TLDR: Unable to Change Instagram Account Name for over 3 Months & Meta Support Says NO HELP Point Blank
To be fair, I am quite unsure why I am even posting this on the blog. Gone are the days when posting an update on Twitter would elicit an actual, efficient and effective response from a company’s support team, if not their CEO directly. But, one has to, at the very least, make an attempt because all other attempts have not worked.
The entire chat’s screenshots are shown below, if you would like to follow the ride.
About 3 months ago, I changed the “name” of my Instagram Account. Mind you, I changed the “name”, not the “username”. I’ve done this plenty of times in the past – I’ve been using the Instagram platform since the day they launched the android app.
After a while, about a month, I wanted to change the “name” again because it was no longer resonating with me and my work. This time though, I have spent three months, to no avail. The error is non-descriptive. “Error. Please try again.” I’m also told (via a pop-up message before the error pops up) that since my profile is “verified”, the name change will have to be “reviewed”.
I’ve submitted more than a few dozen “Report A Problem” via the Instagram app. I’ve tried changing the name on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, on the Google Pixel 8 Pro, on the Android App, on desktop on mobile, on app on laptop, on website on laptop, via Instagram, via Facebook Business Manager, you get the drift. And yes, I’ve restarted my phone, I’ve cleared cache, I’ve uninstalled and re-installed the app, etc.
Out of sheer frustration, I clicked on a series of buttons via my Facebook Business Manager and somehow landed up with an option to chat with a real person! Who then offered to CALL me, which they did! I was so excited that finally the issue would be resolved. Alas, as you can see from the screenshots below, they essentially told me that they CAN help me but they will not.
When Meta is laying off employees in droves and is involved in innumerable class action lawsuits, I did wonder if I was making a big deal out of nothing. But in the scheme of things, as a solopreneur, unfortunately, the Instagram platform plays a big role in facilitating an income stream. It isn’t something that I can be flippant about, not yet anyway.
I was told that the only option I had was to use the “Self-serve” option and “Report a problem” and eventually, an engineer MIGHT look at my issue. Each time I’ve submitted a problem report, however, I’ve not even seen a pop-up confirming that my report has been submitted. So I don’t even know if the reports are going through.
What is a user supposed to do?
We pay taxes to the government and when something breaks down, like roads, electricity etc., we hope that the issue will be resolved ASAP and it usually is. But does one do, when the consumer, me and you, are the product. Where the company is making money off of our time and attention. Where the consumer is not paying the company monetarily but is allowing the company to make money by showing ads etc?
“Since you are not a paid verified profile, we cannot help you. I’m not saying that we CAN’T help you. But this is as much as I’m allowed to say.”
I’ve intentionally removed names of the support team members who were on the chat because well, they are simply doing what they have been told to do.
It’s all well and good to say that one should not be so dependent on any one particular platform that if the platform disappears, your work and livelihood disappear. But what other option is there? Especially when the whole world is on Instagram (for the most part) and there is no other platform that makes it so easy to reach such a large audience?
I can see that I have more questions than answers.
I’m hoping that someone, somewhere, who knows what to do, will see this post and fix the issue. It’s worth a try.
