Lemons and mangos

In true geek style, I have an irrepressible urge to try every technology I can lay my hands on.

I have tried the iPhone and BlackBerry, and am an avid supporter of Internet banking. So, when I discovered I could pay for a flight to Cape Town using a new Internet banking system provided by Mango Airlines, I jumped at the opportunity to try it out.

POLi is a Web-based payment system developed by Setcom. The service essentially allows you to make Internet banking transfers to the vendor, or service provider that is subscribed to it... securely. Mango happens to be one of those.

The concept is a really tempting offer for those of us who can't manage credit cards. It is a fantastic idea, that has severely impractical consequences if things go wrong, which is exactly what happened to me.

Not knowing where your hard earned cash has disappeared to is one of those things that leave a sour taste in your mouth. Especially when you are a little more than slightly convinced you have fallen for a clever online hack scam. Let me explain...

From the Mango bookings Web page, I was redirected to my Internet banking home page and instructed to login. This got my hackles up, because the POLi system essentially runs underneath the online banking site.

New technology always has a trial period, where people are used as guinea pigs to find problems and smooth out wrinkles.

Candice Jones, journalist, ITWeb

I wondered at the time how secure this could be, and whether Setcom was hanging on to any of my banking details. Worse, could this be a clever scheme to steal my bank details? But since I don't have all that much money in my account, I sucked up my concerns and continued with the payment.

The system speedily moved me through the payment process. All of Mango's bank details were already listed, so I did not have to find the details and manually type them in myself. I waited for the bank's one-time-password, which I received. This was, of course, an immense relief, because until that point, I was still concerned that I was being played by some really smart hacker.

Fabulous, I thought, nearing the end of the payment. The money left my account, and my heart stopped. The POLi system booted me out of my Internet banking account, saying: "The payment has not been made."

Panic set in, because the screen that shows the proof of payment did not come up. I logged back into my account without the POLi system and checked - the amount was outstanding and waiting to be paid into some unknown account.

My first thought: we need an option to cancel Internet banking transfers.

Fortunately, my concerns around the security of my account were put to rest, when the Mango call centre assistant told me the booking had been made, but asked me to send proof of payment to the airline.

I duly explained that the proof of payment did not come up and we decided a statement would do. The system, which I'm sure, was intended to make life easier, suddenly made my life extremely difficult.

Mango's finance department did not receive my fax, and my ticket was not confirmed. So, in the end, all the printing, faxing and Internet banking in the world didn't help me - It was an amazing young woman behind the Mango desk at OR Tambo International Airport who made my day.

I called the bank, asked them to send through a copy of the payment; she sent it through to the finance department and - voila - my ticket was confirmed. She walked me to the check-in, shuffled me to the front of the queue and I was in the chicken coup of economy class before I knew it.

New technology always has a trial period, where people are used as guinea pigs to find problems and smooth out wrinkles. It takes time to mature and become usefully entrenched. I suspect the same applies to the POLi system. Will I use the system again? Maybe in a few years' time.

At the end of the day, I think I might have lost my mind to hysteria if I did not have an encouraging person telling me that she would "get me on the flight no matter what".

The truth is there is no technology in the word that can replace the human touch. When grounded by all the hi-tech equipment in the world, a person can still ensure you reach the sky.