Closed Bug 165257 Opened 24 years ago Closed 19 years ago

weightwatchers.com - Weight Watchers site problem- blocks non-netscape gecko browsers

Categories

(Tech Evangelism Graveyard :: English US, defect)

Product:
Tech Evangelism Graveyard
Component:
English US
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED FIXED

People

(Reporter: brian, Unassigned)

References

(
URL
)

Details

I have all cookies enabled, and javascript is enabled with no exclusions. Weight Watchers apparently cannot determine that mozilla 1.1 meets all the requirements.
probably a Tech Evangelism bug. Reporter, please identify the steps needed to reproduce this problem.
Summary: Takes you to the requirements page → Weight Watchers site problem
simply go to http://www.weightwatchers.com and it should give you the error.
This bug only seems to appear on US site version. French version is loading fine. Confirming this bug but only for US site version. Moving it to tech evang US General. using WinXP and 1.1 finalrelease.
Assignee: asa → susiew
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Component: Browser-General → US General
Ever confirmed: true
Product: Browser → Tech Evangelism
QA Contact: asa → zach
Version: other → unspecified
Summary: Weight Watchers site problem → weightwatchers.com - Weight Watchers site problem
People who want to use their site you can complain at http://www.weightwatchers.com/help/j2_he_form_contact.asp I will try to contact them also.
They actively want to fix this. Sent them gecko detection info.
Status: NEW → ASSIGNED
I tested out the site with: Opera 7.0 final IE 6.0 SP1 K-Meleon 0.7 Netscape 7.01 Phoenix Nightly of 30 Jan On Opera 7, Netscape 7.01, and IE 6.0 SP1. The site works without spoofing of any kind. K-Meleon 0.7 and Phoenix is a horse of a different color. Without spoofing, you are redirected to a browser not supported page. You have to spoof.
Added myself to CC list.
The Canadian Weight Watchers site fails under K-Meleon 0.7 and Phoenix 0.5. Spoofing as NS 7, 4 and MSIE 6.0 let's a user use the site. Could someone change the component to the Americas? (It should cover the USA and Canada)
Even though you are initially redirected to a browser not supported page, you can still use the site by clicking on one of the links on the bottom of that page, ie "Terms and Conditions." This site used to be the only reason my fiancee did not use Mozilla but once she found out she could access it, she switched right away.
Still gives a Browser Not Supported message as of today, and you can still get in via the Terms and Conditions link. I sent an e-Mail to support, asking what features would suppossedly not work in Mozilla. Hope they send me something. If so, I will post here if I need assistance in documenting it as working.
I sent them an email about it also, but they don't seem to care about changing their site. Here's their reply: "We found that it was impossible to offer the broad range of features we desired and still meet the requirements of Mozilla. Some users of Mozilla have reported that they are able to use the site. However, we have not tested it and cannot confirm this information. Others with this same issue simply used Internet Explorer or Netscape as their browser and it worked. If you are interested in doing the same, but do not have I.E. (recommended for PC's) or Netscape (recommended for Mac's) on your computer, here are links to getting these browsers: [links to IE and Netscape] If you are not interested in using another browser, please contact us and we will cancel your account and issue any refund due."
default
Assignee: susiew → english-us
Status: ASSIGNED → NEW
QA Contact: zach → english-us
I have been in recent contact with their Tech Support about recognizing Gecko browsers (Mozilla and Firebird) and received this email on 1/9/2004: Dear Irwin, Thank you for your suggestion. Our Technical Team are currently working on this upgrade. Thank you again and best wishes! Sincerely, Lexy Customer Service Associate www.weightwatchers.com
After more customer complaints, sent another tech evangelism notice. Here is the response: Dear Aaron, We are sorry to report that the browsers below are incompatible with our website. I.E. 4.x on PC and MAC I.E. 5.0 on MAC Netscape 4.75 and 6.2 on PC and MAC Safari 1.0 on MAC Any Version of Mozilla, Opera (Avant), or Compuserve Cell Phone Browsers We recommend that you either switch or upgrade your browser to: I.E 6.0 and up on PC (including AOL) http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp Netscape 7.0 and up on PC and MAC http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Safari 1.1 and up on MAC http://www.apple.com/safari Sincerely, Paul Customer Service Associate www.weightwatchers.com
I just bumped in to that last week, and complained. Here is there response: -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE:Help: Technical Support [#3534803] Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2004 12:40:40 -0400 From: Techsupport@weightwatchers.com To: xslf@xslf.com Dear Shoshannah, At this time, we currently support Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Safari browsers. We understand your desire to use Mozilla and other browsers to view our website and we understand that there are ways to configure these browsers which will allow you to do so. However, results may be erratic when using our site with a non-supported browser. Please be aware that we cannot support browsers that are still in the beta phase. If you are receiving a site requirements page that is blocking your access to our site because of the browser that you are using, please note that clicking on any of the links in the footer at that page will allow you to access the site. We appreciate your feedback. Please know that we are constantly evaluating browser usage to make decisions on which browsers to support. Sincerely, Louis Customer Service Associate www.weightwatchers.com Get recipes for success. We'll deliver delicious low POINTS® recipes to you every week. Sign up now! http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/news/index.aspx --Original Message-- From: xslf@xslf.com Date: 07/30/04 To: Techsupport@weightwatchers.com Subject: Help: Technical Support[#3534803] User Number: Server: www.weightwatchers.com Browser info: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040702 Firefox/0.9.1 Date: 7/30/2004 First Name: Shoshannah Last Name: Forbes EMail: xslf@xslf.com Questions: I attempted to enter your site using Mozilla Firefox (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040702 Firefox/0.9.1) and I got a notice "please upgrade your browser". As Mozilla Firefox and Netscape 7 (which you recommend using) use the same rendering engine (gecko), I don't see why you block the access to Firefox. Why not fix your browser detection script to let all gecko based browsers in?
OS: Windows XP → All
Hardware: PC → All
Summary: weightwatchers.com - Weight Watchers site problem → weightwatchers.com - Weight Watchers site problem- blocks non-netscape gecko browsers
*** Bug 217398 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
The error page is (apparently) only triggered by visiting http://www.weightwatchers.com/ If you just want to be able to use the site, try starting with either of these URLs as a workaround: http://www.weightwatchers.com/index.aspx https://www.weightwatchers.com/util/Login.aspx (probably good ones to bookmark) I'll be sending an email sometime this semester, but right now I have too much reading to do. I'll also test with the UA spoofer the latest NS7 string (which IIRC still isn't shipped with the spoofer) and see what results I get. And I'll make sure to let them know that the version of the gecko rendering engine in Firefox is not in Beta (Comment #15) -- it's actually newer than in Netscape, and that's the only part that their site interacts with. I won't mention in the letter, but I do wonder what kind of IT monkeys they have working there that don't understand that distinction.
Here's what I just emailed them (before finding this bug. BTW - still "NEW" after over two years?): Your browser detection is failing to recognize mozilla 1.7.5, and probably other versions and other browsers as well that are entirely compatible with your site. Browser detection of this sort is, by and large, ill-advised. If your site doesn't work with a visitor's browser, they'll know it without being told and will switch or update their browser as needed & desired. It also requires constant maintenance of the detection code to avoid a shrinking audience. It looks cool and may impress management at first, but it's really not worth the trouble. Thanks.
Weight Watchers seems to let Firefox through now, but their documentation on the policy is inconsistent. The block page lists instructions for enabling cookies in Firefox 1.x, but only lists IE, Netscape, and Safari as acceptable browsers. Also, http://www.weightwatchers.com/help/1033/index.asp##Browser claims they require those browsers, and will block "alternative browsers" (presumably including Firefox).
Actually, it works for me as far as I can tell using a nightly build. Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8b4) Gecko/20050729 Firefox/1.0+
Getting no error greeting with Moz 1.7.11. Haven't tried using their eTools.
It all seems to work, but that page (In reply to comment #19) is still reporting the same thing.
This looks like it's working properly in both Camino-trunk and Firefox 2. Furthermore, the site "supports" both Firefox and Netscape now: http://www.weightwatchers.com/help/index.aspx?pageid=1023121 It would be nice if other browsers were "officially supported" but at least they're no longer actively breaking us. This looks like it's FIXED to me.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 19 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
"What browser should I use to optimize my experience on WeightWatchers.com? We recommend PC Users: I.E 6.0 and up on PC (including AOL) http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp Netscape 8.1 and up on PC http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Mozilla Firefox 1.5 for Windows http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/" They don't mention "Seamonkey", "Suite", or "Mozilla" anywhere, though this version seems to work for me: Build identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9a9pre) Gecko/2007101703 SeaMonkey/2.0a1pre
Works with Build identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; Windows NT 5.1; rv:2.0b2pre) Gecko/20100720 SeaMonkey/2.1a3pre
Product: Tech Evangelism → Tech Evangelism Graveyard
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