Waiting on hold ... can you hear me now?

Fresh insight into consumer marketing practices, including that familiar "this call may be recorded for quality assurance" line.

One shocking anecdote:

Recently, Mr. Pike [a call monitor]stumbled onto a call where a young male
customer was flirting with a female service agent at a cellphone company. After
some giggles and banter, the woman relented and gave her personal phone
number to the customer. Mr. Pike quickly alerted the cellphone company to
the phone date.

What's the matter with that? Are doing your job and engaging in personal contact mutually exclusive? Can't Big Brother let us have a little fun? The double-standard that "professionals" get away with is sometimes shocking.