[PLUG-TALK] Comcast verification problem

Richard C. Steffens rsteff at comcast.net
Fri Nov 23 16:04:23 UTC 2007


Has anyone else on Comcast tried to change a password recently?

Earlier this week I tried to change the password on one of my secondary
accounts. The page asks me to select the name of the secondary account
from a drop down list, and then asks for the new password, specifying
that it be, "8-16 characters. Letters and numbers only. No spaces. Case
sensitive." Then it asks me to confirm the password. Next is says I need
to change my Secret Question. I've never had one, but I don't mind
picking one. There is a list of questions to pick from, and then a box
in which to type the Secret Answer. I choose a question, and enter an
answer. When I click on the Change Password button I get the following
error message: "A verification error has occurred. Please confirm the
information entered is correct and try again."

Since I wasn't in a big hurry, I tried getting support via e-mail,
asking them, "what causes a 'verification error'?" The recommended
solution returned was an elaborate way to clear IE's cache. Figuring
that I wouldn't get much help from them if I told them I wasn't using
IE, or Windows, I tried to change the password on my XP laptop. Same
problem. I tried their way of clearing the cache, and tried again. No
change.

I reported this back via e-mail and got a reply telling me to do what I
had just done. I went another round with them, each time asking them to
tell me what causes a verification error, and each time getting a long
winded reply about how too many files in the cache can confuse IE.
Finally, I replied with another request for what causes a verification
error and asking that if they didn't know to please pass the question on
to someone who did. The reply I got back said that I needed to use their
live chat. I had some time Wednesday afternoon (I thought) and tried
live chat. After more than an hour of back and forth and doing all the
things she requested (this time there was no mention of IE or Windows)
she instructed me to do something I had just done. I replied, "That
doesn't work. How do we fix it?" She replied that she didn't know and
that I'd have to cancel the attempt. She'd pass the problem on to
someone else.

One thing she said in passing was that I should need to have the secret
question since I don't have their phone service. She never explained
further.

-- 
Regards,

Dick Steffens




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