POP password rejected by sbcglobal.net

eArThLiNg6 · Post by **eArThLiNg6** » November 2nd, 2006, 4:57 pm

I've been reading so many complaints and deadend fixes re: "invalid user/password" message
when trying to receive email. It seems to happen suddenly for no good reason. One moderator linked to:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Password_not_ ... derbird%29

which said that TB will forget your password if the server is down and never let you log back in.
Advice is to delete saved passwords and reenter at prompting, and check box to save password.

Well, I've tried all of the fixes, including installing the latest TB, reentering my userID, etc
without success. SBC's server had gone down recently, just before I experienced this
password trouble, and other users claim that other email programs are doing fine except
for TB. Can there be something else? This is quite frustrating.

Note: outgoing SMTP works fine.

Post by **Daifne** » November 3rd, 2006, 12:46 am

Because there are so many of you, I suspect either a problem with SBC's server or an change that they have made that they have "forgotten" to tell their customers about. Have you spoken to them?

eArThLiNg6 · Post by **eArThLiNg6** » November 3rd, 2006, 5:59 pm

Daifne,
They (SBC/ATT/Yahoo) just emailed a response to my inquiry. Note that they think I'm using
Netscape because their questionnaire didn't allow for TB. Here it is...

=============
"Dear eArThLiNg,

Thank you for contacting AT&T Internet Services E-mail Support.

I apologize for this inconvenience, do not worry, I will be providing all the information that you need. Based on the email you have sent us, I understand that the passwords on your 3 AT&T accounts are not working.

We can definitely help you reset your password if you are having problems logging on to your AT&T Yahoo! account or sub accounts (e.g., username@sbcglobal.net).However your request cannot be fully addressed within our department for safety measures.

We do not reset password via e-mail due to security reasons. Moreover, to protect your personal information we do not have records of your passwords. Please understand that this is for your benefit. Let me at least point you to the right direction to resolve this issue promptly and effectively.

If you want to reset the password for the sub account then this issue will be best resolved when working together with one of our Technical Phone Support Representatives or with our Online Chat support to better assist you with resetting of the password.

Kindly have these information?s available upon contacting for account verification:

1. Main User ID.
2. Complete billing address with the zip code.
3. Method of payment for your SBC DSL account.

By resetting the password we can be sure that you are using the right one indeed. We can troubleshoot from there.

Also, since you are using Netscape, Here are the steps to follow on how to optimize your browser which is Netscape 7.

1. Open your Netscape your browser.
2. Click <Edit> and select <Preferences>.
3. Click the Triangle next to Advanced to expand it.
4. Click <Cache>.
5. Click <Clear>.
6. Click <OK>.

Please follow the steps provided to clear the cookies from your browser cache:

1. Open your Netscape your browser.
2. Under Category, click on <Privacy>.
3. Click on <Cookie>.
4. Click <Remove>.
5. Click <OK>.
6. Close and re-launch your browser.

This response should take care of your issue. I fervently hope that I was able to assist you in the most effective fashion possible. However, if you will have further inquiries or any difficulty doing the steps that I cited, please contact us and refer to Case ID: 128983516.

You may also visit our help-site at http://help.sbcglobal.net/ for resolutions to the most common problems. From that site you may contact our Chat Support anytime by clicking <Online> under the Contact Us section. You may also call us anytime at 1-877-722-3755.

I want to let you know that you may receive a survey, requesting that you rate the service you received from me. I ask that you please take a few minutes to fill this out and let my manager know how I am doing and how satisfied you are with the support you received from AT&T Internet Services.

It has been my pleasure helping you today. Thank you for choosing AT&T Internet Services.

Sincerely,

Luigi
AT&T Internet Services E-mail Support - Tech Support Specialist"

============

... I will try these steps and report back. Sounds simple: Call SBC to reset password, then clear cache and cookies. Hope this works. It's been a pleasure to be helped.

I appreciate this forum and the helpful moderaters of Mozilla. Thanks!

Post by **Daifne** » November 3rd, 2006, 6:07 pm

Netscape is close enough to Thunderbird to not make a difference. ;-)

But, the cache and cookies in Firefox won't effect Thunderbird.

Someone else did say that after they logged in with their browser and setup their webmail, it started working in Thunderbird. Strange, but... ;-)

You're welcome.

eArThLiNg6 · Post by **eArThLiNg6** » November 5th, 2006, 5:22 pm

Finally! All email accounts work now - here's a summary.

Glitch seemed to be between SBC/ATT and Yahoo interfaces. By phone, ATT reset my main acct password,
and one subaccount, but could not get 4 other subaccounts reset. ATT ("tier 2 agent) asked for my
YahooID password to try to fix it, but now my Yahoo password didn't work. Agent told me to wait
2 days/48 hrs for Yahoo callback... Oh, sure. I fiddled around and found that my new main account password AUTOMATICALLY MERGED with my Yahoo acct without the agent realizing it.

Decided to do Online Chat http://help.sbcglobal.net/results.php?all=0&category=78 with ATT support group (phone menus were irritating!) Very helpful agent reset each subaccount, as I verified the changes in Thunderbird. Now it's all perfect!

Hope this helps anyone else who is struggling with SBC/ATT email passwords.... Not a TB problem AT ALL!

Post by **Daifne** » November 5th, 2006, 7:09 pm

Wow! That really is messy on their side. Thanks for reporting back.