More T-Mobile support silliness (customer experience, rant)
we regret to inform you that our website has not been test with Mac OS X or the Safari browser. We strongly recommend using a supported browser such as Internet Explorer from a Windows computer. On a Windows computer using Internet Explorer please try to clear the cookies/temporary Internet files on your computer. To do this please follow the steps below.So I responded:1. Select Tools from the tool bar on your browser.
2. Select Internet Options.
3. When this window displays, select Delete Files, and delete all Offline Content.
4. Then, select Settings, and View Files.
5. A window will appear displaying all of your cookies/temporary Internet files. Hit Ctrl+A on your keyboard to highlight all of your files, and select Delete on the keyboard.
6. Return back to the regular Internet Options window, and select Clear History.Once you have completed all of these steps, please close out all of your open windows of Internet Explorer. This step is important because the cookie/Internet File deletion will not take place until they are all closed. In addition, please make sure that your browser security settings are set to Medium. If you are still experiencing difficulties we recommend trying on a different computer.
Hi, none of those steps work on a Mac. Also, there's easier ways to use IE for a single site than by changing your default browser settings. Also, it's just one minor little javascript bug, and it works fine in FireFox. Maybe you could just, you know, fix the minor little javascript bug?Their reply:
Thank you for contacting T-Mobile's Technical Care department. My name is Justin and I understand you cannot make a payment using the Safari browser on your Mac computer. I realize it can be frustrating when you cannot manage your account online. I would be more than happy to help. Please accept my sincere apologies for any difficulties this may have caused.I thought, hey, T-Mobile's finally getting clueful about these things! Great. So I happily replied:In order to correct this issue we will need some more information. Please provide us with the following information:
1. What version of Safari are you using?
2. Were you able to access the Billing page on My T-Mobile using Safari in the past? If so, when did this issue first occur?
3. What is the exact JavaScript error message you receive when trying to access My T-Mobile?With these details we will be able to help you further. We can notify our Help Desk of these issues and fix them. Please note it is recommended you use Internet Explorer or Netscape when accessing My T-Mobile.
I am using Safari 2.0.4 (the latest version). I was able to pay my bill via Safari as of a month ago, but it looks like there's been a redesign since then.So I just got this response from them, which has me seriously considering dropping T-Mobile as soon as is feasible (emphasis mine; too bad I still have another year on my contract and the only "reasonable" alternative is AT&T):I don't get an error message, but the form fails to submit. The problem appears to be due to the way that the Javascript is put on the button itself, since it appears that the spaces have been replaced with %20s (as if it were an encoded URL and not a code fragment).
With these details we will be able to help you further. We can notify our Help Desk of these issues and fix them. Please note it is recommended you use Internet Explorer or Netscape when accessing My T-Mobile.You realize that Internet Explorer hasn't been supported on Mac OS for years and there's no longer a browser called "Netscape" (it changed its name to Mozilla, and later Firefox, years ago). Also there are dozens of other browsers on the market now too, including ones on the very phones that you guys are supposed to support. Most of them don't even have Javascript support. As such, a page should NEVER require Javascript to function.
Thank you for taking the time to reply to T-Mobile. My name is Hassan and I understand your concern about the Safari Browser on your Mac not being able to send the form for a credit card payment. Please be assured that I will be delighted to help you with this issue and I understand how frustrating it can be not being able to use your favorite browser.What the hell. Do they even read the snippets they're sending out? Do they realize how patronizing their tone is? Do they realize how many people don't run IE anymore, and how important it is to actually, you know, support valued customers?Unfortunately T-mobile does not support any Macintosh programs including the Safari browser. All support is through a Personal Computer based Internet Explorer browser. However, you may try Firefox if it is on your Apple Macintosh. We cannot guarantee connectivity and functionality.
It is our pleasure to provide you with the best possible assistance for all questions and concerns you might have. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank you for being a valued T-Mobile customer since October 22, 2001.
What the hell.
Comments
I wish to close my T-Mobile account, as it is no longer possible to access the billing site from my computer.
cc the CEO if you can. And check the contract to see if there's any way you can claim any contract is now void.
I don't like making empty threats of terminating my account, especially since they might just follow through on it.
At least there's a chance at least one of the people in their help desk pool is not entirely clueless and not obviously reading off a script. That's more than I would've expected.
Safari is only on Macintosh systems which are a fraction of the market. Furthermore, only a fraction of Macintosh users use Safari. Many of them use Firefox.
You gotta draw the support line somewhere, and Safari fails it. Running OSX and Safari is like having an expensive imported European car. Not every mechanic will be able to work on it, labor and parts will be expensive.
Gedvondur
Also, supporting Firefox, in MOST cases, means supporting Safari as well. The problem is that every now and then some little minor stupid defect sneaks in which makes something not quite work on Safari, which is ALL I WAS POINTING OUT.
Like, duh, if it were a huge amount of burden to support Safari on top of Firefox, it wouldn't be worth supporting to begin with, but also nobody would use it to begin with because it wouldn't work right.
Also, Safari ISN'T just on the Mac. It's essentially the same damn browser as Konqueror, which is pretty popular on Linux. (I know, that's splitting hairs, and the number of Konqueror users is probably way lower than the number of Safari users, but still, it's not like Konqueror is an expensive gourmet BMW which comes with a case of beluga caviar.)
And anyway, the site does work on Firefox, and clearly they support it (as in function on it), they just don't support it (as in allow their support monkeys to acknowledge its existence).
Not even close. The "worst" (or best, depending on who you talk to) estimate for MS usage stands at 67% to Firefox's 25%, staying all the way up to 85-86% on a majority of the browser indexes. All but one put Firefox under 15%.
I also have to wonder where WebSideStory gets their data from. Also, it's unfair to aggregate all versions of IE together when the T-Mobile support people were SPECIFICALLY saying to use IE 6. You need to look at just IE 6.
There's not a single mention of IE6 in the emails above, just Windows PC with IE.
Now to break out the old PC with IE2 on it and bitch that you're doing as they suggested.