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Customer dis-service
Jul. 29th, 2005 12:01 pmI just tried to buy something from Iomega's online store.
It wouldn't accept one ID I had from previous purchases and it wasn't clear how to enter the info for the other. So I chose "guest checkout".
After going thru several screens and entering shipping address, billing address, credit card info, etc I got to the final screen.
The last item on that screen was "Create Account (Optional)". and it had ever so helpfully filled in a username based on the throwaway email address I'd given them.
Well, surprise, surprise. It *wasn't* optional. First it complained that the username (remember *they* filled it in!) wasn't acceptable because it contained characters other that letters and numbers (a dash). So I cleared it out. Then it complained that the username had to be between 6 & 24 characters long.
So much for "optional".
Now add in the fact that I had a couple of rebate codes that Iomega had sent me for screwups on previous orders (one sent in Sept 04, the other in Jan 05) and that the order system claimed that both were invalid. (Gee, nice to fail to mention that there was a time limit when you sent them to me) I was fed up.
And for that matter, I'd complained about the non-optional nature of that "create an account" BS several *years* ago when I first encountered it. The *only* change they've made was adding the message explaining why the userID isn't acceptable.
So, I sent customer support a nastygram pointing out all of this and telling them I was so annoyed that I'd cancelled the attempt to order. And that I saw no valid reason for this whole "account creation" BS in the first place.
We shall see what sort of response I get. My money is on the same sort of nonsense that I got when I fiorst complained about the "non-optional optional" bit.
In the future, if I *need* an Iomega product, I'll buy it from a retailer, so as to reduce the amount of money Iomega gets from the sale.
It wouldn't accept one ID I had from previous purchases and it wasn't clear how to enter the info for the other. So I chose "guest checkout".
After going thru several screens and entering shipping address, billing address, credit card info, etc I got to the final screen.
The last item on that screen was "Create Account (Optional)". and it had ever so helpfully filled in a username based on the throwaway email address I'd given them.
Well, surprise, surprise. It *wasn't* optional. First it complained that the username (remember *they* filled it in!) wasn't acceptable because it contained characters other that letters and numbers (a dash). So I cleared it out. Then it complained that the username had to be between 6 & 24 characters long.
So much for "optional".
Now add in the fact that I had a couple of rebate codes that Iomega had sent me for screwups on previous orders (one sent in Sept 04, the other in Jan 05) and that the order system claimed that both were invalid. (Gee, nice to fail to mention that there was a time limit when you sent them to me) I was fed up.
And for that matter, I'd complained about the non-optional nature of that "create an account" BS several *years* ago when I first encountered it. The *only* change they've made was adding the message explaining why the userID isn't acceptable.
So, I sent customer support a nastygram pointing out all of this and telling them I was so annoyed that I'd cancelled the attempt to order. And that I saw no valid reason for this whole "account creation" BS in the first place.
We shall see what sort of response I get. My money is on the same sort of nonsense that I got when I fiorst complained about the "non-optional optional" bit.
In the future, if I *need* an Iomega product, I'll buy it from a retailer, so as to reduce the amount of money Iomega gets from the sale.
