Can't redeem rewards because it requires phone number, and Microsoft keeps blocking me from adding my number

Anonymous

I tried to redeem the Bing rewards which told me that I need to add my phone number. I clicked on the link provided on that page (Add your phone number), tried adding the number, and since then I'm getting blocked over and over again with the following message:

"Try another verification method That verification method isn't working right now. Please try another method."

I tried adding my other number and yet it kept blocking me. I don't recall violating the terms and conditions. I remember adding my phone number as the security info which I removed later, but that should not stop me from adding the other number.

Please help me with the following.

Is there any other method to verify either of the numbers?
Is it possible to redeem the rewards without needing a number? It is really important to me right now.

Edit: The issue has been resolved now.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

The issue seems to be solved in this morning. Now I can add my phone number again. Thank you for support.

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50 additional answers

Anonymous

2023-12-04T17:58:03+00:00

Well I just tried that and they told me that is impossible to use authenticator and it HAS to be a phone number. Told me to remove the number from my old Skype but I cant login to it because the email doesnt exist anymore. So they told me to request an account closure. And guess what, I cant make that request unless I log into the the account.
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Anonymous

2023-12-01T16:14:37+00:00

Agreed. At least with MS Account support, it's been a live chat which has been helpful and allowed me to come to the conclusion this is all on the Bing Rewards side. They need to remove the requirement that you have to have a cell phone alias tied to your account. Just use the MS Authenticator or the SMS method. They use the SMS method at first, then they want to do it again via a cell phone alias. Really?

I did submit a ticket to Bing Rewards explaining all this and requesting they remove the requirement of having to have a cell phone alias since MS Account Support is telling everyone not to use a cell phone alias anymore.
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Anonymous

2023-12-01T15:52:42+00:00

Good to know. I just submitted my 3rd ticket earlier today. If that fails my 4th ticket will ask that. I am beginning to think the rewards support is all AI bots since they just send canned responses and close everything.
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Anonymous

2023-12-01T15:30:07+00:00

Microsoft Account Support informed me they are no longer recommending people add cell phone numbers as an alias. Apparently, it's considered old and outdated and they are recommending people use the MS Authenticator app instead.

What I've done is sent in a support request to Microsoft Rewards Support stating what MS Account support informed me of, and that they REMOVE the requirement to have to have a cell phone registered as an alias against the MS account. That's what the Rewards team needs to do.

Cell phone alias is considered old and the way it was implemented is, if you add your number to an MS account, it can't be used on any other account. If you delete it, you cannot reuse that number for any account. It's dumb, but now that MS Account Support considers it antiquated, they're not going to update it.

So it falls on Rewards team to remove that requirement since it's not longer supported by MS Account support.
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