The Brunch Table

Like some pulp sci-fi character, I’m now trapped in the paradoxical position of having hijacked my own identity.

At some point in the past few weeks, instead of logging into my existing Amazon.com account, I somehow accidentally created a new account with the same email address, and probably the same password. I first noticed that something was up when the site stopped chummily calling me “Joe Hughes” and started using my email address. Furthermore, when I tried to add something to my wish list, I discovered that it was now empty. (I can still view, but not alter, my proper wish list by searching for myself.) In fact, this new account contains almost nothing besides my email address and password. After my first exchange with their customer service, I asked:

Why is it possible to have two accounts on one email address? In any case, could you delete the account which doesn’t have a wish list?

Their response:

Unfortunately, at this time, we will not be able to close the duplicate accounts under your email address because this extra account has no verifiable information on it.

I suppose I’ll have to have a little chat with them. I’d be tempted to just give up on them entirely, but I have some gift certificates from Christmas that I still need to cash in.

In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying my recent purchases from CD Baby immensely.