Because our support isn't available during the recovery process, this can be a frustrating situation.
When we analyze failures to complete the login recovery process, it is frequently because of a misunderstanding about one of the recovery actions.
The single most important thing you can do is read the description of each login recovery action you are using very carefully. They tend to be kind of wordy, and that's after we've gone through them several times trying to slim them down. There's no fluff; every word is there for a reason. If necessary, read the description of each recovery action out loud. This sounds silly, but is a great way to pick up on anything you might have missed.
Also, question your assumptions about the applicability and validity of any documents you're providing. Failing the login recovery process over and over is a really painful way to figure out (eventually) that your driving license expired last month.
One other less common source of error is mistaken beliefs about what information we have. For example, any of these can lead to difficulty with the login recovery process:
- Misremembering what contact email address you gave us. (People who forward email from us through an intermediate address are particularly susceptible to this. Our automated email address recovery may be able to help.)
- You gave us wrong (or fake) contact address information for your account.
- You've moved, and you might have forgotten to update us with your new address.
- You gave us your business address and are trying to verify your home address (or vice versa).
If all else fails, go over the whole process with a friend. Show them the login recovery actions. Have them read them out loud. Go over everything you're providing. Ask them, if they were a web hosting company paranoid about protecting customers' security, what you're doing that they wouldn't accept. If they insist nothing, that's a wonderfully supportive friend you should treasure, but you might need to ask someone... nit-pickier.
Finally, there are some specific things that can more actively undermine attempts to complete the login recovery process:
- Do not attempt to use an optional recovery action that you did not set up beforehand.
- Do not send any extra documentation that isn't listed as one of the login recovery actions.
- Do not send documentation that does not meet the requirements.
- Do not redact, crop or edit any documentation you send.
- Do not ask for exceptions to the policy.
- Do not attempt to negotiate or argue with the recovery process.