Beta software

So we’re doing a Beta on some software.  It’s a pretty good thing, though I’m pretty sure I broke it.  See, the software is supposed to handle credit card information and I spent a good two hours last night trying to get the software to understand which credit card network it was processing through.  Except the programmers removed all that.  Very intelligent of them.

Luckily, I cancelled the install yesterday.  Can’t have software that doesn’t take credit cards.  And the funny thing is, if I had gone through with the upgrade, I would have been delayed by a good hour because the servers were being upgraded and nobody said a word.  Absolutely lovely.  I mean, that’s the hallmark of good communication right there. 

I guess dealing with bad software makes me cranky.  To me, it seems like people should get their act together and test the software better.  Or companies should indicate when things are being upgraded so possible conflicts don’t arise.  I wonder: is it like this at all companies?  Probably not.  But then not all companies work like this one.