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JoeGray1001
Level 2

Attn Management: Customer locked out of QB Online when 2FA via SMS goes offline. Alt methods of authentication MIA

I can't believe I'm having to post this.  Yesterday morning 1/8/21, prior to 6AM PST, many customers including myself were unable to log into Quickbooks because the delivery system for 2FA (two factor authentication) codes was malfunctioning.  We were not receiving the 2FA codes via SMS.  While this is bad enough, the issue was unnecessarily compounded when anyone tried to use the "I didn't get a text message" link.  This takes you to a page where when you choose "Verify my account another way", and choose email the system send you a password reset email.  

 

Normal industry practice across all properly deployed 2FA systems allows the user to have the authentication code sent by email.  This gives customers a convenient way to access their accounting system in situations where SMS delivery is impacted.  Oh, but not Intuit....  

 

When a customer clicks "I didn't get a text message" and the only resolution path is to ask for another text message, how does that help anyone when the text message system is down?  Why would you not provide a secondary solution such as sending the code via email?

 

Ridiculous!!!

 

 

 

4 Comments 4
JenoP
Moderator

Attn Management: Customer locked out of QB Online when 2FA via SMS goes offline. Alt methods of authentication MIA

We appreciate your feedback about the login process in QuickBooks Online, JoeGray1001.

 

Aside from the SMS option, you can also receive a code using your email address or via voice call. Just click the Try something else link in the Signin page and select the alternative option. 

 

You can also follow these steps on how to switch to Voice call for Two-step verification:

 

  1. Click the initial of your name beside the Gear icon in the upper-right corner of QuickBooks Online.
  2. Select Manage your Intuit Account.
  3. Proceed to the Sign in and Security tab.
  4. Scroll-down to Two-step verification and click on it. 
  5. Select Voice call, then click Turn on

Aside from that, you also need to verify your email address to get the option to receive the code via email. Just go back to the Sign in and Security tab and click the Verify link beside your email address. 

 

Let me share this article with you for more details: 

 

We're always here if you need more help with QuickBooks Online.

 

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JoeGray1001
Level 2

Attn Management: Customer locked out of QB Online when 2FA via SMS goes offline. Alt methods of authentication MIA

Jen, with all due respect, I think you're completely missing the point.

 

Your suggestions require being able to login to QB online and change the method of 2FA which is off topic.

 

Please re-read my post.  I'm describing what happened yesterday when those of us using SMS based 2FA were unable to login to QB Online.  Let's pretend that SMS outage lasted 24 hours.  The point I'm laboring to make is that we would be locked out for 24 hours until the SMS system is once again operational.  Since we'd be unable to login to QB online, there would be no way to switch the 2FA method to something other than SMS.

 

In my original post, I mentioned clicking the "I didnt' get  a text message" link only to be confronted with the horror that there is no resolution.  If I click the email option, it simply sends an email to change my password.  I'm assuming that even if I changed my password I would still need to authenticate via SMS so I'm still locked out for 24 hours.

 

I'm assuming Intuit doesn't want to lock out customers with the 2fA SMS system is not operational.  Therefore, the feature I am begging Intuit to implement is one that most companies using 2FA offer which is an alternate way to receive the authentication code.  When we click "I didn't get a text message" we are not wanting to reset our password.  We are wanting to receive the authentication code via email.

 

Now, would you please address the critical issue I'm raising???

GlinetteC
Moderator

Attn Management: Customer locked out of QB Online when 2FA via SMS goes offline. Alt methods of authentication MIA

I appreciate getting back to us and providing additional information on your concerns, JoeGray1001.

 

Please note that our goal is to save time and make things easy for you while doing a task in QBO. We're taking notes of your feedback and ideas so our product developers might add this option to their future product enhancements. 

 

While we continue to make your experience with us even better, I would encourage visiting our Quickbooks Blog. From there, you'll be updated with the features that our developers are currently working on.

 

You can always get back into this thread if you have any other additional questions. We're always here to help.

JoeGray1001
Level 2

Attn Management: Customer locked out of QB Online when 2FA via SMS goes offline. Alt methods of authentication MIA

Locking all of your SMS 2FA clients out of QB online when your SMS service goes down like it did early morning of 1/9 is completely unacceptable and what amazes me is the lack of proper escalation when such critical and serious issues are reported through normal Channels. 

I’m afraid to say that Intuit client services just “doesn’t get it”

and know how to properly prioritize this type of consumer input. Very sad for all of your customers. 

How about, “OMG!  You are right!  Everyone on SMS would be locked out!  That’s complete unacceptable and we are escalating this as a crucial issue right away!!”

 

:-)

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