Tuesday, December 02, 2008

1-900 Meteorologist Service Now Available in Canada

I was somewhat surprised to learn that Environment Canada is now offering a 1-900 number for private, one-on-one consultations with a meteorologist. If this is something that interests you, it seems that all you need to do is call the number (1-900-565-5555), agree to pay $2.99 per minute, and talk away.

Aside from not wanting to pay $12.00 to hear about a storm that either won't come or is in the midst of striking, I am not sure how I feel about such a program. Something about the arrangement just seems a little off-putting. I wonder how many people actually use this service and what type of information they provide in such situations but then don't include in their free services.

Most importantly though, I really want to know how many times Weather Canada gets callers who are hoping to reach a more traditional 1-900 service. Do these callers keep talking because they are too embarrassed to admit that they were actually looking for something a little juicer than a one-on-one weather forecast?

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