comcast Corp. in 2005, according to a summary of the cable-TV provider’s performance evaluation.
That’s a sizable improvement from the 157 complaints received in 2004.
The most frequent complaints were in reference to rate increases, lack of a la carte channel offerings and billing issues, according to Darryn Zuehlke, director of the city’s telecom office.
In 2005, Comcast increased rates for most packages by an average of 4 percent. That followed a 6.6 percent increase in 2004. The report was released as part of Comcast’s biennial review with the city Wednesday night. One Denver resident and two City Council members attended.
Gerald Yanish discussed software bugs in the Comcast digital video programming guide that he said interrupt digital recording sessions.
John Aragon, Comcast’s senior director of government affairs in Colorado, said he was pleased with the review.
“For a city of this size to have one person turn out, that is a good sign,” he said.
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable-TV provider, has 700,000 subscribers in Colorado, with 120,000 in Denver. The company’s 10-year franchise agreement with the city and county of Denver expires in 2009.
Zuehlke said Comcast is compliant with the provisions of the franchise agreement, which include paying fees to the city and making sure customer-service calls are answered promptly.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
Complaints down …
Complaints to Comcast fell by more than half in 2005:
2005: 76
2004: 157
2003: 136
2002: 126
… wait time up
Comcast is required to answer Denver-based calls within 30 seconds 90 percent of the time:
2005: in compliance 90.3 percent of the time
2004: in compliance 93 percent of the time
