New security measures when accessing Vofafone account

[OldGoat]

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.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi,

Their was this recent thread that has some good discussion https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Pay-monthly-products-services/Security-Code-Text/m-p/2416803/highlig...

Personally I'm all for as much security as possible.

[OldGoat]

Yes, absolutely, but it's got to be practical and the designers have missed the point of practicality. If you make a feature cumbersome to use folks will go elsewhere.

I spent two hours yesterday and a further two today speaking to very helpful folks in another continent, who didn't know and didn't understand what the issue was. They trashed my existing account (very ,very annoyed) and got absolutely nowhere.

I wangled my way into the local support centre where it was discovered that the SMS feature on my SIM had never been enabled (shurely that's a standard feature???)  and all was well.

##~## why do I have to spend three hours of my time and Voda's support staff in resolving such an apparently simple error??

[Annie_N]

Hi @OldGoat

This also has the potential to be a pain for people who keep a PAYG phone active for children or the elderly, since they rarely/never have the phone in hand.

I'm currently investigating ways around this that don't open up your account to the fraudsters, and am nearly ready to post all the options. Fortunately, the workaround for PAYG data accounts is relatively simple - use http://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/existing-customers/topping-up/index.htm

I don't actually want to buy a new pack just at present, but entered my dongle's phone number, selected my data pack, and got to the point of being invited to enter my card details before I decided that I ought to duck out. In the past, when I have had a cash balance available, I believe that I have also been offered the option of paying out of my balance, but I don't have a cash balance right now, so can't verify this.

[SOPS]

I've been with Vodafone for a long time and I've seen a lot of changes. Unfortunately, especially since the introduction of having to buy datapacks for PAYG most of them have been downhill! I'm almost out of data and tried to top up recently only to find that logging in also requires me to recieve a security code which (according to Vodafone) will arrive within seconds! It didn't, so I contacted live chat and after an hour of trying to sort it out, including numerous password changes, etc I finally started recieving the security code some SIX hours after I requested them by which time, of course, it had long expired! The alternative? Call Vodafone everytime I need to log in and go through all the rigmarole it usually takes to finally connect with someone (at standard call charges because theres no way I'm going to buy or use a Vodafone mobile because of all the problems I've had!) Yes! Security is important but this additional burden is a step too far in the wrong direction. Its no wonder that Vodafone has such a poor service reputation and its well past time it was sorted out and for Vodafone to start providing the service they provided so ably in the past!

[Annie_N]

@SOPS

Have you tried using http://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/existing-customers/topping-up/index.htm as suggested above?

I've just entered my dongle's "phone number", selected my data pack, confirmed my billing address, and only ducked out at the point when I had to give my credit card details, as I'm not actually wanting to buy a pack just now. All without the dreaded 2LA.

[SOPS]

Hi Annie_N,

I did that last night using your link and topped up without any problem using my debit card. However I also checked the top-up by voucher page and was immediately taken to the 21L page to obtain a security code. It appears obvious that this measure is aimed at that sector of Vodafone's customers which I would remind them comprises a large number of young people who do not possess a credit or debit card or those who do not wish to have a credit card (myself included!) While security is, of course, paramount I feel that this measure is ill-advised and a step which can only serve to alienate an arguably large proportion of its customers particularly as it was introduced without advance warning. I am currently aware of another company which I use who have recently taken some ill-advised steps to increase their revenue with the result that they are now facing a loss of some 38% of their paying customer base as a result of it. Such is life and unfortunately before I retired it was part of my job to deal with the consequences of the actions of corporate entities, large and small, who incorrectly believed that their customers would accord to their dictates without dissent. That attitude is sadly mistaken and I have seen far larger companies than Vodafone hit the rocky slopes simply because they didnt listen! Vodafone claim to have a good relationship with its customers so isn't it time they started to listen?

[Annie_N]

Hi @SOPS

The lack of consultation, to provide a rather more user-friendly form of security, is a great shame. I'm hoping that something rather easier to work with will eventually emerge. But I think that something of this sort is here to stay, and that other networks will be introducing similar measures if they haven't already done so.

The anxiety is that it is rather too easy to guess someone's password, particularly given how cavalier many people are about using the same password all over the place, and using easy passwords like the dog's name - hence the additional requirement, to have the phone as well as know the password. You may not feel that there is much information contained within your account, but there can be quite a lot, especially banking details if you've set up a direct debit. And it used to be possible for PayM customers to set up call diversion from within their accounts, although I believe this has now been withdrawn. I'm certainly aware of two people (neither Vodafone customers, as it happens) whose bank accounts were emptied after the fraudsters somehow managed to hijack security codes sent to their phones.

So yes, the new situation is hard on the young people you mention, also schoolchildren and the elderly whose family keep their phone topped up for them, not to mention the cases like yours, where there isn't an actual phone to receive the code easily. But it's pretty bad news if bank accounts get emptied.

I mentioned above that I was working on ways of topping up that didn't require having the phone in hand, and I think I've assembled all the info I can; all I have to do is find time to type it up! Can I ask you to confirm that you were able to buy the datapack you wanted, rather than just to top up the background account?

I too subsequently discovered the snag with the top-up by voucher page, and will be raising the issue, as I really can't figure out why that should be necessary.

[SOPS]

Hi!

I can confirm that I purchased a datapack without problem rather than a simple top up.

I can also point out that other mobile providers are taking similar measures. For example 02 now accept payment only by credit card and I am keeping a very close eye on the outcome resulting from their decision, particularly as it was a measure taken without advising their customers beforehand. This I feel is a large part of the problem here. While the forum is useful I believe that closer input from Vodafone themselves would be much more advisable if only to avoid conflict such as this. While I do not expect them to involve their customer base in every decision, which would be impossible I would expect a proclaimedly caring company to involve itself in advising its customers before making such changes before they happen. After all it is those self-same customers who are providing them with their profits. Alienate those customers and Vodafone will very quickly become just another failed company. To give a prime example take a look at Bachmann and Hornby who supply the biggest part of the worlds modelling equipment. In recent years cost increases in China where most of their products are made has affected supplies to both companies. On the one hand Bachmann has always maintained close ties with its consumers and has survived intact with some loss of profit. On the other side Hornby kept up the sort of Victorian management for which it is renowned and is barely managing to avoid bankruptsy. All a result of keeping their customers informed (or not).

I'm well aware of the security implications of using the internet and I applaud Vodafones efforts to increase safety. However there are ways of doing it other than dropping it on their customere as a fait accompli and expecting everyone to just bow down and take it. The customer deserves better treatment than that and, sadly if they don't get it as in the above case, they'll just go elsewhere!

[Annie_N]

@SOPS

Firstly, I'm glad you were able to buy the datapack rather than just top up, since converting a balance to a datapack has often tended to give trouble of one sort or another.

Secondly, it looks as though the top-up by voucher option may simply have been misfunctioning over the weekend. I was just checking it out with a view to reporting the issue, and everything proceeded just as I'd have hoped. I chose Tablet etc and Activate a voucher, was invited to enter my mobile broadband number, then my voucher number, then select datapack, then enter my email address for a confirmation to be sent - at which point I again ducked out, as I didn't want to buy a pack!

If that is the new norm, that is going to be something of an improvement - in fact I wonder if the problem over the weekend was part of an upgrade, as it struck me that the whole process was more direct and "to the point" than I recall it being before. But I'm afraid it's part of a trap that Vodafone seems to fall into rather too frequently at present - introduce a new measure first, then do the necessary tidying up to make it work properly. Doing things the other way around would make for a much better customer experience.

Annie