Pentair Support asking for my username and password

[sidewaysboost]

Last month Pentair put out some updates to their Home app that started some issues for me. My IntelliFlo3 VSF started suddenly ignoring my priming and flow/pressure limit parameters I had set that were working since the day I installed the pump. When starting up, it immediately ramps to 100% speed (the pump is already primed with no obstructions and filter is clean??) and crashes immediately back down to 0 before slowly speeding back up to where it's set to. Then after another update this month, I found my pump running at only 1 GPM during my scheduled morning cycle with no errors. Extremely frustrating. I reached out to Pentair Support and so far have only heard back that "the engineers are looking into my issue".

The reason I'm posting here isn't for this problem specifically, but because today I got an email allegedly from Pentair Water Pool and Spa Technical Support, requesting that I send them my username and password(!) for the Pentair Home app, so they can, and I quote, "log in to see if there is anything abnormal taking place with the programming." All the info they included was the same that was sent when I started the support request from within the app so it appears legit. But I've NEVER had a support rep ask for my username and password to log in to my account, that's a tool they should already have to assist customers, right??

Is this normal with Pentair Support for the Home app? Has anyone else had this sort of experience with them?

 

[ajw22]

Pentair continues to demonstrate how technically illiterate their tech people are. @MyAZPool should see this.

I have not needed to deal with Pentair about an app problem. But I would NEVER give out my username and password to anyone. That looks too much like a cyberattack phishing attempt.

Pentair should have built in backdoor diagnostics for them to peek into user accounts but again they don't act like a tech company.

I have not yet opened my pool and converted to Pentair Home but it should have the ability to create secondary logins to your system for a Pool Service to use. I would setup a Pool Service login to your Pentair Home account and give that to Pentair after I call them and voice verify the legitimacy o the email request. And I never send logins and passwords by email. Only by voice or txt to a known phone number.

 

[sidewaysboost]

Yes I also would have thought they would have tools on their end to see this info for an account or device without needing ask for the username and password. Apparently the app team can see that, since they mentioned specifically the GPM I had set one program to. So I'm mystified why their tier 2 support engineers wouldn't have the same ability.

If you can avoid it, I would stay off of Pentair Home as long as you can. More and more I'm experiencing these cloud connected devices that sometimes work flawlessly from day 1 and then get broken out of the blue by an app update. That's partially on me, but I'm definitely reconsidering if the convenience of these IoT automation systems are truly worth the hassle with issues like this.

BTW there is no option to set up a secondary login in the app, only for connecting with a certified local pool company 'Pro' to allow remote monitoring.

 

[jack35]

cautious—never share your username and password, even with Pentair Support. Instead, ask if they have a secure method for troubleshooting or if they can assist via a remote session where you control the access.

 

[mtech]

Pentair asked for my username and password too when helping me. Agreed - this does not seem like the most secure approach. As I really wanted their help, I changed my account's password before giving it out and changed it again after. As a side note, the rep I got was really good, but my ticket is still open in their system unresolved.