ComplaintsforInstantCard

• Initial Complaint

  04/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I setup an account with ****************** with the details listed that the Smart Cards they provide in printing are compatible as MFA devices. However upon receiving the card and then deciding to research what it was after it didn't work with the computer I learned that the type of card it is isn't compatible with literally any operating system, other than a buggy driver for Linux, and even then not for the purpose advertised without a 3rd party software that "emulates" what a smart card does through cheats. When I contacted them I was met with them saying that "that's just a generic blurb on our website and doesn't mention Windows or the Atmel card we issue", it doesn't however the Atmel card issued can't be used for any MFA just ****** the card and look at use cases. Apparently if I want a card for multifactor authentication printed by them I have to order my own at $15/card + shipping + ship it to them and then still pay on top of that to have them printed and shipped back. Not sure if you're following, but by the end that's something like $30/card. Which is ridiculous. They require a $195 deposit up front, and don't even have the basic knowledge to confirm basic OS or feature support. The sites claims of MFA support are false advertising as they don't say that you will have to provide your own cards to have that work. When I mentioned this they said they have plenty of people happy with the Atmels. I highly doubt that as Atmels can't be used for anything outside of prototyping really.

  Business response

  04/27/2023

  MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) is a very complicated security procedure to protect unauthorized access to computers and networks.  We make no claim on our website or anywhere that we are a MFA solution provider.  We just print ID cards.  We are NOT a security firm.  We do state that standard smart card stock that we offer CAN be used for MFA.  Implementing MFA is highly dependent on which operating system, which version, which software is used, none of which we make any claims about.  The fact that this individual expected ** to provide cards that work automatically with his environment (which we have no knowledge about whatsoever) is unrealistic. 

  We are able to provide ID cards printed on standard, unencoded, smart card technologies. The clients can then encode these as appropriate for their purpose (like access control or MFA).  Or we can print ID cards on card stock which the customer supplies.  This customer was offered the opportunity to send ** card stock which he wanted to use for MFA, and we could print on those.  In either case, prices are clearly stated on our pricing page.  

  In his complaint, this client says specifically he did the research on MFA compatibility AFTER having received the card. He should have researched before to determine whether our product or service fit his purpose.  He chose to buy 1 single Atmel card we offer, for testing purposes, which we printed and sent by ***** Priority Overnight to him, because he was in a rush.   We typically send test cards to clients because we are unable to determine what card technology will work or not with their systems.  Once this client determined that it would not work, we closed his account and refunded the balance due according to our sales policies on our website.

  This client is obviously NOT a security expert, so the fact that he "highly doubts" what the Atmel cards can be used for demonstrates his lack of technical expertise.  The fact that we have a 4.9 rating (out of 5) on ********** from verified clients (1000's of clients) indicates that we do have many happy clients, some of whom are regularly ordering these Atmel cards (although we don't know what specific use they make of these cards). 

  Email communications with this client are available upon request supporting the above.

   

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