What are the odds ?

[MikeSh]

As a new year treat I indulged myself by calling the IKEA call centre.
Estimated wait time: 5 mins. I can live with that - at least they give you some idea, unlike most. And onto the hold music.
ABBA! Hmm?
Next track; not ABBA.
Third one; ABBA.
Fourth (yes, more than 5 mins now); not ABBA (Queen if you're interested).
Fifth; ... I don't know - they answered the call!!

So, IKEA + 50% ABBA. Chance coincidence in a random selection? I doubt it, but if anyone else happens to be calling IKEA perhaps we can pool our statistics to confirm this.

 

[Black Hole]

Are you making the basic mistake of assuming no causal link*? IKEA is Swedish, is it not...

* The converse basic mistake is to assume correlation indicates causation.

 

[MikeSh]

Are you making the basic mistake of assuming no causal link*? IKEA is Swedish, is it not...

* The converse basic mistake is to assume correlation indicates causation.

Well, yes and no. The 'obvious' assumption is that IKEA are preferring Swedish artists, but I was trying to avoid making any assumptions given the limited data. If the alternating ABBA tracks continues to 5 and 7 then I'd think we could assume a nationalistic bias (though even then it could just be that the person selecting the tracks likes ABBA) rather than chance.

 

[Black Hole]

I see, so you want to know if it is just coincidence.

 

[Trev]

Do you really give a s***?

 

[MikeSh]

Do youreally give a s***?

Being on hold for more than 60 seconds is known to cause permanent changes to the mind.*






* I made that up actually. And you missed a space

 

[MikeSh]

I see, so you want to know if it is just coincidence.

Basically, yes. When it started (with ABBA) I thought "aha!". At track two I thought, "oh, just coincidence". At three I was beginning to wonder.

And people were complaining a couple of weeks ago about the lack of activity in here, so I put it out there for your interest and amusement; or not in Trev's case

 

[Black Hole]

Let me just go on hold at IKEA...








not

 

[Trev]

Space added

 

[prpr]

As a new year treat I indulged myself by calling the IKEA call centre.
Estimated wait time: 5 mins. I can live with that - at least they give you some idea, unlike most. And onto the hold music.
ABBA! Hmm?
Next track; not ABBA.
Third one; ABBA.

Were any of them "Happy New Year"?

Is it a free number? I can't bring myself to look it up.

 

[MikeSh]

Were any of them "Happy New Year"?

Is it a free number? I can't bring myself to look it up.

I didn't detect any seasonal favouring.

I called 020 3645 0000 which is for enquiries for 'stores'. National rate which is included in my phone bundle, so free afaic.