Early last week I wrote a letter to TEP, complaining about how horrible and confusing it was to pay my bill with their implementation of MyCheckFree. I got a response from the webmaster and we had a friendly train of correspondence that ended with me happily getting switched over to their “new” e-bill feature. This “new” feature is already 3 years old, but gosh, some things you just don’t ever find out if you don’t open your mouth and complain. Glad I did. Good riddance, MyCheckFree!
Ever since then, I’ve been impatiently for my next TEP bill. Yes, really. I’ve been eager to try out the “new” e-bill system and see how it compares. Also, I told Michael the webmaster that I’d give him my feedback. So here it is!
Step 1: Looks the same at this point!
Step 1: Login to account manager and click on the “View/Pay Bill” button. It’s suspiciously exactly like it was before so far, but I have faith that it will be better! I wonder if it’ll take me directly to my current bill.
Step 2: Look! Pretty and organized!
Step 2: Nope. Not my current bill, but what’s this lovely looking list? Could it be my bills in reverse chronological order, starting with the current bill? It is! What a great change from before, when the list of bills seemed to be randomized like my iTunes on shuffle, or like I was playing hide and seek with my current bill. It looks way nicer, too! And there are pretty buttons that look like buttons and, more importantly, they’re all consistent in appearance so far!
Step 3: I’m going to click on “Pay” now. Wish me luck! Wha? An error dialog box? What did I do? Wait, it’s not an error message. It wants me to set up my bank account information. Hmm. Wasn’t expecting this type of dialog box; it’s a bit odd. Also, it’s a little bit of a hassle that I have to enter in my banking info again, but it makes sense that I should have to since I haven’t used this particular system before.
- Step 3: Oh! Not an error; it’s a confirmation.
- Step 3.5: Ooh, shiny!
Step 3.5: (Not counting this as a full step, since I wouldn’t normally have to enter in my banking information.) Decent looking form, and the buttons are still looking consistent! They’re still in the wrong order, though, but it’s not the worst of things. And to be fair, Jakob Nielsen says that it doesn’t matter. I’d still like to think there should be a web standard for this, but yeah, not the worst of things. As long as it stays consistent!
Step 4: (I’m not taken directly back to the payment screen, but it’s easier to find now!) Now I click on “Pay” one more time, expecting to be taken straight to my payment screen and be on my way! Except . . . there’s another one of those pesky dialog boxes. What did I do wrong this time? Oh. I see. It wants me to confirm my action. Not sure how I feel about this one – I think it’s unnecessary step.
- Step 5: Simple and straightforward.
Step 5: Ah ha! Here’s my payment screen, and doesn’t it look pretty and simple. I enter the relevant information and then I press the “Submit” button and I’m pleasantly surprised to have a very straightforward payment confirmation screen – no extra, superfluous steps like with MyCheckFree! Wow, I was seriously not expecting it to be that easy, but like I said, I’m pleased. And I’m even given a link back to “My Payments” so I can double check or edit my payment if I need to.
Huge improvement, TEP! And thanks, Michael the webmaster, for letting me know this was available for use instead of MyCheckFree! My only complaint, really, is the dialog boxes. They’re a little unexpected, and I’m not sure why they are from the browser instead of the application itself – perhaps that would make them less jarring? All in all, I’m now a much happier customer and not just because my bill was way lower this month thanks to the change in temperature.
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Tags: customer service win, tep, user experience, ux, website
This is great news! I hated mycheckfree.
Me too! And I'm so happy that it was a quick and seamless switch!