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Zynga Puts Random Stranger In Customer Support Role
An anonymous reader writes "A server error has meant that for the past few months, a man not associated in any way with social gaming powerhouse Zynga has been getting customer support emails. When Zynga failed to return his messages, he started replying to the customers himself. Hilariously." Sadly (though perhaps some of his correspondents would disagree), the glitch has now been fixed.
it's obvious they were using themepark as a codename for the project when doing development.
that's pretty fucking zyngalike right there though. "hey, let's make a clone of theme park, you remember, that old bullfrog game?" "yeah that's awesome I'll create the project right now.. what should we call the project.. hmm.. I know, themepark!"
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
It may be a fake, but it's damn close to something I'm dealing with. My user name, Quirkz, is also a domain I've had for ages. There's a venue that opened a couple of years ago that calls itself Qirkz. People are constitutionally unable to type a Q without typing a U, so I get tons of email for bookings and confirmations and ads and all sorts of junk. One professor had an entire class full of students try to contact me about summer internships, and then I got a bunch of laughing replies when I responded "No, no! That's the wrong address and I'm sick of this junk."
For a while I tried forwarding requests, including interviews with the BBC, but that felt like a job. Then when I was running an online game I tried a standard response which explained both businesses, hoping maybe a few people would also be curious in what I did, but that didn't seem to help and I don't have the game anymore. Now I just delete the email, but it's still unsatisfying.
I haven't ever really considered intentionally disruptive behavior, mostly because that'd be even more work, and I'm just not quite that malicious (or funny). I really don't know a way out. I'm mostly hoping they'll either eventually rebrand, or somehow the slow trickle of business lost to failed emails will clue them in and make them change.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
Many years ago a buddy got some new phone lines. One had just been a reservation number for an extremely large restaurant. After a few days of folks trying to make reservations through him he called the restaurant and offered them the number back if they'd pay the transfer fees. They declined. So he started taking reservations. "Four for the Ponderosa Room at 7pm? Under 'Caruthers'? Not a problem; please check in with the Hostess when you arrive." After a week of this he called the restaurant back, and offered them their reservation number back. For just the fees? Oh no, assholes, now it's gonna cost something! He got some nominal amount, just 'cause he was pissed about his time & trouble.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.