Too great to ignore!

I thought I would spend more time on Yahoo and the media landscape, but this was too good to pass up!

http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html

Enjoy!

But you NEED our eFax service!

This is a real example of how difficult it is to cancel any account when using an automated "live chat" feature on a site: Why should it take me this many "chances" to cancel an account I don't want anymore?

Welcome to chat.

{Robin}

i want to cancel my account

The session has been accepted.

{- Bruce B.}

Hello, Robin. Welcome to j2 Global online support. I am Bruce, your online Live Support Representative.

{- Bruce B.}

I am sorry to hear that you have decided to cancel the account. May I please have the fax number and PIN associated with account?

{Robin}

hi bruce sure 19083638511 pin 1915

{Robin}

did you get that?

{- Bruce B.}

Yes, Kindly give me a moment.

{- Bruce B.}

Thank you for providing your information. Please give me a moment while I go through your records. In the meantime, please type the number corresponding to your reason for cancellation: 1) Moving to another provider 2) Bought a fax machine 3) Business or role changed 4) Short term project completed 5) Financial reasons 6) Problems with faxing or billing 7) Dissatisfied with quality of service 8) Too costly

{Robin}

4

{- Bruce B.}

Robin, I understand that currently you do not need the service. In the current situation, we will waive off the monthly fee for two months. This way you will be able to keep your account, which will enable you to send and receive faxes. You will also be able to use all of our services and re-evaluate it for your faxing needs. During this period, you will not be charged any monthly fee. Usage charges are applicable for sending faxes if any. We are suggesting this so that you can give it a second thought, as you will not be paying $16.95 for the next 2 billing cycles.

{- Bruce B.}

Your eFax account will be credited with $33.90 so that you may utilize our services without being billed our monthly fee for the next two billing cycles.

{- Bruce B.}

As you will not be charged the monthly fee for the next two months, you could keep the account till then. If you still feel that you do not have any use for our services by the end of the two months credit period, please feel free to contact us anytime.

{- Bruce B.}

Would this be fine with you?

{Robin}

no, please just cancel it. thank you

{- Bruce B.}

Robin, we completely understand your wish to discontinue, however since you have already paid for the month, you can retain this number at least till the end of the two months credit offer, as you will not be charged any monthly fee for the next 2 billing cycles. In case of any contingency, it may come in handy. If at all you find that you need our services during this period, then you will still have the account.

{- Bruce B.}

As a goodwill gesture, for our further association, we would also provide you with an additional gift balance of $10.00 with which you can send up to 100 additional fax pages for free (per page per minute within US & Canada).

{- Bruce B.}

At the end of the 2 months credit period, you can get back to us without any further obligation to stay with us. We are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Please feel free to contact us at any time.

{- Bruce B.}

You can reevaluate your faxing needs during this period.

{Robin}

i don't need the account, and will not remember to recontact you. please cancel the account as of today. thank you.

{- Bruce B.}

Fine, in this case what I will do is, I will set your account to close automatically at the end of 2 months credit period which ends on 11/22/2008.

{- Bruce B.}

You will not be charged any monthly fee after this date. If you wish to continue after the credit period, you just need to contact us or e-mail us at help@mail.efax.com before the date mentioned so that you can continue with the same account after the credit period. And you can surely be assured that you will not be charged any monthly fee till the end of the two months credit period. Only the usage charges for sending faxes are applicable ia any.

{- Bruce B.}

Since your account will be canceled automatically at the end of the two months credit period, it will not be required for you to get back to us for cancelation of your account.

{- Bruce B.}

Would that be fine with you?

{Robin}

no, because i don't want the account active to send or receive faxes. If it stays open, then in your new plan, i get charged per page. I do not expect, nor will accept any faxes to this number.

{- Bruce B.}

Okay, I understand and respect your decision for cancellation. I will cancel your account with us immediately.

{- Bruce B.}

I'm sorry that you are leaving eFax. At eFax, we are continuously improving our products and services. Please do consider us if your faxing needs should change in the future.

{- Bruce B.}

Is there anything else you would like to have assistance with?

{Robin}

no thank you

{- Bruce B.}

You are most welcome.

{- Bruce B.}

It was my pleasure assisting you.

What goes up

Must also go down . . .AOL is stating that due to a "few cancellations" that they expect to miss this quarters earnings. That is too bad! They have been on a major hiring spree, and hopefully, Platform A will continue to carry the company on its back . . as long as Ad.com keeps working.

Yahoo is rumored to be talking layoffs. . .not that we listen to rumors, but with the recent departure of SVP of North American Sales, we thinks this could be the truth!

Microsoft has its own issues, but none of them are as bad as the others!

Another Yahoo Out, and a new MSFT Person in!

That's right folks! David Karnstedt, SVP of North American Sales is out at Yahoo, replaced by former MSN Head of Sales Joanne Bradford. She left the company in March, 2008.

Let's see what this does to the organization. This doesn't really come as a shock to anyone, and I have a feeling the MSLO's very own Wenda Harris Millard is rolling on the floor by now. Karnstedt walked into her job when she left.

Their going down, down, down, down, down

You know, Bruce always says it best.

While I understand that Yahoo is doing a lot of really good work (and i mean, REALLY good work) they still struggle to gain the respect of the street, and I have no choice but to blame their PR department.

Why? Well, they haven't really handled the press around Microsoft very well, and more importantly, they allowed Yahoo to rush to respond to the initial offer. Then, they allowed the media to treat Jerry Yang as a circus clown. Then, to make matters worse, they allowed it to happen AGAIN. Yep, after they got MSFT back to the table, they allowed Roy and Jerry to be the faces of the response. And again, they were villified.

Now, I agree it is time, and has been for awhile, for Jerry to step down. I will even go as far to say PLEASE bring Dan Rosensweig back. He was the energy of that organization! BRING HIM BACK. Get Yahoo's stock out of the toilet! Microsoft can now swoop and offer 25% less than their original offer, and the board will be FORCED to take it.

Stop the bleeding . . .please

Summer is OVER, and I am BACK!

So, I took a couple of weeks and did the nontechnology thing. Well, that isn't really true.

I stopped using it at home, and only went online during work hours. Since I no longer was working past 7 pm, my days were jammed and I didn't have time to be here, with all one of you (hi Ryan!)

Ok, so, now I am back, and ready to refocus on the content here.

Being exposed to so many things during one day makes it difficult to decide what to write about. I am definitely going to stick to trends of the day, and may keep it 100% focused, but will all that is going on in the world of politics and elections, well . . .i can't make any promises!

Visit back, at least once a week, as there will be more content here.