Census 2013 online address bug?

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kenkeniff

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Topic # 114783 3-Mar-2013 11:58

Has anyone noticed that on the online Dwelling Form for the 2013 Census, question 2 asks for your address in the following format?:

Street No: 1
Flat No: 99
Street: Main Road
City: Auckland

However in the summary at the bottom of the page and on the "Completed Forms" page it displays this as:

1/99 Main Road
Auckland

(Which means Street No. 99, Flat No. 1 by NZ Post standards)

I called 0800 CENSUS to report it however was told "it's just how we record it" (classic fob-off) however I'm pretty skeptical as it looks like a bug to me.

Any thoughts?

gzt

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Reply # 773852 3-Mar-2013 12:23

What are the fields in the input called and what are the fields in the display called? Depends if data is being assigned to the wrong fields in the first place or being displayed incorrectly. At minimum a display bug anyway.

It could go deeper again if there is an underlying query stuff up. Even in the worst case it could be worked around for future mail outs as long as they know about it in advance and can mitigate between the affected date ranges.

If it is a display issue only they should still fix it.

The address is displayed for verification and it is incorrect.

Behodar

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Reply # 773859 3-Mar-2013 12:35

I was told by the form deliverer to enter my address as 24/1 (number 24, flat 1) and the confirmation shows it in this format. But after looking at NZ Post's site, it seems that they do indeed write them the other way around. Interesting.

kenkeniff

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Reply # 773863 3-Mar-2013 13:08

It's the same on the Individual Form:

Entry fields: http://s10.postimage.org/7nh2ngxxl/image.png
Confirmation: http://s9.postimage.org/t3nb5mjlr/image.png

kenkeniff

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Reply # 773865 3-Mar-2013 13:15

Behodar: I was told by the form deliverer to enter my address as 24/1 (number 24, flat 1) and the confirmation shows it in this format. But after looking at NZ Post's site, it seems that they do indeed write them the other way around. Interesting.

Looks like they're just going to end up with a bunch of garbage data if they're only telling half of us this.

Link to NZ Post guide for the rest of you showing [Unit number + ‘/’ + Street number + name]: http://www.nzpost.co.nz/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/adv357_aquickguide.pdf

Hopefully someone on here knows how to get past the L1 support so they can get it sorted.

mattwnz

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Reply # 773866 3-Mar-2013 13:17

The phone support is pretty poor. A family member has two properties one is a rural one which just has a shed and storage. This property received a dwelling form and other census forms on that property, even though noone lives there. They phoned up to ask what to do, and the person they spoke to didn't have any idea what to do in that circumstance, so told them just to bin it, which didn't sound very good. Instead they mailed them back to them tellin them to update their records that noone lives there, otherwise it could look like a refusal to fill in the forms.

Regarding their website, as the forms are supposed to be fiulled in on census day, I really wonder why people are allowed to fill in the online version prior to this, as some of those people filling it in will possibly have died by census day, and it won't be an accurate snapshot. But I guess if everyone went to the website on census night, the website would crash.

Behodar

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Reply # 773869 3-Mar-2013 13:22

If I die before census day then the census will be the least of my worries :P

My parents had "fun" at their place. They were hosting a tourist who started at Auckland and was heading towards Wellington on a bike. The poor woman with the forms didn't have a clue what to do with his form since he could be anywhere on census day and would certainly be in a different area when the forms were collected so the codes wouldn't match up. I don't know what happened in the end.

freitasm

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Reply # 773995 3-Mar-2013 20:47

Not only that... Filled one dwelling form and three personal forms. Each time I refresh the page it shows a different status: sometimes a dwelling form and my own, sometimes the dwelling and wife's form, sometimes dwelling and all three of us.

A mess really.

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mattwnz

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Reply # 774013 3-Mar-2013 21:55

I don't know if they have improved the online forms that much since the last census, which I also filled in online. The forms still looks pretty old and basic, and no ability to save the form to go back to it later.

surfisup1000

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Reply # 774020 3-Mar-2013 22:03

This is exactly what I expected.

Generally government gets IT completely wrong the first time. Then, it will improve for next time.

They are not a private company that goes bust, it doesn't really matter to them as they are able to beta test in a live environment.

IRD is a good example -- their online system was a shambles at first, it is now getting quite good.

mattwnz

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Reply # 774028 3-Mar-2013 22:23

surfisup1000: This is exactly what I expected.

Generally government gets IT completely wrong the first time. Then, it will improve for next time.

They are not a private company that goes bust, it doesn't really matter to them as they are able to beta test in a live environment.

IRD is a good example -- their online system was a shambles at first, it is now getting quite good.

I haven't tried thie new system. But I did have a problem with their GST form once, where even though I submitted it and printed off proof, they didn't receive it at their end, so sent me a letter saying I hadn't submitted a return. I think it is just a basic CGI formmail script. Sorted it out in the end, but I presume their replacement system is a lot better.

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Reply # 774067 4-Mar-2013 01:05

i filled out all the forms online tonight for a family of four. had no 'refresh' issues (chrome browser on win8).

Didnt notice the address display issue - but i know the had boxes i keyed data into were labelled street and unit, so expect they are storing them correctly. NZ Post gives guidelines for *their* address formats. It doesn't make it the only way you can write an address - but it helps if everyone does it the same way.

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McNulty

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Reply # 774574 4-Mar-2013 21:25

The poor woman with the forms didn't have a clue what to do with his form since he could be anywhere on census day and would certainly be in a different area when the forms were collected so the codes wouldn't match up. I don't know what happened in the end.

That actually happens frequently, and there is quite a simple procedure in place for forms that end up in a different district to that which they originated from. Remember - many months are spent processing the data from the completed forms.

There are also procedures in place for tourists in hotels, campers, kids at boarding school, cruise ships in docks and at sea, prisoners, overnight truck drivers etc etc. This isn't the first census, people!

Edit to answer the original question: they want the street number then the flat number. The website displays it as street/flat

kenkeniff

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Reply # 774718 5-Mar-2013 06:59

McNulty:
...they want the street number then the flat number. The website displays it as street/flat

I don't see any problem capturing the information that way as they do on the form (as it's broken up into boxes), however displaying it in a non-standard format doesn't make any sense as it causes confusion. If you addressed any letter/parcel that way with any NZ carrier it would be sent to the wrong address (provided both addresses are valid).

If it's a bug/oversight, they should fix it.

If it is actually "the way they record it back-end" they should abstract it front the frontend UI and display it in a standard format online.

I used to work for a large Govt agency and it always annoyed my how they thought they had to display everything front-end in the same obscure way it was stored in the database...slightly less work for the coders I guess.

jonherries

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Reply # 774932 5-Mar-2013 12:35

Whats the bet the Census website crashes with the demand tonight from those who thought they had to fill it in this evening.

Jon