Authorize.net Shuns Customers : No Plans to Fix Broken Code in Both Firefox and IE 7
Authorize.net’s web interface has always given me that 1997 kind of clunky vibe and I always dread having to use it to issue a refund. I have one eCommerce site that has a very low return rate and thus I rarely need to issue a refund. As a result I never coded in a refund process into my shopping cart which means I have to use their Virtual Terminal.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to make the switch to Firefox you may have been unfortunate enough to discover that you can’t issue a refund in Authorize.net’s virtual terminal. The problem is in a piece of javascript on the site that forces you to enter an expiration date in order to issue a refund. If you did not capture the expiration date in your own database (smart security), you will not know the expiration date as Authorize.net hides it on the transaction details page.
So I’ve been forced to use Internet Explorer for the past year when I needed to issue a refund. Unfortunately I recently decided to give the new IE 7.0 a try and now I run into the same javascript problem in IE.
I initiated a chat session with an Authorize.net agent today and unfortunately I was told that Authorize.net could care less about helping their customers by fixing this problem:
Elaine M: Hi Tony! How may I help you?
Tony Spencer: I would like to know when Authorize.net will be fixing their website so that it will support refunds in Firefox. Currently the site is broken when you try to issue a refund and you are using Firefox for your browser. It requires you to enter a expiration date which is not visible on the original tx. Also it is broken in the new version of Internet Explorer.
Elaine M: We do not have plans to update Java Script to be compatible with Firefox, which is the issue causing the expiration date requirement.
Tony Spencer: You may want to consider fixing it soon. As I said the new version of IE is broken as well so soon you will have many users unable to use your site.
Elaine M: Authorize Net did not create Java Script, and we have built our website to be usable with the latest versions of Internet Explorer.
Tony Spencer: Its not usable with the latest version of Internet Explorer. Download IE 7 and give it try.
Heres a tip from the customer service 101 handbook guys: Lack of concern and snide sarcasm is not the path to high customer satisfaction.
