User support on Proflic

After being on the waitlist for nearly two years, I was fnally approved a few weeks ago. I finished the sign-up process and was soon offered my first study but when I tried to start I got an error message, PEC-SUB-0002, which according to the support article means "Your IP address has been flagged by our system. We run multiple checks with IPs that include checking if the IP has been reported on other websites. You won't be able to take studies from that IP address for now but IPs are regularly reviewed so it could be unflagged in future."

I clicked the "quick support" button at the bottom and told the chatbot about my issue and soon received a nice email from "Jeremy" who explained that "all IPs are regularly checked and those that are no longer flagged will be free to use the platform again without issue. For the moment though, you won't be able to take studies from this particular IP address." The message went on to recommend several potential solutions, including "Access Prolific from a different internet connection such as a mobile hotspot."

So later on in the week, I took a long walk around town (I live in Shizuoka, Japan) and hit multiple cell towers so I could try to connect from different IP addresses. Each time, I confirmed that I had a different IP address and tried to access the study, but it never worked.

I initiated another support request, but I got the exact same boilerplate response from "Jeremy." I even pointed out that I had received the exact same word-for-word responses previously and requested that my ticket be escalated to someone who could actually investigate and address the issue. Then, he responded "This isn't something any person at Prolific can do for you, I'm sorry."

I replied: "Your earlier response stated 'We regularly check any IPs that visit Prolific with a confidential third-party resource. Occasionally, we temporarily block certain addresses based on these checks.'
That suggests that this third-party resource can be checked and that blocked addresses can be unblocked. Surely, whatever user support system you are working under has a mechanism for escalating tickets and someone high enough up the chain of command has the authority to decide whether a problem is worth investigating."

Finally, "Jeremy" responded: "Thanks for your reply. It's not the case I'm afraid."

So, it seems that Prolific does not have a legitimate support system at all. I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar issue accessing studies and if you were ever able to solve it or if you also tried to get help from Prolific support and were completely stonewalled. It's pretty frustrating to wait for so long and not be able to actually participate.

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submitted by /u/brianfsanford
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/comments/16je4gg/user_support_on_proflic/