Curmudgeonly & Skeptical presents Boned Jello

Monday, April 04, 2011

Passwording Gone Wild

I was going to buy this deal, principally because the rechargeable batteries cost nearly twice the money by themselves at retail . Which brings me to Passwording Gone Wild! When I tried to checkout I was asked to supply my e-mail and (WTF?) password. Why in God's name do vendors require a password to make a purchase? So I put something in, only to be rejected.

"An account with this e-mail address already exists ... If you forgot your password, click ... ."

Which triggered a reaction within me normally reserved for something having to do with Obama. Today's prize, then, goes to the first person who can come up with an acceptable reason for vendors demanding that customers supply a password to spend money, because I cannot think of one, and I've tried. Not for the first time, I refuse to deal with this nonsense. Sheesh.

Rodger the Real King of France 4/04/2011 07:04:00 AM 10 Comments

"If the number of Islamic terror attacks continues at the current rate, candlelight vigils will soon be the number-one cause of global warming. "
Argus Hamilton

10 comments:

Anonymous said...: Are they trying to be a bigger pain in the a** than Radio Shack?
Tim; 4/4/11, 7:31 AM
Anonymous said...: To make sure that someone pretending to be you isn't running around the intertubes buying things with your name and credit info.

Casca; 4/4/11, 8:25 AM
Rodger the Real King of France said...: Think that one through from the beginning ...; 4/4/11, 8:29 AM
Anonymous said...: "Please enter shipping address below if different from billing address:"

Duh.

If they stored your CC info on their website, as in you are a regular customer, you could be buying for the teen in his basement that has hacked your wireless... cancha?
tom; 4/4/11, 8:58 AM
Rodger the Real King of France said...: "Please enter shipping address below if different from billing address:"

What's wrong with that? What if I wanted to send you something? Or am I being obtuse here? (It's Monday).; 4/4/11, 9:08 AM
Anonymous said...: I'm on Casca's side. The password they were requesting should have been one that you already set up with that vendor and unique to that account (yeah, we know how well that works, but that isn't the vendor's fault.) I encounter this scenario often and consider it to be prudent behavior on the part of the vendor. Unless...

The ones which are lying about protecting your info are those who send you your password in a clear text email when you click on "Forgot my Password." For starters, if they are storing your password in retrievable form then they are providing no security at all. -- Skyhawker, Doug; 4/4/11, 9:17 AM
Rodger the Real King of France said...: The reason that doesn't work is that it is NOT associated with my credit card. Anyway, not worth worrying about, sometimes I just look for fights (usually in the early morning when I find out I'm still here).; 4/4/11, 10:01 AM
Arch said...: It's what Bruce Schneier calls "security theater": the illusion of security. It doesn't do a damn thing, but it makes you feel better about the process.

Unless you're the sort that really thinks about these things. Have you tried contacting woot? I'm curious to hear what they say.; 4/4/11, 10:15 AM
Rodger the Real King of France said...: This is no longer Sellout-Woot Woot- it's the faux Woot that Amazon has foisted upon us. Buncha crap from third stringers.; 4/4/11, 10:43 AM
Unknown said...: I'm with Rodger; compulsory registration for placing an order annoys me to no end. (See "How to make your shopping cart suck less.") Regardless if one has a password-protected account with a vendor website, an alternate shipping address should be on file with the CC company prior to placing the order.; 4/4/11, 7:49 PM

Monday, April 04, 2011

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