What happens when you get Meta verified for Instagram and finally use their customer support services

In the lead up to launching my blog, I wanted to rebrand a secondary IG account I had and change the email address listed to match my new change of IG name. I was having trouble getting a reset password link set to my email address and no matter what I did, I could not get anything to work or any reset link to be sent.
Long story short, as I had meta verified for my The Travel Obsessive business, I decided to reach out and use the customer support chat they offer with the paid plan.

I thought I would be relieved to finally be getting the support I was paying monthly for (although I have strong feelings about the idea of the consumer having to pay for support for a product or service they are using, but that’s not what this blog post is about).

But I was wrong, so very, very wrong.

It started off fine. The process began with me contacting and being able to talk to someone through my IG phone app about my problem which resulted in me being given a case number.
I was then also given a phone call to be able to discuss my problem as I was having trouble sharing my screen to fully explain the issue I was having. After talking with a lovely customer service representative on the phone I was then contacted by a second representative over the phone who told me to as soon as possible, send my details through along with a copy of my ID, business details and a signed letter stating I was the owner of my IG account and what my issues were.

I then drafted and sent all the docs through to the email address that meta provided.
Days passed and I heard nothing, no acknowledgment of even them receiving the email I sent to the address they provided.

A week passed by and still nothing.

Remember if you have meta verified you are actively paying to be able to receive support for your business when you need it.

After a week I chased up with another email, and then a few days later I sent another. Still nothing. No response.

I then jumped back on to the chat that is available in the Instagram app once you have meta verified, quoting my case number and the person who I originally spoke with.

I was told that the person who I was speaking with could not help me and that the person who I had been told to contact was in a different department of meta and I would have to wait to hear back from them.
I asked for a rough estimate on how long it usually takes and they could not give me an answer.

I then asked what should happen if say a month should pass and I still had not heard back? After some pushing they finally gave me an international number to call back to chase up someone, but only if after some time I did not hear back. They stated that it was best I waited to ensure I did not change my position in the que (apparently chasing up an email will delay the response - hmmmmm ….. a simple statement to get rid of a pesky customer or the truth on how their internal processes work …… I have questions about that too).

At this point I had to make a decision, either wait another week and then trying calling, try calling now and risk the relaying back and forwards again my problem with no outcome while wasting time, or try and resolve the issue I had again myself.

As I was under pressure with my launch date I decided to try and do another round of DYI problem solving, and luckily after a few hours, I was able to find a way to log into my account through my The Travel Obsessive account and fix my secondary IG account.

So that leaves the question - is meta verified for Instagram worth it if you are joining for the purpose of getting the knowledge and support of a meta trained IT person to be at your side when you need it most for your business.

From this single experience - I am going to have to say no. I am glad I have the basic plan, it provides my business with credibility, but do I feel assured that if I needed meta assistance again I would have my problems resolved in a timely or efficient manner for my business - well, I’m still waiting for meta to get back to me on that - literally. As of today I still have not heard back from them. I have not emailed them to tell them I have resolved the issue myself, as I want to know if they ever plan on getting back to me.

Watch this space.