On October 5th, 38-year-old Mr. Li returned to the Nepalese border at the Zhangmu Port in Nyalam County, Tibet, only to find his mobile phone blocked. His phone was linked to his bank card and various payment devices. Despite reaching out to China Mobile customer service, he was informed that his phone was subject to a “protective suspension”. He pleaded with customer service multiple times, explaining his dire situation in the freezing cold without any money, requesting temporary reactivation of his phone. However, after being briefly reactivated for 5 minutes, it was shut down again. This incident caused public outcry.
China Mobile’s Xinjiang branch released a statement on October 16th in response to the widespread discussion sparked by the media report titled “Man returns from Nepal, phone ‘protectedly suspended’ for 8 days without restoration”. The company expressed its high level of concern for the matter.
Upon investigation, it was found that on September 19th, Mr. Li’s number was flagged by the system as a risk, resulting in the suspension. Due to issues with overseas networks, the two prior warnings about the impending suspension sent by the company did not reach him. On October 5th, when Mr. Li returned to China and contacted 10086 to request reactivation, he was informed that the number was not registered under his real name, making it impossible for customer service to assist with online reactivation. Following multiple communications between the company and Mr. Li until October 16th, it was confirmed that he was indeed the registered owner of the number. The company has now helped him reactivate his number and expressed deep apologies for any inconvenience caused.
As reported by mainland media, Mr. Li, originally from Henan, worked in Xinjiang and was an outdoor sports enthusiast. During his first international trip, he had planned for trekking in snow-capped mountains, heading from Guangzhou to Nepal on September 18th for the trek and later entering China via Zhangmu to embark on hikes to Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga, and other locations.
Upon his return from Zhangmu on October 5th, planning to make a phone call to book a bus, Mr. Li discovered his mobile SIM card was inactive. Assuming it was due to unpaid bills, he hurriedly recharged 200 yuan but his phone remained unusable.
“Due to traffic restrictions caused by landslides in Nepal, I had already spent 35 hours on a bus and walked for 3 hours before reaching the border,” recounted the tired and hungry Mr. Li, requesting customs officials for assistance in getting a ride, finally arriving in Nyalam County past 8 pm.
During that time, Nyalam County had experienced two days of heavy snowfall, leading to a city-wide power outage. With no Chinese currency on him and carrying minimal luggage for the hiking journey, Mr. Li was left with just a windbreaker.
“Standing on the street, feeling despair, unable to make calls, unable to pay bills, and feeling hungry with the wind howling in my ears,” shared Mr. Li, learning from China Mobile customer service that his phone was “protectedly suspended” to prevent telecom fraud.
Despite several requests to temporarily reactivate his network for meals and accommodation, he was promised 4 hours of connectivity that lasted only 5 minutes before being cut off. When he attempted to call again, he was told, “No authority to operate”. With no other options, Mr. Li sought help from local police and finally checked into a hotel after 10 pm that night.
On October 7th, Mr. Li abandoned his original hiking plans and went to the Mobile store in Shigatse City for real-name verification, only to be informed that the store lacked the authority to handle his case as his phone was registered in Xinjiang, necessitating a return there for reactivation. Left with no choice, he ended up obtaining a new telecom card locally to address the urgent situation.
Despite ongoing efforts, his phone remained blocked by October 13th, prompting him to decide to give up the number, even though he had used it for many years, foreseeing significant inconvenience and planning to sue China Mobile.
The ordeal faced by Mr. Li and the response from China Mobile have left netizens outraged.
One online user remarked, “Scammers want money, Mobile wants lives.” Another commented, “Can’t catch the scammers, so they catch the victims, effectively reducing the crime rate.” Others expressed their intentions to switch service providers in response to the incident, citing past negative experiences with China Mobile’s procedures for service reactivation.
Various individuals also shared their own encounters with similar issues, highlighting frustrations with the real-name authentication process and the challenges faced in resolving mobile service suspensions, fueling the collective anger towards China Mobile and the hardships faced by customers like Mr. Li.