This post is non-food and non-poetry related. No, this post is an entreaty. I need help with Facebook.
Because of a Facebook glitch, I have been unable to log into my account for nearly three months now. When I try to log in and/or change my password, I get a message that my e-mail account is invalid. However, I continue to receive messages to this inbox from this same Facebook that claims the e-mail address does not exist.
I could set up a new account, but that would be tedious. I have sent Facebook dozens of messages and have received no response whatsoever. One is forced to presume that Facebook's Tech Support staff are too diverted by Farmville, Scrabulous, and Mafia Wars to address actual user concerns.
It's pretty disturbing not to be able to control one's personal information. I've googled the problem, and while I'm apparently not alone (and Facebook lists the e-mail glitch as a "known issue" when you go to their login help problems page), so far they have expressed no actual interest in, you know, fixing it.
So if any of you clever people have thoughts or ideas about how to get Facebook's attention and get them to address the bloody problem, I'm all ears/eyes. Thanks for bearing with me whilst I gripe.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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are you on twitter? if so, you could post your problem there. someone always seems to be able to get to the bottom of things.
ReplyDeleteif not, i could tweet your blogpost and see if i get a suggestion.
Not on twitter ... though my sister keeps telling me I should be. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you would tweet it, that would be fabulous. It's driving me increasingly crazy!
i will tweet your blogpost and see what happens. your sister is probably right: jump onto twitter.
ReplyDeleteI'll do the same!
ReplyDeleteAnd she's totally right. You should be on Twitter!
Thanks to both of you!
ReplyDeleteBut ... I barely have time for the blog, let alone twitter! ;)
(Also, I tend to run out of interesting things to say by 10:00 a.m. on an average day. ;))
I'm going to post this temporarily in case anyone scrolls by who can help: the issue affects my personal e-mail, which is amyrebeccap(at)yahoo.com. Pleasenospam!
ReplyDeleteI know this is going to seem silly, but have you tried logging in from a different computer? Also, how are you attempting to contact Facebook?
ReplyDeleteHave you tried logging in from a different web browser?
I'm gonna go ahead and agree with where @flowen is going with this. Give those suggestions a try and then we can go from there.
ReplyDeleteI concur with the different browser option, I had some serious cookie corruption issues which caused a whole bunch of weirdness with Facebook (among other things). Quickest way to prove otherwise is try another browser (Chrome is the quickest to install).
ReplyDeleteYes, I've tried from 3-4 different computers -- I'm actually supposed to help monitor my nonprofit's facebook organization page, and I can't log in from home or work. I've tried with Firefox and IE ... haven't tried chrome, will give it a go tomorrow if I have time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions!
Hi, Becky. Another thought is to see if you can log in using your phone number (if you'd entered it in your profile) on one of the mobile Facebook clients or at touch.facebook.com. In theory, there are certain situations where you can log in with your phone number, and I think a broken e-mail address is one of them.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
I found this: Call facebook support and talk to a human being. The number is 650-853-1300 press option #1.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.fixya.com/support/t1132185-invalid_email_address
If it were cookie corruption then clearing cookies would fix it. It isn't actually cookie corruption, but rather some sort of database corruption on the facebook end. Try Furturedirt's solution.
ReplyDeleteHi, your sis directed me here.
ReplyDeleteThis is an issue that is ongoing for many. I've tried all of the above and after devoting far too much time trying to figure it out here is what I came up with.
1. You have to be prepared to repeat the attempts because for some random reason doing the same thing 20 or 30 times often generates a different result. Here is the drill.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Open a new browser. The latest FF worked for me but you can try others. I've never had it work with IE.
4.Type in the facebook address (do not link in)
5.When you get to the facebook opening page where it tells you to log in at the top right corner, ignore that.
6. Scroll down to the small print where it lists advertising etc. and click on developers. Click on Tools and click various options until it takes you to a must log in page where the log in is in the middle of the page. Using this as your portal continue to retry your log in and password. This has worked for me after repeated attempts. Don't ask me why.
Are you running a Mac or PC?
Finally, I went in and checked out the known bugs in the developers section, here is the link to the page with the login bugs (102 of them!)and it also features the log in option, so you may wish to try logging in from there.
http://bugs.developers.facebook.com/buglist.cgi?product=Facebook%20Connect&component=Authorization%20/%20Login&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED
the key seems to be dropping down from the splash page to a deeper level and keep trying. Once you are correctly logged in the issue seems to happen less frequently. FB fail. Hope this helps - PEOPLE NOTE: I am not a tech, software guru or any of that, nor do I play one on TV. I am a retired nurse old enough to be your mom, so any comments about how teh interwebs don't work like this or how lame my suggestion might be will net you nothing but bad karma and the considerable scorn of a Scorpio. : )
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the suggestions. So far, nothing, but I haven't called yet and am still scrolling through the bug list.
I'm on a PC.
Thanks again -- it's nice to get helpful suggestions since Facebook is so utterly unresponsive to user problems.
Unfortunately, the customer support number is no longer valid (surprise, surprise), so if anyone has an alternate number ... ?
ReplyDeleteHere's another phone number: http://www.contacthelp.com/directory/Internet/Web+Sites/Facebook?ListingID=324
ReplyDeleteThis page (http://askville.amazon.com/give-phone-number-facebook/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=5489350) suggests calling (650) 543-481 which is the press contact number. While this may not yield anything you could always try. If you get lucky they may be able to direct you to some help.
And here is a CNET story about others sharing your pain: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10370788-36.html
Thanks! I'll try that later today.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if it's nice to know I'm not alone or even more frustrating to know that I'm one of many!
They won't even let you leave a message at the regular phone number ... just tell you to go away and die, more or less.
ReplyDeleteGrrr.
Wow, this is getting ridiculous! I'm very sorry that you have to go through this and even more sorry that FB can't get their stuff together long enough to help you and the many other people out there having this same issue. Maybe if you try calling on Monday during normal business hours you will have better luck, though with all you have experienced I am not so sure that will be the case.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep looking for possible solutions..
According to this site: http://facebook.phpbbnew.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10&hilit=invalid+email&start=10
ReplyDeleteIf you email the abuse@facebook.com email address you might actually get some help! My suggestion to you as someone who has worked in tech support for a large software company is thus: 1) Give it your best desperate plea (maybe you will get a sympathetic soul) 2) mention you run a popular blog and that many of your readers have tried helping you as you work through this issue (this will indicate to them that you are being vocal about the issue in a very public forum) 3) hint that you aren't above "turboing" (this is a method some people use to get support. It usually involves emailing as high up on the executive food chain as possible) and finally 4)keep a pleasant tone (this is important because people in a position to help you will be less interested in engaging with you if they believe it will be a headache to do so).
If you need any further help, let me know and I'll see if I can find anything new.
Thanks so much! I will pop them an e-mail to that address right away and will definitely keep you posted if I make any progress. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's why I'm trying to be vocal -- I figure the squeaky (and public) wheel, etc. etc.
Also, SINCE Facebook is being a bunch of twats (that's what you get when the company is founded by a theif), contact their certificate issuer (eTrust, I believe) and report the privacy policy violation. The approach here will be to be a bigger headache than fixing the problem to get you to go away would be.
ReplyDeleteI followed this over from a post by your sister. I suspect this has already been tried but I didn't want you to miss a possible channel. Have you tried the account reset page?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/help/login.php
also, using shortname instead of email if you set that up. That seems to work for some.
ReplyDeletehttp://getsatisfaction.com/facebook/topics/unable_to_log_in_to_facebook_account
Users have also had success getting TRUSTe to force Facebook to respond:
ReplyDeletehttp://getsatisfaction.com/facebook/topics/why_is_my_email_now_invalid_facebook_wont_let_me_log_in_or_reset_my_password_even
___________________
I HAVE THE SOLUTION!! You have to write to TRUSTe, which is the company that ensures that Facebook adheres to its privacy policy.
I have been locked out of my own facebook account for almost a month and i have written FB several messages to no avail. Finally i realized that since my profile is still visible on facebook without my having access to it, that facebook was violating their own privacy policy, wherein they promise that we have the ability to adjust our privacy settings. without being able to access my account, they had stripped me of my right to adjust my privacy settings! This was enough to complain to TRUSTe.
i got an email from TRUSTe last night, and they said that they agreed my privacy was being violated and they agreed to contact facebook on my behalf. this is the ONLY way so far that i have had any success with this issue. i'm still not back into my account yet, but i'm sure that TRUSTe will be able to get it done! go to http://www.facebook.com/policy.php?re... and scroll down to find out how to write a message of complaint to TRUSTe about Facebook. GOOD LUCK! AND SPREAD THE WORD!!!!
I submitted a TRUSTe report -- thanks so much. I'll keep everyone posted on whether I attain similar results. :)
ReplyDeleteI also tried the reset page, which I hadn't been aware of (though nothing yet).
Thanks again! I feel reasonably optimistic that I will *eventually* gain access to my facebook account again ...