* * * * *
                                        
      Bad user interface mixed with uncertainty in debit card transaction
   processing leads to a frustrated customer, but in the end all Oligarchist
    Cell Phone Companies are equally bad so it's no use switching providers
                                        
Sigh.

All I wanted to do was pay a portion of the cellphone bill (Spring [1] is
getting the other half). I log into the payment site, and yes, they do have
an option to pay a partial amount.

Good. I type in 68 for the amount. Then the debit card information, yada yada
yada, hit submit, and find out that I paid 68¢ of the bill.

Blink.

Blink.

Okay, I admit, I missed the confirmation screen, but I was concentrating on
the “Debit Card Transaction” option:

> Debit transactions may be processed via the STAR, Pulse, ACCEL, or NYCE
> networks. Please uncheck this checkbox if you do not want your transaction
> processed via the STAR, Pulse, ACCEL, or NYCE networks so your transaction
> can be routed through the Visa or MasterCard network, as appropriate.
> 

Okay, whatever that is.

See, I'm already distracted from my primary task, which is to give the
Oligarchist Cell Phone Company money.

I select the “What's this?” link:

> If this box is not checked, the debit transaction will be processed through
> the Visa or MasterCard network. Contact your financial institution for more
> information about what the different methods of processing mean for you.
> 

Um … whatever. I just want to make a partial payment, and that's why I didn't
notice the 68¢ payment amount before authorizing the transaction.

I would like to think there was some discussion about interpretation of
inputs. I know myself, if I were paying 1¢ for payment, I would type in 0.01,
and for paying a dollar, I would probably type in 1, seeing how I just typed
in 68.

But I could see the rational here—there's an option to pay the entire bill,
so the user wouldn't have to type in any amount and with a partial payment
option, I suppose it's possible that someone would be likely to pay less than
a dollar, although I find that odd myself. And they do have a confirmation
screen, but the “Debit Card Transaction” option drew more attention than the
actual data I just typed in.

This wouldn't be so bad but now I'm having trouble paying $67.32, because all
I get now is:

> PM700: We're sorry, but we are experiencing a temporary system error that
> prevents us from processing your payment.
> 

Is that because I'm trying to do back-to-back debit card transactions? Do I
need to wait? Or is there an actual error because the transaction server is
down? Or the link to the bank is down? Or what?

Sigh.

[1] http://www.springdew.com/

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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