Originally Posted by
Mr H
Given the known fault that scroll wheels can cause dates, destinations and other data held in drop-down lists to be altered after the customer thinks the data has been set then airlines could take steps to fix the situation.
Every single booking system I have used shows a final confirmation screen where you can review all the info regarding what you are about to buy
Problem is, (dumb) computer users are known to click the 'ok' button blindly.......as in
"do you really want to install this virus?"
"would you like to meet single coeds by installing this safe and free application that is going to eat all the resources of your computer and use it as a spam sender?"
"your computer is going to blow up, click 'yes KILL ME!' to do it now, click 'kill me later when I sleep!' to do it when the computer is shutdown.....click 'cancel' to 'cancel and PREVENT DEATH"
in summary, no matter how well designed any system is ......there will always be screws ups and this is even more so when you have 'everyone' using it (as in , everyone that "THINKS" they can use a computer)
The difference in date formats used around the World doesn't help either but reality is that 'do it yourself' booking systems are used all the time and the % of mistakes is VERY small
(I fly few airlines......and at least for the ones I use ....you can always TOTALLY CANCEL a purchase if you do it within 24 hours of booking so even if you screw it up THEN fail to notice this at the final confirmation screen you can STILL look at your receipt and take corrective action)