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New security measures when accessing Vofafone account

OldGoat
4: Newbie

Does anyone find the new extra security wnen sigining in to Voda's customer account a complete and absolute pain???

 

I'm on PAYG as local mobile communications are terrible and I only use MiFi when I go away. To buy a data pack I sign in to pay for it. Yesterday  as well as the useral ID and password the system required  a security number that's sent via a SMS text. A bit of a pain if I'm on the laptop, but a complete NoNo when I'm using my home PC to pay for the data. (Note to Vodafone staff - it may be a revelation to you, but some folks still use landlines to connect to the internet, especially where mobile phone access is poor / non-existant) So I can't pick up the security code.

 

It's not stored in a cookie and is different each time I sign in to Voda account.

 

An utter pain in the fundament.

Anyone agree -or disagree? the latter with reasons, please.

 

 

 

 

32 REPLIES 32

Extra security makes it difficult experience logging on. If all I want to do is check my bill I now can't do this unless I also have my mobile phone.

 

Why not have a 2 tier login to allow access to simple options with user/pwd only and anything that needs higher level of security then has the extra SMS step.

 

Seems a bit overkill at the moment.

 

Can I go back to paper bills in the post please, oopps not possible.

 

I suppose I'll have to suffer the extra security layer. Why could I not have the option of typing in an extra set of letters and numbers shown on the screen This is done by other web sites when they have a concern about security being compromised too easily with user/pwd.

Annie_N
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

I gather you may be a Pay Monthly customer, rather than PAYG? I'm not convinced that the process is absolutely identical for both sets of customers, but for both there is the option of adding an alternative contact number to your account, and then you are given a choice as to which account the passcode is sent to - it can be either a different mobile (any network) or your landline. The voice text to a landline is a bit unnerving the first time you use it, but at least it is an alternative.

 

An option I like for the second level of security is one used by one of the banks, which is to place a cookie on the computer you use regularly to access your account. Then it is only if the cookie has been cleared or gone out of date, or if you are accessing the account from another device, that you have to have a code sent to your registered phone.

My main concern with this is that Vodafone appear to be selectively discriminating against a section of their customer base. For my own part my only account with Vodafone is for mobile broadband, yet they insist on sending the security code to a mobile phone! All good and well if you use a Vodafone mobile phone but less than useful if you don't. I believe I mentioned earlier that I disposed of my Vodafone mobile because of a large number of problems I experienced when they introduced the datapack scheme, so where does the non-user go from here? It also strikes me that Vodafone mobile broadband has SMS so why have they not extended the same facility to that service. Both services are built on the same principles and a dongle is, after all. only a basic mobile phone so why are Vodafone incapable of sending a security code to that dongles SMS?

It appears at the present that the more they change the system the more fragmented it becomes, all to the detriment of the customer!

Incidentally! Earlier in this discussion I mentioned that I used the link you kindly supplied to buy a datapack. I recently had cause to do so again and, sad to say, the process took me three days! First because the website appears to switch between the 'normal' appearance and a very basic form which takes considerable time and patience to negotiate. Second because after I had finally reached the payment stage the loading icon (a blue circle) simply rotated until the page finally expired!

Not the best advertisement for a company which occupies the bottom place in its list of mobile service providers (Taken from official Ofcom figures). With all honesty, while I am sure that people like yourself do their best to help, that willingness is not being backed up by Vodafone's reticence in explaining why problems are so frequent and what steps they are taking to resolve them!

Totally agree, a real pain, I'm lucky if I get one bar on 2G at home, so I often can't get the number they send, clicking on the 'can't get number' just recycles the page you are on. If we all had a good signal, then fine, but as sigal levels where I live are so poor, you should have the option to opt out.

Annie_N
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

@tgb1718

 

Do you have access to a landline at home? If so, then on some occasion when you have managed to get the code and log in to your account, it would be worth adding your home landline number to the contact number(s) shown on your account. Then you would have the option of having the code sent as a voice-text to the landline.

 

The code used to be read out as a complete number, eg "thirteen million......" which I found very hard to transcribe without listening a couple of times. However, it is now read as eight digits, and I usually manage to get it right at the first attempt.

 

For the last couple of days, I seem only to be getting one bar, although more usually we muster a second bar in this area. So the option of voice text to landline comes in handy, and my impression is that it usually arrives slightly faster than the SMS.

Nice idea, but I don't give my landline number to anyone, I don't want to be bombarded by spam callers, I'm pretty sure VF would be first to start spamming me followed by all the companies it has dealings with.

The mostt simple solution is for VF to improve coverage for everyone outside of London where they concentrate most of their efforts.

It's really no wonder VF has such a bad reputation.

Annie_N
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

@tgb1718 My landline has been on my account for some time (a couple of years at very least), and I've not once had a spam call from Vodafone or any organisation that could be associated with them.

 

However, I understand your wish to keep your number under wraps - I'm registered with TPS, but still the relentless diet of Windows scams, PPI, whiplash injuries, replacement boilers, professional oven cleaners, and mysterious charities from unlikely parts of the world, wanting to help my ailing finances, does get a bit depressing.

63johnw
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion
Hi, it doesn't have to be a Vodafone mobile number, you can add other numbers that can be used, I have my home landline as one of the options.

Annie_N
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

My dongle does receive SMS - they show as a pop-up. The problem I have is that, since I moved house, the local signal is too weak for the dongle, so it only works away from home! However, ordinary phones can cope with the weaker signal, so I got access to my online account by putting the SIM into a phone to receive the SMS, then added my home number to my account as the alternative contact number, and now get the security code sent to that when I want to access the account.

 

Having gone round the houses once in order to add the landline number, I do have easier access, although the voice text is rather bizarre! But I suspect the accounts behave slightly differently between PAYG and PayM - as a PAYG customer, I only see the account number and my first alternative, but possibly PayM customers see their second alternative as well, if they've entered one.

 

But it would be good if Vodafone could simplify the process a little. Placing a cookie on your regular device is probably the simplest, so you only need a code if your cookie has been cleared or you are using a different device for some reason.

I've been having trouble trying to get into my Vodafone online account for a few months now.

 

Whenever I tried to log in to my account I got a 2nd level security verification messsage saying they need to send me a verification code.They sent it me and was able to log in, I then logged out and attempted to log in and got the same verfication code screen.

 

I thought what the? is going on here? I rang Vodafone yesterday and was told that everytime I want to log in I will get a different verification code. Now I know it's fine, however it's not a lot of use if you were somewhere you can't get a mobile signal, as it doesn't work with WIFI.

 

Couldn't Vodafone do an app like Three's Three In touch where you can use wifi?