Players tend to make the assumption that if they go high enough up the chain of command they can get someone with the authority to do what the player wants. Blizzard support does not work that way. If the GM is not able to do it for you, their manager is also not able to do it for you.
The Dev team working on an issue is about making a solution for everyone, not just in one circumstance. You can’t just request that they work on your issue. There is a protocol for getting an issue escalated to the Devs. From what I’ve seen on the Customer Support forum, it is mainly limited to corrupted characters that need to be manually corrected and not issues like you describe.
Your friend can create new characters on your new realm. It may not be the ideal solution but it allows your friend to still play with you. Keep an eye out for other free transfers. Another could be offered from your old realm to your new realm. Your friend may have to wait until they offer paid transfers in Classic to move those characters to your new realm.
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