There are times that due to natural disasters or other catastrophic events, the Federal government or the State of California will declare a state of emergency. When such states of emergency are declared, and in effect, Astound may implement certain consumer protection measures to ease the burden of these unfortunate events, and help impacted telephone customers communicate with friends and family.
When is Disaster Relief an Option?
Consumer protection measures will be implemented when either the State of California or the Federal Government declare a state of emergency, and a Astound service area is impacted by the catastrophic event, to the point that telephone services have been disrupted and degraded.
What relief measures are available, and for how long are they available?
There are several points of relief available for our telephone customers including the following:
- Waiver of one-time activation fee for establishing remote call forwarding, remote access to call forwarding, call forwarding features and messaging services;
- Waiver of the monthly rate for one month for remote call forwarding, remote access to call forwarding, call forwarding, call forwarding features, and messaging services;
- Waiver of the service charge for installation of service at the temporary or new permanent location of the customer and again when the customer moves back to the premises;
- Waiver of the fee for one jack and associated wiring at the temporary location regardless of whether the customer has an Inside Wire Plan;
- Waiver of the fee for up to five free jacks and associated wiring for Inside Wiring Plan for customer upon their return to their permanent location; and
- Waiver of the fee for one jack and associated wiring for non-Plan customers upon their return to their permanent location.
The above listed consumer relief measures will be available for twelve (12) months, or such time that the Offices of Emergency Services determines an appropriate amount of time has passed.
How do I know when disaster relief is an option?
If disaster relief measures are implemented, Astound will communicate to impacted customers letting them know that disaster relief may be available to them. Methods of communication may include, but are not limited to notification emails to a preferred email address on file, Astound website messaging, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and radio. You can always call our care center in the event that you have questions, at 1.888.781.9378 for Business or 1.833.373.9378 for Residential.
How do I use the call forwarding feature?
Customers impacted by the disaster relief will automatically be able to use the call forwarding feature. Using your home phone, dial *72, wait for the confirming beeps and then enter the phone number you would like calls forwarded to. You will get a courtesy call at the phone number where calls will be forwarded. To cancel, dial *73.
Additionally, in the event that a customer needs to enable this feature remotely, customers can do this through the Phone Portal at mv.digitalwest.com.
How will this impact my account?
In the event of an emergency declaration, please call our call center to verify your location, and inform Astound of the consumer protection measures you’re in need of assistance with.
For the information above in additional languages, please click the correct link below:
Spanish / Español
Cantonese / 廣東話
Mandarin / 中文 (普通話)
Tagalog / Tagalog
Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt
Korean / 한국어
Russian / Русский
Still have questions?
Contact our care center today
Business: 1.888.781.9378
Residential: 1.833.373.9378