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The following information is to acquaint you with some of the rules and practices of our Cooperative and your rights as a customer. Our policy is that our services are provided without discrimination as to your race, nationality, color, religion, sex, or marital status.
If you wish to contact our business office for any reason concerning your service or to arrange for additional service, we will be glad to assist you in any way we can. Bills may be paid and information may be obtained at our office between the
hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, 1/4 mile north of State
Highway 46 on FM 3159 in Smithson Valley. Our telephone number is 830-885-4411
or if Long Distance, 1-800-367-4882.
The services provided to you by the Cooperative are public utility services. The rules, regulations and charges for these services are shown in the Cooperative's tariffs. The tariffs are changed from time to time, and where there is a conflict between the tariffs and the information in this notice the tariffs will apply. These documents are on file in our business office and you may ask to see them during office hours. If you want to ask for copies, we will provide them at a reasonable charge for the cost of making the copies. If you are applying for residential service, you will be informed of the lowest priced services we make available. We will explain the alternatives available at your location, discuss any installation charges, and discuss equipment choices which may be available to you.
The credit worthiness of spouses, established during the last 12 months of shared service prior to their divorce, will be equally applied to both spouses for 12 months immediately after their divorce. If you are applying for residential service you must establish satisfactory credit before we can accept your application. Credit may be established in several ways: (a) Prior Residential Telephone Service - You can provide us with sufficient information to verify that you were a residential customer of a telephone company during the preceding two years; you are not delinquent in payment of your account with that telephone company; you did not have more than one past-due monthly bill with that telephone company during the last 12 consecutive months; and that you never had service disconnected for non-payment. (b) Credit References - You can provide us with appropriate credit references, including but not limited to acceptable credit cards, letters of credit, names of credit references which we can contact quickly and inexpensively, or proof of ownership of substantial equity. (c) Letter of Guarantee - You can furnish, in writing, a satisfactory guarantee from a third party to secure payment of your telephone bills. The third party guarantor must be a member of the Cooperative for at least one year, has to have established satisfactory credit of their own, and can not have been disconnected for nonpayment of their account. (d) Credit Due To Your Age - You can show us you are 65 years of age or older, and that you do not have an outstanding account balance for residential service with any telephone company which accrued within the last two years. (e) Domestic Violence Victim - The residential applicant has been determined to be a victim of family violence as defined in Texas Family Code 71.004, by a family violence center or by treating medical personnel. This determination shall be evidenced by submission of a certification letter developed by the Texas Council on Family Violence.
If a residential or business applicant does not establish credit as described previously, a deposit will be required by the Cooperative. A deposit or an additional deposit may also be required before services are restored after suspension for nonpayment. We may not require a deposit in excess of one-sixth of your estimated annual billing. The estimated annual billings may include charges that are in GVTC's local tariff. For business applicants and customers, the deposit amount may include long distance charges only where the provider of basic local telephone service bills.
We may require an initial deposit from residential customers when:
If a non-residential customer's actual billings are at least twice the amount
of estimated billings and a suspension notice has been issued on a bill within
the previous 12 months, you may be required to pay a new deposit. You must pay
the deposit within 10 days after the Cooperative issues you a notice. You may
choose to pay the current bill instead of paying the deposit, if you have not
chosen this option in the previous 12 months.
The DCTU may establish credit policy and deposit requirements to reasonably protect it against the assumed risk for temporary or seasonal service or service to a weekend residence, as long as the policy and requirements are applied and nondiscriminatory manner. The DCTU shall return deposits according to guidelines set out in paragraph (11) of this subsection.
The Cooperative pays interest on deposits at a rate between 6% and 12% which
is set annually by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, effective January 1st
of each year.
If service is not connected, or after disconnection of service, the
Cooperative shall promptly and automatically refund your deposit plus accrued
interest on the balance in excess of the unpaid bills for service furnished. If
residential service is disconnected, the DCTU shall ensure that the deposit
amount for local telecommunications service is applied first to local
telecommunications service charges. A transfer of service from one premise to
another within the service area of the Cooperative shall not be deemed as a
disconnection and no additional deposit will be required unless permitted by
these rules of otherwise stated in the tariff.
Your service representative is available to answer your questions and resolve
your problems. If you are not satisfied, you have the right to ask for a
supervisory review which will be provided within 21 days of your request. If
your problem cannot be satisfied by the supervisor, please ask for the Manager
of the Cooperative. If you prefer, you may write to:
You have the right to file a formal or informal complaint or pursue any
matter with the Public Utility Commission of Texas at this address: customer@puc.state.tx.us Internet address: www.puc.state.tx.us Hearing and speech-impaired individuals with Telecommunications Device for
the Deaf (TTY) may contact the Commission at (512) 936-7136. Informal Complaints:
All bills for local, toll and miscellaneous services are due 16 days after the postmarked date or the issuance date on the bill if there is no postmark. If the normal due date falls on a holiday or weekend, the due date will be the next work day. If the bill is not paid by the due date it is delinquent. If you do not receive a bill or a disconnect notice, you are still responsible for payment of your bill. You may pay your bill at the following business office, either in person or by mail. We have a night depository at the business office for your convenience. Our mailing address is: Guadalupe Valley Telecommunications Cooperative
If you cannot pay your bill by the due date, please call our business office.
We may be able to make payment arrangements. We offer a deferred payment plan
for residential customers who have not been issued more than two termination
notices at anytime during the preceding 12 months. However, we are not required
to enter into a deferred payment plan with any customer who has had telephone
service for 3 months or less if the customer does not have sufficient credit or
a satisfactory history of payment for previous service. A deferred payment plan
will allow you to pay an outstanding balance in monthly installments. The
monthly payment will be in addition to that month's current bill, cannot be more
than 1/3 of the total deferred amount, and may include a 5% penalty for late
payment. A deferred payment plan may be made in person at our business office or
by telephone. In either case we will provide you a written copy of the agreed
upon plan.
If your bill for telephone services differs from the Cooperative's lawful
rates for the services you have purchased, a billing adjustment will be
calculated by the Cooperative. If you are due a refund, we will make an
adjustment for the entire period that you were overcharged. |
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