Why is WhatsApp blocked on my - new - mobile phone? A Kafka-esque situation

br1anst0rm

I am having real problems in getting either answers or action from WhatsApp.  I wonder if anyone can offer advice.

Last week I set up a new mobile phone, using a brand new O2 SIM card with a new number.  I installed one or two apps on it, including WhatsApp, which I had been using regularly for the past 5 years on my previous mobile phone.  I set up the O2 account, and registered the new phone number in WhatsApp.  The app activated.  And I sent separate messages to about a dozen existing, trusted contacts (mostly friends and family) to notify them of the new mobile number.  I got replies from some.

The following day, the WhatsApp app displayed a message saying, "This account is not allowed to use WhatsApp" and I was unable to see, send or receive messages.  Thinking this was a technical glitch, I uninstalled and reinstalled the app.  Same problem, same display.  The message had a button saying "Request a review" - so I clicked that.  I also went on to the WhatsApp website on my computer and in the Help and Support section submitted the details of my phone and the "... not allowed.. " message, and asked for the account to be reinstated.

I got an auto-reply from 'support' (no name) saying an email response would be sent within three days.  When I heard nothing, I sent a chaser message.  This produced an email reply again from 'support' (no name) saying that "our system flagged activity in violation of the WhatsApp terms of Service and banned your phone number".

I looked through the ToS on the website and could identify nothing which might have breached the rules.  So I sent a response asking precisely what activity had violated the ToS.  This seems to have triggered another auto-reply from 'support' (no name) which now says, "... We received a large number of complaints about your account and to protect our users' privacy we won't disclose the nature of the complaints", and adds that the account/number will remain banned.  The message ends, "...responses to this email thread won't be read".

Apart from the failure to explain how the Terms of Service might have been violated, the responses from WhatsApp support have simply not been credible.  The messages look like stock system-generated texts and have no sender's/author's name.  The app, and new phone number, had only been in operation for less than 24 hours, and I had sent only about a dozen individual messages and had a handful of replies.  No copying, no multiple addresses or "send to all contacts", no attachments.  So there was nothing which might be seen as spam or scam, just a notification of my new number.  And in that short time the claim of "a large number of complaints" is simply not realistic.  But WhatsApp support seem unable or unwilling to substantiate their assertion, and offer neither explanation nor any route to reinstate the account and enable WhatsApp to be used.

What can I do?  There seems no other way to engage with, or get information from, WhatsApp.  It is a Kafka-esque situation:  no explanation, no access, apparently no way forward.  I need to use my new mobile phone, and I need to use WhatsApp on it, as I did without any difficulty on my "old" mobile.  This unexplained, unjustified ban is not only unreasonable, it is seriously inconvenient. 

born_again

Could it be that the new number is one that a spammer/troublemaker has been using, so they stop using it. It them goes back into the pool & you have got it.

Might need to see if 02 will change it for you.

br1anst0rm

Thanks @born_again .  That thought had occurred to me. 

But two aspects make me doubtful.  First, I've had that SIM, with its  "new" number, sitting un-used in a drawer for probably more that a year waiting until I got a new handset.  So if the number had been previously used by a spammer/troublemaker, it would have been a long time ago;   and that "history" if it existed, would surely have lapsed or been discounted. 

Second, and perhaps more to the point, the WhatsApp Help and Support website says this: "If you’re using a new phone number, it’s possible that the previous owner of your new phone number violated our Terms of Service and this caused the account to be banned. You won’t be penalized for violations by a previous owner of your phone number."  So this implies that WhatsApp are able to establish whether or when any past violations occurred;   and they say explicitly that they will not penalise a new user for the actions of a previous owner of the number.

None of their replies so far has referred to past violations;  and as I said, it's hard to see how within my 24 hours of usage and a dozen messages, I could have breached their rules. 

So... I conclude that this doesn't explain the current block on my use of WhatsApp.

Sarahspangles

There’s a scam at the moment where a message ‘Hi I lost my phone this is my new number’ is sent, escalating to a request for money.  Could someone you messaged have mistakenly thought you were a scammer and hit ‘report’?

oldernonethewiser

"and that "history" if it existed, would surely have lapsed or been discounted."

Possibly not. The number may have been blacklisted. 

However this must be annoying for you.  

Do Whatsapp have a complaints procedure?

[Deleted User]

This:

We received a large number of complaints about your account and to protect our users' privacy we won't disclose the nature of the complaints"

Likely that some / many of your dozen friends/family that received messages you reported blocked or reported the messages - probably thought they were a scammer as they weren't expecting to hear from you on a different number or account.

Did you actually transfer your Whatsapp account from old phone to new or just set up a new one?

br1anst0rm

Sarahspangles said:

There’s a scam at the moment where a message ‘Hi I lost my phone this is my new number’ is sent, escalating to a request for money.  Could someone you messaged have mistakenly thought you were a scammer and hit ‘report’?

That one hadn't occurred to me.  But those whom I messaged were all friends/family, so would I reckon have phoned me to check if they thought the message was a scam.  As for hitting the 'report' button - possible that someone might have done so by mistake, I suppose, but pretty unlikely

br1anst0rm

oldernonethewiser said:

Do Whatsapp have a complaints procedure?

Well I thought that the route I was following - to request a review via Help and Support - was something like a complaints procedure.  But I get the strong impression that the replies I have received have all been system-generated or standard texts.  I don't get the impression that any real live person has examined the matter.  I haven't yet found on their website a complaints or "appeal" process to follow if you are dissatisfied with the replies or handling of your issue.

savergrant

Maybe it comes from a new account sending a lot of very similar messages in a short space of time. Perhaps you could get a new number (you could order a free sim from another provider and port that to o2) then give as many people as possible your number by other means.

br1anst0rm

[Deleted User] said:

Likely that some / many of your dozen friends/family that received messages you reported blocked or reported the messages - probably thought they were a scammer as they weren't expecting to hear from you on a different number or account.

Did you actually transfer your Whatsapp account from old phone to new or just set up a new one?

See my reply to @Sarahspangles on the first point.  It is a remote possibility, but highly unlikely.  The only way to check would be for me to call all those to whom I sent WA messages.  A bit of a chore, but I'd do so if WhatsApp were able to confirm the time and/or number of the complaints they claim to have received....

On the second question - No.  My new phone is a new handset with a new SIM with a new number on a different network (O2) .  I did not "port" my previous mobile number across to my new SIM or network provider.  In both cases I was/am on PAYG not a fixed-term contract.  So I don't think I could have"transferred" my WhatsApp account even if I had wanted to, because the old WhatsApp account was registered to my old number on the - different - old network.

br1anst0rm

savergrant said:

Maybe it comes from a new account sending a lot of very similar messages in a short space of time. Perhaps you could get a new number (you could order a free sim from another provider and port that to o2) then give as many people as possible your number by other means.

Well, @savergrant , maybe.  But you're just guessing.  Why won't WhatsApp explain?

(i) what counts as "a lot of messages"?  A dozen or so doesn't seem that many. 

(ii) if indeed that is what triggered the block, then why will WhatsApp not say so?  They do not have to disclose any personal details or other private info.  If that were the case, they could surely simply inform me that the system spotted that X messages were sent between time Y and time Z, and ask me to advise whether these were genuine messages sent by me.

I am not minded to go through the rigmarole of obtaining yet another SIM - not least because I want to keep and use the PAYG deal on my current "new" O2 SIM.  That deal is no longer on offer from O2, nor from any other provider, so porting a different number is not an option.  And anyway, that would be a "workaround" which doesn't address the problem.  What I want - and think I deserve - is a straight answer and honest explanation from WhatsApp.