By Iain Ferguson, 1 December 2004 09:25
NEWS
Ever woken up one morning with a raging hangover that was promptly worsened by the memory of the drunken mobile 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 characterising 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 per cent made drunken phone calls. Of those calls, 30 percent were to ex-partners, 19 per cent to current partners, and 36 per cent to other people, including their bosses.
The company said that, beginning on 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.
Iain Ferguson writes for ZDNet Australia.
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