In this article we will go over the solution to the frequently asked question, "I typed in my user name and password correctly, it wasn't autosaved, why am I getting an Incorrect Username Error?" and some scenarios we've seen this error message received in.
Scenarios
From time to time we receive complaints from Trackforce Valiant users that they get the error "Incorrect Username" in a few different scenarios.
1. They confirm that one web browser will let them in while another will not.
(i.e. Google Chrome would not let them log in, but then they tried Microsoft Edge and did let him log in. or visa-versa)
2. The user does not have their username saved to auto-populate and they are manually typing in the correct username.
3. The user is able to log in by selecting the "Customer Login" link from the Trackforce.com page but when they try to login on their GuardTek.net site it doesn't work.
Explanation
The ability for modern browsers to remember and offer auto-population for data fields is a great way for users to make sure they are consistently filling out forms or credentials on websites that they commonly use.
When it works right, this ability seamlessly works in the background. Let's say, however, that one day the user name is entered incorrectly.
When the browser commits the wrong credentials to memory or gets confused with multiple credentials it can cause a wrong password to be remembered and sent to our servers even though they type in a different one (think of autocorrect when sending a text).
This can be incredibly confusing when you are entering the correct information but it is the browser that can be pulling in an old mistake. The browsers are overriding the Username with what the browser remembers.
NOTE: This is also one of the reasons password resets occasionally don't work as expected. A user may reset their password and the browser fills in an old password repeatedly, even if you are manually typing in the new one.
Resolution
Clear the Browser cache. This resolves the issue in the vast majority of cases.
In some cases you may need to also clear downloads, defaults, and or all the remembered passwords and autofill settings.