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Big Finish FAIL
I am flying across the country and back again this weekend, and I thought, "What better time to go download Big Finish audios than when I have two six-hour flights coming up over the next four days?" So, I went to the Big Finish site to make my very first audio purchase.
First difficulty -- it's not at all obvious how to navigate through the site to find the audio you want. However, the difficulty is resolved by a search engine that does in fact take me to the right thing to click on to get the audio (my choice being "Marian Conspiracy" if you're curious).
Second difficulty -- it turns out that Big Finish won't let me buy anything until I register. This took me by surprise, actually. I had thought I could just show up and give them a credit card number -- after all, the airline I'm flying just let me make a far larger purchase without registering. But Big Finish wants me officially registered to make a measly $7.99 purchase. Fine. I give them my info.
Third difficulty -- I need to think of a password for the Big Finish registration. The password instructions say it has to be at least six characters. Easy -- I have two standard passwords that fit into that constraint. But wait, as I enter one, new text appears saying the password has to have two numbers as well. Apparently this $7.99 purchase needs to be protected by a high-security password. I don't have a standard password that fits six or more characters and two numbers. I make one up and hope I have some chance in hell of ever remembering it again.
Fourth difficulty -- Once I am registered, the instructions say the site has sent me an email, and I can click on the link if I want to be a member of their wonderful community with all sorts of nifty something-or-others that I don't read and certainly don't care about at the moment, because I just want to download this one audio. Now. Because this has already taken far longer than I bargained for, and I still have to pack.
Fifth difficulty -- the page for ordering "Marian Conspiracy" has disappeared. I have to search for it again.
Sixth difficulty -- Even though I just registered, I have to put in my login and password before I can click on the link to request my audio.
Seventh difficulty -- I click on "download audio" and get directed to a page that tells me I am an "unverified account." Apparently I have to now go to my email and click on the verification link in order to make a purchase after all, even though the instructions only talked about "member of the community" benefits. Which I thought was posting on forums or something, and not the basic "oh wait, you mean you wanted to buy something?" feature. (Which you would think they would make easy, but . . . )
Eighth difficulty -- after I go to my email, click on the link, get directed to yet ANOTHER page which tells me I am successfully verified, I have to search for "Marian Conspiracy" AGAIN to get back to that page. This is search #3 now.
Ninth difficulty -- and oh yes, of course! I am STILL not automatically logged in after completing this second step of my registration. I have to put in my login and password AGAIN. (On the bright side, the repetition in the password means I am that much less likely to forget it by Monday. Still a good chance, though . . . )
Tenth difficulty -- I click on the link, and spend several minutes trying to figure out how to get the system to recognize my order. Finally I notice a small little box off to the side (easily hidden among the big boxes advertising other downloads and subscriptions) that seems to be my order, with a "check-out" button.
Eleventh difficulty -- I am very close to making my $7.99 purchase. I can see it. And yet, after I fill out my credit card and billing information, I am taken to a "Verified by Visa" screen where I am informed that I am lucky enough to get to enter my password, at no cost to me, to verify that this is indeed my account, because Big Finish is a participating merchant. I am so lucky. Unfortunately, I don't have a "Verified by Visa" password. So I click on the "don't have a password?" link and get taken to another screen (how many has this been now? I've lost count) so I can put in all the information I just put in on the purchase screen, with the addition of the last four digits of my SSN, and get the chance to get a password so I can make this purchase. Which I apparently want very, very much, because this is four times longer and ten times more complicated than buying airline tickets for hundreds of dollars. Okay. I put it all in, click on enter or submit or whatever, and get told that something is wrong.
Twelfth difficulty -- I am absolutely, completely fed up with the entire thing. I don't even care what was wrong. I bail out. The Doctor has just run out of regenerations.
I think I'll go buy an audiobook from iTunes instead.
(And, because I know someone will ask -- will I ever give Big Finish another chance? Maybe, if I'm feeling in a particularly patient mood and have a lot of time at my disposal. But never again on the night before I'm leaving on a trip, when I've got lots of other things I need to do with my time.)
First difficulty -- it's not at all obvious how to navigate through the site to find the audio you want. However, the difficulty is resolved by a search engine that does in fact take me to the right thing to click on to get the audio (my choice being "Marian Conspiracy" if you're curious).
Second difficulty -- it turns out that Big Finish won't let me buy anything until I register. This took me by surprise, actually. I had thought I could just show up and give them a credit card number -- after all, the airline I'm flying just let me make a far larger purchase without registering. But Big Finish wants me officially registered to make a measly $7.99 purchase. Fine. I give them my info.
Third difficulty -- I need to think of a password for the Big Finish registration. The password instructions say it has to be at least six characters. Easy -- I have two standard passwords that fit into that constraint. But wait, as I enter one, new text appears saying the password has to have two numbers as well. Apparently this $7.99 purchase needs to be protected by a high-security password. I don't have a standard password that fits six or more characters and two numbers. I make one up and hope I have some chance in hell of ever remembering it again.
Fourth difficulty -- Once I am registered, the instructions say the site has sent me an email, and I can click on the link if I want to be a member of their wonderful community with all sorts of nifty something-or-others that I don't read and certainly don't care about at the moment, because I just want to download this one audio. Now. Because this has already taken far longer than I bargained for, and I still have to pack.
Fifth difficulty -- the page for ordering "Marian Conspiracy" has disappeared. I have to search for it again.
Sixth difficulty -- Even though I just registered, I have to put in my login and password before I can click on the link to request my audio.
Seventh difficulty -- I click on "download audio" and get directed to a page that tells me I am an "unverified account." Apparently I have to now go to my email and click on the verification link in order to make a purchase after all, even though the instructions only talked about "member of the community" benefits. Which I thought was posting on forums or something, and not the basic "oh wait, you mean you wanted to buy something?" feature. (Which you would think they would make easy, but . . . )
Eighth difficulty -- after I go to my email, click on the link, get directed to yet ANOTHER page which tells me I am successfully verified, I have to search for "Marian Conspiracy" AGAIN to get back to that page. This is search #3 now.
Ninth difficulty -- and oh yes, of course! I am STILL not automatically logged in after completing this second step of my registration. I have to put in my login and password AGAIN. (On the bright side, the repetition in the password means I am that much less likely to forget it by Monday. Still a good chance, though . . . )
Tenth difficulty -- I click on the link, and spend several minutes trying to figure out how to get the system to recognize my order. Finally I notice a small little box off to the side (easily hidden among the big boxes advertising other downloads and subscriptions) that seems to be my order, with a "check-out" button.
Eleventh difficulty -- I am very close to making my $7.99 purchase. I can see it. And yet, after I fill out my credit card and billing information, I am taken to a "Verified by Visa" screen where I am informed that I am lucky enough to get to enter my password, at no cost to me, to verify that this is indeed my account, because Big Finish is a participating merchant. I am so lucky. Unfortunately, I don't have a "Verified by Visa" password. So I click on the "don't have a password?" link and get taken to another screen (how many has this been now? I've lost count) so I can put in all the information I just put in on the purchase screen, with the addition of the last four digits of my SSN, and get the chance to get a password so I can make this purchase. Which I apparently want very, very much, because this is four times longer and ten times more complicated than buying airline tickets for hundreds of dollars. Okay. I put it all in, click on enter or submit or whatever, and get told that something is wrong.
Twelfth difficulty -- I am absolutely, completely fed up with the entire thing. I don't even care what was wrong. I bail out. The Doctor has just run out of regenerations.
I think I'll go buy an audiobook from iTunes instead.
(And, because I know someone will ask -- will I ever give Big Finish another chance? Maybe, if I'm feeling in a particularly patient mood and have a lot of time at my disposal. But never again on the night before I'm leaving on a trip, when I've got lots of other things I need to do with my time.)
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That doesn't bode well for my downloading the Eight-and-extended-universe-companions audio from BF, unless I'm willing to invest some time in the exercise...