'Misleading and problematic' Yahoo Help and 'incapable and apologetic' customer care!

I have been using a Yahoo alias with my primary Yahoo account. But I wanted to have that alias as the primary ID. So, I searched for any viable option to do this, on their help pages. Finally, I got this link, which made my search fruitful. If only I realised I was getting into trouble!

I followed the instructions there. Deleted the alias first and then tried to sign up with that alias. To my distress and frustration, the system told me the ID existed. To verify this, I sent mails to the deleted address and all of them returned undelivered, bearing the reason that the ID did not exist. I contacted Yahoo support. They tried to convince me that it is not possible to reuse a deleted ID. Further, the issue was escalated to their priority support and then to some other teams. Some people replied that I can reuse the deleted ID after six months, and some said I can never reuse it. I invited their attention to the above link, but they seemed to ignore it. Finally I shot a mail, asking them a clarification regarding the information available on the said link. And, this was the reply I got:

"The page in question is problematic because it appears to imply that the process is quick and easy. The reality is that it can take at least six months to free up a Yahoo! ID after it's been cancelled. I apologize that the page is misleading, and we will see to it that it is adjusted accordingly."

and this was another reply:

"This means that the system has received this ID as terminated, to date I have never seen a Yahoo! ID that has successfully been recycled. So you probably will never be able to re-register the YID. I do apologize for this inconvenience"

But what help is this information to me? Filed another request to make the ID available again, as I only followed their instructions and got into trouble. Headless people there! They might correct the information on their webpage, so I took a screenshot before that (see image).

Update: Out of frustration, I deleted my original Y! ID as well. :|

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111th...

January 23, the day on which the greatest son of India was born (in the year 1897).

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Tait wasn't tight; Perth wasn't their berth; Oh Ganguly!

The Australian team must have expected to finish off the Perth test inside three days, as WACA offered the fastest test wicket on earth! That left India with the only option to battle against the 11 on-field Aussie players and their threats about its imminent death in WACA. The Australian captain started to hail Shaun Tait as the one who would capsize the Indian top order on this wicket. But they forgot one thing - to implement their plans on the ground rather than in front of microphones and cameras.


Shaun Tait sweated for 21 overs in the match (only 21), being hammered at almost 4.5 runs per over. In fact, the all pace attack by the home team on their favourite berth turned out to be a disaster. This should act as a valuable lesson for Ricky Ponting, as the captain should realise that what they claim through their words should come out through their game as well. Hats-off to the Indian outfit for coming back so strongly from the poorest of test matchs (for umpiring and home team sportsmanship) in Sydney.


The selectors proved it again! Sourav Ganguly is dropped again! A decision poorer than the umpiring decisions in Sydney. At times I get the feeling that any five Indian cricket fans could make a better selection panel than the ones we had for many years. Hope to see Ganguly back soon.

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Why shy away from technology in cricket?

It is so irritating to watch the ongoing test match series between India and Australia, due to nasty unsporting umpiring. Steve Bucknor and Mark Beson have made a disgrace to this profession by making stupid decisions repeatedly. No matter which team benefits from these faulty decisions, it is a shame to the game. Despite India being the affected, the decision of the team management not to raise a complaint against the bad decisions shocked me.


Over the last few years, people have been arguing about the use of technology to assist umpires, or more precisely, to make the game better. The ICC had also experimented its use in a few matches, before withdrawing. Imagine how shameful it is when the guilty umpire sees his faulty judgement on the big screen, right after making it. It adds to his embarrassment, and serves no other purpose. I am of the stand that technology be used everytime the umpires are confused to make a call. This can be used when the umpire is unsure if the ball hit the bat first and then the pad, if a catch was taken perfectly, and similar situations. But it should not be used for direct lbw decisions as there are chances facilities like hokai can be wrong. Having said that, even the third umpire, with all the technology available, has made big mistakes in international matches. So, it becomes more important that only the best umpires be designated to control international matches, irrespective of the country they come from.


Bucknor must have been dropped right after the final of the last world cup, for leading the game into the night and dark.

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