Football on Melita Cable (1)

I have been a subscriber of Melita Cable for some time but have never been so dissatisfied with their service as I am now. I have a "Family" pack supplying cable to three TV sets in my house costing about 46 cents a day.

There are 55 channels out of which only 47 provide diverse programmes with the remaining eight equally divided into four information, movie and sports channels (the latter two to be enjoyed at extra cost) and four channels which are repeated (18 on 32, 26 on 37, 27 on 36, and 28 on 24).

Apart from this diminishing service we get channels with no sound at all (Channel 24 for a couple of days) or the sound is not synchronised from one channel to another (volume up, volume down). How come there is no explanation on the info channel (4) when there are disruptions as happened on September 29 to Channel 11 (RAI Tre) just before a UEFA Cup First Round match involving Roma? Calling customer service gets you nowhere. (The service was back to normal either by the end or just after the end of the match!) I am not a subscriber to either the movie or the sports channels.

While Enemalta Corporation advises us not to keep electrical equipment on stand-by to conserve energy, Melita Cable warns customers not to switch off converters (in my case three) as they are likely to have their programming distorted. Indeed they do. Then I either phone Melita Cable to reset my converters or they are adjusted after a few days. Surely the company could provide better converters.

Why does Malta International Airport not insist with Melita Cable to show the flights schedule 24 hours a day? On waking at 3 a.m. on September 15 as I was expecting some relatives I found that this service was not on air. Why should I phone flight enquiries when Melita Cable is supposed to provide this service and when the price of a call to flight enquiries has been increased?

The only information which Melita Cable provides, apart from Channel 4, is on Channel 12, on which the company does its best to ram Melita Digital down people's throats.