UKNM: Communicating trust poorly: Zoom.co.uk

[azeem azhar, lists]

Another poor example of communicating trust: www.zoom.co.uk


The firm is advertising in national papers with some advertising tag-line

as "Zoom.co.uk : you'll be amazed". (or something similar).


Except when you get to the Web site, there is no details about what the

site is about. It looks like an overly designed navigation service meets

shopping mall. Apart from the recognisable brands of the merchants, there

is no information about the firm, who has created this or what they do (or

what there aim is.)


Not even a copyright notice.


The only way of contacting them is via a premium rate phone number (25

pence per minute).


It turns out after you register (which includes a mandatory home phone

number field), soom is a "free ISP"-cum-portal service. There is even a

button which says "Complete registration and set-up computer" which affects

your Window's dial-up (RAS/TCP/IP) scripts to configure them for Zoom. (I

think, I'm on a Mac so it wouldn't work)


Questions:


1. Why aren't Zoom up front as to who *and* what they are?

2. Why when one registers does it not tell you you are signing up for an

ISP service?

3. Why can't you contact Zoom, except by the heavily promoted premium rate

phone number?


In fact, a bunch of lessons for us all. We should be clear with our sites

aims and goals. Our customers should know up front what we are providing

and what they are getting. (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990307.html) Zoom

obfuscates this. Why?


and number four

4. Who is behind it anyway?

a


azeem azhar 			| www http://azeem.azhar.co.uk/

tel 0958 544 593 		| icq 315460

fax 0171 691 0464		| pgp http://azeem.azhar.co.uk/pgp/


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