Kodak - Shop metaphors.....

["Mark Harrison" <Mark.Harrison@xxxxxxx>]

There are two scenarios discussed in this email, both quite long:

The first is the comparison of credit cards payments in-store to those
on-line
The second discusses the fact that a "URL was avaialable".

I should stress, given exactly where I work, and what I do, that these
are my PERSONAL views, but would hope that my experience is relevant and
I may have some insight that those interested in all this would find
useful...

SCENARIO 1:

Mark Hetherington wrote:

>> The "shop" metaphor has been discussed. Here's another
view of that:
>
>> I see a product advertised in the shop window, at an exceptional,
but
>> believable price.
>> I go to the Counter, and ask to purchase.
>> I am asked how I wish to pay.
>> I offer my credit card, which is swiped in an old fashioned
"paper"
Visa
machine.
>> The Visa Slip is returned to me, as my receipt.
>> I go to collect the goods, and am told *there* that the price is
wrong.

> However, that is assuming the card has been swiped. The analogy is
likely to
> be a guy just went to type the information into the till and told you
before
> the card was swiped that the price was incorrect as is more likely to
happen
> in a shop.

I think something slightly different again:

CC debiting is a two-pass process. I think that the best "shop"
metaphor
is as follows:

- I select item shelf, and take to till
- The guy at the till checks the price, says OK and swipes my card
(This checks with the shops acquirer bank that this is valid CC account,
and the acquirer bank may, depending on the limit, checks with my bank
that I have funds available)
(The acquirer bank confirms that the shop can go ahead with this
transaction)
- I am asked to sign the paper slip
- I do so
- The shop presses the "OK - customer's signed" button.

I would expect Kodak's website to do a live CC referal before generating
the confirmation screen, and then do the "OK" equivalent when the
goods
were dispatched (this is normal for a catalogue sales operation.)

As such, the point at which Kodak may have turned round and said
"no" is
AFTER they had swiped my card and done the referal but BERFORE they'd
pressed the "OK" button. (Which side of the signing the slip is
where
the metaphor breaks down.)


SCENARIO 2:

There has been discussion about the fact that a URL was still avaialable
despite the fact that Kodak (claim that they) removed the link to it
>from

The shop metaphor, I submit, is equivalent to having some boxes of goods
AT THE BACK OF THE SHELF with an older, lower price on them - I commonly
have found this, say in Tandy's (showing may age here), and the shop has
always honoured the price on the packet, even if a higher price was also
shown for the same item on an identical packet next to it.


Mark Harrison
Head of Systems, eKingfisher

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