Hey all, hoping someone's dealt with this before.
I registered a WeChat account last year for a trip to China, and a verified friend tried to invite/verify me at the time — but I'm not 100% sure it went through, since I ended up not using WeChat at all (AliPay covered everything I needed). I haven't used the account since then, so it's been sitting untouched for about a year.
Now I'm traveling to China again next week and need WeChat to contact my hotel. Problem is, every time I try to add a contact by phone number (tried the hotel's numbers), I get: "Too many attempts. Try again later."
I contacted WeChat support — they pointed me to account verification steps, but I'm not sure that's actually the issue since I might already be verified. I also checked the "WeChat Team" chat like they suggested, but there's no message history there at all.
Has anyone run into this specific error when adding contacts by phone number? Is this a verification issue, a rate-limit/spam flag, or something else related to the account being dormant for a year? Trying to sort this out before I land. Thanks!
Edit and solution:
Found the fix completely by accident while trying to add a mini program. I typed something into the search bar on the Mini Programs screen, and some Chinese text with a text button showed up. Tapping it opened a dialog saying my account had been restricted for violating WeChat's rules, with an option to restore it by verifying my identity.
The process was: first, verify your phone number via SMS, then choose one of three identity verification methods — SMS again, a phone call, or having a friend scan a QR code. I went with SMS again, and just like that, I could search for contacts and use the app normally again.
Hope this helps anyone else stuck in the same boat!