Contentious view: Yahoo discriminates against poor, disabled and UK people
In part the problem was not of Yahoo’s making, which I’ll come to in a minute, but not being able to solve it, that is 100% on Yahoo, and it’s discriminatory!
So, it goes like this:
Noting that the username and password is correct, my son tried to log in to Yahoo, but couldn’t because they want a verification code. Fair.
This is because it goes to another yahoo email – that they deactivated (because it was dormant). Fair, and also my son’s fault for not keeping stuff up to date and having 2FA.
The problem occurs when you tried to sort it.
If you Google the problem, Google – and Yahoo – will tell you via ‘fix issues with Yahoo verification codes‘ that if you can’t get the code you are shit out of luck and have to move on, make a new account.
If you forgot your password and your recovery info (phone or alternate email) is wrong, or if the account has been deactivated/recycled, Yahoo requires you to create a new account
But that’s not entirely true
A more correct way to put it is that telling you that “you are screwed, move on” is quicker, easier, CHEAPER than actually helping you. After all they are in the business of making money, not, well, anything else.
And that also is incorrect, because they will actually help you, if you tick the right boxes. If you know were to look and dance to their rules.
In the UK you head to Help for your Yahoo Account, which in cases like this is absolutely no help, but never mind, they offer another solution:
Can’t access your account? [use our] Sign-in helper…
Which is actually a total piss-take because to get around not being able to log in, you have to log in… Are they really THAT stupid? It does seem so!
Fortunately, they do offer a prominent Contact Us button, which loads a pop-up, which leads to another pop up, which leads to chat support! It also acknowledges that their ‘log in to be able to log in’ option is dumb as ****!
HUZZAH!
Or not actually Huzzah! because while the support people are really polite and try to be helpful, the system is massively America-centric and despite being Yahoo! UK, profoundly ignorant of the UK.
From chat:
The first way we can verify the account is by sending a six-digit code to your recovery options. On my end, I see that you have an email address on file. Since you told me you don’t have access to the recovery email address, we’re going to move on to the next verification method.
The next verification method we can try is scanning a valid government-issued ID (such as a Driver’s License or State ID, or a Passport / National ID if you are in Europe). To do this, do you have a smartphone with a working camera? If so, please let me know which type of ID you will be using and provide your mobile phone number so I can send you the secure link.
Being in mind I repeatedly told the person, and the person before him that I am in the UK, from there, unfortunately, it descends into a farcical hellscape of jobsworth “rules are rules, nothing I can do, have a nice day.”
I have getting on for 50 years experience in tech, I do understand, I am somewhat sympathetic, and in fact have been so frustrated with phone support for one particularly dense customer that I put my boot through a tower server. (My tolerance for stupid people is limited!)
Anyway if you build a system with a house of cards, it starts to fall down.
The problem is not the problem
To quote Captain Jack Sparrow (in The Curse of the Black Pearl), “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem”
Their attitude, not mine, but perhaps both. You can decide.
I can set up an email or 100 emails with zero proof of ID. By extension, the worst of the worst of criminals, spammers and degenerates can – AND DO. With zero checks.
But if you want to access your own account and there’s a problem, no amount of proving you are who you say you are will help if it doesn’t tick their system checkboxes.
There are a number of issues here, but I’ll focus on three, and why at least two of them bias and discriminates against disabled people, poor people and Brits in particular.
(We can skip over folk not having a spare £66.6 a month for the latest smartphone ‘cos cost of living crisis in the UK).
Yahoo! You are driving me up the wall!
The first one is their demand for a driving licence. Fair, most people have one. Most, but not all.
Not being able to afford even a provisional licence, never mind lessons is a problem.
Any number of health conditions and disabilities affect your physical and legal right to drive (for instance sleep apnea).
The real problem here though is attitude and lack of understanding.
Incredulous just doesn’t cover it if you can’t drive in North America… If you are old, like really old, like, you know 20 (yes twenty) and you cannot drive, they look at you like you are a freak. I have dual nationality, I get it. America is BIG. In the UK, a short journey can be a pain in the backside ‘cos of all the traffic, the roadworks, the diversions, the lights. America, Canada, you don’t think twice about a 100-mile round trip across the border for a decent taco!
Not having a driving license is treated as sus, sketchy
Fly me, I’m Mandy
The “show me your passport, prove you are a real person” falls over for a similar reason. For Americans it’s fairly normal to have a passport. You don’t need one for internal flights, but if you are crossing over the border, you do, so you might as well have one.
Most places in North America have a commercial airport. The town I lived in (population 20,000) has one. Wolf Point, Montana (population 2,600 has one). Even Bettles, Alaska (population 12) has an air service, so Americans see not having a passport as being suspect.
The other point, which Americans should get, is the problems with travel – especially international travel – if you have health issues. The insurance premium alone can be eye-watering. If you have other problems like needing dialysis, put aside another $2,000 a week for the trip. You get the idea.
Also, in the UK, most of the country is flat broke after 30 years of Blairite left-wing socialist decline, coupled with uncontrolled mass immigration. These days people can’t even afford the bus fair to the nearest airport, never mind the minimum £130 charge for a passport.
Do you guys not have Google?
The last reason is just the dumbest, actually.
Apparently – I’ve been told several times by their staff – their system says that if you live in Europe you will (or should) have a National ID card, and if you don’t, well, there’s something suspicious going on.
We do NOT have those in the UK.
Yahoo! “Agree to disagree. You are in Europe, you have one. Why can’t you supply yours?”
FACT: The UK has NOT had a National ID card since WWII.
“Introduced under the National Registration Act 1939. Every civilian was required to carry an identity card at all times for rationing, conscription, and security.The system was kept for several years after the war but was formally abolished in February 1952 by Winston Churchill’s administration due to growing public tension and opposition from the police.
Caveat:
While I know that git Blair and his acolytes have been pushing for it for 30 years and still are, it’s not a thing, though they sure as hell tried, and are still trying, ‘cos Blair and his son have sticky fingers in that pie, but regardless, Blair TRIED to phase it in but he and his wretched party was booted out of office and the next (coalition) government kicked it into the long grass. So, according to the UK government, there is no national ID card or mandatory identity register in the UK.
“Under the terms of the Identity Documents Act 2010, identity cards ceased to be legal documents on 21 January 2011”
i.e. We do NOT have National ID cards in the UK. Shove that in your pipe, Yahoo!
