Question re successfully submitting a form online... Did it get submitted or not?

[Ihavethebestdogs]

I feel a bit silly posting this...but would appreciate your help.
I'm really not great with technology and my mum is worse than I am! She had to submit some info online. It was fill in info, go to next page till completed and then press submit.

I did this with her and after pressing submit a message with words to the effect of 'Thank you for submitting your information' came up in green. All good!

We then tried to close the window but the phone screen is really small, and whatever we did or didn't do properly, the page came back into view and there were two buttons under the 'Thank you for submitting....' message. One said 'Submit' and the other said 'Cancel'. I think - (but can't fully remember because it happened quickly) - it said if you press submit info may go through twice so we had a bit of a panic and I suggested mum click on Cancel which she did.

As neither of us is computer savvy, can anyone here please tell me this: once you get a 'Thank you for submitting your info' message, does / can pressing the 'Cancel' button afterwards undo everything and cancel what went before?

This was for a single occupancy declaration to the Council to let them know mum still lives alone so she wants to be sure it went through. She's now worried it didn't reach them.

I'm hoping that once you get the 'Thank you for submitting...' message it doesn't matter if you press Cancel or hit the back button etc. Can anyone confirm that? Is it more likely than not that the info will have reached its destination?

Mum initially tried to submit the info over the phone but the recorded message was dreadful. We could barely understand what was being said, hence the attempt to do online.

She doesn't want to call to check because the waiting time is usually very long!
She's thinking of filling in the paper declaration too and sending that in as well with a note saying she tried online but wasn't sure it as successful. I think that might create problems if a different dept deals with paper declarations and her online one did actually go through.

Hope someone who's a bit more computer literate can shed some light. Thanks.

It is impossible to give a definite answer to this question. It depends on the software being used by the Council. The chances are that pressing Cancel in the situation you describe won't do anything, but no-one other than the Council can say for certain.

@prh47bridge Thanks. I was hoping that since 'Cancel' was pressed after the 'Thank you for submitting...' message came up that it wouldn't make a difference as others here stated. Do you work in computing? Maybe mum should call them or just put the paper form in the post to be sure.

Normally you would get an email confirming the submission.

@PaminaMozart Thanks. Do you mean an email confirmation from the Council or just in general when submitting info online?
The form wasn't submitted from mum's email address. It was just a web page the Council directed her to in a letter where she entered a unique code and then it asked her to confirm she was still the only occupant. It then asked for address, postcode, landline, mobile number and email address.
The 'Thanks for submitting...' message came at the end of that process. I'm not sure they'd send a confirmation to her email address if the confirmation already came at the end of the online form-filling process. That'd be confirming twice, surely?
Anyhow, I appreciate your response.
@prh47bridge I posted this thread on Chat and every one (well, the three who responded) said that once the form was submitted that was that, no way of cancelling as it had gone. I guess, from what you say, it's not 100% so thanks.
Edited to add info.

When she was filling in the forms, was she logged into her account with the council, and/or was she asked to provide her email address?

If so, she should get email confirmation of her submission. If not, I'd call the Council - or email them.

NB: always a good idea to take a photo or screenshot of the submission confirmation page

It isn't absolutely 100%, no, but the chances are it is ok.

I replied to this same question yesterday.

@PaminaMozart Hi, thanks for replying, No, she wasn't logged in to her Council Tax account. I'm sure she doesn't have an online account set up with them as she is not computer literate and has no interest in them.
This was just a letter asking her to confirm she was still the only person living in the property so her single occupancy discount continues uninterrupted.
There were three ways of doing it. By phone, where she could enter her Council Tax Account Number - the one she quotes if she has to call them - and then could press 1, 2 or 3 on her phone keypad. I actually tried this way with her twice. We got as far as entering the CTAN but the automated message was so unclear I told her to leave it and try online.
The second option was to visit a given website link, enter a unique code, and then enter her information. It was this way that showed the 'Thank you for submitting...'message at the end of the process before we pressed the Cancel button... This way had asked for her landline, mobile number and email address as part of the information gathering, but since it wasn't done from her email address I assumed there wouldn't be any other acknowledgment (aside from the one at the end of the process). That would be duplication.
The third way was what she probably should have done in the first place! A good old-fashioned paper form with name, declaration an dated signature! The way I'll be suggesting she does in the first place in the future!

But, to answer your question, no she wasn't logged into her online Council Tax account because I'm sure she doesn't have one...

I'll let her know what you said and she may decide to call them (doubt it though as they take an age to get through to) or she may throw the paper declaration in the post with a note of explanation... If she does nothing I guess she'll soon know if she gets a full bill! She'd have to call them then and try to explain and ask for the discount to be reinstated,

I just thought it might look a bit weird to have tried the phone way twice and given up, messed up the online way and then send in a paper form! Might just have to look weird, I suppose!

Thanks again!

@LiterallyOnFire You did! I posted it on 'Chat'and 'Geeky Stuff' and you replied on 'Chat'. You and several others there said it would definitely have gone, and couldn't be cancelled afterwards. But, prh47bridge's opinion here on thie thread differs. She posted this evening and said she thinks it may or may not have submitted because it would all depend on the software the Council uses.

Ah well, geeks are geeks.

@PaminaMozart Good call on the screenshot. No idea how to do one on a mobile but I could've taken a photo of my mum's screen at the time! Will remember for the future! Thanks.