Post by Go Beatniks! on Feb 22, 2012 16:52:13 GMT -5
Remember the heady days of the Internet back when WGN just streamed a live feed of what they were pushing from their antenna? It was a great time to be a Cubs fan while not living in Chicago.
Remember how MLB.com came along and tried to monetize every single aspect of the baseball fan's experience? How at first they blocked local radio feeds but offered no alternative to the remote fan? Then they charged a meager $9.99/season for feeds. Now it's slightly more, but, hey, inflation. What can you do?
So I switched my bank sometime between last season and this one. I had given MLB my card so as to listen to the gripping season that the Cubs turned in last year. Every last agonizing detail. That card isn't good any longer. And then MLB tried to automatically renew my subscription using that card...which I guess I agreed to last season just by purchasing a season's worth of pain. Not sure I'm good with that business model and not sure I would have agreed to it had I read the fine print.
Always read the fine print.
Otherwise you get a nightmare of fun.
So after patching things up with my ex bank and MLB I tried to go about fixing the credit card information they apparently track over time and charge without additional confirmation from me per transaction. Which took roughly five days and two incident/reference/tracking numbers. Mind you, they'll let you add a credit card via their web site with minimal pain.
The only way to remove a credit card is to call tier 1 billing support which gets you a tier 2 reference number. The tier 2 reference that is supposed to call you back never does. When you do call back you'll spend most of your afternoon on hold while you bounce from India to Texas where they'll try to get you to agree to getting a second reference number and a promise that your request will be forwarded to their New York office. When you explain that this is not satisfactory you'll spend a few dozen minutes on hold and be told that a field representative from MLB just so happens to be on site today (lucky me!). He will tell you how lucky you are and that it can all be sorted in a few minutes, would you like to take a reference number and they'll call you back when they're finished? If you say no, you'll sit on hold a while longer and be told your information has successfully been removed. Something I haven't had the heart to verify for myself just yet.
All of this to say, any advantage that might be had by hanging on every pitch of every game available for streaming at MLB.com will not be enjoyed by the 'niks this season.
My god how I love baseball but abhor MLB. I am only slightly facetious when I suggest that the business side of MLB can go die in a fire for all I care.
So ends my rant.
Remember how MLB.com came along and tried to monetize every single aspect of the baseball fan's experience? How at first they blocked local radio feeds but offered no alternative to the remote fan? Then they charged a meager $9.99/season for feeds. Now it's slightly more, but, hey, inflation. What can you do?
So I switched my bank sometime between last season and this one. I had given MLB my card so as to listen to the gripping season that the Cubs turned in last year. Every last agonizing detail. That card isn't good any longer. And then MLB tried to automatically renew my subscription using that card...which I guess I agreed to last season just by purchasing a season's worth of pain. Not sure I'm good with that business model and not sure I would have agreed to it had I read the fine print.
Always read the fine print.
Otherwise you get a nightmare of fun.
So after patching things up with my ex bank and MLB I tried to go about fixing the credit card information they apparently track over time and charge without additional confirmation from me per transaction. Which took roughly five days and two incident/reference/tracking numbers. Mind you, they'll let you add a credit card via their web site with minimal pain.
The only way to remove a credit card is to call tier 1 billing support which gets you a tier 2 reference number. The tier 2 reference that is supposed to call you back never does. When you do call back you'll spend most of your afternoon on hold while you bounce from India to Texas where they'll try to get you to agree to getting a second reference number and a promise that your request will be forwarded to their New York office. When you explain that this is not satisfactory you'll spend a few dozen minutes on hold and be told that a field representative from MLB just so happens to be on site today (lucky me!). He will tell you how lucky you are and that it can all be sorted in a few minutes, would you like to take a reference number and they'll call you back when they're finished? If you say no, you'll sit on hold a while longer and be told your information has successfully been removed. Something I haven't had the heart to verify for myself just yet.
All of this to say, any advantage that might be had by hanging on every pitch of every game available for streaming at MLB.com will not be enjoyed by the 'niks this season.
My god how I love baseball but abhor MLB. I am only slightly facetious when I suggest that the business side of MLB can go die in a fire for all I care.
So ends my rant.