How do I actually talk to someone at Facebook?

May 22, 2018 6:40 AM

My account is getting disabled for no reason, and it's completely beyond the pale at this point. All I've been able to find is of the "send a form in and wait" variety. I want to actually talk to somebody about this.

I've been resisting getting a Facebook account for a very long time. However, having one is actually socially helpful these days - and more importantly, I need one to access a group in which the organisation for a university event is being sorted out. (Not just any random event - a module grade partially hinges on this.)

So, timeline:

• Friday morning: I register a Facebook account. It's in my real name, tied to my professional firstlast@gmail email address. On registering, it asks for my mobile number so it can text me a confirmation code, and won't let me opt out; I give the number, get the confirmation code, successfully complete account creation, and then promptly go into the settings and remove the mobile number, since I'm not really comfortable with it being linked. I join the group I need; I make a handful (maybe three?) of comments regarding the event in it, all responses to others' post in the group.
• Friday afternoon: I get an account recovery email. I ignore this, since it's fairly commonplace that I get account recovery emails for accounts I have registered using my firstlast@gmail email, plus other sundry correspondence - it's not a common name, but there's a few people who seem to think my email is theirs. The link shows the it_IT (Italy) locale, where I am not, but a few of the people who share my name are.
• Friday evening: I decide to request a password change, just in case. I do so, and successfully change my password.
• Friday evening, literally an hour later: I go to post another response to a post in the group. I type it up, I press enter, and I'm brought to a screen requesting that I upload a photo of myself "for your security". I don't figure this is gonna do me much good, since I hadn't put a photo on the account (or for that matter filled in much of the info), but I do so.
• Sunday morning: I log in to the account to see how the photo checking is progressing, and it tells me my account's disabled. I click through to the helpful FAQ, and from there to the appeal form. I submit an appeal, pointing out that the account is freshly registered so I cannot possibly have broken TOS in any way and attaching my ID.
• Monday morning: I log in to the account, to find it's active again. Hooray! I add a photo to it and make a post in the group, then I close the tab, because I have other things to do.
• Monday morning, literally two hours later: I go to check the group to see if anyone's responded to my post, and I'm faced with the "for your security, please upload a photo of yourself" screen again. I do so.
• Now: I log in to the account to check for progress, only to find out it's disabled again. I fill in an appeal, attaching my ID again and pointing out that this is the second time this happens, can they please stop.

And then I thought to come here to ask if anyone has any idea how I could get to actually talk with a human at Facebook, because this is completely ridiculous. I haven't even received any email from them, even though whenever I submit something, the pop-up says I will receive an email response. I would love to carry on not having a Facebook account, but unfortunately I need it. Help?

posted by sailoreagle to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

Response by poster: Addendum, since I forgot to mention: I am in the UK, and hard of hearing, and would really prefer email or live chat contact rather than spending £££ on a phonecall I may not get the full benefit of. I am, however, aware that if a phonecall is the only way to talk to a real live human I don't have much choice.
posted by sailoreagle at 6:42 AM on May 22, 2018

Try re-adding your phone number, as a start. They use it for two-factor verification a lot.
posted by acidic at 7:02 AM on May 22, 2018

I don't think it's possible to talk to a person, but I don't think you need to. You just need to set up your account the way Facebook wants, including giving them a phone number for two-factor authentication.

Facebook closed 583 million fake accounts in first three months of 2018. This is a big problem, and it's good that they're being aggressive about it. They have verification systems in place, like making sure people have real phone numbers, and getting photos that they can tell haven't just been copied from the Internet.

There are many people who aren't comfortable with Facebook and don't join. Unfortunately, if you want to join, you may need to follow the steps they want you to follow.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:22 AM on May 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

You can make your phone number non-visible in your settings but not having a number in the account is likely what triggered the disabling. And I've never heard of anyone able to get a direct response to a request for support - it all seems to be stupidly automated.
posted by leslies at 7:31 AM on May 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

When you say you're "not comfortable" with sharing your number - who are you concerned about sharing it with? You can easily change the settings so it's not visible to anyone else, and, well, to be blunt, facebook already has it (from your previous share) so that's kind of a foregone thing.
posted by mosst at 7:51 AM on May 22, 2018 [7 favorites]

If you need a number but don’t want to use your number, you could investigate getting a number from Google Voice.
posted by asphericalcow at 8:20 AM on May 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

Had the same issue when I was trying to phase out Facebook but still manage a few FB groups. Signed up for a new account using a new email address, etc, etc. Then logged into my old account to add the new account as an admin for the groups. Shortly there after I get the "please upload a photo of yourself" stuff you got. Like you I didn't have any other photos associated with a new account, but I did so. I waited, and waited and eventually my new account stopped working.

Wish I had an answer other than FB sucks, but go with the plan to add the phone back. Good luck.
posted by terrapin at 10:06 AM on May 22, 2018

I think it's both the photo more and the phone number. Leslies is correct that FB is cracking down on fake account, and brand new accounts with no photos and no phone number are a red flag for obvious reasons.

FB gets to call these shots because, well, it's their thing that they made. If you want to use it, upload a photo and put in your phone number and hide it or use a google voice number instead. There's really nothing that a human could do to help you skirt around this -- FB doesn't waive these requirements for anyone as far I have ever heard.
posted by ananci at 10:28 AM on May 22, 2018

Response by poster: I'll add the phone again once they unlock my account again, I guess. I did upload a photo before it got disabled again (and made sure to send them a different one so they can see I'm the same person). This is ridiculous, though. Surely once I've successfully appealed the disable with a scan of my actual ID, they should be able to flag the account as "this is a real person"? And surely if having a phone number associated with the account is a hard requirement, it should be impossible to remove it?

I swear to God, next year when it's my class running this event, I'm pushing to do the coordinating via Discord or Slack or something instead.
posted by sailoreagle at 11:33 AM on May 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Honestly, I’d get a new gmail address and open up a new Facebook account. This time, play by their rules and give them your phone number, photo and first born if that’s what they want. And then be done with it. I don’t think you’ll get anywhere now with the existing account seeing as they’re not letting you back into it and you can’t get hold of an actual person to deal with it all.
posted by Jubey at 4:36 PM on May 22, 2018

There are throwaway phone number websites (links to a search result that works in great britain) designed exactly for this sort of thing.
posted by aniola at 5:16 PM on May 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Another factor to consider: someone else may be receiving your authentication emails from facebook when you change the password, log in from a new location, etc in their gmail inbox. I have this problem sometimes, which I understand is a problem with gmail (not facebook): sometimes gmail has trouble differentiating between [e-mail] and [e-mail] and will mix up the recipients. It's possible one of the other people in the world with your name has a similarly-formatted gmail address, is receiving notification emails from facebook, and replying to them as if they are the intended email/notice recipient. If this is happening, having your mobile number set up for 2-factor authentication should either fix or properly highlight the problem.
posted by hootenatty at 3:03 PM on May 29, 2018