A paid TV employee called me and asked me to renew the subscription for over AED 4000. For the first time, I decided not to go behind what I think I would do and not do, which is to watch the content of that company.
I have a long history with this company for 20 years, and I have disagreements with it. When I decided to cancel my subscription 12 years ago, due to my busy time and my inability to watch, the company refused to cancel and stalled and withdraw the amount from my credit card, and when I tried to watch it discovered that it happened Receivers without informing me, that is, the old device no longer works, and the company review solution to update it.
But I decided to check with the bank and cancel the credit card. The company went mad and called me over and over again. In 2011, I decided to re-subscribe on my terms, and I paid the subscription amount in cash.
I was a persistent viewer until 2015, but I gradually lost interest due to the huge technological change in the entertainment industry, the proliferation of smart applications, the multiplicity of options that broke the monopoly model of this company, in addition to the cheapness of the prices of other services, which do not even collect up to AED 1000 annually.
This time when the employee called me, I asked him to justify the amount I would pay, and he said to me: What do you see on our channels? I told him: Nothing! He silence and confused and then silence and then said: We have such and such .. I interrupted and I said to him: You memorize the same words that my salesman tells me, and this is not justified to pay you the required amount.
I asked him if he had an application that included all the programs, and he said no. Then he said we have the strongest American, Arabic and Turkish series. I told him: Don't shop for me! He justified me the amount. I know what you have, and I can get it from other sources cheaply.
He said: We have such an application, and you'll find it all the content of our library of films and series. I told him: This app is only on the receiver, and I can't use it from my smartphone. He said: We have other applications running on smart devices. I said, "You want me to pay this huge amount to save your old technologies." Please, disconnect the service.
What happened is the classic story that is repeated over the decades. A company monopolizes a particular product and sells it at a high price. When competitors emerge, you think it is out of danger, lazy about keeping up with the changes, and insisting on one model that gives it all its attention.
It is the story of Nokia, the story of BlackBerry, Sony Ericsson, Kodak and MSN Messenger, and this company on sale today, which failed to extrapolate the future, and abandon its antique technology for smart applications. Had it abolished the old model, lowered its prices and kept pace with the times, it might still be a preferred option today.
The company broadcasts an alert to viewers that solar storms in space could affect receivers and cut off the signal for seconds, and this is normal. It reminds me of the 1980s, when it rains or the wind blows, we can't watch TV, and we send someone on the roof to adjust the antenna!
Abdulla.AlQamzi@emaratalyoum.com
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