Some Facebook users are so desperate to retrieve their hacked accounts that they’re buying Oculus VR headsets to get prioritized by customer service. NPR reports: When Marsala got hacked, she tried dialing Facebook’s headquarters in Silicon Valley. But that number yields a recording that says, “Unfortunately we do not offer phone support at this time.” Instead, Facebook tells users to report hacked accounts through its website. The site instructs them to upload a copy of a driver’s license or passport to prove their identities. But the people NPR spoke with said they had trouble with every step of this automated process and wish Facebook would offer a way to reach a real person. “I sent these forms in morning, noon and night multiple times a day,” Marsala said. “Nobody got back to me, not once.”
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Brandon Sherman of Nevada City, Calif., followed a tip he found on Reddit to get his hacked account back. “I ultimately broke down and bought a $300 Oculus Quest 2,” he said. Oculus is a virtual reality company owned by Facebook but with its own customer support system. Sherman contacted Oculus with his headset’s serial number and heard back right away. He plans to return the unopened device, and while he’s glad the strategy worked, he doesn’t think it’s fair. “The only way you can get any customer service is if you prove that you’ve actually purchased something from them,” he said.
When McNamara, the Facebook user in Canada, first heard about the Oculus trick, she thought it was a joke. But she said, “Once I started thinking about it, all my memories, I really realized that I wanted to do whatever possible to get it back.” So she, too, ordered an expensive gadget she never planned to use and returned it as soon as she got back into her Facebook account. (A warning to anyone thinking about trying this — other Reddit users have said they tried contacting Oculus support but were unable to get their Facebook accounts restored. Also, last week Facebook said it was temporarily halting sales of the Oculus Quest 2, which retails starting at $299, because its foam lining caused skin irritation for some customers.)
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