From the Desk of David Pogue: Take Back the Beep Campaign

[geoffreak]

[Photo from Engadget]

David Pogue of the New York Times has started a campaign against the 15 second messages we hear when we try and leave someone a message.

Do we really need to be told to hang up when we're finished!? Would anyone, ever, want to "send a numeric page?" Who still carries a pager, for heaven's sake? Or what about "leave a callback number?" We can SEE the callback number right on our phones!

Second, we're PAYING for these messages. These little 15-second waits add up--bigtime. If Verizon's 70 million customers leave or check messages twice a weekday, Verizon rakes in about $620 million a year. That's your money. And your time: three hours of your time a year, just sitting there listening to the same message over and over again every year.

He urges that everyone send in a complaint about the blatant money grabbing.

You can complain to the companies with the following links/emails:

Verizon: Post a complaint here.

AT&T: Send e-mail to Mark Siegel, executive director of media relations: MS8460@att.com.

Sprint: Post a complaint here.

T-Mobile: Post a complaint here.

You can read the full article here.

 

[rdowns]

Nice. Email sent to the ATT bozo.

 

[Mavimao]

He makes a good point but can't you just hit 1 and it'll lead you directly to the voicemail recorder?

 

[rdowns]

He makes a good point but can't you just hit 1 and it'll lead you directly to the voicemail recorder?

He mentioned that each company uses a different key to bypass it. You would need to know your caller's carrier and the right key to bypass it.

 

[eastercat]

I heart visual voicemail. It's been so long since I used the voicemail system, I've almost forgot how to check it manually.

 

[ejb190]

Why stop here. Let's complain about grocery and department stores placing the most commonly needed items at the back of the store to make you walk through the whole store. Or how about casinos for not having windows or clocks so you loose track of time. Or Apple for not announcing their upgrade schedule causing me to go out and buy a new iMac a week before a new model came out...

Big business is out to get you. Customer service, loyalty to employes, and community responsibility has been overrun by the needs of the share holders, profits, and greed.

 

[iGary]

I heart visual voicemail. It's been so long since I used the voicemail system, I've almost forgot how to check it manually.

Me too. I just take it for granted.

 

[mkrishnan]

He mentioned that each company uses a different key to bypass it. You would need to know your caller's carrier and the right key to bypass it.

FWIW, I could've sworn I had it turned off on T-Mobile. I'm using Youmail right now and it's definitely turned off on there (it sounds more or less like a tape answering machine sounded -- the message, the beep, straight to recording).

 

[geoffreak]

Why stop here. Let's complain about grocery and department stores placing the most commonly needed items at the back of the store to make you walk through the whole store. Or how about casinos for not having windows or clocks so you loose track of time. Or Apple for not announcing their upgrade schedule causing me to go out and buy a new iMac a week before a new model came out...

Grocery stores don't gain from time you use to walk to the back of the store. You also can choose not to buy anything from the store and aren't obligated to spend more money.
Nothing is stopping you from bringing a watch into a casino.
If you didn't do enough research and realize that Apple releases products on a fairly strict schedule, it is your fault for buying too soon.