Why are things so hard to log into these days? Just

[SapphireSeptember]

Just tried to log into my NHS account to make an appointment for DS. Need photo ID and a recording of my face or a load of details about my GP. The last time I logged on I didn't need any of this nonsense. They've got my details! My photo ID is a passport from 2016, the last time I used it for ID I got funny looks because I've aged a bit since then, so it probably won't match anyway. If I phone up I'll get told to do it online.

Tried to log into O2 the other week and it took forever because I needed to re- register now they've taken over Virgin Media. Took about ten minutes to get through to top up my phone whereas before it took about two.

Everything needs multiple steps these days and it drives me up the wall. Yahoo! is still easy to sign into though!

EBay was asking for my NI no.
no way….

It's the bane of my life tbh. Passwords. Endless fucking passwords in order to be able to breathe.

I know its necessary for the security bla bla bla but it's so tedious. I probably spend an hour of the working day checking or adding passwords in order to be able to log into things. It gives me the rage.

It’s soon getting to the stage that it so secure only a scammer can access It for me .

eBay? Why would they need that?

What I'm about to say may possibly warrant a whole other thread

But honestly, I think this day-to-day stuff affects how I feel about work. So on top of the work thing, you spend a disproportionate amount of free time on it as well.

Any line of work at the moment seems to be dominated by tech, even if it previously wasn't.

I would laugh at this but it's probably true!

Yes, it's becoming ridiculous. Ironically one of the easiest apps to get into is my bank account.

And as for trying to buy a new phone without a phone (because it's been stolen)... That is a farce of Feydeauesque proportions.

Don't do logins. Massive pain in the arse. If l buy something online l always do Click and Collect and pick up goods from my local store.branch.

And only but from companies where you can check in as a guest.

Just got a new mobile about a month ago.

And it has taken me nearly all that time to put the spot back on the text icon after a new Version of Android reset it.

I awarded myself a nice cup of coffee , a large bar of Cadbury's Chocolate and a PhD in phone settings navigation.

Don't let them the bastards grind you down.
👍😻🍀

@SemiRetiredLoveGoddeess what's the spot please?

How do you avoid logins entirely?!

Something else that drives me nuts that everything is an app. I do actually use my telephone for conversations and I need it to have decent battery. So I don't want everything to be an app. What's the reason for that, does anyone know? Is it easier for them to get more data that way?

If they force digital ID on us I don't want it on the phone that I carry around with me.

I do online banking, but only from my computer. I genuinely think that businesses who go back to some kind of paper will do really well.

There was a big hack of conveyancing firms back in November 2023. I completed a transaction just before it happened. They were literally people unable to complete, packed in removal vans ready to go. They would've been better off if these companies were operating systems with paper backup.

Quite honestly, when I was going through my dad's papers for his estate, I felt quite nostalgic. He kept every single piece of paper from his adult life I think! But having looked at these old invoices and things, I just thought, how much easier to get a paper bill and send a cheque in the post!

🤣🤣🤣🤣

And goodness only knows how average 80+ generation are coping. Digitally excluded is a big issue.

Is it because of HMRC checks? I haven't been asked but I rarely sell.

That’s weird about the NHS one. My son has a lot of appointments and they never ask for photo id/face recognition when I login. It’s date of birth and a code that gets sent to my phone. They probably do it differently all around the country which is mad in itself.

I agree it is hard and frustrating.

Some of it is necessary given the skills of hackers and people who are not friends of the UK.

Renewing your driving licence online, rather than at the Post Office, gets the medal for the worst user experience. Honestly, my advice is if you need to do your 10 year renewal of your driving licence head down to your friendly PO because doing it online will send you into a rage.

it required logging onto the gov website, going round in a loop, facial recognition would not work, trying to use the "give information" option (do they really expect people to have an accurate answer to how much do you still have to pay off your mortgage??), then trying to use the gov.uk OneLogon app on your phone, along with your iPad. All I could think of what how much bloody taxpayers money has been spent on this shit?? 30 mins of frustration and swearing later....abandon!

compare to going to the post office, hand over my old driving licence, have a photo taken by the PO counter staff, pay my money took a total of 6 minutes and the new licence arrived in the post 6 days later.

The worry is that they continually change, make it more difficult to access YOUR accounts at the same time removing telephone numbers, email addresses, creating no reply email addresses. They may sell it as security but a lot of it is removing real people from the transaction at their end. Then there was chat (which was bad enough) now there are chat bots, no actual banks, no branch offices, no human beings, no care/understanding/support. We are no longer customers, just annoying people who get minimal service to keep the shareholders happy.

It's the two factor authentication for stupid shit that annoys me like Pinterest I think (might not have been) i haven't logged in for awhile so update the app go to log in right username right password but no we have sent you a one time pass code 😑 then there are the websites insisting im signing in from a new device im not im REALLY not netflix that thinks I live in redditch when I actually dont this causes issues when they ring me because they have suddenly got my location correct yet when someone from the Philippines swiped my netflix they didnt notice 🙄 they called to check it was me because I reported theft of my account before yes yes very good but if you look at the area you will see im at home? Oooh sorry thought you lived in redditch its on our system as your most signed in address....."sigh" (I live over thirty miles away ive no clue why it happens)

I feel you. My work place has changed the hr system with all are our wage slips, training etc on. Need multiple apps just for that, including authenticator. It's a bloody faff to get into it.

Completely agree. I had my phone stolen last year. I hadn’t realised until that point that, whilst I had set up a variety of two factor authentication methods for my various cards, they all involved my phone in some way (text, call, app). I had access to my online banking but no way to pay. I had to get my husband to buy a replacement phone for me.

Plus I logged into my EE account to try to report the phone stolen. You could only report by phoning them. I didn’t have a phone because it had been stolen (haven’t had a landline in years). Ffs.

Nat West. If you want to log on using a PC you have to open the app on your phone and take a pic.

I have arthritis I want to use my PC not my phone.

That's weird, I found it insanely easy! Was this recently? Maybe they've just updated the system. Maybe I was lucky because I have a relatively new passport with the e chip in.

I also find any of the .gov sites really user friendly nowadays (UC, HMRC), but this has only happened over the last couple of years. I remember when doing your tax return online was a nightmare.

Part of the problem is that they all have different ‘secondary’ verification procedures. They all ask for username (which can be your name, your email address, or some made up number with random letters), plus a password.

But then it gets complicated. Some ask for a date, or a place, or a memorable name, or your father’s first or mother’s maiden name, or you need a little gadget to put your bank card in to get some code - which is so small and faint I struggle to read it…

Unless one writes it all down, how is one supposed to remember… Which kind of defeats the purpose.

The other difficulty relates to the fact that the system usually doesn’t tell you WHAT one is getting wrong. Simple things like having mistakenly locked caps, or that whatever you’re meant to input has to be case sensitive, or that the date is in 6 or 8 figure format.

I so hate this - all banks now seem to urge one to use their app. To me, this feels far less secure than using my personal laptop inside my own home.

Plus my eyesight is not very good, so I struggle to read things on my phone. I’m far too scared of accidentally doing something wrong to consider using apps for banking or purchasing.

My bank ‘helpfully’ flagged a larger than usual transfer of funds to another bank, referring me to their fraud line.

It took 20 - TWENTY!!! - minutes for them to answer. I then had to go through some lengthy security process before they would deal with my issue. Imagine I had been calling while some scammer had gained online access to my laptop….. which actually happened to a friend of mine. The scammer would have emptied one’s accounts by the time one managed to speak to a real person!

@eurochick @CeeJay81 my phone was stolen yesterday! Once my new phone comes (that my husband had to buy) I'm going to have to go in to work and have them install the two 2-factor authenticator apps that mean I can use email and the PO systems....