Jul 13, 2022, 8:15 am
Last edit by: moondog
The "FT People on WeChat" group
Our group chat is comprised of FT members and friends of FT members. We talk about pretty much anything except for politics (because Papa Bear has the ability to watch over us). The group has its own QR code, but it has a short shelf life (e.g. about 5 days), so I'm not including it here. The easiest way to join is to add me as a contact (moondogsh) and let me put you in the group.
Contacting Tencent Customer Support
If you want to get in touch with Tencent customer service (e.g. to update your passport number or change your name format so it aligns with your bank accounts), most web resources will advise you to simply message the "WeChat Team" contact. It is extremely difficult to get a human response when using this approach. Calling them also results in a bot experience.
However, the following drill works as of July 2022 (specific menu options can always change, of course; the key is getting yourself to step 5 below):
1. Dial 95716 (or +86 4009100100 from outside of China)
2. Select option 1 for personal accounts
3. Enter your connected phone number followed by #
3. Select option 2 for other questions
4. The bot will ask you to describe your issue using voice; just speak to it in English; it won't understand and will ask you to repeat 3-5 times before giving up
5. Now, the bot will give you ~8 menu options; through trial and error, I can state that option 7 is good for immediate transfer to a human (some of the others might work as well)
6. When the representative picks up, you definitely need to speak Chinese, but your request is presumably fairly easy to convey, and their responses are also pretty simple
7. They might want to move the conversation over to WeChat; this is okay because they will send you an invite to a special customer service queue, which is only ~60% automated
Our group chat is comprised of FT members and friends of FT members. We talk about pretty much anything except for politics (because Papa Bear has the ability to watch over us). The group has its own QR code, but it has a short shelf life (e.g. about 5 days), so I'm not including it here. The easiest way to join is to add me as a contact (moondogsh) and let me put you in the group.
Contacting Tencent Customer Support
If you want to get in touch with Tencent customer service (e.g. to update your passport number or change your name format so it aligns with your bank accounts), most web resources will advise you to simply message the "WeChat Team" contact. It is extremely difficult to get a human response when using this approach. Calling them also results in a bot experience.
However, the following drill works as of July 2022 (specific menu options can always change, of course; the key is getting yourself to step 5 below):
1. Dial 95716 (or +86 4009100100 from outside of China)
2. Select option 1 for personal accounts
3. Enter your connected phone number followed by #
3. Select option 2 for other questions
4. The bot will ask you to describe your issue using voice; just speak to it in English; it won't understand and will ask you to repeat 3-5 times before giving up
5. Now, the bot will give you ~8 menu options; through trial and error, I can state that option 7 is good for immediate transfer to a human (some of the others might work as well)
6. When the representative picks up, you definitely need to speak Chinese, but your request is presumably fairly easy to convey, and their responses are also pretty simple
7. They might want to move the conversation over to WeChat; this is okay because they will send you an invite to a special customer service queue, which is only ~60% automated
wechat（微信）
Sep 15, 2015 | 7:14 am
#152
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Beijing
Programs: SK EBG, BAEC Gold
Posts: 985
Sep 19, 2015 | 9:04 am
#153
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Rhode Island
Programs: AA- Million Miler, DL,
Posts: 28
at @moondog's urging I signed for WeChat in preparation for my trip next month and it has made things much easier. Instant responses and much more personal interactions - which is both good and bad. I treat it like another social network in that I choose to put stuff onto it I don't mind being public. I treat it like a more personal twitter with a dash of LinkedIn and a splash of facebook.
Sep 21, 2015 | 8:58 pm
#154
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NY
Programs: UA 1K (1mm), Marriott Titanium, HH Gold, Hertz Pres
Posts: 433
MD, couldn't find the group but also wanted to give a heads-up to folk that Apple has indicated that several apps on its China store had malware including Wechat. Tencent has indicated that folk should upgrade to Wechat 6.2.6 if they are using 6.2.5.
Sep 21, 2015 | 9:31 pm
#155
Original Poster
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 46,302
Here's a QR code for the group:
I didn't include it in the OP because it will expire a week from now, and I'm not inclined to constantly update it.
Sep 21, 2015 | 11:35 pm
#156
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 17
I just invited myself in.
Sep 24, 2015 | 9:02 pm
#157
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NY
Programs: UA 1K (1mm), Marriott Titanium, HH Gold, Hertz Pres
Posts: 433
Oct 17, 2015 | 4:59 am
#160
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Rhode Island
Programs: AA- Million Miler, DL,
Posts: 28
Want to give the @moondog credit (but don't let it go to your head) - getting stuff done for China became significantly easier once I got wechat. Every driver, guide and hotel I'm staying in uses it and they always seem surprised and a bit relieved when I tell them I'm on it.
Dec 1, 2015 | 8:28 pm
#164
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC E50K (*G) WS Gold | SPG/Fairmont Plat Hilton/Hyatt Diamond Marriott Silver | National Exec Elite
Posts: 19,284
I'm really not that bright, how do I join this?
Thanks for the invite Tennisnoob! Is this an app....? If so i'm screwed, i'm on the Windows 10 mobile platform
Thanks for the invite Tennisnoob! Is this an app....? If so i'm screwed, i'm on the Windows 10 mobile platform
