A while back, I tried Second Life and wrote about it.
Many months went by, and—after getting a new graphics card—I figured, hey, why not try Second Life again?
I actually remembered my old SL name though wasn’t sure of the password. Guessed a couple of times, wasn’t able to log in, so I clicked on the Forgot Password link. Ah ha… I knew the answer to that secret question, got a link to reset my password, and figured I was all good to go.
Except that I still couldn’t log in. I waited a few hours and tried again, but still no-go.
This, indeed, was just the beginning of my ridiculous adventure.
As any responsible consumer would do, I scoured the SL wiki and help docs. Nothing pertaining to my situation.
Ah ha! A forum! I’ll go on there and look for info, perhaps even post a plea. But, of course, I wasn’t allowed to even read the forum without logging in… and since I couldn’t log in (duh!), well, no forum for me.
So at this point, it was clear that I had done all I could on my end and it was time for me to e-mail support. No e-mail address (understandable), but I saw there was a way to file a ticket for help. Just sign in and… aaaaaaaaaagh!
Persistent bugger that I am, I actually registered a SECOND Second Life account (does that make it a Third Life? Nevermind), just so I could file a ticket, asking for my first account to be unlocked or whatever. It was a pain-in-the-ass process (no, I do NOT want to decorate another avatar!), but I finally managed to log in and fill out a help ticket.
Three days later (in fairness, it was over the long weekend), I got a response:
Greetings,
Thank you for contacting Second Life customer relations. In order to assist you with your request, I will need some more information about the [account-name] account.?
[secret question removed] (the security question you selected)
When you have verified this information, I will be able to reset your password so you can log in.
Regards,
Rowan Linden
* * *
YAY! This was clearly the home stretch! All I had to do was reply back with my answer and… oh, wait a minute: “THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE, PLEASE DO NOT DIRECTLY REPLY TO THIS EMAIL.” In all caps, no less.
I clicked on the link to update the ticket, which—surprise surprise—brought me to a login screen. Which, for whatever reason, I was not able to login with my Third Life credentials, so I had no way of replying to the customer service person.
But lo and behold, what’s this? A 1-800 number on the login page! Dog had mercy on my soul… and I dialed the digits eagerly. Yep, “Welcome to Second Life…”
“…Please note that we have discontinued phone support. Please go to http://www.secondlife.com…”
I give up. I really don’t need any more distractions in my First Life anyway.
What do you think?