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One of the coolest things about being a regular contributor to the _floss is this: when something unusual happens, I feel like I have an outlet "“ a captive, appreciative audience to share it with.
So freak on this for 2 minutes, if you will.
A year ago I called MLB.com (that's Major League Baseball for the athletically-acronym challenged) and asked them to cancel my monthly subscription that allowed me to watch out-of-market games online. A calmly man informed me it would be taken care of. After thanking him for his speedy attention to the matter, he replied with the new version of you're welcome "“ "no problem." and I foolishly took his word for it.
Now, fast forward to this past summer and I start to notice a monthly charge of $19.95 appearing on my credit card again. I start a series of disputes with them, and, after some annoying paperwork and a few calls to my credit card company, the charges are reversed. But they start showing up again last month. So I called MLB.com again, and was directed to the following voice-mail:
Is it me, folks, or is that a baby crying in the background??? Can you believe they asked this poor woman to record the outgoing message? Now, I know what it's like when your nanny doesn't show up, or your daycare is closed "“ when you have no option but to take your infant to the office. But come on now! Couldn't they get someone else to leave the outgoing message? Couldn't this poor woman ask a colleague to watch the baby for a minute?
Has anyone ever heard anything like it from a major corporation's outgoing message? And if you want to commiserate with your own "Help! I'm trapped in a monthly auto-bill and I can't get out!" story, feel free. Lastly, here's an equally funny outgoing message I recorded from a smaller, fly-by-night Internet phone company that suckered me, too. (click here for a recording of the actual recording I heard).