Firefox starting to be cold-shouldered by commercial IT departments?
Corporate IT revisions seem to be starting to narrowing the range of browsers that will function on their websites - specifically with regard to the creation and management of an "account" at the website - to just Google’s Chrome or Microsoft’s Edge.
At the websites of the two following companies (one, a major health insurance company, and the other, a major waste disposal company), I had previously navigated to my account with Firefox without trouble ... until up-dates or revisions to the website rendered access to accounts impossible with Firefox. In each case, I called to ask for help with my problem, only to be told that the website's accounts were no longer configured to work with browsers other than Chrome or Edge, and to try using one of them rather than Firefox!
-- Blue Shield of California – by 2022, the change being made sometime in 2021 or early 2022 (a year when I had to be with another insurer) -- WM (formerly "Waste Management") – mid-2023.
As a result of my loyalty to Mozilla Firefox's promise of privacy and disdain for Chrome and Edge, I have lost access to the utility and convenience of an on-line account with both my insurer and my garbage collection service - irritating to say the least.
I am uneasy, moreover, that this might signal the beginnings of a trend if greater resistance is not raised to failing to accommodate the use of Firefox as an internet browser. Neither company's customer service representative was impressed by my personal objection; clearly it will take more concerted, organized pressure not to blow off those netizens who use Firefox rather than its data-sucking competitors.
Please, what can "we", Firefox users & Mozilla, do to resist being squeezed out by IT departments who cannot be bothered with extra configuration labor required to include accommodating Firefox?!
All Replies (5)
Are you able to access accounts on those sites in Troubleshoot Mode?
. :o(
Bearing in mind that Customer Service at both Blue Shield of California and at WM (Waste Management) explicitly stated to me that in consequence of the up-dates to their respective websites, customers were now advised to use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (and to my reply that I don't use those browsers, but I use Mozilla Firefox, I was told that I was unlikely to be able to access my account at the respective websites with Firefox, and to switch to one of the other browsers that was supported), I did try to access the account at WM in "Troubleshoot Mode", as an experiment.
And things went well, just as they do in the normal mode, right up until I logged in, and then - just as it had in the normal mode - the WM website screen started flashing, as it recycling madly. It took me nearly a dozen tries to catch in a screenshot what was on the screen, which I attach.
So, no, the Troubleshoot Mode did not seem able to overcome WM's decision to up-date its website in a way that fails to accommodate a customer's attempt to log into an account with a Firefox browser.
When one major company cold-shouldered Firefox, it was hugely annoying (and inconvenient); with the second instance of it, I begin to worry that a trend might be just starting to emerge.
Respectfully - Howie
Modified by Howie
One user reported getting Blue Shield to work by "cleaning history" which may refer to clearing site cookies.
On the WM site I can get past the reload loop after login. Try disabling Tracking Protection for the site.
Hi, thank you for taking the time to work through this out with me.
The other user at Blue Shield must have struck it "lucky". I've long had Firefox set to clean out its history every time I close it. But to the point, Blue Shield of California specifically stated to me that Firefox is not longer supported. And that had considerable implications for me, as I could then not obtain an account with Blue Shield's preferred provider, since that account had to be created from within an account at Blue Shield, leaving me in a position to have to phone the preferred provider every time I needed a medication. So, I assure you, if I could have broken in to regain my account, I would have!
But, I took a whirl and tried to log in at Blue Shield. I hit enter, I received the code for the 2-factor authentication, entered it, and ... attach the screenshot of the result: Forbidden!
As for WM, I attach another screenshot, caught amidst the flashing reloads, in which you can see that I disabled the tracking protection, as suggested, but without joy of success. :o(
Again, it is difficult to imagine why WM would say that Firefox is no longer supported for accounts at the website if, in fact, one can functionally open an account with it.
Puzzled, but appreciative - Howie
WM login still works for me.
There are a lot of extensions in your screenshots, try disabling all of those AND disabling Tracking Protection AND using a different IP addresses (via VPN, proxy or mobile data).