Something has been winding me up recently. It’s not a major world issue or some kind of life or death problem, more a little annoyance. I hate little annoyances.
It’s registration forms on websites. This doesn’t apply to all sites, just those that you’re paying for a product or service and they insist on you registering first. Take Virgin trains for example. I never use Virgin Trains but have to use them this week for work. I went to the site, found my ticket and tried to buy it. Only problem is that they want all of my details when all they really need is a phone number, credit card and email address. And they only need them once for that transaction as I don’t intend using the service again anytime soon.
Instead, they want my full address and other details that they just don’t need. It’s obvious why they do it, so they can mail me with offers and info and sell my details to 3rd parties. Only problem is that I always uncheck those boxes. I’m not interested in a half price special to Runcorn or discounted entry to Chester Zoo. All I want to do is buy 1 return ticket, get my train and be done with it.
Dominos pizza do it well. They give you the option to register to make future purchases easier, but they don’t insist on it. I guess the point is that I have an option to use another pizza company, but by the way our rail network is set up, I have to pay Branson to use the rail network that our taxes have paid for. Branson knows this so we doesn’t have to give us the option not to register.
The net result (pun very much intended) is that my web experience is slowed down and I dislike Virgin Trains before I’ve even used the service. As I mentioned, I’m not against all registration. If I’m getting a service or content for free then chances are I’ll give my details as a trade off. When a money grabbing billionaire want to sell my details and market to me, even though I’m forced to use ‘their’ trains, well that’s a different story.
Update
To make matters worse, Branson also charges for using wifi on his trains. £4.90 an hour. How is that justified? A web cafe charges around £1 an hour tops. Why is it nearly 500% more on his/our train? The East Coast line provides it for free. As a further kick in the teeth it is impossible to get anything approaching a decent signal on O2 anywhere on the 2 hour journey I made to Chester. Guess what, you have to register again to use the web with him!
I want my web back Branson, stop demanding my details and give me free/reasonable priced wifi. It’s most ridiculous thing you’ve done since your guest appearance in Baywatch
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