Western Union's Horrible Website (and Useless Customer Service)
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1156 hrs
Before you start reading this, be forewarned that it's not a very nice post and has some less than polite language peppered throughout it.
Just so you have a baseline, go take a look at westernunion.com. I'll wait.
It's not a bad looking site, is it? I mean sure, it takes a while to load, but it's clean, attractive, and the prospect of sending money seems easy, right?
It isn't.
I tried to send money a couple of times and the site kept timing out. What was I doing that caused the site to time out, you ask? Perhaps I walked away from the computer for a while, or took a call in the middle of filling out the form, or did something that caused enough time to elapse for the session to end. Nope. The only thing I did while filling out the form was fill out the form.
After those couple of failed attempts, I noticed that it seemed to time out while creating my account (which I needed to create, since I had never used Western Union before). I thought, "I'll create an account first, and surely that will fix my problem." It took four tries to create the account. The site timed out each time until it finally went through.
WTF? Could the site seriously be this bogged down? What the hell is going on?
"No matter," I thought, "I have my login info, so now everything should run smoothly." But you're reading this, so obviously it didn't.
It took a further SIX FUCKING TRIES - each time doing the entire process over again from the beginning - before I said, "fuck it," and decided to just go send the damn money order in person (unfortunately, I still had to use Western Union for the sake of the recipient).
So what the hell happened?
I initiated a chat session via their website and explained that, despite answering the identity-confirming security questions (you know, those ones they ask you when you're applying for a credit card. Stuff like, "You have previously or currently live on one of the following streets," and then list off 4 street names), I kept getting an error. I gave him the error number, but all he could tell me was verbatim what the error message said. Yeah thanks, guy. By the way, how's the weather in fucking Bangalore? Yeah, I can tell that English isn't your first language.
I also mentioned to him that the site kept timing out. He asked, "what browser are you using."
No. Fuck no. I'm going to tell you Firefox and you're going to tell me I need to use Internet Explorer.
"Firefox," I replied, "On a Mac." I wanted to make sure he knew that Internet Explorer wasn't an option. Here's his reply, copied directly from the chat window: "We recommend you to use Internet Explorer 6.0 or above. Other browsers may be problematic. Mozilla Firefox and Safari are not currently compatible with our site. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Fuck. That.
You know what, Western Union? I'm a web developer, so I know a bit about this sort of thing. This is two-thousand-fucking-nine. It's no longer acceptable for a website to work in a single browser, especially if you're a huge company. Yet strangely, it seems like only big companies have websites that are "IE-only" sites. In fact, not only is it not acceptable to cut out all other browsers, but it's easy to make a site that works with them - often easier than it is to make the site work with IE!
Here's the problem: I have a Mac. Yes, I also have 5 Windows-based machines, but not everyone does. So what are people with Apple computers supposed to do? Obviously you don't want our money. Also, for a company that purports to care about the security of its users, you don't seem terribly concerned with IE's plethora of security flaws.
I've talked here about the reservoir of goodwill before, and the entire process was so frustrating that mine quickly ran out, which is when I threw up my hands, said, "fuck it," and quit altogether. It just wasn't worth it. Your lousy customer service only exacerbated the situation, especially when the conversation started with, "I can help you with that," and ended with, "we apologize for any inconvenience." The cherry on top of this entire shit pile came when I found out that I would have paid $9 more by using Western Union's own website than I ended up paying by just sending the money at a mini Western Union location in a RiteAid (where my credit still didn't work, despite it having worked between trying it online and trying it in the store).
In the end the money made it, but the whole experience was enough for me to vow to never use Western Union again, to write this blog post describing my horrible experience, and to evangelize against Western Union from now on.
However, to be entirely fair, I will give Western Union two positive notes. First, because I was so mad at them and vowed never to use them again, I sent an e-mail requesting my account be deleted (there's no way to do it from within their site - at least, not that I could find). Within 24 hours they replied that it had been done (which appears to be the case). Second, the issue with the credit card wasn't their fault, it was Chase's.
I really should write a separate post about how I also hate Chase and wish they would quit buying the things I love (both my Amazon.com credit card and WaMu didn't used to be owned by Chase, but now they are). Seriously, Chase? I answered the identity-confirming security questions SIX TIMES and you still wouldn't let the purchase go through? You know what, Chase? Go suck a dick. I can't wait until I'm no longer tied to you in any way.
Friday Funday CCLX
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1453 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet. Funday links will open in a new window.
Today marks the 5 year anniversary of Friday Fundays on this blog. For a number of reasons, today's Friday Funday will be the last one, although I will continue to post fun and interesting links via Google Reader, and you can find that feed here.
Real or Fake?
From the archives of LIFE magazine, can you figure out which images are real and which are fake?
3D Map of Hong Kong
It's eBoy meets Google Maps. Very cool!
Pingwire
A near-realtime stream of images being uploaded to Twitpic, yfrog, Twitgoo. Some images may not be safe for work - it all depends on what people happen to be uploading.
Awful Library Books
They really are.
Star Wars: Uncut
468 tiny clips from Star Wars: A New Hope were up for grabs to be remade by the Interwebs. All of the clips have been spoken for, and the finished products are starting to roll in. The end goal is to cut them all into a single, crowd sourced movie.
Jenny Lewis: See Fernando
Retro-cool music video for the song See Fernando by Jenny Lewis. Catchy tune!
Toutes les vidéos de Rémi Gaillard
Remember Rémi Gaillard from Foot 2008 in Friday Funday CCX and Remi Kart in Friday Funday CCXXVIII? Well, this is his entire video oeuvre.
Red Remover
Red bad! Green good! Blue neutral! Gravity... Well, gravity gets pretty weird in this game.
Demolition City
Carefully place your dynamite charges to bring the buildings toppling down. Similar to Red Remover, but with its own unique challenges.
Music From A Tree
I'm a sucker for percussive music made from strange objects (remember Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers in Friday Funday XCVI?), so naturally (ha!) this video caught my interest.
If Spammers Wrote Cialis Ads
Hilarious!
Office 2010: The Movie
So many jokes, so many bad puns.
We Choose the Moon
A real-time, interactive recreation of the Apollo 11 moon mission, 40 years after the fact.
Here you go, everyone, the very last Friday Funday link:
Cat Solves Printer Problem
Be sure to watch it all the way to the end.
Who the shit is Kingsley Zissou?
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0820 hrs
Meet the newest member of the Brown family: Kingsley Zissou!
My sister works at S.C.R.A.P.S., a local animal shelter, and when Kingsley came in, she put Morah's name on him, giving us "first choice." Morah has been wanting to get a dog, and after visiting Kingsley at the shelter a couple of times, he seemed like the right fit for us.
We went through several possible names and eventually started leaning toward Stevesie, the pet name that Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) has for Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) in the Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic. We tried it out on him, but it still didn't feel right. In the film, Steve renames Ned with what he feels is a more appropriate moniker: Kingsley Zissou. We gave that a go and it felt much more natural.
The final confirmation came when we were at Goodwill shopping for some cheap blankets that we wouldn't be sad if he ruined. There, hanging on a hat rack, covered by a baseball cap of a nearly identical color, almost hidden from sight, was a red knit cap. It was as if Stevesie himself had hidden it from everyone else so that we could find it. We bought the cap, thus solidifying the name Kingsley.
Training has been... Interesting so far. We had Kingsley in a crate last night, and after about 2 hours I was woken up because he was moving around and making noise. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I went out and slept on the couch (I think the cat liked that much better, because she curled up with me for a while). Morah says she hardly slept at all.
Overall he's pretty well behaved. He tried to poop inside once, but we saw him getting into position, quickly corrected him vocally, and ran him outside. It hasn't been an issue since.
He does get a little over-excited about the cat, so we've been keeping him on the leash when walking around the house. He wants to check her out, so he walks toward her. She doesn't want him around, so she walks away, but he follows her, which causes her to trot or run, and once that happens, he gets excited and wants to play. I honestly think that getting them to be O.K. with each other is going to be the hardest part of getting him settled in.
We've been trying to give the cat a lot of attention to show her that we still love her, but she's clearly stressed and has dry heaved a few times. I think she also jumped up on the kitchen counter last night, which she usually doesn't do (at least, not that we're aware of). We bought some cat treats to help train Kingsley, and we've been sharing them with Kisa as well.
I'm sure some of you are wondering about my cynophobia. One of the reasons that we feel Kingsley is going to be a good fit is that I'm less afraid of him than I usually am of most dogs. I don't know why, but I suspect it's because he's usually pretty demure. When we visited him at the shelter, he spent most of the time just laying around in his cage (even now, he's asleep on a blanket behind me). He can get pretty hyper (you should have seen him when we took him out to the play area at S.C.R.A.P.S.), but his general demeanor is calm and submissive. As with most phobias, the treatment for cynophobia is gradual, controlled exposure, so I think having Kingsley around will help me lessen - or overcome - my fear.
Since he's new, I'm sure we'll have more pictures and video of Kingsley soon!
Friday Funday CCLIX
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0800 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet. Funday links will open in a new window.
This is the second to last Friday Funday! Next week will mark the 5 year anniversary of the section. For a number of reasons, Friday Funday CCLX will be the last one. I will continue to post fun and interesting links via Google Reader; you can find that feed here.
Train vs. Tornado
I don't know why this one didn't get posted last week (I probably found it on Saturday), but it's freakin' awesome. Also, there's a good chance you've already seen it (that's how awesome it is). Skip ahead about 60 seconds to get right to the action.
All the Great Operas... In 10 Minutes
Most people learn about opera the hard way: By going to them. Who has the time for that?
McDonalds Menu Items From Around The World
In some cases, I'm kind of jealous, but in most cases, I'm just grossed out.
Eternal Moonwalk
A little tribute to MJ.
SOUR '日々の音色 (Hibi no neiro)'
While I suspect a fair amount of post-production digital trickery (besides the obvious), you can't deny that this video is pretty cool. Not to mention the song is pretty cool, too.
Friday Funday CCLVIII
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1711 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet. Funday links will open in a new window.
There are only 2 Friday Fundays left until the 5 year anniversary of the section. For a number of reasons, Friday Funday CCLX will be the last one. I will continue to post fun and interesting links via Google Reader; you can find that feed here.
The Periodic Table of Videos
Take the entire periodic table of the elements, make education and entertaining videos about each of the elements, and you have some nerdy-good fun. Also, there's an old dude with a wicked 'fro.
Funny Japanese Kid
NANDE? Classic.
There, I Fixed It
Red Green style fixes from around the world.
Fancy Fast Food
I hate to admit it, but this stuff actually looks pretty good! The first post is from 12 May, and this morning I read that the site has a book deal. That was quick!
Jeremy's Ford Fiesta Road Test
Some knob wrote into Top Gear and complained that they don't test cars properly. This led to Jeremy performing a very thorough road test on a Ford Fiesta. It starts off slowly, but stick with it until the end.
Comic Crossover
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0638 hrs
Two of my favorite web comics - XKCD and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - did a hilarious crossover today. Read the ALT text on this XKCD comic, and then check out the votey on this SMBC.
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