It’s all sites that sell stuff but today’s example is Franklin Covey. I have 0 interest in anything they sell but every year I order Daily Planners for a friend. And every year, I just try to place the damned order but I can’t because I have no idea what my password is. So I click on the Forgot your Password? line and they email me a complicated temporary password (this year it had one of these ~ in it) that I then have to enter somewhere else so I can change the password to something else, which I do.
When I finally get back to trying to buy something, I make a serious mistake – I start over. Then when I get to Checkout, I see I have two of whatever I wanted. I look around for a way to knock it down to just one. Hmmm. To hell with it. Abandon ship!
If it was just me, I‘d give up forever. But I said I’d get this Planner thing for a friend so I have to go back. I wait 24 hours. Luckily, Franklin Covey had forgotten all about my abandoned cart so I can start over from scratch. Even more luckily, I remember my new password. Took me 20 seconds and bingo.
I wish there was a way I could get treated online like a completely new customer. I’d happily type in my name, address and credit card info if I could just be on my way quickly.
As near as I can figure, I get no benefit from being a regular customer and Franklin Covey doesn’t need my password in order to give me anything. They just need it to connect my sales history and what do I care?