RE: THE SUCKAGE OF MLB.COM
Hey Andrew,
Wow! You are so right. This is suckage supreme! Yesterday, I had trouble finding the game I wanted to listen to, and when I did find it, the "interface" ruined it before I'd even connected to the audio.
Basically, I went to listen to an archived Cubs game, and before the audio had even begun to warble, the little right hand window showed me the game's Line Score. That's right, before Pat and Ron even had a chance to get me excited about the game I was about to listen to, I already knew how many runs had been scored, in what inning, and who the final winner was.
I was furious!
Normally I'd just grumble to myself, say "this sucks!", and stop being a customer. But I like mlb.com. I want to continue to subscribe. And so I decided to be a responsible consumer and air my grievance in a reasonable manner. If they don't know my complaints, they can't fix them, right?
I searched the Support section of the website, finally figured out how to send a comment, calmly articulated my thoughts, and hit "submit". The page refreshed, but there was no confirmation that the message had gone anywhere. In fact, I was on the same page I'd been before, only now, everything I had typed was gone. Vanished. Maybe the original message did go through and this was simply an opportunity to send a second message. You know, in case I wasn't pissed off enough the first time around, now I could say something really nasty.
I got on the phone.
It was a Sunday, but according to the posted hours, someone was supposed to be there. I waited on hold for an hour (which I will grant has improved from last year--no more teasers that someone has picked up when in fact its just an advertisement for how great mlb.com is--if it's so great, why am I on hold for customer support). No one picked up. I left a message. I framed it reasonably. I asked how to set the preferences on the player so the Line Score launches hidden as the default. No one has returned my call. No one has sent me an email. I think I'll turn blue and die if I hold my breath in anticipation of a reply.
I've been an mlb.com subscriber for 4 years. I love listening to archived Cubs games (I miss most night games but listen the next day while I'm working). I take extra care to keep the result of the previous night's game a surprise. Now, in a supreme gesture of suckatude, mlb.com has made that nearly impossible for me. And they frame it as an "improvement." Get bent!
If this is not addressed, and quickly, I will NOT subscribe next year. And I will probably demand my money back for this year. That is, if I can ever find anyone to demand it of.
Wow! You are so right. This is suckage supreme! Yesterday, I had trouble finding the game I wanted to listen to, and when I did find it, the "interface" ruined it before I'd even connected to the audio.
Basically, I went to listen to an archived Cubs game, and before the audio had even begun to warble, the little right hand window showed me the game's Line Score. That's right, before Pat and Ron even had a chance to get me excited about the game I was about to listen to, I already knew how many runs had been scored, in what inning, and who the final winner was.
I was furious!
Normally I'd just grumble to myself, say "this sucks!", and stop being a customer. But I like mlb.com. I want to continue to subscribe. And so I decided to be a responsible consumer and air my grievance in a reasonable manner. If they don't know my complaints, they can't fix them, right?
I searched the Support section of the website, finally figured out how to send a comment, calmly articulated my thoughts, and hit "submit". The page refreshed, but there was no confirmation that the message had gone anywhere. In fact, I was on the same page I'd been before, only now, everything I had typed was gone. Vanished. Maybe the original message did go through and this was simply an opportunity to send a second message. You know, in case I wasn't pissed off enough the first time around, now I could say something really nasty.
I got on the phone.
It was a Sunday, but according to the posted hours, someone was supposed to be there. I waited on hold for an hour (which I will grant has improved from last year--no more teasers that someone has picked up when in fact its just an advertisement for how great mlb.com is--if it's so great, why am I on hold for customer support). No one picked up. I left a message. I framed it reasonably. I asked how to set the preferences on the player so the Line Score launches hidden as the default. No one has returned my call. No one has sent me an email. I think I'll turn blue and die if I hold my breath in anticipation of a reply.
I've been an mlb.com subscriber for 4 years. I love listening to archived Cubs games (I miss most night games but listen the next day while I'm working). I take extra care to keep the result of the previous night's game a surprise. Now, in a supreme gesture of suckatude, mlb.com has made that nearly impossible for me. And they frame it as an "improvement." Get bent!
If this is not addressed, and quickly, I will NOT subscribe next year. And I will probably demand my money back for this year. That is, if I can ever find anyone to demand it of.
posted by Erik at
9:17 PM
2 Comments:
Oh, man, I too was freaked out by the email submit page that returned an -- empty -- email submit page. That's just terrible design. Sooooo 1998.
I'm doubly thrilled to hear that I'm not the only one taking this diplomatically to the MLB.com Man. There's an arrogance among corporate web providers that sheep will pay for and swallow anything (thanks, MSN, AOL, and Yahoo!). That only changes when we do something about it.
Ironically, I was charged only today for a subscription I bought way back at the beginning of Spring Training, so I feel within my rights to unleash Wells Fargo on MLB.com if they've decided that I'm just some sort of usability guinea pig.
Never has a baseball game been so hard to just watch.
By
Andrew, at 10:40 PM
A subtlety I missed. Erik, you mentioned something I overlooked, and which is near and dear to me: the idea of not knowing what's going to happen in a game I haven't seen.
I'm not talking about who won. I actually don't mind knowing that the Cubs lost (!) before I watch a game. I'm contradicting my earlier opinion of the scoreboard when I say I actually don't want to know the inning-run count (for completed games). Why? Because as today's game demonstrated, therein lay so many surprises.
By
Andrew, at 10:54 PM
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