Oh Astro, thou art a heartless bitch.

For those of you who's unlucky enough to be on the other side of me bitching about Astro, you don't have to read this post.

The whole problem start approximately 2-3 months ago, in the weeks leading up to the FIFA 2010 World Cup. We rushed moving in our new place in Bukit Jelutong so we can catch the tournament on the new TV with plans to get Astro B.yond.

Called up Astro and arranged for the decoder-satellite dish transfer and upgrading service to B.yond. Then we were told that you can't straight away transfer it to B.yond, you have to transfer the old set with it's satellite dish, and then the B.yond technician will come some other time, and then upgrade everything for you. They said someone will get back to us to arrange an appointment to settle it. So we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

Then one fine day while my dad was in Johor, the technician called telling him he's coming tomorrow. My dad told him that he's not free, can he arrange the appointment to be in a few days because he'll be back then. Apparently, you can't request for that, because God created a timetable for Astro to follow, we Men can't change it. So we waited again. And waited some more. And some more.

A fucking awesome World Cup later, they finally called to arrange for the transfer only, because they can't do both, the transfer and upgrading at the same time.

So you need to take two days off work to be home and supervise, I don't see the problem lah, knowing all Malaysians are fucking rich we don't have to work, can sit home and wait for people. So my dad took the day off to supervise the technician doing the transfer work. And then the next day when the B.yond technician showed up, Astro didn't change some address on their application form, so it can't be installed. Once again, God created that form, we Men can't change it.

Then we didn't hear from Astro for some time.

So we signed up for B.yond again, and waited for someone to get back with us. Then we waited longer. And longer. Thinking our application got misplaced or shoved in a closet somewhere till the day it's molecular integrity is gone, and then thrown out, we decided to apply again. Repeat this 7 times. Yes, we applied 7 times with 7 different Astro workers. Lol.

Okay. Then out of the blue, like a knight in shining armor, the another B.yond technician called and made an arrangement on a Sunday, at 1pm. Because my dad had to oversee his new office's renovation, I had to stay home to wait for the man and oversee him till my dad gets back. I had planed to watch Avatar, no, not the giant Smurfs, the Last Airbender, mind you. I waited until 3pm, no sign of the guy. Called my dad telling him I'll stick a note at the gate and I'm heading out. Dad called the guy, the guy said he's not coming. Seriously? What the fuck. You don't want to come, and you don't even have the fucking courtesy to give a fucking call. No respect for others' time.

Note that up to now, 3 months later, I've never called them. Until yesterday. I was looking forward to an exciting match between Liverpool and Arsenal, so I timed dinner perfectly so I can watch while eating. Bought dip and nachos to snack on and stuff. Normally the game is on channel 811, 812, 813, but they changed it to 817 (maybe some time ago, I don't know man). Okay. So either way, there I was. Sitting on my rocking chair, leg up, food in hand prepared for 90 minutes of football. Then when I switched the channel to 817, I realised it's all black with no service, and once in awhile it'll show some still images of the game.

That was the final straw. Picked up the phone, yelled at the unfortunate lady for a better half of an hour. Do I feel bad about it now? No. I'm sorry, it's just fucking frustrating.

The whole problem with Astro now is that it is the only company in Malaysia offering satellite TV. It's not like with internet where you can opt for P1 or something. What are you going to do if you choose to not use Astro? Watch RTM1, RTM2, TV3, NTV7 and Channel 8? No. I thought so. They are fucking monopolising the whole market so they can slack on their service knowing that the customers won't, and CAN'T, run away. Like it's not bad enough we had to wait 5 years of HD channels.

Seriously. It's fucking pathetic. Damn frustrated with Astro now. And the lady said someone's gonna call back to me on my problem within 24 hours, and till now, no call. Sounds like someone's gonna get a yelling again.