Recently, while attempting to use the Westpac website for online banking, I experienced some problems. Not wanting to phone their hotline, I attempted to contact them via email. Like so many other larger organisations, Westpac don’t publish their support email addresses, insisting you use their “online feedback” form instead.
This is precisely where my troubles began.
However, their online feedback form wouldn’t work in Firefox. After trying a few times, from different locations, and smelling a rat, I switched to the dreaded Internet Explorer.
That worked.
Not seeing any warnings about browser compatibility on the Westpac site, I thought I’d better let them know that their website is partially crippled if you use a standards-compliant browser.
Below is a chronological transcript of our correspondence over the two week period, which illustrates just how confusing and protracted communication can be at times, especially when dealing with monolithic corporations like Westpac.
My original message via their online feedback:
From: xxx@lutrov.com
To: online@westpac.com.au
Subject: 200509270098 - Customer service feedback - Complaint for Lutrov
Date: 27/09/2005 1:37:38 PM
Your “customer complaints and feedback” form seems to be crippled. Clicking on the “complaints and compliments” link on this page:
http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/
Content/WIICCI+Contact+Us
is supposed to take me here:
http://www.westpac.com.au/Forms/single_page_forms.nsf/
f_customerServiceFeedbackServiceProblem
Using Mozilla Firefox (V1.07) I don’t get any response from your server even after 10 minutes of waiting. Yes, that’s right, 10 minutes. Suspecting that your website may not like a standards-compliant browser like Firefox, I tried the same in Internet Explorer (V6). What happened next? Well, after a couple of minutes I finally got the form I wanted.
This is not the first time I’ve had this problem, either. This has been an problem for at least several months, probably more, and it occurs in at least two different operating environments (Windows XP, Windows 2000) and at least two different physical locations (office, home).
Running the W3C markup validation service at:
http://validator.w3.org/check?
uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.westpac.com.au%2FInternet%2F
Publish.nsf%2FContent%2FIndex&charset%28detect+automatically%29
&doctype=Inline&ss=1#line-167
shows me that the offending page has a bunch of errors.
Looking at the output, I can see that your website developers obviously still have a few bugs but I can’t see any obvious reason why a standards-compliant browser would not be able to render the output you present. Because your website doesn’t show any specific browser restrictions, the obvious implication is that your website works with most browsers, certainly with all the major ones.
Is my assumption there correct? If so, can you please explain why the page seems to be crippled and when your customers can expect to have something that works?
Their reply, a week later:
From: online@westpac.com.au
To: xxx@lutrov.com
Subject: RE: 200509270098 - Customer service feedback - Complaint for Lutrov
Date: 05/10/05 12:10
Dear Mr Lutrov
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback.
We are conscious that some non-Microsoft browsers are not currently compatible with all of Westpac Online and Business Online functionality.
A project is underway to test a variety of new and updated browser versions including Firefox, Netscape 8, Mozilla and Safari. We are looking to complete this project in the coming months.
All updates to supported browsers will be advised on the Westpac Security page:
http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/
content/WISEBS+Browser+security#RSR
Thank you again for your comments.
Yours sincerely
Lien Lam
Customer Relations Consultant
Westpac Banking Corporation
Email: online@westpac.com.au
My response to them, shortly after:
From: xxx@lutrov.com
To: online@westpac.com.au
Subject: 200509270098 - Customer service feedback - Complaint for Lutrov
Date: 5/10/2005 12:35:03 PM
Lien,
Thanks for your reply. Not trying to tell you how to run your business, but can I suggest that you should be notifying your customers that your website doesn’t work properly, unless they use Microsoft browsers?
The way it is now, it seems like such a waste of your customers time, and to be frank, I’m surprised a large organisation such as yours (with a generally good reputation) would conceal that design flaw from your customers.
Cheers,
Ivan Lutrov.
Their reply to me, a few hours later:
From: online@westpac.com.au
To: xxx@lutrov.com
Subject: RE: 200509270098 - Customer service feedback - Complaint for Lutrov
Date: 05/10/05 17:26
Dear Lutrov
Thank you for your email.
The recommended browsers and versions is available online at
http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/
Content/WISEBS+Browser+security
Yours sincerely
Lien Lam
Customer Relationship Consultant
Westpac Banking Corporation
Email: online@westpac.com.au
My impassioned response to them, shortly after:
From: xxx@lutrov.com
To: online@westpac.com.au
Subject: 200509270098 - Customer service feedback - Complaint for Lutrov
Date: 5/10/2005 6:04:34 PM
Thank you for pointing that out.
My point still stands however.
Firstly, the fact that I have to “hunt” for this information is not good enough. From your front page, the user has to click on “Westpac info > Security > Browser set up” to get to that page. Apart from the fact that the page is three clicks away, do you really think that it’s intuitive to keep your website’s browser-compatibility under “security”?
I don’t. And I bet most of your customers don’t.
Secondly, I’m amazed that you only “recommend” Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator. Besides the fact that your severe limitations indicate that you haven’t made any usability progress for at least two years, you’re not clearly stating that your website has these severe limitations. This information is too important to your customers for them to have to “hunt” for it. It should be in the footer of every page.
Sincerely,
Ivan Lutrov.
PS: Starting an email with the words “Dear Lutrov” makes you look careless. My initial contact form to you clearly states that “Lutrov” is my surname. Perhaps you should use “Dear Ivan”, or “Dear Mr Lutrov” or perhaps dispense with the “Dear” altogether.
Their apology and explanation, about a week later:
From: online@westpac.com.au
To: xxx@lutrov.com
Subject: RE: 200509270098 - Customer service feedback - Complaint for Lutrov
Date: 12/10/05 16:35
Dear Mr Lutrov
Please accept my sincere apology for my mistake in informally greeting you just by your surname.
Thank you for your feedback in relation to the location of the browser information.
We’re conscious of the issues some of our users encounter when using non Microsoft browser & operating system combinations, along with more recent versions of the Gecko (Netscape/Firefox) rendering engine. Over recent months a project has been on addressing W3C/WAI compliance where technically possible.
As this is an ongoing process we have also initiated a browser compatibility initiative, where focus for us will be ensuring consistent usability of our web complex and all its functions across a wider variety of rendering engines and operating systems. It is an issue we have started to address wherever technically possible throughout the current project and one that lessens as an impact when standards complaint [sic] code is introduced via the project team.
Your suggestion around promoting our browser compatibility will be considered for content enhancements. In the meantime, our site also has a very effective search engine to assist customers in locating information on our site.
Thank you again for your comments.
Yours sincerely
Lien Lam
Customer Relations Consultant
Westpac Banking Corporation
Email: online@westpac.com.au
So my suggestion that they should be clearly indicating their lack of browser compatibility on every page will be considered? They could have said that the first time. This is a good example of just what’s wrong with large organisations and their call centre strategy: they’re polite, but do they really listen to their customers?
And as far as whether they will actually do anything: considering they have admitted that their entire website isn’t standards-compliant, I’m not betting on it happening anytime soon.
Join the discussion. 4 responses so far.
You see it's your banking fees that fund these types of projects at Westpac!!!!! :)
Quite frankly I am surprised that their site was never tested with W3C compliance in mind, nor that it was verified against some of the most common operating environments. The IT world is not dominated by Microsoft!
Westpac obviously don't spend their money on comprehensive development or testing, yet they have the audacity to charge one of the highest interest rates on Credit Cards out there. They really are EASTPAC - a la Fast Forward's most notable send ups!
Yours sincerely, Testing Nazi
PS. I like your sites tips on language, it took a lot of determinationm on my part to keep it toned down! :-)
Westpac is just terrible, thanks to their ongoing cutbacks their branches are declining in number, the amount of tellers in each bank is declining and customers have to wait sometimes up to 20 minutes in long lines just to bank a cheque (like I did in their Strathfield office), their cut backs are diluting their services to the point they are completely degraded.
In the branches they encourage customers to use their online banking but just like the branches that is terrible too - its often down for many hours at a time, every week!!
It seems like the profit hungry Westpac can justify their ongoing cut backs and resulting poor service because they feel that their customers are ignorant fools who are more than happy to endure their "cattle class" treatment.
I am going to a credit union !
I've just had major problems with WestPac. I sold one of two investment houses which were jointly mortgaged with THE BANK the first house settled on Friday 16th but I wasn't allowed to access my money till the next Thursday 22nd. Then on Thursday ‘Internet Banking' wouldn't allow me to access my account, password wouldn't allow access. So I phoned the bank regarding this and four passwords, 4 ½ hours and 8 phonecalls later - the result - 1st they wouldn't allow me to withdraw my money from the mortgage account, I would have to open another account and transfer the money into the new account then I could access the money (I would have to visit a branch to do this); or I could order a cheque book account, this would take 10 days or so (but I would have to visit a branch); there is no bank nearby I would have to travel 300km. I wouldn't be able to do this till Saturday and I would take a day off work and drive around eight hours there and back as the bank isn't open Saturday except in the city, after another telephone call I'm told I can transfer money into my equity account and access my money this way; or order a Bank Cheque (but I would have to visit a branch; Yaahoooo, I transferred some money into another account so I can pay some bills, u n b e l i e v a b l e. Then on Monday they closed my account with my money in it and I'm still waiting to get my money out, three phone calls later I'm now told I have to wait till Tuesday before I can pay bills - the computer doesn't update till midnight. Problem solved!! Or is it? So stay tuned to see what happens......
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