I am unable to put my number on my account. Blizzard uses a service that checks if phone numbers are valid or not. That service happens to have outdated records of phone numbers.
I have contacted both the old service provider and my new service provider. The old provider no longer has record of my phone number because it got transferred years ago. The new service provider can’t do anything because I have an account with them and my numbers status is plain to see that I’m paying for service on a monthly plan.
I can show proof of my bill for the monthly plan that I pay for my number. Somehow Blizzard does not find this acceptable or enough proof to allow me to use my number on my profile.
I know I’m not the only one who has had to face this problem.
I completely blame Blizzard over this because they 100% have the ability to make things right, but they refuse to. All it takes is 1 email to TeleSign and this would all be fixed.
I almost forgot to mention that I contacted TeleSign directly, something Blizzard happens to not be capable of doing themselves. Blizzard, tell me again why you are knowingly using a faulty and outdated system to scan numbers?
The reason for using the system has been so it can check if the phone number can receive sms texts. But the program does nothing of the sort. I think Blizzard needs to rephrase their statement and call it like it is. The system for scanning numbers is in place to permanently lock players out of specific games. Like COD Warzone.
If someone has the ability to contact a lawyer and send TeleSign a letter that what they are doing is in violation of data retention laws. That would be great.
Blizzard, I happen to know that you guys keep things updated and don’t hold information indefinitely so you can be complaint in those same laws. But knowingly using a product or system that breaks those laws holds you just as much accountable. The people who put that system in place and pay for it can not tell me that they don’t know what I’m talking about. Maybe try doing a bit of quality control before you trust the reputation of the company on a faulty 3rd party service like TeleSign.
6 Likes
Yo brother, it’s not blizzard anymore, it’s hacktivision. They don’t care about you, just your money. Good luck getting credit for your downtime.
1 Like
I feel like the people running things are too ignorant to be aware of this issue that has apparently been a problem for many players for years. So I’m doing what I can to make them aware.
I used to like Blizzard when it was still Blizzard. How the mighty have fallen.
I don’t understand where and why you need to provide Blizzard with your phone number?
1 Like
COD Warzone requires a phone number for some reason.
Two reasons - or sort of 3 now.
-
The SMS text service that lets you perform some account functions and recieve notifications about changes to your account requires a phone number that meets the requirements (of course.)
-
Now that Mobile Authenticator ALSO needs to have that same valid phone number. This is a new change and means that instead of just putting it on any compatible device, they added a phone number requirement. Fewer people can use the Auth as a result which reduces security for some.
-
Free to play games may require a valid contract cell phone number that is registered in the country you resided in as per your Bnet account info. You can guess what that is combating.
My limited understanding of how the system works is that phone numbers when created are flagged somehow as residential, cell, business, mobile contract, mobile pay as you go, VOIP.
Numbers can be transferred from one service to another but those tags may not be updated when that happens. So even though your old pre-paid number is now a contract number, or your provider bought a whole bunch of previously pre-paid numbers, the flags were not updated.
The system in use checks the type flag on the number and also checks the country of the number to match it with the country on the account.
Blizzard CS can’t change the flags - and I don’t know who does control that. I can’t seem to find the info. They also can’t over ride the programming to make the system accept a number with the wrong flag - even though the number is now used on a contract phone plan.
They are limited to basically helping you with a country change if that is the problem. So that the country you reside in and your number is registered to matches your account. Some folks forget to update when they move because it takes paperwork.
This system has been in place for years but previously only impacted the optional SMS services. Now that it impacts use of the Authenticator and account security it is less than…optimal… shall I say.
Note: MVPs are other players, not Blizzard staff. MVPs do not represent Blizzard or speak for Blizzard. All we get is green text.
well this clears things up, im just very upset about this 
I just had a ton of progress on my playstation account and was excited to transfer it over to warzone on the PC, because I cannot get a ps5 and my ps4 died. very stressed from this maybe support team will help me play without a phone number needed
Support isn’t allowed to help anyone at this point. Not even if you spent money and have proof of ownership over your own account. You would think that after the thousands of complaints and support requests they would do something rather than lose customers.
Even if it hasn’t been that many support requests, just look at the reviews on their authenticator app. This has been going on for quite some time and it will give you a feel for just how many players are impacted by the sheer ignorance of not having a better system in place or an alternative.
2 Likes
What a shame, I will never buy another cod or blizzard game again, what a true shame, it really is
2 Likes
They finally escalated the issue and contacted the company that scans the phone numbers. Maybe people might have luck when they ask support about it now.
warzone gives me a message saying i need to verify my account with my phone number. problem is the phone number used on my account i donthave access to anymore as i changed my phone number. i have tried to change the phone number linked to my battle.net account but i cant because in order to do that i have to get a code from my old number that i dont have please help me i just wanna play warzone this is rlly fustrating
ive tried everything. please fix the system used to change phone number on battle.net thank you
2 Likes
since your special with your green text, can you tell blizzard to fix the telephone update system? trying to update my phone number. the phone number i have linked to my account is old and I don’t have access to anymore. when i got to update it says it needs to send a SMS to the number that I don’t have access to anymore to make the changes. Why wouldn’t they have multiple options for contact?
1 Like
i have same issue. seems a 5 year old put this system in, not sure why they wouldnt have multiple options for contact.
has anyone found a way around this yet? keeps sending verification text to my old number as well. can not update