Stuck Between A Tablet And A Hard Place

I have bought a new tablet made by a major Internet retailer. In order to use my tablet, I have to create an account with said major Internet retailer. I have never needed to create an account with them before, so I am taken by surprise when it won’t let me use my email because “There is already an account with that email address.”

I call the retailer’s customer service line and finally get connected to a human representative.

Representative: “Hello, thank you for calling. My name is [Representative]. How can I help you?”

Me: “I’m trying to create an account so I can register my new [Brand] tablet, but it’s telling me that there is already an account with that email address. I did not create that account, so somebody must have used my email address for their own account.”

Representative: “You need to confirm the email to create an account.”

Me: “No, that’s not the problem. I did not make the account that is using my email. I would like that account to be taken down so I can use my own email for my account.”

Representative: “Oh, I understand. Can I have the name on the account?”

Me: “I don’t know what name the person used because I did not make the account.”

Representative: “I cannot cancel an account unless you are able to verify the information.”

Me: “How can I verify the information when someone else used my email address? Can you tell me what name is on the account, and I can tell you if that’s my name or not?”

Representative: “No, I cannot do that. What is your name?”

Me: “[My Name].”

Representative: “That is not the name on the account.”

Me: “I know it’s not. That is my name. Someone else used their own name, but they used my email address.”

Representative: “I am sorry, but if you cannot verify the name, I cannot cancel the account.”

Me: “So you’re saying that you are willingly allowing someone who is not me to use my email address for your website?”

Representative: “I am sorry, but if you cannot verify the name on the account, I cannot cancel the account.”

After trying once more to get the representative to understand my problem, I gave up and hung up. I tried calling the customer service number twice more to see if another representative could understand my issue, but no luck. So, eventually, I had to create a completely new email address JUST for [Major Online Retailer] in order to set up my new tablet.