EDITORIAL:

One of our readers in Costa Mesa was locked in battle with Time Warner over a $11 refund since November. Four months. For 11 bucks. Can you imagine?

We suppose you can.

Our office and City Hall has been flooded with complaints like this about the customer service at Time Warner, which took over the cable franchise in 2006 after Adelphia collapsed into bankruptcy.

The complaints, unfortunately, are not uncommon. That’s true of just about any cable TV company. The explanation is simple: For years they have operated largely as monopolies. And we know monopolies aren’t responsible to customer demands. There’s no incentive.

So what do customers do? They badger their elected leaders to pressure the cable company. And the company’s executives do a little soft-shoe apologizing. Then they pledge to correct the problems, but the solutions come about as easily getting a customer service representative on the line.

But help is on the way. Mayor Eric Bever wants to put out the call to other telecommunications companies to provide some competition for Time Warner. Bever’s plan would allow other companies to broadcast the city’s council meetings and other local programming to give so customers a true choice.

Spent hours trying to get a Time Warner rep on the phone to complain that the Mosley-De La Hoya fight got cut off in the middle and you’re mad as hell but you don’t want to give up access to the council meetings? No problem under Bever’s plan. Just cancel and go with another service.

Soon, also, the evolution of high-tech will also largely offer competition for the cable monopolies.

TVs on sale now have a small jack connecting your boob tube to the Internet. There are a lot of technical hurdles to get over before we get to the all-in-one box that includes your stereo, TV, computer and video games. But that’s just a matter of time.

And telecommunications companies like AT&T; have the right now to deliver fiber-optic service that will provide the much-needed competition. Choice is always good. For everyone. Even monopolies. Without competition slothfulness takes grip and paralyzes us.