When Meta launched its paid verification service, Meta Verified, in 2023, the tech giant promised users and businesses alike that part of the offering would include direct access to customer support. However, amid a mass ban wave affecting Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as Facebook Groups, some Meta Verified paying subscribers say they’re receiving little to no help from Meta’s customer service reps, even when they’re facing their most serious crisis yet: a mistakenly suspended account.

In emails to TechCrunch and in posts elsewhere on social media, users have shared their interactions with Meta Verified support reps, who they claim have been dismissive and unhelpful.

These account bans, which some speculate have been triggered by AI systems, have been affecting users for weeks and months. A petition begging Meta to resolve the issues has reached north of 25,500 signatures and continues growing. On Reddit, users have been organizing to offer each other tips on how to proceed or support. Many are even threatening legal action.

While tens of thousands may be affected by these bans, that’s a small drop in the bucket for Meta, which counts its user base in the billions. Still, for those whose business or personal brand has suddenly disappeared from Facebook or Instagram, the losses are significant. Others who have simply lost access to years’ worth of uploaded photos and interactions with friends are similarly devastated.

To date, Meta has only publicly acknowledged the ban affecting Facebook Groups, saying last week that it was fixing the “technical error” that led to the suspensions. On an Instagram help page, there’s also a brief mention of the problem.

Meta has not confirmed whether AI, malware, or some other issue has led to the bans.

Instead, on its Instagram Help page, Meta only notes that it’s aware “that some of you are having issues accessing your Instagram account. We’re looking into it and apologize for the inconvenience.”

For users who have now lost access to their accounts for extended periods, despite appeals, these are more than inconveniences.

“I opened around 5-6 tickets on my Verified account. The agents were dismissive and even closed the chat,” one Meta user, Manya Khurana, told TechCrunch. “I have had the account since 2017 and never had an issue. They suspended me, saying I did not follow community guidelines, which is false. I had almost 12,000 followers and was going to launch my small business on it to have income, but I have not been able to start it. My career has been affected. … This has been heartbreaking.”

In other emails with TechCrunch, users describe having unproductive conversations with reps who seem unable to resolve issues with the erroneous bans.

“Back in April, I got my Instagram account … falsely disabled for ‘creating accounts while suspended’ when I never even made any account, nor have I ever been suspended before. This was a false ban because I have never done anything to break [Meta’s] Community Guidelines,” shared an Instagram user, Nikolas Alvarez, in an email with TechCrunch. “On April 3, I purchased Meta Verified via Facebook, and it has been three months, and still just going back and forth with these workers.”

These complaints are only representative of the concerns we’ve heard about, both directly from users and from their posts across social media.

In Reddit threads, users describe Meta Verified reps as “extremely unhelpful,” “giving out canned responses,” offering “no help,” and describe waiting hours for responses, and more.

Some noted that when they signed up for Meta Verified to get help, they were put on a waitlist instead of gaining access.

According to at least one user, a Meta rep said the company was overwhelmed with a malware issue and was overloaded with support tickets. We cannot confirm this, and Meta hasn’t provided insight.

However, there is some evidence that some users have been regaining access to their accounts, weeks or months after their original suspensions.

Reached for comment, Meta Communications Director Andy Stone again declined to share a statement or an update on the ongoing problem, leaving users in the dark.