Constant email / phone notifications about Backup Start Passcode

[MattVT]

About 45 minutes ago, I reset the Backup Start Passcode on my truck, then tried it to make sure it works. It did.

I got a notification to tell me that I had reset it, and then that the Backup Start Passcode had been used. Then another. And another. Dozens. About 5 per minute. So I turned off notifications in my Ford app.

But it's also sending me emails. Again, about 5 emails per minute.

About 10 minutes ago I tried deleting the passcode and creating a new one to see if that would trip something in the Ford system and stop the barrage of email notifications. It did not. The old ones are continuing and now I have new ones in the loop. I'm now up to ~20 emails per minute, constantly.

Subject lines are:

- Backup Start Passcode for [MyPhoneName] successfully reset
- Your Backup Start Passcode was removed from F-150
- Your Backup Start Passcode was used for F-150
- An additional Backup Start Passcode was created for F-150

And now my partner, with her own Ford account, is receiving similar notifications, even though we didn't do anything with her account / Ford app.

So if someone out there at Ford wants to know why their email send volume has just gone up by ~30,000 emails per day, I'd love it if you could stop sending me the same notifications over and over!

For now, fortunately I have a dedicated email address for Ford so I'll be black-holing all of these.

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[TaxmanHog]

Try pulling the 12v negative terminal on the battery, wondering if a truck reboot might help with this issue?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Interestingly, I used my backup start code today, moving the truck back into the garage after yardwork was finished, I didn't have my FOB or phone at the time, I only got one alert on Ford App and one email.

 

[Rayden]

Interestingly, I used my backup start code today, moving the truck back into the garage after yardwork was finished, I didn't have my FOB or phone at the time, I only got one alert on Ford App and one email.

Knowing what could happen, that was a ballsy move!

 

[Ford Motor Company]

@MattVT send me a message with your email address and I will get it to the team right away!

 

[Ford Motor Company]

@MattVT send me a message with your email address and I will get it to the team right away!

 

[Ford Motor Company]

@MattVT send me a message with your email address and I will get it to the team right away!

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Just kidding. But do send me your info

 

[MattVT]

Just kidding. But do send me your info

well played, well played!

I was able to make it stop.

The "solution" in the end was to drive the truck to somewhere with better cell signal than I have at home. By the time I managed to do that, about 45 minutes after I reset the code, I had 708 messages in the Ford app, and many more emails than that in my inbox.

That's the good news.

But as best I can tell, this is a function of my truck having somewhat volatile cell signal. It is connected to my WiFi so I have no idea why it's not using that for communication. This is a constant struggle I have, and why relying on the app (rather than key fob) for things like remote start is just not a good solution IMHO.

So while I have your attention, I have two requests:

1. Even though the message flood has stopped, I believe the bug still exists and can absolutely recur in future. Please ask them to find and fix it. Happy to share more details - I'll DM you my email address.
2. Please ask the team to think through the user experience for people who, like me, live in areas where Ford's chosen cellular provider has poor coverage (for reference, I get >150Mbps DL speed on Verizon, but AT&T is very weak and T-Mobile has essentially no coverage).

 

[JayF]

Just kidding. But do send me your info

This solicited an LOL IRL

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