After a few weeks of running into roadblocks, customers of U.S. Digital Television are now able to access the company's customer service representatives to handle many of their troubles or concerns.
The Draper-based company's customer service activities were shut down when USDTV filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy July 6 in Delaware. But a court-appointed trustee obtained a court order allowing the company's over-the-air digital TV service to continue during the reorganization period, and a few employees are back manning the phones at the customer call center, at least until a new owner is in place.
"They are engaged through this reorganization period and will be here to help customers, and the plan is to have them continue forward with the new owners to continue to help customers," said Brent Petersen, senior vice president of marketing and communications for USDTV.
"Frankly, we've been very pleased with the response from customers. They've been disappointed they were not been able reach us, but, by and large, customers that we've been talking to, they love the service and they don't want to see it go away. They want to see it preserved, and they're grateful we're able to resolve their issues and correct any billing issues they might have."
USDTV has about 6,000 subscribers in Utah, part of a group of 16,000 in Salt Lake City, Dallas, Albuquerque and Las Vegas. Formed in June 2003 and commercially launched in December 2005, USDTV leases portions of the digital spectrum from local television stations. Customers with a set-top box and antenna receive about 30 channels of "off-the-air" wireless digital TV service for $19.95 monthly as a low-cost alternative to cable or satellite TV.
Customers can get help at www.usdtv.com or by calling 1-877-GET-USDTV. Representatives are available from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mountain time weekdays and from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. They also may e-mail customerservice@usdtv.com.
As noted on the company's Web site, USDTV currently is not able to install new services or send technicians to homes.
"During this period of reorganization, we don't have the ability to send technicians to homes to fix any antennas or install new antennas," Petersen said. "Many customers can be helped over the phone by our call center representatives, and many technical issues can be simply fixed by talking with the (representatives).
"We've been able to help a lot of people who were having the boxes not authorized to receive the signals or who were getting blue screens because they got the wires crossed when moving the equipment. Our reps can help them out with those issues."
Because of the nature of bankruptcies, the company is unable to add or delete assets, so customers wanting to cancel will have their requests referred to the new owner, he said.
The trustee will review bids for the company's assets and select the winning bidder in September. An original investor, NexGen Telecom, has provided funds to keep the service operating and is expected to be among those bidding to take over USDTV.
"The management team is happy with what NexGen has done and is working with them to help them in any way they can," Petersen said.
On Monday, Internet site Broadcasting & Cable reported that USDTV's chief executive officer, Steve Lindsley, was "in discussions to take a position at the reborn company." It said the minimum bid for the company will be $2.3 million, of which $1.3 million would go to suppliers to keep the service running and $1 million would be divided among other creditors, suppliers and former employees.
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com