State, county sue TCI Cablevision
The state attorney general and district attorneys from Santa Clara and Alameda counties on May 22 filed a lawsuit against several TCI cable companies for false advertising and unfair business practices.
The complaint, filed in Santa Clara Superior Court by Attorney General Dan Lungren, Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff and Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy, alleges that seven Tele-Communications Inc. companies in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties falsely misrepresented cable installation prices.
The lawsuit names Heritage Cablevision, TCI Cablevision, United Cable Television, UACC Midwest, United Cable Television, San Leandro Cable Television and Televents.
The companies allegedly gave the same installation price for wired and unwired homes when the cost to provide cable to an unwired home is actually about twice as much the cost for a home that already is wired.
In San Jose, for example, installation of an unwired home costs nearly $36. In a prewired home, the cost is $18.
The companies also allegedly gave customers whose homes were already wired the higher price quote for unwired homes.
Customers who faced having their service disconnected were allegedly quoted an inaccurate reconnection rate.
A number of other advertising-related complaints were included in the lawsuit.
In a statement, TCI Cablevision claimed its practices are in full compliance with the Cable Act of 1992 and subsequent regulations mandated by the Federal Communications Com-mission.
"This dispute boils down to a difference in definitions of the types of installations," the statement read.
Lungren, Kennedy and Orloff are seeking to end TCI's alleged unfair business practices and collect restitution for customers affected by any illegal business practice.
Each company named in the lawsuit also faces up to $5 million in penalties.
Agency seeks homes for abused children
The Santa Clara County Social Services Agency urgently seeks more foster parents to provide temporary care for children who live away from home because of parental abuse and neglect.
Supportive foster homes offer such children a time to heal, the agency said.
Such homes are critically needed for sibling groups, teens, boys from age 7 to 9 and infants and preschool children with special medical conditions.
Foster parents receive a monthly payment and Medi-Cal health insurance for each child they accept.
Licensing for foster parents takes three to six months. For more information, call the Foster Home Recruitment Program at 1-408-299-KIDS.
Free service finds car pool partners
If you want to spend less for gasoline and put your car through less wear and tear, you might want to get into a car pool.
That is what Rides for Bay Area Commuters recommends.
Carpooling or vanpooling, taking public transportation, bicycling to work or telecommuting are some of the best ways to get around the high cost of gasoline, said John Hirteen, executive director of RIDES, based in San Francisco.
In addition, using commuting options helps to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, the group said.
RIDES uses a computer system to help connect commuters with other commuters who might travel on the same routes.
RIDES is a nonprofit organization that seeks to encourage motorists in the San Francisco Bay Area to get away from driving alone and to look at other traveling options.
RIDES also provides information about bus and rail transit, ferry service, government-sponsored park-and-ride programs, biking and telecommuting.
All of RIDES' commuter services are free. For more information, call 1-800-755-POOL.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 29, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.