The reason why they impose contract auto renewal rule, is to continue tying your legs, and they don't want you to suka suka terminate Astro anytime you want, as it is making them financially insecure and volatile.
To them, if you don't want ongoing contract, then choose the 0 month contract option, which you'll pay a bit more every month.
If still not happy, then don't subscribe Astro at all in the first place. It's as simple as that.

If you want to suka suka subscribe and cancel anytime, then you should subscribe to Sooka.
That one, you can suka suka stop anytime. No contract.

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jun 23 2023, 12:14 PM

They'll notify you on the 23rd month that your contract will auto renew. If you don't want, then tell them to change to 0 month contract option.
That way, it's considered as no contract auto renewal.

To you, it's wrong. But to them, they find that it is the right way for their pay TV business to sustain in the long run.

They can argue that they did sent out reminder SMS to notify you 1 month before the contract auto renewal kicks in.
If you said you "overlooked it" or "forgot" or "I didn't receive SMS because mobile number in system is not updated", then it's not their problem anymore. Imagine giving that excuse in court.

Ethically it doesn't look right, but this tactic makes business sense.
You could say this is considered as one of their dark patterns too. Read this to know more what is it about:
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...ost&p=107310871

They thought Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia is the "same thing"

Got budget to hire Bahasa Indonesia subtitlers but no budget to hire Bahasa Melayu subtitlers. 😆

Even so, at least they've should've take the initiative to use translation tools like Google Translate to translate from Bahasa Indonesia to Bahasa Melayu... Instead, they straightaway use Bahasa Indonesia subtitles for Malaysian audiences 🙃

Btw, where's their English subtitles?

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jun 23 2023, 10:09 PM

Change the subscription to Platinum for just one month and then switch back to your old package?

Could you share with us why you want to do that?

Once you switch to the new packs, you won't be able to move back to legacy packs anymore. It's a one way ticket, not round trip ticket.

Once you switch to Platinum Pack, you'll be upgraded to Ultra Box if you haven't yet, and saying no is not an option. Platinum Pack has Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar apps. And since it is your first time take up new Astro pack that has either or both apps mentioned for your Astro account, therefore you can only choose either 12 months contract or 24 months contract option. 0 month contract option is not eligible for you.

Which legacy pack are you on now? What are the must-have channels for your parents? And what channels do you want to watch?

Indonesia Pay-TV Operator to challenge Astro in Malaysia
https://forum.malaysiainternet.my/thread-153.html
Syarikat satelit TV Indonesia IPTV lebarkan sayap ke Malaysia tahun ini
https://www.astroawani.com/berita-bisnes/sy...ahun-ini-424996

Based on the article, it seems to suggest that they plan to use its existing Measat 3a satellite footprint meant for Indonesia to launch its satellite pay TV service in Malaysia.



MNC Vision also operates its Indonesian pay TV service in Measat 3a satellite under Indonesia beam. Currently it is under the branding of "K-Vision", and almost all channels is in SD quality.

As for the signal reception, of course, its satellite signal isn't as excellent as Malaysia beam (Astro) to be received in Malaysia, but it's sufficient enough to cover entire Peninsular Malaysia, but a bigger dish size may be needed for reception in Sarawak and Sabah states.

Anyway, as I said before, I'll take news like these as a pinch of salt until it is officially launch to the public. Otherwise, who knows it'll just be another Sirius TV, then it'll just be a waste of time and hope...

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jun 25 2023, 02:01 AM

Seems like retention offer to me. They do this so that you'll stay with Astro.
They had to do this to reduce the number of customers terminating its services as much as possible. If you read the news, you'll know la.

Good for you la... Eligible to enjoy RM40 discount. With the discount amount that high, I guess you're on Super Pack or something?
Did they say the discount lasts for how many months?

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jun 25 2023, 10:31 AM

I think not all shows there has that "Indonesian" subtitles issue.
Also, I notice the Malay subs does not have punctuations... Because there's no comma and full stops on a sentence, I see some netizens make noise that the subtitle is making it difficult to read, like don't know where's the start and end of the sentence/dialogue.

Numbers is an issue too. For example, when the dialogue/subtitles supposed to be "2.8 juta", but TVB Magic's Malay subtitles are showing it as "2 8 juta" without the dot. Literally "2<space>8<space>juta"
juta = million

Anyway, no issue on Chinese subtitles.
No doubt that TVB Magic channel that we see, is Malaysia feed and it's exclusive to Astro.

Not happy with 4G, 5G, fibre or courier service? MCMC wants you to report it on their new Consumer Redress Portal
https://soyacincau.com/2023/06/27/not-happy...redress-portal/

How about pay TV service? Who's not happy with Astro here?

- I'm not happy that there's no option for customers to opt out contract auto renewal, and customer must contact them manually to reevaluate contract options 1 month before the end of the contract period.
- I'm not happy that they intentionally making customers difficult to terminate their service, including making only contacting customer service to be the only way to do so.
- I'm not happy that they delay many of the channel feeds from 2 minutes to 1 hour from original, to replace/remove/slot in whatever ads they like, in the name of "content control" or complying censorship guidelines. To me, this is considered content tampering.
- I'm not happy that Ulti and Ultra Box overall software is still sucks, especially when it comes to streaming apps. Compare with Google certified Android TV systems, is almost like day and night.
- ...and more.

Still, what can you do anyway? Sit down do nothing only.

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jun 27 2023, 01:56 PM

still no news ASTRO IPTV VLAN Multicast too bad
What you mean no news? Astro IPTV Multicast is already dead last year. What other news you want?
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...#entry106195716

They supersede it with Plug & Play. The way I see it, they won't bring back Astro IPTV VLAN Multicast anymore. It's permanently discontinued.
So if you don't like what you see on Plug & Play, then use Satellite mode.

All the things you mentioned, company are allowed to made up whatever policies they see fit.
The MCMC nor communication ministry never have such rule/law that forbids service providers from implementing contract auto renewal.

Since they didn't say it's not allowed, so it is deemed allowed in nature lor...

To them, it's like if you don't want it to auto renew, then call them 1 month before it auto renew to tell them to change it to 0 month contract. If you still not happy, then don't subscribe Astro at all. :

any tips how to get back PVR Decoder
Now only you ask this... It's too late laa.
I don't think Astro will layan you for such request, since they discontinued PVR box long time ago...

You ask your family/relative and friends who is still using PVR box, tell them to exchange with you in private la. In terms of money (package subscription), you pandai pandai manage it with your relative or friend. Don't get Astro involved in this.

Remember to take good care of the PVR box, cuz if it's faulty and can't repair in the future, their installer won't do much other than replace it with Ulti Box, and then they'll collect back the faulty PVR box.

So you're saying that the signal reading for Tuner 1 and Tuner 2 on your PVR box now (STB Diagnostics page), either one is showing 0%, correct?

You can tell Astro customer service that you're facing this problem, and you'll need technician to come over to check.
Hence, you'll be given 2 options to choose, either Option A: FREE but account must remain active for 12 months, or Option B: pay RM65 to the installer.

As they arrange a technician to come over to your house, Astro company will be paying RM40 as a wages installer, even if you (customer) opted for FREE but must remain active for 12 months option. Read more here:
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...ost&p=107165538
So what does this got to do with you, you ask? Oh yes, trust me, it does. Read more below. Imagine this:

Scenario A
Once the installer came, they check check check.... And then they might say "Oh, your PVR box too old already, nowadays everyone is upgrading... We'll help you change to new Ulti Box, for free. "
Let's say you agree and successfully change to Ulti Box, and the Astro installer complete the job and leave your house.
Astro installer no need to sweat by climbing up to the rooftop to do whatever stuff.
If you choose Option A, Astro company will pay RM40 wages to the installer. If you choose Option B, Astro company will ask installer to pay them RM25 for the job.

Scenario B
The installer came, they check check check.... You tell them or they found out that one of the 2 satellite cables from your Astro dish (Dual LNB) is faulty, while the other 1 still working fine.
Beware, some installer may want to "take shortcut"... Since Ulti or Ultra Box only need 1 satellite cable to work, and your 1 cable still working fine, the installer be like "Aiyaa boss, tukar Ulti Box saja lah...", and then back to "Scenario A" as mentioned earlier.

But you make noise that you don't want to upgrade and want PVR box. The installer had no choice but to be like: "Haihh, so unlucky laa, met a customer like that... No choice la... "
Or maybe so happen you met a hardworking installer that straightaway begin troubleshooting by checking both ends of the cabling, and climb up to the rooftop to check further...

Then, they found out that the connector and/or the cable is faulty. To replace it or lay new cable, they will charge you accordingly.
Or, since 1 cable of yours still working, maybe they can change to DCSS LNB to you, but still you'll need a 2 way F cable splitter to connect INPUT 1 and INPUT 2 ports at the back of your PVR box. They will charge you for the cable splitter for sure. In case you're curious, this is how the current Astro DCSS LNB look like:


Once done changing to DCSS LNB and some settings change on your PVR box, now you see signal readings on Tuner 1 and Tuner 2 on your PVR box (STB Diagnostics page).
You can now record 2 channels simultaneously on your PVR box without issues now.
Issue solved, hence the installer completes the job and leave your house.
If you choose Option A, Astro company will pay RM40 wages to the installer. If you choose Option B, Astro company will ask installer to pay them RM25 for the job.

-------

So if you are that Astro installer, what will you do?

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jun 29 2023, 03:29 PM

Can I buy SatCR adaptor for the working cable to connect to PVR?
Technically yes. SatCR will still work.

Cheaper cost right?
It will be much cheaper if you opt for DCSS LNB instead, since Astro DCSS LNB is much more widely available today, so it'll be much cheaper too.
SatCR LNB supports maximum 4 tuners (equivalent to 2 PVR boxes), but Astro DCSS LNB supports unlimited number of tuners (as many Astro box as you want), all you need is just a splitter to split the cable connection to the respective Astro boxes.
Technically, DCSS is newer technology compared to SatCR, that's why...

You can discuss with the installer if you want to go for this route. I hope you won't get those installer that is hoping for "shortcut way to solve problem" ones

Personally, when watching a same HD channel via satellite, I'm seeing the same exact picture quality between HD/PVR box versus the Ulti/Ultra Box.

Anyone here can put a side by side comparison of older HD box versus Ulti/Ultra box on how's the poorer picture quality look like?

Looks like it's an online-only channel, and they make it an Sooka exclusive channel?
I doubt it'll achieve high viewership laa... Plus, there's no multilingual subtitles...

Didn't the agent tell you that the contract will be auto renewed?
How did you sign up Sports Pack last year? Through what platform? Is it through human agent or self-serve?
That means you are on legacy pack lo...
They will terminate the service for me once the current bill cycle is over.🫢
Sounds like you're on legacy pack...

So after they say they no longer can offer you any discount although you've been enjoying discounts for the past 24 months, you tell them to terminate Astro, therefore they say they'll proceed to terminate your Astro service by the end of your bill cycle day.

Is that what you mean?

You can't really choose whether you want Ulti Box or Ultra Box. It mainly depends on your package subscription one...
What pack you're on first? If not sure, check at https://myastro.astro.com.my/ or check your Astro bill.
Yeah. Generally, the main difference between the two is, Ultra Box supports 4K UHD, while Ulti Box supports up to Full HD only.
The features are still the same.

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jul 8 2023, 12:36 AM