New Michigan DNR reservation system

[friartuck]

Is not working!
Several of my camping friends and I are trying the new upgraded DNR reservation website. Worst. Website. Ever. (and I did QA testing for website development!) The link from the DNR home page displays a 404 page not found error overlaying the reservation page, the navigation is clumsy and while trying to get to the 'payment page' from the 'confirm information' page the spinner rolled for a solid 5 minutes and still hadn't done anything. Of course the selected sites are nor 'unavailable', because we had them in in shopping cart, but the shopping carts are now empty. Plan on a lot of extra time when trying to use the system. (and yes, I did send an email to the DNR contact address to tell then of the problems)
I just tried to make the reservation again. It was going fine today right to step 3 of 6, Occupant Information, where it told me I have an overlapping reservation and cannot continue. Sigh. My cart is empty, this is the ONLY reservation I was making for 2019. (I had a reservation in 2018 about the same time. I did verify I was making this reservation for 2019. My guess is the website is not really checking correct dates.) None of us can get past step 3, if we get that far.
So far the wait time on the phone system (the only way at least one of our 'tribe' got in) is over 30 minutes)

 

[davekkk]

I wonder what system it is assuming its not built internal. Wisconsin is changing to Camis in December which promises lower reservation fee's which I loath.

Hopefully you get it squared away and get it booked.

 

[davekkk]

Well that answers that... Thanks for the heads up!

"The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is contracting with a new reservation provider, Camis USA, Inc., that was awarded the reservation contract through a competitive bidding process. Camis USA currently operates reservation systems for Michigan, Maryland and Washington state parks."

 

[GalsofEscape]

maryland switched to Camis two years ago (IIRC). I did not experience any problems in the switch over. (I even had reservations in the old system which carried over to the new one without a hitch and was able to make new ones).
wonder what is different about the michigan change over?

 

[Toedtoes]

Oftentimes the glitches are because the company was pressured into releasing the new system before it was properly tested. That happens a lot in government because politicians and the public want to see progress for money spent and the agency heads are afraid of a media blowup if that progress is considered "too slow". Of course then they get a media blow up because the system doesn't work right...

 

[friartuck]

Michigan has been using the camis system since 2013 and while the old camis system was working, this was an upgrade to make it better and more user friendly. (probably to make it easier to use on mobile devices)

davekkk:The camis reservation fee online is $8.00, $10.00 if you use the phone system. (I went back through my records and the reservation fee was the same when Michigan used infospherix)

I agree with Toadtoes re:getting pressured to release as I have had the same experience with other organizations, public and private, from a QA and developer viewpoint. (Just get it out. We can fix it later.)

(Dear moderators, thanks for moving this where it belonged. Really! )

 

[Fless]

Wisconsin is changing to Camis in December which promises lower reservation fee's which I loath.

@davekkk, you loath lower reservation fees? Am I reading that correctly?
_

 

[friartuck]

loath
/lōTH,lōT͟H/
adjective
adjective: loath; adjective: loth
reluctant; unwilling.
"I was loath to leave"
synonyms: reluctant, unwilling, disinclined, ill-disposed; More
averse, opposed, resistant
"they were loath to take risks"
antonyms: willing

 

[friartuck]

loathe
/lōT͟H/
verb
verb: loathe; 3rd person present: loathes; past tense: loathed; past participle: loathed; gerund or present participle: loathing
feel intense dislike or disgust for.
"she loathed him on sight"
synonyms: hate, detest, abhor, execrate, have a strong aversion to, feel repugnance toward, not be able to bear/stand, be repelled by More
"I loathe their so-called music"
hatred, hate, detestation, abhorrence, abomination, execration, odium;
antipathy, dislike, hostility, animosity, ill feeling, bad feeling, malice, animus, enmity, aversion;
repugnance
"the loathing she feels for Karyn is understandable"
antonyms: love