MediaOne

cable company needs to get its act together,

Fayetteville officials told company

representatives last week.

"You

really need to focus on the customer," City

Councilman Al Hovey-King told MediaOne community

relations coordinator Julia Barden during a

council work session.

"Customer

service is MediaOne's main concern right

now," Barden told the council in an update

on plans for improved service in Fayette County.

The

company is under scrutiny by local governments,

particularly now, because it is being acquired by

AT&T. If the Federal Communications

Commission approves the merger as expected early

next year, governments will be called upon to

transfer their franchise agreement from MediaOne

to AT&T, which gives them leverage to push

for improvements in local service.

AT&T

is paying $62 billion in cash, stock and assumed

debt

The

agreement, approved late in 1998, requires

MediaOne to finish replacing its decades-old

coaxial cable in Fayette with state-of-the-art

fiber optics by Dec. 31, 2000. Improvements in

customer service also are called for in the

document.

Intermedia,

which serves parts of Fayette as well, also is

being acquired by the communications giant. The

Fayette County Commission will consider

transferring its franchise agreement with

Intermedia to TCI South Carolina, an AT&T

affiliate, during its work session today at 3:30

p.m.

Fayetteville

council members repeatedly pushed the customer

service button during Barden's visit last week.

"There have been a couple of experiences

within the city within the past year that were

just plain unacceptable," said Hovey-King.

"Quite frankly, cable's image is

awful."

"It's

a challenge for people to get good service these

days," agreed Mayor Mike Wheat.

Barden

said she is well aware of that. "We are

developing a plan to address all those

issues," she said.

Recent

storms brought more complaints of lost service

than ever before, she said, adding that time on

hold for customers calling MediaOne's customer

service center were off the charts. "Our

goal is to cut down wait time," she said.

Council

members said the storms haven't been the only

problem. Response to customers and wait time on

calls has been unacceptably long throughout

recent months, they said.

"This

thing has been going on a long time," said

Councilman Walt White. "This didn't just

happen in the last month. Y'all's record is

terrible."

Hovey-King

chastised the company for sending Fayette County

residents a mass mailing that heralded new

choices for customers with the new wide band

fiber optic equipment. "If you do a mass

mailing and it doesn't apply to half your

customers, you've created some bad will," he

said.

"We

realize that we're going to have to be more

responsive if we're going to continue to be

successful," said Barden.

She

promised to visit the council often to give

updates and address any problems.

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