Elderly and disabled St. Paul residents say they’ve been unable to access a long-standing discount offered by Comcast cable, which appears to exist solely on paper.

St. Paul’s new 10-year agreement with the cable giant guarantees seniors a 10 percent discount off all cable-related services, as did the old 10-year agreement.

After reading about the senior discount in Sunday’s Pioneer Press, Val Laugtug said she asked a customer service representative for help but was told to drop it: “The guy said, ‘Well, the newspaper is not correct, take it up with them.’ He said, ‘I’m the sales rep for that area.’ ”

Daniel Jackson of St. Paul had a similar experience. “I spent an hour on the phone with them, and they don’t know anything about it,” he said. “They said it’s only good in California and Puerto Rico, or something to that effect.”

At least a dozen other area residents have told the Pioneer Press of similar experiences.

Dave Nyberg, a Comcast corporate affairs manager, said the company has looked into the issue and is addressing it.

“We apologize for the inconvenience some of our customers have experienced,” he said. “We have provided the senior citizen discount to qualified St. Paul customers for more than 15 years, and will continue to honor that commitment. We are communicating with all customer care representatives to make certain they are aware of the discount and the qualification process for St. Paul customers.”

Comcast would not say how many customers have gotten the discount.

Tarek Tomes, chief information officer with the city of St. Paul, said, “Comcast has been informed numerous times over the years to educate their customer reps about St. Paul’s senior discount.

“The city is more than glad to assist any subscriber who has trouble receiving it,” said Tomes, who adds that St. Paul is the only city in Minnesota that has negotiated the senior discount with Comcast.

The same 10 percent discount is supposed to be available to the disabled and “economically disadvantaged,” according to the 11th page of the cable franchise agreement and the city’s own website. Given St. Paul’s poverty rate, the discount could, at least in theory, apply to one-fourth of the city.

The contract, signed by the St. Paul City Council in March, defines the economically disadvantaged as anyone in St. Paul who can provide evidence of receiving food stamps or general assistance, or of being enrolled in the Minnesota Telephone Assistance Plan (“TAP”) or the Minnesota Family Investment Program.

“Discounts for seniors and the disabled? I think I fall under two of those categories as a disabled veteran,” said Tim Cornell, a longtime Comcast customer. “I called the number and spoke to a customer service rep that actually is in Mexico. She had no knowledge of that at all.”

The city’s website — stpaul.gov/cable — devotes a page to the discount program, as well as a phone number residents can call to request the discount directly from Comcast customer service (651-222-3333).

For many seniors, dialing the number has been an exercise in futility. Callers have been told the discount does not exist; others say they were redirected to multiple customer service reps and 1-800 numbers, with little or nothing to show for it. Seniors represent about 9 percent of the city.

Judy Morneau of St. Paul said bewildered customer service reps struggled to figure out what she was talking about. After some research, they gave her an address in Oregon to write to for a discount they said would amount to $1.

“The guy put me on hold for a while, and then he gave me another number, and then he said you have to send a letter to Beaverton, Ore., and you get $1,” Morneau said. “It wasn’t what I was hoping, and I certainly don’t understand why you can’t do it over the phone. It should be automatic when you sign up. They should do it right away when you call.”

Laugtug tried multiple phone numbers for Comcast and received conflicting information from different customer service reps. “The new person I talked to … had no idea about this discount, thought it was something new,” she said.

Maureen Hessler also got the runaround. “The first agent I spoke with was unaware of this discount and tried to get an answer from one of their ‘specialists’,” said the St. Paul resident on Monday. “They were also unaware of this discount, so I asked to speak with a supervisor who also did not know.”

Comcast’s Nyberg said the company is “circling back with our customer care group so we can provide some additional context to the issues raised.”

Interested St. Paul customers should ask for a discount application form, which they can then mail to Comcast’s processing center, he said.

“Customers will be notified by mail of their qualification status,” he said. “Those qualifying will automatically see the discount applied to their monthly statement.”

The senior discount isn’t offered everywhere. Judy and Bruce Bernier of Inver Grove Heights called Comcast last Sunday and were told that no senior discount is available in their area, which is accurate.

That’s because Comcast’s cable franchise agreements are negotiated jurisdiction by jurisdiction. In northern Dakota County, for instance, the NDC4 Cable Commission negotiates cable access for the cities of Inver Grove Heights, South St. Paul and West St. Paul, among others.

In effect since January 2000, NDC4’s existing franchise agreement with Comcast does not offer senior discounts. Jodie Miller, executive director of NDC4, said negotiations for a franchise agreement renewal are underway, and a draft of a new agreement could be ready by fall.

Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172. Follow him at twitter.com/FrederickMelo.

TO GET DISCOUNT

St. Paul’s website devotes a page to the discount program: http://bit.ly/StPaulComcastdiscount. Residents can also call to request the discount directly from Comcast customer service: 651-222-3333.

WHAT DEAL SAYS

From “Cable Communications Franchise, Comcast of St. Paul, Inc.,” approved by the St. Paul City Council March 11, 2015:

“The company shall offer the greater of a one dollar ($1) per month or ten percent (10%) per month discount on Basic service for Senior citizens, Persons with disabilities and Persons who are economically disadvantaged. The Company shall offer a ten percent (10%) discount on other cable services that it offers to Senior citizens, Persons with disabilities or the Economically disadvantaged.

… Age may be proven by presentation of a birth certificate, passport or valid, state-issued photo identification card.”