Almega Cable television customers in Owensville with service complaints that have gone unanswered should do what New Haven residents have been told to do — contact the Missouri Attorney General’s office.

New Haven residents, long frustrated by poor service from Almega, have been instructed to file online complaints at www.ago.mo.gov or call the AG’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-392-8222. Almega’s poor service follows the same pattern as the companies which preceded it including Rapid and Charter.

New Haven personnel at City Hall also provided the following information about Almega. A help-desk telephone number for the company is 877-358-1322. Their mailing address is 4001 Airport Freeway, Suite 530, Bedford, Texas, 76021.

Like New Haven, Owensville receives a franchise fee from Almega for providing cable services in the community. The only problem with that, said City Administrator John Tracy, is Alemga has yet to pay its 2009 franchise agreement. Almega finally paid its $1,800 annual pole agreement after Tracy threatened to have their cable lines removed from city power poles.

Tracy said the city has not been paid its franchise agreement and has instructed the city’s attorney to notify Almega it was in default of its agreement. The agreement includes stipulations that the company will provide service and repair calls in a timely manner. Tracy said customers often can not understand company service representatives on the telephone. Complaints include service reps speaking with thick, foreign-sounding accents.

Customers have reported waited days and weeks without ever having a technician make a scheduled service call. Other customers have reported not being able to access many of the channels they were paying for as part of their viewing packing.

“I guess we’re working to eliminate their franchise (agreement),” said Tracy. “These guys make Rapid (Cable) look good. Rapid looked a little better than these guys but not much. It’s horse race on who is worse.”

The annual franchise fee is around $1,500, said Tracy. “The fee is based on their customers and that’s not many any more,” said Tracy. “We make more on the pole agreement.”