Why the extra charge?
Why the extra charge?
For the past two years my family and I have subscribed to
Indovision. The service has been relatively tolerable (despite a
fairly intolerable decoder box), although expensive. We paid over
Rp 2 million to sign up for the service, back when the rupiah was
Rp 2,450 to the dollar. No problem, we both wanted to be able to
watch international television, including CNN, BBC, ESPN, Star
Sports, HBO, Discovery Channel, etc. The channels selected for
rebroadcast by Indovision were OK. The service increased in price
during the two years, but did not keep up with the devaluation of
the rupiah, so again, no real objection.
Recently, Indovision announced it was ending its relationship
with Star, and would replace some channels. The company even ran
an advertisement in the Indonesian Observer announcing this
change. Of course, some of us with certain equipment would need
to switch our cards to be able to receive the new programs.
On Dec. 13, Indovision went blank. On Dec. 14, I called to
find out what the story was. It seems that we must pay an
additional Rp 950,000 to continue to watch Indovision. Our only
option is to cancel our account and take a loss on our now
obsolete decoder box.
Is there not a ministry that must approve all charges from a
monopoly such as Indovision? How can the company simply charge
all their existing customers another Rp 950,000 to maintain what
they had been receiving all along? We did not ask for the change
-- Indovision could not maintain its contract with Star for some
reason, most likely financial. Why do we, the customers, have to
pay for Indovision's problems with their change of satellite (it
seems that our existing parabola antenna won't pick up the new
satellite Indovision has selected)? We paid for the original
parabola antenna two years ago when we first signed up for
Indovision. And now we can throw it away, without compensation
from Indovision for their problems.
I would like to ask Indovision to explain why we must pay this
extra charge. Hopefully someone there understands customer
relations, and someone from the telecommunications ministry can
force Indovision to rescind this unannounced and unjustified
charge.
ENDANG TAWANGSIH
Jakarta