hCaptcha Has No Accessibility Options and Appears Too Frequently

[e-arkham]

Every time I go to the cart to pay for something, or go to view a feedback profile, I get hit by an hCaptcha.

These force me to pick either horses or lions (it's always one of those two) and are increasingly difficult to parse due to large amounts of lines, squiggles, and distortion in the images.  Sometimes, even when I slowly and carefully pick the correct images, it tells me I'm wrong anyway and forces another one on me.

I've tried using the accessibility cookie  from hCaptcha.  This cookie works fine on other sites that use hCaptcha, but it does not work on eBay at all.  It tells me the cookie is set, then forces the hCaptcha on me again.

Additionally, there used to be a text challenge that you could do instead of the images, but that has apparently been removed.  Now there is ONLY "solve the image" or nothing.  There are now NO accessibility options available on the hCaptcha.

I'm getting really fed up with this because the hCaptcha is completely unnecessary.  If it was a check when logging in, great -- I'd understand that.  But I'm already logged and doing things that you wouldn't typically use a bot for anyway -- paying for an item and looking at feedback!

I contacted support, they sat with me for 20 minutes to try and solve it, finally said "there, we did it, now you won't get hCaptcha anymore" and... then I got hit by the hCaptchas again within the hour.

Ebay really should NOT be removing accessibility options, especially if you're going to be forcing captchas on people.

This happens on both Firefox 105.0.1 and Chrome 106.0.5249.91.

[eburtonlab]

I do not think this is normal behavior for Captcha. Pretty much the only time I run into Captcha on eBay is when signing in using a new browser, after erasing browser cookies, or when signing in to a different country site that I have not used before.

If you are using a current browser and not erasing cookies, or changing your IP-address between sessions, you should not need to go through verification in most situations.

Exceptions might be if you are using a VPN or hotspot, using certain kinds of privacy software such as Ghostery or Disconnect, or you are blocking cookies or third-party cookies or using enhanced tracking protection. Some cleaner programs may also erase browser cookies on a regular schedule.

If eBay notices certain kinds of irregular sign-in behavior, eBay might possibly require additional verification. If you are certain nothing you are doing is triggering such scrutiny, perhaps someone else is trying to sign in to your account from somewhere else and triggering it.

It is possible for a corrupt or blocked cookie to cause sign-in or verification problems; but this is less likely if you run into the same issue in two browsers unless you are using a common setting or an add-on in both browsers that is causing the issue.

It might be worth trying a third browser that you do not normally use -- preferably the latest version with default settings and no add-ons, and no history -- to see if you run into the same Captcha issues after you have signed in the first time.

[e-arkham]

I am not using a VPN, hotspot, privacy software, or cleaner programs.

Firefox is blocking third-party cookies, but Chrome is not (and I have the same issue on both browsers).

FWIW, after I made this post, it was immediately hidden and had a big red warning that it was considered "SPAM."  I had to contact a moderator to get it visible.

So apparently eBay in general just thinks I'm a bot.

The main issue for me is the complete lack of accessibility options.  NO text challenge, NO sound challenge, nothing that hCaptcha uses on other websites.  Just those distorted lions and horses.

It's beyond frustrating.

[andy_hewitt]

I'm now having the same problem, on ebay.co.uk.

I've been a customer for well over a decade, I'm signed in, and I've been using the same PC to use eBay, for at least a few years.  That should be enough to prove it's me.

I can't even get to the Help and Contact Center to tell them there's a problem, because I'm faced with another hCaptcha to solve.   As you said, it does not recognize the accessibility cookie, even though I've just set it.

I see a class action law suit in eBay's future.

[eburtonlab]

I can't even get to the Help and Contact Center to tell them there's a problem, because I'm faced with another hCaptcha to solve.

Which browsers have you tried?

[topbrahman]

To use hcaptcha accessibility cookie in firefox, hcaptcha requires that you reduce your privacy and safety by deactiving "enhanced tracking protection". Neither hcaptcha or google's recaptcha are actually ADA compliant. And thus no company that use those services are either.