Week Two Update: Deletion Shenanigans

January 17, 2021

Have you ever tried deleting an online account? I have. I have updated several I want to keep after changing email addresses, and several others I've deleted over the last week. And on requesting deletion, I have encountered varying levels of resistence.

Take Adobe, for instance. I had the username and password for the account, but I was coerced to accept a change in terms in order to sign in just to delete the account. Despite the prevelence of email in business, they have no obvious email address. So I tweeted them. After some discussion, they finally agreed to delete my account.

Xero, on the other hand, wanted me to verify organizations to which I had previous access, along with the names the individuals still associated with them. The feigned justification was identity verification, but Xero didn't bother to demand more than an email address and password when creating the account, so clearly, that is hogwash. Eventually, they called me to ask me the same questions, but even then, I was provided an answer or two. Never mind that I missed several of their calls, because they can't figure out caller ID in the age of work-from-home. But it's a good thing I'm not a stalker! That call could have been quite profitable.

I'm down to thirteen accounts left to either delete or change. This incldues a few where I had to email someone, and they haven't gotten back to me yet. Oddly, some companies (looking at you, Taco Bell) don't think its customers would ever change their email address. What year is this, again?