Apple blocked imessage, accused of spam! Said can only unblock 1x

I am a realtor so I do send a lot of text messages. I got reported as spam and the first time they were able to unblock me. Now I was reported as spam the second time & now they are unable to unblock me & they are saying the only thing I can do is get a new phone number. I do not want to get a new number I have had my number since I was in 7th grade and I am 35 years old now.. Everyone knows my number!! Since, it seems from reading all the comments they are not able to unblock will be most likely getting an android even though I have a Mac and AirPods which are all connected. This is crazy!!!

I never got mine unblocked the second time. The only solution was getting a new phone number.

This also happened to my daughter, she has not spammed anyone. But had kept being added to random facetime group calls but was not accepting these she was then banned from iMessage and FaceTime, again we only realises this after me calling apple and the network provider to assist with why iMessage was not working.

Then on the 2nd call to Apple they informed us that she had been blocked for spam, and they will on this occasion lift it but if it happens again she will loose her apple id and icloud would be lost etc, loosing pics and everything.

No, going to an Apple Store will not help. They have less options for situations like this than calling/chatting in. In store support is for hands on troubleshooting, not meant for account issues.

Apple’s support has 4 tiers customers can talk to, with limitations.

Tier 1, first support group you get contacting in

Tier 2, known as Senior Advisors who tier 1 escalate to.

Customer Relations Tier 1: Who Senior Advisors can escalate to in very limited and specific situations.

Customer Relations tier 2: very rare to be escalated to.

In this situation of iMessages being blocked you will not be escalated to Customer Relations.

Likely one or more person reported a message from you as junk. (Open the spam text and tap Report Junk underneath it. Finally, tap Delete and Report Junk.) This could have been in error by then so that’s why Apple didn’t ban permanently first time.

As for access to the iMessage feature, you are using a free Apple ID and agreed to Apple’s terms and conditions of use and they have the right to revoke use if they reasonably believe you’ve broken those conditions. See the links I replied to OP with.

If you aren’t spamming people you shouldn’t run into this again.

The very same thing happened to us aswell. I was told the same thing by Apple. But I don’t understand how we could prevent this from happening again. They said not to respond to any advertising which made no sense at all.

I had to demand an escalation with Apple support to get it resolved. Was not easy.

My number was blocked twice and I was never able to get it unblocked. The only solution was to change my phone number, which has been a pain.

This happened to me too! I noticed a few days ago that my messaging was not working and after trying to follow the recommended fixes provided by Apple online I called. I was on the phone for hours walking through things I had already done and finally the last person I spoke with decided to check with her supervisor.

she then stated that my iMessage had been looked by Apple due to spam! What?! I have never in my life sent spam and she continued to tell me they would only remove the lock one time, but would not do it again in the future.

I spoke with the supervisor because I use my phone for work and to call my clients and send reminder text messages and asked if they could see what it was that was “spam”. He stated no and resolved the issue for me and then stated that if it happens again I could call back.

but wait…? What is the right answer here? And it’s a bit frightening to think that my access to a feature, on a device I paid for to provide those features, can just be taken away with ZERO explanation.

id love to know if you received any further info from Apple or have heard this happening to others? I’ve been an apple costumer for 12 years and now I’m reconsidering that.

Thank you for contacting Apple's privacy team.

At Apple, we take the privacy and security of your personal information very seriously. We design our products and services with this in mind.

You can request your chat transcript via our online service at https://privacy.apple.com

Once logged in to https://privacy.apple.com click on "Request a copy of your data”, then select "AppleCare support history, repair requests, and more”.

You can find out more about this service at:

https://support.apple.com/HT208501

Regarding technical help or help with your account please contact our AppleSupport Team, who can assist you further.

You can reach them directly or request support online. You can find all information on how to contact AppleSupport here:

https://support.apple.com/HT201232

This also just happened to my husband and today is the 3rd time and they said they can’t see who is reporting his number or when/if he will be unblocked. This is crazy! He uses his phone for his business and does not spam. He has a list of people who he sends messages to one at a time, not in a group text, who have asked to be texted when he is having an estate sale. It’s pretty sad that if apple puts a delete and report spam and someone even accidentally selects it instead of just delete, that it could have this crippling effect on someone’s account. As big as Apple is, they should have better tools to identify real spam and see the history of the persons messages as well as the account who is reporting people. I think this should be in the IOS fixes. This really is horrible to do to innocent people.

Was this your first or second time being blocked by them? Just curious because it's happening to me too for a second time and they're saying they can't unblock me right now and that I have to wait it out. I only text friends/family... SO frustrating.

this is my second time and they're telling me I have to wait for an unknown time period. could be 6 months or a YEAR!?!? I have a feeling someone higher up other than a senior advisor could do something about this. And it's frustrating for those of us that are not actually spamming people... With the technology they have today we shouldn't be having this issue. On another note, I'm glad you got it back!! Praying I do too... it's been 4 days of misery. I wonder if going into an apple store would help. I really don't want to change my # or get an android.

I just checked my original post and it was May 9 and I had been blocked for a week already so about a month and half. What I am thinking is that the 2nd time you are blocked they want to really make sure you aren't fraud which is why they can't unblock you right away and there probably isn't a quick system at the moment. Thats my assumption.

Unfortunately I can’t access the transcript anymore. Perhaps trying to go to the Apple Store. Or change to a non Apple phone. You are allowed to port your number to another type of phone.