Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Web oddities

Sometimes the web is weird. For example it's not unusual to see a big and important commercial web site just showing a sign saying "sorry, the site is closed due to upgrading". This can go on for weeks. Guys, you don't close a web site until the very minute you can put up it's replacement. That's simple common sense.

Another example is sometimes just poor service. For example, I have to pay a duty invoice to FedEx. But the easiest way to do so, online by credit card (or lord forbid, Paypal), isn't there. They even say on their stationary that this is not an option yet! This is just ridiculous. It's basic business 101 that you don't want to make it difficult for people to give you their money! Heck, nobody should even have to teach anybody that.

I also sometimes have to pay DHL, they do have a web payment service, but all it does is give error messages, so I always have to give up and telephone them. Not a heck of a lot better.

3 comments:

Paul Sunstone said...

FedEx doesn't allow online payments? Gawd, Eolake! I would love to know the story behind that one.

Anonymous said...

I can tell you that story. It's the one where a company is making so much money anyway that they can't be bothered, and all the top execs are so old that they barely know what the internet is anyway.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Smells like you're on the right track.