Almost my whole business life has been as a computer techie. And one significant thing I have learned that still hasn’t been learned by website (or programs for that matter) designers. The techies that built the website should never be the ones who decide it is ready for the public to use. Never. That failure almost killed Obamacare when it was originally released.
I tried to pay my rent this morning. Keep in mind that I have been paying this rent on line for well over ten years with no problems until the website was redesigned a few months ago. Now, every month is a nightmare. This morning, I tried to pay the rent with the method already defined after the mini-horror of last month’s payment. That method was a debit card. After a loud complaint – I don’t like spending an hour paying the rent – and some assistance last month, I apparently defined the payment as a e-check. I don’t remember doing it. This morning’s attempt, however, indicated the defined method was a debit card. That method now added a significant amount to the payment as a convenience fee. I cancelled the payment and tried again several times, varying my entry. Same problem every time – a convenience fee. I’m not talking about a $2 or $3 fee. It was a significant percentage of the rent. After an irate phone call, I was told that to avoid the fee, I had to use an e-check which I used last month. I denied having used an e-check and said the website did not have an e-check defined, only a debit card.
I won’t go into the details of the argument with the management. I defined an e-check payment option and after figuring out how then to use it, twenty minutes later, I finally succeeded. I cannot believe that I was the only one having this kind of trouble. The manager did say that he agreed that the web-site is a little confusing.
Back to my original contention. I am willing to bet that a non-technical person was nowhere near this website before it was released to the public. If they were selling something, you can be sure they would make sure Joe Average knew how to use it without a big learning curve, before it was put on line.