Askville.com: Amazon`s Answer to Social Networking - Signing Up
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The sign-in process was a little unusual for me. It asked for an e-mail address. I thought I didn’t have an Amazon account, but as it turned out I did. It didn’t recognize my password, however, so I had to change it (which I was able to do with the link Askville sent to my e-mail address when I clicked on “Forgot password?”). So far, so good; it was the next step that threw me.
Askville wanted me to enter my cell phone number and select my carrier to continue! “We will then send you a text message with a code that you can enter on the next page to complete your new account verification.” Hmm. First it claims that my account isn’t new (i.e. I have an Amazon account), and then they want this extra level of verification for my “new” account?
Askville claims that they are doing it to reduce fraud and ensure that “each user on Askville corresponds to one real person.” As to what they will do with this information, “We will send only one text message to your phone for this verification step and we will never call or text you in the future without explicity [sic] asking for your permission. Also, we will never share your number with any third-party companies.” Okay, I’ll try not to get on their case too much for the spelling error, but frankly I don’t want them calling or sending me a text message period.
But this is for work after all, so I keep going. The drop-down list of carriers looks pretty complete; mine is on it (no surprise; Cingular is pretty big, which may be one reason why AT&T bought it). It’s worth noting that Askville is currently launched only in the U.S. and Canada, so presumably you can sign up with this extra text message confirmation only in those two countries. In any case, this is the first time I’ve encountered this kind of verification.
Since the verification doesn’t seem to work with Cingular Wireless (though Cingular Wireless is listed), I make sure my phone number is correct and try again with AT&T. Still no luck; I’m at full charge and fully able to receive, and I know under optimum conditions I can receive text messages in mere moments. Isn’t technology supposed to make your life easier?
I clicked on a link for reporting problems, and was greeted by a pop-up window with a text box. I put my problem in the box, along with my email address, country, and carrier, as specified by Askville. After submitting, it simply said “Thanks for your feedback.” It did not give me any idea as to when their tech support would get back to me about this issue. Trying to start over from the beginning didn’t really work; I signed in with my name and password at the home page, which sent me directly to the page which said my SMS message had been sent, and would I please put in the code I was sent?
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