AT&T Customers To Hear Recorded Thank Yous
from the just-make-the-damn-call dept
Apparently, AT&T is experimenting with a new system where callers will hear a "thank you" message before their long distance call is connected. After certain users dial, but before the call is put through, a short recording will come on thanking the caller for being a loyal AT&T subscriber, and telling them that they're receiving 30 free minutes. They say that callers like being "surprised" with messages like that. It's certainly nice to get a free 30 minutes, and it's nice to be "thanked" - even if by a computer recording - but, for someone who is trying to make an urgent call, I'm not so sure how happy they'll be to sit through some annoying recorded message from the phone company. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what comes next: phone companies offering cheaper deals to callers willing to accept the equivalent of telephone "pop-up" ads. Make your calls for only $0.04/minute if you agree to listen to verbal spam before we complete your call. "Thank you for calling 911, we will connect you after this short message from our commercial sponsor...".
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This is already happening
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Waaaait...
Pathetic.
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The first sentence of the article says it all: "During a pause between the dialing and connection of long-distance calls." This may be annoying but it's not a delay.
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