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）
Aug 7, 2020 | 9:51 am
#271
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Tencent made a half hearted attempt to enter the US market about 8 years ago. They gave up and focused on South America. If the US blocks them, we won't lose any sleep, and trump will look good.
TT is a different beast. I don't fully understand it yet, but it has serious momentum.
Basically, during the course of the past 20 years, we went from actually calling each other to SMS, msn, and finally wx. Tik tok is the new frontier.
TT is a different beast. I don't fully understand it yet, but it has serious momentum.
Basically, during the course of the past 20 years, we went from actually calling each other to SMS, msn, and finally wx. Tik tok is the new frontier.
Aug 7, 2020 | 10:45 am
#272
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50511063
This is what I meant and we're talking about 2020 not what had happened in the past.
This is what I meant and we're talking about 2020 not what had happened in the past.
Aug 7, 2020 | 11:26 am
#274
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Let them block it. I will hook mom up with Ast. Nobody else seems to care. Tiktok is a game changer. They have way less capital than Tencent, but they are well positioned to top Wechat.
Aug 7, 2020 | 12:11 pm
#275
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Wechat is obviously strong in China (one billion members), but it doesn't have a strong presence in other markets, apart from Brazil and Argentina (thank David Wu for this).
Tiktok somehow managed to penetrate the US. I don't think the US will block them.
Tiktok somehow managed to penetrate the US. I don't think the US will block them.
Last edited by moondog; Aug 7, 2020 at 12:21 pm
Aug 8, 2020 | 12:32 am
#276
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With regards to Tiktok, they are in talks with Microsoft to take over their US, Australian, New Zealand Operations. There was a report Microsoft wants to purchase all of Tiktok. They are floating a 30-50 Billion dollar price. I guess we will see what happens to Tiktok and Wechat in 45 days. On a side note, India really went to town banning dozens of Chinese apps.
Aug 9, 2020 | 7:17 am
#278
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,424
With regards to Tiktok, they are in talks with Microsoft to take over their US, Australian, New Zealand Operations. There was a report Microsoft wants to purchase all of Tiktok. They are floating a 30-50 Billion dollar price. I guess we will see what happens to Tiktok and Wechat in 45 days. On a side note, India really went to town banning dozens of Chinese apps.
Aug 14, 2020 | 1:16 am
#280
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Aug 14, 2020 | 1:30 am
#281
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Aug 14, 2020 | 3:38 am
#282
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Aug 14, 2020 | 4:10 am
#283
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Why are you using WeChat to talk to your mom? Does FaceTime work in China? If so, you should use it and you'll get encryption. I never tried FaceTime in China, but I recalled iMessage worked for me before.
Aug 14, 2020 | 4:11 am
#284
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I'm pretty sure you were just experiencing some technical issue. If WeChat is blocked, I guarantee you that it'll be headlines around the world.
Aug 14, 2020 | 4:12 am
#285
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TikTok have like 85-90 million users in the US. WeChat have about 1.5 million users in the US. Massive difference.