In Part 1 of this post, I discussed how frequently people end up with more than one LinkedIn account. Click HERE to read that article in full.
In this post, we will deal with a second, more difficult scenario: You have an old account, using an email address you no longer have access to.
This can happen for any number of reasons, you no longer use the cable or internet company that hosted that address or, more frequently, you no longer work for the company that the address was hosted through.
Essentially, you follow all the same steps as you would in the first tutorial, copying down all the contacts from the old account (if you had them set for ‘visible to the public’ since you will not be able to get into the list directly) and sending a note to link with them from the new account you do have access to. You may actually need to set up a second account if you do not have one and have lost access to the first.
If you are unable to see the contact list, you will just have to re-invite anyone you can remember (be sure to add a note as to why you are doing this so they don’t ignore the request thinking that they are already linked to you) and build a new community (the topic of a future post). It is a bit time consuming but certainly worth it. If it is because you have changed jobs, you are probably keenly aware of the importance of having an active, engaged business network.
If you have access to the email address of the account but have forgotten the password, just login, using the email address and click the ‘forgot password’ link. They will send a new password to you at that email address which you can use to access the account. Be sure to establish a new password and to keep track of it.
But if you no longer have access to the email account, you will need to contact LinkedIn directly. This can take days (even weeks) but you can set the wheels in motion while you build the new account and just be patient. They have come through and helped a few clients I have with this problem and I am confident that they will help you too.
There are a few ways to contact them, I know people that have had success with each but both took a while. I suggest trying both as they are not necessarily the same destination. Once someone gets back to you, be sure to explain that you are the same person that sent the other request as well just so there is no confusion.
Send an email to: linkedin_support@cs.linkedin.com
or try: customerservice@linkedin.com
Call them at: 650-687-3600
Keep in mind that this is, in most cases, a FREE service so you can forgive them for not providing immediate, stellar customer service. If you have a paid account, definitely use the phone number for your account rep to take care of this for you!
They will need one of the following so be sure to have this info ready (this taken from an email regarding resolution of this issue for a client):
1. The URL that links directly to the Profile you want removed. Do a search using your name in the “LinkedIn People Search” or in your Internet browser search feature. Once you find the exact Profile you want to remove, copy and send me the full URL address shown in your browser. The URL will start with “http://www.linkedin.com/pub…” or “http://www.linkedin.com/in/…”.
2. The email address (or possible email addresses) associated with the account that you wish to remove.
3. The exact way your name is listed on our site or any alternate names you may have used.
In my experience, they have resolved the issue and closed the old account shortly after live contact.
The key with this scenario is to get the other account CLOSED so people are not trying to link to the old account. This happens all the time – you search someone’s name, find multiple accounts, try to guess which is the right one and send an invite. When you don’t hear back from them, you think they are:
- Ignoring You
- Uninterested in Linking
- Rude
- Inactive on LinkedIn
when in fact, that may just be an account they no longer have access to!
In order to be sure that YOU are getting all the invitations people are sending, make sure that you have only one account, that you have access to and visit regularly.
And if nothing else, let this post act as a reminder that you should, whenever possible, have more than one address associated with your LinkedIn account so this scenario isn’t one you will ever need to worry about! Click here for a tutorial on how to add an email address to your LinkedIn account.
Looking to optimize the time you spend on LinkedIn?
