open letter to the weather channel

dear the weather channel,

last thursday i signed up to receive weather channel alerts from your service because your new interactive map looked super cool and i thought: yes. i would like to receive daily emails about my local weather.

my first warning sign should have been that when i click the "help" button because i just want to know about one thing, it takes me to the really super video tour, which is awesome THE FIRST TIME. you know, if i want an overview of all the cool interactive features but then i couldn't actually interact with any feature that could simply answer specific "how do i..." questions.

then i ran into your super friendly and helpful interative trupoint™ location thingy and tried to save my town as a location.

turns out that because your computer has arbitrarily decided that it will use the zipcode of my address instead of my actual address, my only option is to use a town a dozen miles away and of very different elevation or to use the golf-specific forecast for the golf course nearest my house, neither of which are convenient or accurate for me, and certainly not interactive in a good way.

it's the kind of interactive where you ask for one thing that is supposedly on offer and the interaction consists of being given a thing you don't want.

here are things for you to choose!
i'll take this one.
ok, you get this thing.
but i don't want that thing. can i delete it?
no, but you can have two of them.
and here's a third thing i decided you should have.
i don't want any of them. can i delete them?
no. you have used those things most frequently. they are your favorites.
the only reason i used them more frequently is because you decided i should have them.
you like them.
what if i just type in a more accurate address closer to my home. you know, a location that's actually on your map?
ok, this is your new favorite location.
no, it's not! it's the same location i keep trying to delete!
you like it. it is what you want.
ok, please delete my account.
you will not be able to use any of our services.
yes, i know. delete my account.
but if you want to use our services you will have to sign up again.
yes. just delete the account.

in short, while this is technically interactive, it is not interactive in any pleasant way, so instead of using the weather channel's "interavtive trupoint™ map", i'll be looking for a weather map and maybe even some email alerts that are interactive in a way in which the company offering to show me weather for my location actually lets me pick my location.

i realize that the weather halfway between postal codes 05465 and 05477  isn't that critically different and in fact you're only reporting what comes off a weather station farther away and not located in either postal code, but if i'm going to sign up for an account so i can have the tiny pleasure of seeing my town's name on my weather map and the little pin thingie by my home, that's what i want.

i'll be getting my weather from any source but you in the future.

love,
flask