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I’m frustrated. Angry even.
But I have a blog of my own, so I can vent. Join me, won’t you?
The other day one of my nonprofit clients contacted me to help them troubleshoot a problem they were having. It seems after months of posting pictures of the work they were doing on Instagram, their account was gone. Missing. AWOL.
They had been using Instagram to post pictures to both Facebook and their website. It was a part of our overall marketing strategy for the organization, yet it was gone.
So I went to the Instagram Help Center and dug around a bit, and all signs pointed to I Can’t Log In > Disabled Account. But when you read the information there, this is all they said:
If you deleted your account there is no way to restore it. You can create a new account with the same email address you used before, but you won’t be able to get the same username.
Your account may be disabled without warning if you violate our Community Guidelines or Terms of Use on any account that you own.
We’d suggest that you review the Community Guidelines carefully along with the content posted to all accounts you have created.
According to this, there are only two reasons why the account went AWOL: either we deleted it, or Instagram took it down. Now, I know my client didn’t delete it, so that leaves Instagram. Their only answer is that my client somehow must have violated either the Community Guidelines or Terms of Use. I spent a good bit of time combing through both of these documents, and couldn’t find anything remotely wrong with how my client had been using Instagram. In fact, as I read them, I could think of plenty of other Instagram accounts that were in violation. But not my client’s.Now I’m irked for two reasons: first, because the account is gone, and second because we don’t know why. No explanation other than what is posted on their help section.Next step? Contact Instagram. Easier said than done. I quickly learned that Instagram has absolutely no means of contacting them. No form, no email address, no phone number, no PO Box, no Pony Express stop.
Now see, with Facebook, and even Twitter, you can disable/delete your account, and still get it back, intact.
Oh, and if you Google contact info or Instagram you get a listing! But when you click on it, it redirects you back to the same page with the same information as above. In other words, they USED to have contact info, but took it down.
I eventually found an old email address for support online, but got this autoresponse:
Hi,
You’ve reached us at a channel that we no longer support. Please visit the Help Center to find answers to many frequently asked questions and up-to-date forms you can use to contact us:
http://help.instagram.com/
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Sincerely,
The Instagram Team
Ah, back to square one.
Now before everyone jumps ugly and points out the obvious fact that Instagram, like other networks, is free, I don’t think that’s an issue.
I understand they are free. I understand they are huge and personal customer service isn’t scalable. Well, it’s not that it isn’t, it’s just that you don’t think it is. There still ought to be a way to contact them. Some will argue that we are the product, and not the customers. That’s not altogether true. We are both, especially if we have both individual and business accounts. Do this to your users, and you have less product to sell to advertisers, or whomever you are selling me to.
So despite being free, and “letting” us use your awesome service (and, I truly do love Instagram), why not also offer some customer service. You know, to keep us happy. Honestly, we really don’t expect much. The bar is pretty low. All I want is a way to contact you. Period. No bells and whistles. Just…something.
Well, the saga continues as I try to find a way to reach them, in the meantime, my client is forced to create a brand new account and start over.
Sigh.
I’ve actually had luck in the past contacting Facebook, and while it took time, they were able to resolve issues. Oh, and remember that Facebook owns Instagram. Not sure what that means in terms of this.
Any one ever have any luck getting in contact with Instagram?
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