It took me four days to successfully sign up for MLB.tv.
The first three days, I kept getting this:
I tried different phone number formats. I tried to sign up with a credit card and via PayPal. I used different email addresses. I tried for three days.
I recently started using 1Password instead of PwdHash. I was generating a password for my account using 1Password’s tool.
I finally guessed that perhaps my password was “too secure”. Sure enough, that was the case. I made the password less secure and was finally able to sign up.
Annoying, but whatever…
Then I tried to sign in via the iPhone app. I entered my email address and the less secure password, but couldn’t log in. I used the “Reset Password” link in the app and MLB.tv sent me a new password in clear text via email. :facepalm:
So then I went back to the MLB.tv site to try to change the password again. I clicked on the “current subscriber” link in the upper right several times but it just kept reloading the current page. Finally that same link magically logged me in without me entering any credentials (the page was still open from my initial payment and registration) and took me to a page where I was “logged in”. From there I had an account link I could access and change my password.
On the form for updating my password – my suspicion was confirmed:
Your new password should be 6 to 15 characters long and contain only numbers and/or letters.
I guess I shouldn’t be shocked that developers that don’t accept secure passwords for their service’s accounts are the same developers that create a lousy user experience with vague and confusing error messages.
UPDATE April 17, 2013: So then I tried to log in on an Android device…
This post is part of the thread: Passwords – an ongoing story on this site. View the thread timeline for more context on this post.