Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Lower the expectations, then surprise them

My NEXUS card expired last year, towards the end of the year.  That's the one where they do a background check and pre-clear you to whizz back and forth across the Canadian border.  Super convenient if you are planning on traveling to Canada on even a semi-regular basis.  I found out when crossing back from Canada, the helpful fellow in the booth mentioned that it was due to expire.  The Trusted Traveler Program which oversees NEXUS, among other programs, doesn't send you a reminder.  It is your responsibility to remember, once every five years, that your card is about to expire.

So I quickly put in an application for renewal.  Super simple, all on line, updated a few documents, and ...

... the government shuts down.

Thankfully I had no particularly pressing reasons to visit Canada for the past two months, as well as having been down for surgery for a few weeks, so it was no big deal. 

The interesting part was being informed, via the website, that "you will not be notified of any changes to your application.  Please check back on the website regularly".  OK.  So every couple days I sign on to the website, to discover that nothing has changed.  Been doing that for about two and a half months.  Until today, when I got an email saying "there has been a change to your application status.  Please visit the website for details."

That's odd.  In my world, email = notification.  Jumped onto the website and there it was.  Approved.  No need for appointment.  Just approved.  Doesn't, however, mention how I get an updated NEXUS card since my current one says right on it, Expires XX XXX 2018.

Click the button that says "get new NEXUS card".  Nope.  That's for lost or damaged cards.

Click the button that says "Notifications" and there's a letter that says "you can use the NEXUS lane once you receive and activate your new card".  So apparently it is in the mail.

OK.  So why say that you won't receive a notification when the system is clearly set up to send you a notification?  Well, one theory is that of low expectation.  If they tell you they won't and then they do, you'll be happier than if they tell you they will but then they don't.  Let's go with that.

Hey, CBP, if you are listening, how about adding a "send me an email six months before my card expires" button.  That would be cool and I'll be your tech guys could make it happen pretty easily.

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