Last.fm is Getting Coal for Christmas
Joelle said in the early morning on November 29, 2007
Does anyone remember the site Audioscrobbler? I’ve had a “Pro” account with Audioscrobbler since it opened it’s doors a few years ago. Over time, they’ve changed their name to Last.fm and recently was purchased by CBS (I believe — some big media conglomerate).
I’m not as much of a junkie on that site as some people. I don’t care that much about my music trends. But, I do kind of like looking at what I’ve played, finding new music through other members, creating playlists and displaying my recently listened music in the sidebar of my blog. It was worth the few bucks a year for my “Pro” account. Or, at least, it used to be.
In addition to my personal “Pro” Last.fm account, three days ago I opened another account for The Moxie Girls™. We’re working on something with which we wanted to have a shared last.fm account integrated so that we could show our shared musical interests. Fine, fine. Well, after setting it all up with no issues, playing a few tunes and going about my business, I woke up the next morning to discover someone had scrobbled (that’s what they call it when you stream what you’re currently playing on your computer via feed to your profile on their website) both Chicane and Rammstein to our profile in the middle of the night. Considering I was asleep, I had to ask Kathy in the morning, “Did you listen to Rammstein 12 hours ago?” Of course, the answer was “No”. Kathy listening to Rammstein is like me listening to smooth jazz on purpose — it’s just not happening.
Anyway, so I was a little concerned that someone may have hacked into our account, though I can’t imagine *why*. My other explanation was that it was just “crossed wires”, some hiccup with the feeds, site updates, something… technical gnomes. You know how it goes. I was really hoping that was the case, but regardless, I wanted someone to look into it. So, I dropped Last.fm a support email, explaining the situation, letting them know that I’ve been a paid “Pro” customer for years and that this is the just a secondary profile which could eventually also become “Pro”. I let them know that this was a password concern and that while I realized they got a lot of emails, I would appreciate their attention.
Three days later, I got my response:
Hi,This could just be a mere visual issue. However, can you please also make sure that you have not left yourself logged in on another machine, which someone else may have had used. I would also suggest changing your password immediately to prevent this from happening again.
In the mean time, you can remove these plays by going to your profile page, and then selecting the Charts tab at the top. From there, select “recent tracks” in the top drop down box. On this page, you’ll see some bins to the far right of each track, and all you need to do is to click the bin for the corresponding track you may wish to remove.
The Last.fm Customer Service and Support Team
That’s it. No “We’re very sorry for your trouble.” No “Let us look into that for you and get back to you.” No, “You’re correct, we had a little site hiccup that caused a display issue.” Nothing. Just a tidy little, “Hey, moron. Change your password.”
Excuse me, but UP YOURS, buddy. That makes me absolutely livid. I didn’t just fire up AOL yesterday. I’m not using IE 5, for chrissake. Hi, I know what the internet is. Seriously, don’t you think they could have at least checked my profile? They didn’t even look. At least, that’s how they make it sound.
“It could just be a mere visual issue.” What the hell does that mean? Is that like a “visual security system”, where if you open the front door and you don’t see someone there to murder you, you’re secure? What the hell? And yes, I can see how to remove the tracks. I left them there so they could investigate further. If there’s nothing you can do, then say that!
Needless to say, I gave them a piece of mind. Tactfully and professionally, of course, but sweet juicy christmas! I’m mostly annoyed that I was dismissed. I do not care to be dismissed. Why should I have to run all over town changing passwords because they couldn’t be bothered to look into the issue. If my account was hacked… well, FINE. Fine! Things happen. I’m not thrilled about it, of course, but things happen. But to tell me that it’s a “mere visual issue” and not provide me with any kind of resolution, any onus for their part in not protecting my information, any inkling that they give a rat’s tuchus about my business…
I got nothing. Well, unless they start acting like they give a damn, nothing is what they’ll be getting when it’s time for me to renew my subscription.
Moxie Design Studios™
That would make me completely livid as well. They acted as though it was nothing of concern and you should just move on.
from Southern, US
I’m thinking these people probably get a lot of e-mails for stuff like this or similar everyday and are just covering the basics. Clearly you know what you are doing but I guarantee the majority of people who use this service don’t.
I definitely think you were right to send a follow up e-mail requesting a little more assistance than what they gave, but getting “absolutely livid” over this? Ok, frustrated I understand, but absolutely livid might be a bit much. ;o)
from San Diego, CA • Cocktail: slightly dirty Grey Goose martini
@Kate: How am I supposed to respond where I don’t look defensive? How can I say this without offending?
I appreciate your comment and thank you for taking the time to read and respond. I really do. But, it’s not for anyone else to say whether or not my feelings are “a bit much”. My feels are what they are. And yes, I’ll accept that maybe I’m overreacting, maybe I’m not, but it’s how I feel. Is a blog not a place for venting how I feel? Do I need to start censoring my emotions, too?
I appreciate that tech support often gets the same question over and over. I’m not totally heartless, I DO understand these things, but I specifically outlined in my initial support email that I am a pro user, I am familiar with the site, that I only had ONE computer logged into that account and I’ve only had it for a couple days. I also explained that since it could be a security issue, I would appreciate their help. (This might not be a big deal to you, but someone having our password is a big deal to us.) So, their response was unresearched, unhelpful and dismissive.
Maybe someone else would have chosen a less descriptive term, but I chose ‘livid’ because that’s what I was feeling at the moment.
Thanks again for your comment, though. My lividness.... lividity?… whatever, it’s not personal.
from Southern, US
@ Joelle: You don’t sound defensive and I’m not offended :o)
Absolutely this is your blog and your place to vent and you shouldn’t have to censor that OR your emotions. You have comments opened for all so you obviously welcome people to respond to your posts and that’s all I was doing. I wasn’t trying to say that you should pick a different emotion, just that I thought that perhaps being livid over their initial response might be overkill. (I’m not trying to argue back with you, just explain my original comment and point of view a little better.)
Of course this is a big deal (been there, done that with having an account hacked - it was my PayPal/eBay account BLECH) and I agree that they were most definitely not as helpful as they should have been. However, I also know that these people deal with this stuff day in and day out and no matter how hard you try and explain the situation in your initial e-mail, you’re always gonna get the “here are the basics” e-mail first.
I know your “lividness… lividity?… whatever” isn’t personal (I’m not that important
) and I hope you realize that I’m not personally attacking you, either.
Oh, and also, I would so totally use your smilies because they’re all cute like that but they won’t work for me. Maybe I need a “here’s the basics” e-mail myself! LOL
from Southern, US
Ok, I have no idea why the word raspberry just randomly inserted itself into my comment, it was supposed to be:
ps: I figured out the smiley situation.
from San Diego, CA • Cocktail: slightly dirty Grey Goose martini
@Kate: Ok, good.
And I totally welcome your comments, I do. I am prepared for dissenting opinions, I just wasn’t prepared to be told how I should have emotionally reacted to a situation.
I know you’re not arguing back, but I need to make this clear: it’s not overkill. I was vexed when it happened and sent a calm, detailed, friendly email. I was beginning to get frustrated when the next day I didn’t have a response, but I figured, “they must be busy.” I was frustrated when after 2 days I still didn’t have a response. And this morning, I became livid when I got a basic form letter after waiting 3 days and *already* outlining everything in detail. And the form letter was dismissive, period. They didn’t encourage me to ask more questions, they didn’t indicate they would look into it and get back to me. They didn’t explain what “mere visual issue” meant… they dismissed the issue. To me, that’s not an initial response. That was their *only* response.
It’s not like I went from zero to angry in nothing flat.
*raspberries*
I’ve had random, unsolicited music turn up on my lastfm profile and it ticks me off, too. I’m one of those mooching freeloader types, though, so I can’t gripe. Now, if I were *paying* for the service- and their tech support- I’d be pretty pissed by that response. However.....
Rammstein! Hahahahaha.
Perfect. Just perfect.
from San Diego, CA • Cocktail: slightly dirty Grey Goose martini
@Rosco: That’s happened to you, too? Ok, then maybe it is just a glitch like I suspected and that would be fine if that’s what they said. But they didn’t. They just told me to change my password and move on with my life, which seems a bit crappy.
What, we don’t look like Rammstein fans?
Kate and I are going mud-wrestle later if anyone wants tickets.
hehe!
I can’t wait to see what it recommends on the basis of that!
Personally, if I listen to too much Rammstein I start wanting to invade Poland.
What’s worse is that you got a form letter. I doubt they even really read your email.
And… wait! Did you say mud-wrestling?!
from Freezing Cold Rhode Island @ Present
Hey Joelle, I totally agree with you, and part of why I enjoy your site so much is your humor, good writing ALONG with your point, which is generally always EXCELLENT. I think you are tapping into, in this one, a huge issue with craptastic customer service, and one of my giant pet peeves as well. I seriously hate the dismissive crap. It goes with hating the “one size fits all” advice. It really never does. The fact that they took three days to blow you off, then sent you something pedestrian and useless that ALSO looked like they hadn’t read it—a chokeable offense
Seriously. Why is it so hard for companies to get that when they deal with smart people, or even, people who are experienced with their environment, that they don’t want to be talked down to? Some people might, but I don’t know any who would. I find it really obnoxious, and it gets me riled up, exactly b/c of what you describe. It’s that fatal combo of completely unhelpful and/or late and/or dismissive. Drives.me.nuts. I often just take a deep breath and restate the frickin’ obvious again, and then sometimes that improves things, but I resent even having to be that patient. There should be a way for them on their end to sort out “here’s a dummy” from “here’s someone I can give an intelligent answer to”—but instead, they dumb it all down, and then deliver it late. Yack. Ultimately we all vote with our wallets, so to speak, by just moving on. But I wish companies would spend a few $$$ on really revamping customer service with what the customer actually WANTS: to be heard, acknowledged, understood, or helped. Is that really rocket science? Anyway—I agree. Two months later you’ll probably get some stupid email from them asking why you dropped them...not exactly a mystery, if they observed their own interactions.