While trying to get some shopping done on the interwebnet today, I was met by this jewel of an error message:
We are sorry for the inconvenience. Our site currently supports only Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher. This is due to the advanced features used in the product customization process.
If you do not have Internet Explorer, it may be downloaded for free at Microsoft’s website here.
If you are currently using Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher and are reading this message, there may have been an error. Please inform the webmaster.
This was all courtesy of the Staples Mark The World e-commerce store. While it’s a very user-friendly error I still noticed some problems with it. I sent their webmaster the following email:
Dearest Webmaster,
I regret to inform you of a typo on the web browser checking page on the Mark The World website. Currently, this page reads as follows:
We are sorry for the inconvenience. Our site currently supports only Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher. This is due to the advanced features used in the product customization process.
It should read as so:
We are sorry for the inconvenience. Our site currently supports only Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher. This is due to the horrible incompetence of our web developers.
In all honesty, whoever is maintaining your site should be fired right now. Seriously. Walk down the hall and tell them to clean out their desks. This sort of error is unacceptable. No large business should be doing this sort of browser detection and user-blocking in 2006.
I use an Apple computer, so suffice it to say I can’t go to the Microsoft website and download Internet Explorer for free. What’s more, Microsoft abandoned Internet Explorer for Mac more than three years ago. Even on Microsoft’s own website, they recommend that Mac users migrate to “more recent web browsing technologies such as Apple’s Safari.”
As such, I recommend that your website migrate to more recent web development technologies, such as punch cards, file cabinets and vacuum tubes.
Take care, and have a wonderful day.
Cheers,
Dane Petersen
A few minutes later I received the following message back. Is this not just total weak-sauce?
MarktheWorld.com apologizes for any inconvenience. We hope to have the website accessible to other browser options in the future. It is not our intention to stop other browser users from accessing the site. Please contact Staples Direct at 1-800-547-7224 ext. 35688 to try to place your order.
Sincerely,
[email protected]
877-419-1721
www.staples.marktheworld.com
What boilerplate! What tripe! What’s more, I love how personal they get with the “Sincerely, [email protected]” nonsense. No name, not even a made-up name! Unless, as Jake pointed out, it is indeed a person’s name, who was born to some really shitty parents who were total tools of the internet age.
After seeing this, Jake decided that he’s going to change his last name to “Dotcom”, and name his kid “Goatse”.
