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Browser Dependencies

davorg on 2002-08-19T16:31:13

I have a savings account with Egg. One of the things I took into account when choosing them was the fact that their web site worked just fine in my favourite browsers (Galeon or Mozilla on Linux). They'd obviously realised that not everyone uses Internet Explorer. This should, of course, be how all web-based bank accounts work but you hear so many stories about other banks getting it wrong.

Then last week I got an email from Egg introducing some new functionality on their web site. Apparently I can now view balances from other banks on my main Egg page. This would be pretty cool as I have four or five accounts that have online access. I say "apparently" as I haven't been able to access the new pages yet. When I try I get a page saying that the new stuff is not supported on my browser suggesting that I "upgrade" (for free!) to IE. They also apologise that the system is not currently available to Macs.

I've sent a strongly worded email to them but so far I've had no response. I've since seen this thread on uk.comp.os.linux, which says that the new services are being run in conjunction with Microsoft - so things are unlikely to change.

Read similar story

Matts on 2002-08-19T16:46:13

On slashdot of all places, I read a story of someone who found the same from Midlands bank, so had switched to the Halifax's IF (Intelligent Finance). Apparently they're one of the last bastions of browser independant online banking sites in the UK. Shitty situation though.

Perhaps if geeks keep moving to IF, and writing to their banks to let them know why, they'll figure out the problems. Also remember to write to marketing, not to the dev department. That's how to get action on these things.

No such problem with Cahoot

TeeJay on 2002-08-19T19:24:12

I'm banking with cahoot and it still works just fine with Mozilla thank you very much.

Given the current offers from various credit card companies to those who want to switch - you could keep your browser and get an interest holiday on what you owe.

Of course you could always fake the headers - this fixes most such obstacles.

Egg sucks

darobin on 2002-08-19T22:11:34

I once won an online account with the french subsidiary of Egg, ZeBank. At first they were rather cool and relaxed and offered a number of interesting services (genuinely) for free.

Then at some point they started to make accounting mistakes on my account. Those were all repaired within legal delays but still, if I hadn't noticed them I'd have been ripped off. Now they've made that one mistake that has put me in trouble and it's going to take me a little while to get out of it, whether I prove them wrong or not.

I've been hesitant to make commercial recommendations on this site, but honestly ZeBank S**KS D**NKEY C**KS, and I bet the mothership does too. Leave as early as you can.

Egg sucks

2shortplanks on 2002-08-20T08:57:09

Well, you know my opinion on Egg. The reasons I left them (and the hassle it took to close my account) are too long to go into here (I'll tell you over a pint if you want) but never before have I met such ineptitude and a lack of basic understanding.