Say Goodbye to Drunk Dialing
 

I think many of us could benefit from this if they implement it in the US for all cell phone companies. :)


Cell phone hangs up on drunken dialers
Last modified: November 30, 2004, 8:20 PM PST
By Iain Ferguson
Special to CNET News.com
http://msn-cnet.com.com/Cell+phone+h...l?tag=nefd.top

Ever woken up one morning with a raging hangover that was promptly worsened by the memory of the drunken cell phone call to the ex at 3 a.m.?

If the memory is not painful enough, the aftermath--potentially involving apologies, restraining orders, a "friendly visit" from the ex's new partner (who is probably either a black belt in Zen Do Kai or a leading underworld figure) and sundry other humiliations--adds to the agony.

Amid the flurry of capped plans, bundling and discounting characterizing the pre-Christmas mobile marketplace, Australia's Virgin Mobile has sought to differentiate itself with a service tailored to help people avoid making those embarrassing drunken calls.

A survey of 409 people by Virgin Mobile, a joint venture of The Virgin Group and Optus, found 95 percent made drunken phone calls. Of those calls, 30 percent were to ex-partners, 19 percent to current partners, and 36 percent to other people, including their bosses.

The company said that, beginning Wednesday, Virgin Mobile customers could dial 333 plus a phone number they don't want to call when drunk. Virgin Mobile would--for a 25-cent fee--stop all calls to that number by blacklisting it until 6 a.m. the following day.

The move comes amid an intensifying price war between mobile players to secure customers, exemplified Tuesday by a flurry of announcements. Virgin is launching a new AU$45 (about $35) monthly cap that includes up to AU$200 (about $155) worth of mobile services, while rival Vodafone also launched a new AU$49 (about $38) cap that would allow customers to use up to AU$230 (about $178) worth of services.

For its part, Optus touted a service allowing its customers to call overseas on their mobiles for the cost of a local call.

OMG I NEED THIS. Along with a personal assistant who will keep me from buying shots and who will clamp their hands over my mouth if I attempt to talk when I'm drunk.

i told you i was going to come be that assistant!

Hurry up and get here, then. I'm going to need your help on Thursday, aka Skippers night.

only if we can go to top deck too. oohh is it still trivia night at mac 'n joes?

I don't know...I've never been to mac n joes. None of my female friends are 21 yet, and if I go to bars with the boys, they want to go to First Run to scam on freshmen.

And of course we can go to Top Deck.

eewwww freshman fun! i only went to mac 'n joes on thursdays for trivia. it was fun. and yay Top Deck! i miss that place. is the same guy still the owner? he was awesome.

This is brilliant. I guess this means no drunk dials EVEN IF your sister kidnaps your cell phone and runs out of the bar with it.

Nic, where was this service in October? ;)

The service was in Hawai`i, stuck there, while her lovely sisters Howled at the Moon in Chicago!

but what if I drunk call someone after 6AM? What's the point of paying for something that wont work for me?

I had a drunk dialer awaken me in the middle of the night to ask for some guy I don't know. She called back five minutes later and asked for the same guy. I told her he didn't live here five minutes ago and he doesn't live here now. She started to tell me what a great guy he is and how they had a great date, but he never called her. I told her that it happens to the best of us. I felt bad for her, but come on. If you are going to drunk dial, the least you could do is dial the right number and not drag innocent people out of bed in the middle of the night.

THAT WAS THE MEANEST THING EVER! AND I'M STILL PAYING FOR THAT, APPARENTLY!

I'd have to block every number in my phone. So it would be cheaper for me to leave it in the car. Except I have this fear that I will get separated from my friends and need to call them. I guess then I'd have an excuse to hit on guys.

Seriously, I would pay for it.

Someone needs to take away my text messages too. My last brillient idea was i didn't want to wake anyone...so i texted them. not thinking that the phone makes noises anyway.

I do this to poor mu_agd, not remembering that she has a big kid job and isn't at the bar at 2am on a Wednesday.