[plug] webmaster tyranny

[Benjamin Woods]

PLUGgers,

You may be interested in this. I sent an email off to the QBE complaints
department and got this response.

Cheers,
Ben

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Complaints <complaints at qbe.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 7:36 AM
Subject: Re: Complaint with online quote system
To: Benjamin Woods <woodsb02 at gmail.com>



Dear Mr Woods,

Thank you for taking the time to provide your comments regarding our quoting
system and the SSL certificate. These have been passed onto the appropriate
areas.

We are aware of the online quote's limitations and have a replacement system
in development which will be compatible with most browsers.

Although we are unable to offer you an online solution today, I can arrange
to have one of our Insurance Specialists contact you at a suitable time to
arrange a quote over the phone.  If you wish to take up this suggestion,
please email me with your contact details.

Regards


Lyndal Arnott
Manager, Customer Relations
Legal and Compliance


Direct: +61 2 8275 9578   Fax: +61 2 8275 9022
Email: lyndal.arnott at qbe.com
Visit us on the web at www.qbe.com



 *"Benjamin Woods" <woodsb02 at gmail.com>*

23/07/2008 10:33 PM
  To
complaints at qbe.com  cc

 Subject
Complaint with online quote system






This complaint should be directed towards the IT department, namely those
responsible for the online quote web pages.

My complaint is simple: the online quote system does not support browsers
other than Internet Explorer. For an example of this problem, please see the
attached screenshot.

Not only does this limit Microsoft Windows users from using their favourite
web browser, it also prevents anyone using an operating system other than
Microsoft Windows from being able to receive an online quote. In today's
world, operating systems such as Mac OS X and Linux are becoming extremely
popular. This is magnified by the latest release of products from Apple such
as the iPhone; many people are buying Apple laptops as they have been
convinced that Apple is able to provide simple and effective hardware and
systems. By restricting online quotes to Internet Explorer users only, QBE
has effectively denied this market. I know of many people who have expressed
their frustrations at this, and it is even being discussed on some online
forums; a fact that undoubtedly leaves QBE with a damaged name in the minds
of those users.

Further more, the SSL certificate offered by the secure online quote web
pages is only valid for
*westernqbequote.com.au*<http://westernqbequote.com.au/>and not
*qbequote.com.au* <http://qbequote.com.au/>. This leads to an error being
displayed to users of Mozilla Firefox version 3 and above. Please see the
second screenshot attached.

I am aware that IT issues such as this are not QBE's core business, but
users affected by these issues are fare less likely to seek insurance from
QBE. I therefore believe that issues like this should be taken seriously by
marketing and IT.

Regards,

Ben

-- 
From: Benjamin Woods*
**woodsb02 at gmail.com* <woodsb02 at gmail.com>
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