Eric J. Gruber

Oh, how this makes my heart cringe.

I was checking out the web sites of banks in town to see who had another option for the small business owner (me) since I’m completely unhappy with Commerce Bank at the moment. (That’s really another story that I won’t get into, but let’s say this: I’ve had a business account with them for two weeks and now I’m shopping around for other options.)

So I come across the web site of People’s Bank, and I poke around. After a few minutes, I get discouraged and decide to leave, mainly because I can’t figure out from its web site if they provide debit cards with their checking accounts. I’m sure they do, but it’s not on their web site, so how do I know for sure?

Before leaving, I decide to take the online survey they link to from their site, and fill out the information. Essentially, I just say that the web site could use some help. I hit submit, and I get an error message written in geekese. (See above picture).

Well, that’s not helpful for anyone at all, is it?

Ways to fix:
1. Test your forms when you put them online to make sure they work.
2. If you do have an error page, make it show something useful, such as the e-mail of the webmaster so you can make he/she aware of the problem.

It’s sadly ironic that the survey, which could be used to help improve the web site, doesn’t work and sends the visitor to a cryptic error message that would surely prompt an unsurly remark in an online survey about the web site.