TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: AOL Said, 'If You Leave Me I'll Do Something Crazy'

AOL Said, 'If You Leave Me I'll Do Something Crazy'

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Wed, 5 Jul 2006 01:43:05 -0400

Digital Domain

By RANDALL STROSS
The New York Times

"YOU'RE going to listen to me."

This was the taunting command of an AOL customer service
representative who sounded like a jailer twirling his keychain. The
customer on the phone wanted to complete his business, but the person
on the other end of the phone did not share a sense of urgency.

It is fitting that the customer service representative's wish to be
heard has been fulfilled on a scale he never anticipated.

When Vincent Ferrari, 30, of the Bronx, called AOL to cancel his
membership last month, it took him a total of 21 minutes, including
the time spent on an automated sequence at the beginning and some
initial waiting in a queue. He recorded the five minutes of
interaction with the AOL customer service representative and, a week
later, posted the audio file on his blog, Insignificant Thoughts
(http://insignificantthoughts.com/2006/06/13/cancelling-aol).

Shortly thereafter, those five minutes became the online equivalent of
a top-of-the-charts single.

To listen as Mr. Ferrari tries to cancel his membership is to join
him in a wild, horrifying descent into customer-service hell. The AOL
representative, self-identified as John, sounds like a native English
speaker; he refuses to comply when Mr. Ferrari asks, demands and
finally pleads -- over and over again -- to close his account.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/business/yourmoney/02digi.html?ex=1309492800&en=c30d6788c3f52be8&ei=5090

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