Monday, January 1, 2007

Service currently not available

“Service currently not available”
aahhhh. that magic words. "Service currently not available".

make you wanna put your both feet into that TV. sometimes even your head. in my case, the timing can't be worse that this.

December 31st, 2006
12.35 am or so onwards
Channel affected: Astro SuperSport (80)
Current programme: EPL Super Sunday- Manchester United and Reading

i was watching with excitement the EPL on Astro when it happened. of all time, can you imagine? just before the final 20 minutes, in a sudden the tv screen turned black and the blue box at the top showed these very words: "Service currently not available". i was so devastated and said to myself, it must be raining outside. i was right. for those who aren't aware of this, Astro customers can't watch Astro when it rains. boohoo.

since this is a very big game, i had to call other frens to know the current score. i was hoping that Jose Mourinho's men would win up 3 games in a row, and this will give a psychological advantage for Chelsea to defend the Premiership. hehe. but i was more frustrated when manap said Manchester United had win the match with a Ronaldo's goal in the 77th minute!

damn not again! the night before, i missed both goals from Victor Anichebe (58th minute) and Phil Neville (62nd minute) in the Everton-Newcastle because of the same reason!

i tried everything i could possibly think, hoping a miracle would happen. i can't remember how many times i re-started the decoder (that's what they're called right?), but failed. i need to do somethin' dawg. so i called Astro but the customer service's only available until midnight. great.

6 million viewers in over 1.4 million homes and establishments (copied from About Astro). 24 hours a day. but the customer service is not?

as my last resort, i went to soccernet.com for their live commentary. while i'm at it, i took a quick look at Astro's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) category. perhaps the FAQ can help me out with the damn decoder.

you know what's the very FIRST Q & A? gotta say i'm not surprised.

Question: Why can’t I receive Astro programmes when it rains? 
Answer: Satellite services in high rainfall areas tend to be affected by rain or heavy clouds. Service should resume automatically when the rain clears. If you experience this problem frequently or for prolonged periods, your dish may be misaligned. Re-alignment requires a site visit by an approved Astro technician. Please call the nearest Astro Service Centre to assist you. If the message “Service currently not available” appears on the TV screen, please switch the DMT power off for 15 seconds and then switch it on again. The service will resume with the selection of any channel once the front panel display shows time of day clock. Should you still experience loss of signal, please refer to Astro Tips: Rain Outage. If you lose authorisation for services you are entitled to eg. message appears as “This channel is not included in your subscription”, Please call the nearest Astro Service centre to assist you. Please refer to Astro Tips: Slide Messages for other on-screen messages.


as customers, can we bluntly accept this?

just because we're living in a tropical country that rains a lot, we should accept that reason with a wide smile?

it's common sense.
it rains --> people rather stay at home than going out --> ooopss, sorry Astro's not available --> guys watch porn and play with their balls

what if this problem affects Akademi Fantasia hardcore fans? most people i know subscribe Astro just because of the show. what if it rains every saturday night, the night of the weekly concert? isn't that a bitch? oh, what if it rains cats and dogs during the Akademi Fantasia Final Concert?

what if it rains during Superbowl?
what if it rains during the decisive game to determine NBA champion?
what if it rains during the Champions League Final?
what if it rains during the FA Cup final?
what if it rains during the League Cup final?

~eh wait. that just happened.

i wonder what will happen when MITV (Malaysia's second pay-TV operator), comes some time this year. according to the article written by Jeff Ooi

" Industry sources say Astro has the exclusive rights to carry 15 channels in Malaysia for 2 to 4 years, namely AXN, TechTV, Disney Channel, Star Movies, ESPN, Star Sports, Channel [V], Star World, National Geographic, CNBC, Hallmark Channel, MTV Asia, Nickelodean, TV8 and Pheonix. "

crap. Astro owns ESPN and Star Sports for now. or else it would be a no brainer. i'll just switch to MITV.

monopoly sucks.

Jeff Ooi said it best. read his eye-opening article entitled "Exposing ASTRO's corporate thinking and practice".

did you know that Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan, the second richest man in Malaysia with RM12.23 billion owns 42.7% of Astro? that's a lot of money.

RM12.23 billion. yeah that's not just from Astro alone. but i think he could use a little portion of that money to work somethin' out you know? errmm perhaps figure out somethin' so at least we can watch Astro when it rains? nothing more, nothing less.

please take action Astro. don't wait till MITV's out.

just my 2 cents. not RM12.23 billion.

just my 2cents at 5:10 PM |

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