brassneck2019

A plea for help.

My daughter is in Shanghai at University and her Wechat account has been blocked a few times. She is running out of people to help her and she needs it for pretty much all everyday activities and also for staying in touch with friends.

Are there any kind souls on here who might be able to advise or even better help get her account unblocked?

Would be very grateful.

Thanks
Stephen

trueblu

Welcome to FT.

I have to be honest...this is a little bit of an ask from a first-time poster, and I apologise if that comes across as harsh. Helping to unblock Wechat accounts is meant to be done by actual friends/ acquaintances...which we clearly aren't.

The more important question is why is it being repeatedly blocked? That is highly unusual in my experience, and more information may help solve the issue longer term.

All the best!

tb

brassneck2019

Thanks for replying and yes I understand that it is very cheeky to ask. The thing is she is getting very stressed and we are trying to help in some way.

The first time was suspicious activity - we think it was because she set up account on UK sim and then switched to a Chinese one on same phone but who knows - and second time it is because she has been sending unusual greetings or too many greetings.

As she is in China she now needs people with mainland China accounts to help I think - obviously that is not easy for her to find anybody so posted in case anybody could help - and it might help somebody else in the future.

I tried to set up an account her in the UK to use WeChat and I can't get through security as I don't know anybody who can verify me.

She has contacted support but I have heard they are not very responsive.

Thanks again, Stephen.

trueblu

I can understand the frustration.

Since she is on campus, and literally every Chinese student has 1000+ contacts on Wechat...shouldn't that be her first port of call?

Accounts can and do get blocked when changing SIM, but only when trying to re-enter credentials and it can't be verified. I swap out my SIM cards every month or so when I'm travelling and not had issues. I can't comment on the unusual greetings issue...

Sorry for coming across as obstructive, but especially for the next couple of weeks, need to be a little vigilant on social media...

Finally, although it may seem like the end of the world in China not to have Wechat...it's not. I still have people using old fashioned text messages to me from time to time...it's super cheap and reasonably effective. Yes, it lacks the 'cool' features and genuine strengths of wechat. But for just keeping in touch for a few days until this gets sorted, might be the way to go. Would also recommend your daughter asking a Chinese friend to talk with customer support (in Chinese)...

And really finally, can always set up a new username...friends who got locked out when moving back overseas did this, and it's a pain when you have years of wechat conversations that you've lost, but that's not the case here.

All the best to your daughter!

tb

brassneck2019

Thanks for the great advice.

Will pass on.

Regarding a new user name, will it be a problem if she uses the same phone number for it? Maybe they will link the two?

I can't even set up an account from the UK as I don't know anybody who can verify me.

Thanks again,
Stephen.

trueblu

I think it should be fine, but, touch wood, never needed to do so myself.

All the best.

tb

moondog

What did she do to get blocked? I ask because this because Tencent doesn't have the resources or the motive to go around playing "hall monitor", so if she did manage to trigger one of their hot buttons, this might be valid cause for concern.

In any event, assuming she cares about keeping her existing account, contacting support would be a good first step. If that doesn't yield a fruitful result, setting up a new account isn't the end of the world. I have a number of friends who started afresh for various reasons, and it didn't take any of them more than 2 or 3 days to get completely back on grid.

889

The phone number is black-listed. Don't waste your time with just a new account name. Get a new phone number. Phone numbers are recycled and sometimes you do get one with a bad past history.

moondog

Excellent catch!^ This makes a lot more sense than other possible explanations. @op It's pretty easy to move wx accounts from one number to another, but your daughter might want to consider getting a new account anyway, especially if her bank account is linked. The same goes for Alipay.

g4495792

Chinese Internet users need real name verification. Ask your daughter if the account has not been verified.