Here. For You. Somewhere.

It’s 1:10 a.m. I want to know what my residential long distance rate is. My provider of long distances services is Aliant (formerly known as Island Tel). So, logically, I go to www.aliant.com to look for the answer.


I click on Products & Services on their main home page. So far so good.


I see the words “Local & long-distance telephone” on the next page. But, oops, that’s not a hyperlink. I scan down and find ” Visit Aliant.net” and click on that.


It’s not all that easy to find, but hidden up in the top-left corner of the next page is a button labelled “Telecom Services.” I click on that.


Now I’m at “Aliant.net Telecom Services” and I have to select my province. I click on “Prince Edward Island.”


This next page is weird — all the text and images at the top of the page is covered by big blue boxes filled with what look like menu items. Thinking this might be a problem with my beta Safari browser, I load up the page in Mozilla, but the page looks exactly the same. I try Internet Explorer, but the page won’t load at all. I finally decide to try clicking on “Learn more about Aliant’s products, services and promotions” (oddly, that’s very similar to the link I clicked on 5 pages ago called Products & Services; no matter).


Old brands die hard: although it has the Aliant look and feel, the next page is actually on the old Island Tel webserver, and has an islandtel.pe.ca web address. I click on “Home Solutions” (no more products or services — I’m on to “Solutions” now!)


Over on the left-hand side of the next page (in the look and feel of the old Island Tel website, no less), I click on “Long Distance.”


On the next page, titled “Residential Long Distance Savings Plans”, I figure out that I should probably select “Truly…Yours By The Day” (which, if you ask me, sounds like some sort of escort service, but no matter).


Hey, hey — I found what I was looking for! Here’s what it says on this, the ninth page I’ve visited:

Aliant now offers Long Distance plain and simple. One simple bill — all for a flat rate: 17¢ a minute, anywhere in Canada (including N.W.T.), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Just for the record, my journey took me through nine pages on six webservers:

  • aliant.com
  • aliant.ca
  • aliant.net
  • broadband-largebande.aliant.net
  • www.atlanticzone.ca
  • www.islandtel.pe.ca

I experienced five different “look and feels” on this journey, and used eight different navigational metaphors.

Truly. Here. For You. Somewhere.

Comments

Cameraguy's picture
Cameraguy on May 30, 2003 - 12:00 Permalink

I’ve experienced very similar “journeys”. Here’s my most recent.

I found an Aliant webpage entitled “how to send a text message”. Step 1 said to click on the “SEND MESSAGE” icon on the Aliant.net welcome page… (the 6th-page of your journey)..

Hmmmm… no “send message” icon there!

Thank goodness that the cover of my new phone book carries a gigantic logo. I wouldn’t know who thank for this amazing service without this reminder.

Rob Paterson's picture
Rob Paterson on May 30, 2003 - 12:52 Permalink

I ahve just got a flyer asking me to look at high speed packages. But I am a “busuness customer” (what a joke that is) and this doesn’t apply to me the whole effort is meaningless

Ken's picture
Ken on May 30, 2003 - 15:24 Permalink

Just yesterday I too took the same pointless journey in search of Solo Prepaid info…

Bob Smith's picture
Bob Smith on March 17, 2004 - 22:32 Permalink

If you were unable to find the text messaging on aliant.net thats a sad statment for yourself, however.. the website is a total car crash, agreed.