I am planning on going to the cinema tomorrow. I just tried to book on Odeon’s web site and received this very unhelpful error message (click for full message)

and there was nothing else. No link to get help. No explanation of what 202 is and, more importantly, every time I followed their ‘try again’ instructions I got the same message.

I am sure they must spend millions on their cinemas to ensure they are giving the customer the optimal experience. So, why don’t they do it on their web site?

I use Mozilla as a browser and I’ve already had to switch to IE just to use Odeon’s site. Then I see they’re using some service tracking facility which is trying to set cookies on my machine – but it can’t because IE blocks them. As I don’t use IE as a browser for anything but Odeon, it’s the default privacy settings that are causing this. Now, I don’t think this looks very good on a secure site. You would have thought that they would want to alarm users as little a possible. It’s a simple thing to prevent by ensuring the third-party cookie is p3p complaint.

All in all, I am torn. I want to book online because it’s convenient right now and, because I find it useful, I want them to see the value of their online presence. On the other hand, this site is making it hard for me to book and I am seriously thinking of going to another cinema.

On this day…

• 2006: Pants To That