![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Aggravation
Dec. 9th, 2007 12:39 pmI keep running into this. An online business will ask for information and provide a wide field, then reject the entry with no explanation. Eventually I learn that while the field is X characters wide, the software only accepts X minus Y characters.
I see this most often with ZIP codes. There will be a field wide enough for ZIP+4 and often more. Only, if I enter all ten characters I get an error message. Sometimes the site explains that only the original 5-character ZIP is allowed. Sometimes it just tells me that what I entered in the field is wrong. (Leaving me ranting "It's my ZIP Code! How can it be wrong?!")
If you want the original, five-character ZIP SAY SO!!! Likewise, don't provide a field larger than what your software will accept! And if you want a phone number in a non-standard format (the US standard being (Area Code) XXX-YYYY) STATE THIS!!
I see this most often with ZIP codes. There will be a field wide enough for ZIP+4 and often more. Only, if I enter all ten characters I get an error message. Sometimes the site explains that only the original 5-character ZIP is allowed. Sometimes it just tells me that what I entered in the field is wrong. (Leaving me ranting "It's my ZIP Code! How can it be wrong?!")
If you want the original, five-character ZIP SAY SO!!! Likewise, don't provide a field larger than what your software will accept! And if you want a phone number in a non-standard format (the US standard being (Area Code) XXX-YYYY) STATE THIS!!
