I got an e-mail from the Economist today, saying they were moving some
of their online content back behind the subscriber firewall, but since
I was a print subscriber, I just needed to go and click this link and
enter the code they included in the email thusly:
Customer reference number: 1234567
So that's what I do. And I get this message:
"Please check that 1234567 is your Customer Reference Number.
If it is incorrect please resubmit it.
Your Customer Reference Number is 8 digits. Please refer to your most
recent copy of The Economist to see it on your mailing label beginning
with 0 (zero).
If your Customer Reference Number does not match this format or is not
validated please contact our subscription helpdesk."
Sure enough, I go back, add a zero and it works properly. I wonder if
contacting their subscription help desk and telling them their
programmers are idiots would accomplish anything.
And don't even get me started on software stripping leading zeroes
from addresses (house numbers or zipcodes can have leading zeroes, you
morons.) Never, ever, load address data into excel.
d.
