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