Weather Rant

Yesterday afternoon, they were saying that we were going to get some storms. My weather radio went off for a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and I got a little concerned because we were going to be out and about. At the time, storms were heading to our north (we were scheduled for storms in the evening) and the ABC (why was I watching ABC? Don't know) weather guy was saying that if the people up north had signed up for Weather Call, they should be getting a call about now. I thought that would be a great thing to have...that if we were at TKD or baseball, the phone would ring and I'd know about severe weather heading our way. It was $6 for three numbers, so I signed up both mine and Mike's cell numbers (if we're at home, I've got the weather radio, TV and internet so the home number wasn't necessary).

We get home from TKD and we're watching NBC (that's more like it) when Gary breaks in to say the storms have started. It was supposed to just be a quick break during commercials when Skytracker (their helicopter) actually sees a tornado drop down. Gary starts yelling that there are no Tornado Warnings for that area but everyone needs to get in their basements now. You can hear Jeff Penner, their weather producer, on the phone with the Weather Service telling them that they saw a tornado on the ground. Suddenly, my radio goes off for a Tornado Warning. My cell starts to buzz and I'm thinking it's the Weather Call. It wasn't. It was the baseball league saying that all baseball had been cancelled (thank goodness because I wasn't taking Jacob anyway!). We ended up having two severe thunderstorm warnings and one tornado warning and I never got a call. I was mad. I wrote to their service center and decided to write Bryan Busby (the ABC weather guy) as well.

Bryan wrote me a nice letter back saying that we were never in any specific danger and actually weren't in the warning area (our house was 2 miles from it). He forwarded my e-mail to a lady at Weather Call, who sent me this letter (I've bolded some of my favorite lines):


-----Original Message-----
From: Valerie WeatherCall
To:
Sent: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 9:01 am
Subject: WeatherCall performance

Dear Barbara-

Bryan Busby forwarded your email to me. First, please make note from our website that we have two methods to contact us: info@weathercall.net or 1-800-260-6695.

I have pasted the map from your registration here, plus the 3 warnings issued for Johnson County during last night’s storms, using a tighter view, minus the radar reflectivity so it’s easier to see that your home was never in the precise warning areas issued by the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, MO. WeatherCall performed exactly the way it was designed-to only call you if the latitude and longitude of your home falls INSIDE one of these National Weather Service warning boxes, of which each corner also has a very precise latitude and longitude value.

You may find it helpful to spend a few minutes reading the information on this page http://www.weathercall.net/wc_whatisit.html which explains how the new storm-based warnings work, and why WeatherCall is so accurate. If you’re still “disappointed, please contact me personally, and I’ll remove you from the system and refund your money. However, I’d strongly suggest you use the $6 dollars towards purchasing a weather radio which will alert you for any storm, ANYWHERE in Johnson County’s 477 square miles, whether it is going to affect you or not.
Regards,
Valerie E. Ritterbusch
Vice President / Meteorologist
WeatherCall


I was mad when I read that. So, I wrote her back.


From:
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 10:16 AM
To:
Subject: Re: WeatherCall performance

Dear Valerie,

I'd first like to say that I did contact you at weather call but got no response, which is why I contacted Mr. Busby.

Had I realized when I signed up that it was only if a storm hits my house, I would have never signed up. The reason I did sign up was so that my cell phone would go off if I was out in Johnson County, not if I'm sitting at home with the weather radio I currently have (so I do not need to "use the $6 towards purchasing" one as you so rudely said to me), as was the case last night. If I am at home, I have access to the television, internet and my weather radio and find it unnecessary to have someone call me for a storm. I also had it set up to call my husband's cell phone and he was right in the middle of it all...away from home, but still in Johnson County.

Please refund my money as I will be using it to sign up for The Weather Channel's weather call that will actually "alert me for any storm, ANYWHERE in Johnson County’s 477 square miles, whether it is going to affect you or not."

By the way, thanks for the excellent customer service. I appreciate the condescending tone you gave me in your e-mail. I'm also sending this to Mr. Busby so that he can see how his new service talks to its customers.
Barbara



I then got this, very quickly, in return. Again, my favorite part is bolded.



Barbara-
I had no intention of being rude or condescending; I was simply trying to further explain how precise the warning process is. Bryan did not have time to zoom in on the warning polygon maps, and remove the radar so the actual warning area was more easily displayed, thus I took the time to do so, hoping I was helping you better understand county vs. storm-based NWS warnings.

Based on your comments, I suspect you may be under the understanding that the cell phone will be called if the cell phone is in a warning, regardless of where the cell phone travels. This is not the case. That would require your cell phone to be GPS enabled, and to match up it’s location with an NWS polygon. There is a devise capable of doing this, but it costs around $1,500 dollars and some $20 to $30 dollars per month for the data feed. WeatherCall geocodes your house, and will call your cell phone regardless of where it has traveled to notify if your house has fallen inside a NWS polygon.

I have issued a refund and have removed you from the system, because our system does not provide wide area, broad-brushed warnings, which is what it sounds like you are interested in.

Regards,
Valerie Ritterbusch
Vice President / Meteorologist
Media Weather Innovations
http://www.mediaweatherinnovations.com/



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Great customer service, right? LOL!!!