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Posted on 03/24/2006 9:00:43 PM PST by silent_jonny
According to one of the other forums, Ace will be 6th and Hickler last.
Me too! :)
Hope your operation went ok.
I hope you are doing well after your surgery!!
Here's a good one! :)
‘Idol’ voters ring up tutor’s bills
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/14368300.htm
Sylvan learning that misdialed calls are costing $25 to $60 a night
By Frank Gray
The Journal Gazette
Last week, we wrote about a few city residents getting flooded with errant calls from people wanting to vote for contestants on the TV show “American Idol.”
Those residents might find the calls irritating, but at least it was a no-cost irritation.
Not so for one local business.
Sylvan Learning Center on Illinois Road specializes in student tutoring. It’s open until 8:30 p.m. to cater to the students.
After it closes, it, like most businesses, has an answering machine explaining its hours, and as an extra convenience, it has a toll-free number for customers to call.
Sounds like a good business plan.
Except, the center’s toll-free number is only one digit different from the number to call and support some “American Idol” contestants.
Judy Ottenweller, who runs the center with her husband, Bruce, thought it was curious when about three years ago they started noticing a huge spike in calls now and then. Not every night, but one or two nights a week.
Some nights the center would get up to 300 calls. They’d always start about the same time – seconds after 9 p.m., and continue until about midnight.
Ottenweller would notice it because the calls would show up on her phone bill. There would be charges for all these calls, hundreds of them, coming in late at night from all over the country.
That’s right. The calls would be on her bill. You see, people might think of 866 numbers as toll free, but in reality, there is no free long distance call. Someone has to pay for it, and in the case of a toll-free number, it’s the person with the number.
In Ottenweller’s case, the calls were costing her money. Not a fortune, but from $25 up to about $60 per night.
It took Ottenweller about a year to make the connection; to notice that if someone wanting to log a vote for their performer of choice put their finger half an inch to high on the number pad and hit a 2 instead of a 5, they’d get her business.
She called her phone carrier, but she was told she still had to pay the charges. Whether the calls were wrong numbers or not, they still came to her business, she was told. She had to pay them.
Ottenweller has tried to find a way to contact “American Idol,” but she can’t find a phone number for the show. Even if she did, though, the show can’t be held responsible for viewers who dial wrong numbers.
Ottenweller now wonders just how many headaches are being created by this national telephone voting-system. She has watched “American Idol” and has noticed that the show emphasizes that callers are to dial 866, not 800.
Pity the poor company that has an 800 number that matches the show’s. In fact there is just one, a life insurance company.
There’s an easy solution for Ottenweller. On the nights when viewers are voting on contestants, she could just disconnect her answering machine. Then, the phone could ring and ring, but no one would get an answer and she wouldn’t get a bill. If she did that, though, she’d also be unplugging her phone on potential customers.
But then, she said, her customers might not be able to get through anyway. With wrong numbers coming in at the rate of about one every 45 seconds in the evening, tying up the phone, legitimate customers are probably getting busy signals.
There’s not a lot else Ottenweller can do other that wait for the show to run its course.
Oh my goodness, you poor thing! Hope you are feeling better.
Mine was great actually. We went to the Grand Harbor Resort in Dubuque, Iowa for Easter with the kids. We had a ball. Just got back home this afternoon, and how addicted am I? Barely home, but had to check the AI thread.
Elliott will do great with that song!!! That should fit his voice and style perfectly! Should be an interesting show.
LOL!!! I know what you mean. If you get a chance, check this out. SNL did a parody of Taylor. It is sooooo funny!
LMAO!!!!!!!!! "Yes, the carpet matches the drapes!" LOLOLOLOLOL!
Paula-"She's crazy as hell!" LOL!
That is sooooo funny! Thanks for the link.
What are we going to do when the AI season ends?
I thought of that this morning and then I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind. LOL!!
Watch old seasons on DVD and start a thread?! LOL! Just kidding!
sorry about the 45 degrees....it was in the high 80s here on Easter Sunday....beautiful day....and hello to everyone....can't wait till tonight! I'm just hoping Taylor hits one out of the park....
Me too...I love Taylor....but I guess I've said that a gazillion times over the past few months....
LOL!!
You and me both. Hopefully, since they have a little more time to sing this week it will better.
btw, they really nailed ol' Ryan's you-know-what's to the wall didn't they?
Who did?
I thought I heard when I was away that he got 95 years, but of course will appeal.
For one thing, though it may not apply, is that AI has low ceiling on what they'll pay for rights. That's usually why songs aren't cleared. Those negotiations are often last minute-- like most negotiations end up.
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