Need advice on retrieving an old account

[Neddih]

Hi guys

I couldn't recall what had happened to my original WoW account from release, but one day it randomly hit me. Maybe 15 years ago or so someone in my older brothers circle of friends in school would not stop harassing me for my original WoW account. He would try constantly and I would feel very uncomfortable about it. Eventually it got too much and I decided to give it to him to fit in and he gave me some money for it, like 20-30.

Ultimately it was my decision at the end of the day. Strong-armed into parting ways with it reluctantly so I understand morally this is not great since a deal is a deal. However we had immediately fallen out completely after that and never spoke again I was so upset about it. I checked and I don't believe he has been on for 2 years, however I expect him to go back on in Shadowlands as he seemed to finish each expansions content checking an old character of his on the Armory. Could be reading this wrong and he is still active even. We are not in contact whatsoever so I could easily deny everything if he came back in the picture, like "I sold it to you? I don't even play WoW lol" etc. Regardless I want my original feats of strength etc back, I'm not asking to be believed and I understand people may have their doubts so I just want some answers please.

I have the original boxes with the CD keys and I'm assuming I remember my SQ/A, so I know I can retrieve it if I don't state it was sold to him. I understand he has no rights after buying my account and that the account is Blizzards property in the first place, however I have some questions

1.) When he logs in to find the account is gone, will Blizzard inform him that the original owner retrieved his account? I'm not afraid of him whatsoever at my big age now, however I do worry he knows my mums address, brother etc and may not be happy when he logs on to find out it's all gone. Can deny it to the ground but bit of a loose cannon and can assume he will be soul crushed losing all his characters / the amount of money invested in over the years etc.

2.) Is contacting Blizz and merging the old account with my current one smart? Or contact them with no account logged in and transferring the characters off the original account on to the new one. Surely they can still see what happened to the characters when he logs back in and contacts blizzard.

3.) When he inevitably logs in is he somehow able to get the account hate banned in retaliation by claiming I sold it to him? There is no sustainable proof since this was a hand transaction back in school days. Worried with question 2 about this if I merge the accounts, I wouldn't want my newer account to be banned.

4.) With these specific circumstances, I can only remember the name of his original character which he stopped levelling, will blizzard remove or be suspicious with all the other characters I know must be on the account (He plays the other faction too etc) that I have no clue about? Clearly has some beefier characters with some achievements I saw than the only character I remember the name of way back when.

I am still contemplating my decision and am leaning towards leaving it in the past completely, although it does burn on my newer account missing so many feats of strength, rare items etc. I'm not so upset about his well being considering how it went down (words are never going to convey this well) but the risks involved if Blizz was to inform him what happened to the account when he eventually tries to log in. Thanks in advance!

[Ashoran]

Scam 15 years in the making, that's a first lol Seriously though, it'd be a jerk move to recall the account after all these years. After all you made a deal, you gave him the account and he gave you money for it.

[Augury13]

You can reach out to blizzard with this information leaving out the part that you sold it to a friend. Say you lost it way back when and are trying to recover it now before shadowlands. They may ask for the original CD keys and such which you can provide and ultimately you can probably gain access to it. Assuming you put it in your name and you can provide all of the info you said you have.

I would say try to go through the recovery process, but it might spook the ex-friend and he might go re-become active.

[azuro]

he shouldnt be able to see its you retrieving it btw. it would show him error on login and ask him to reset password and then it will fail if u change the account info and he will need to provide real id to unlock it. So expect a call about sending him your ID in the next few days? xD

anyways gms will be helpfull if u do like u stated above reclaim account u played on back in the days, dont say anything about selling it or nothing like this. you will prob have to send them the real id and then get everything sorted via customer support.

Not the most ethical move, but for all i know he shagged ur misses

[Neddih]

he shouldnt be able to see its you retrieving it btw. it would show him error on login and ask him to reset password and then it will fail if u change the account info and he will need to provide real id to unlock it. So expect a call about sending him your ID in the next few days? xD

anyways gms will be helpfull if u do like u stated above reclaim account u played on back in the days, dont say anything about selling it or nothing like this. you will prob have to send them the real id and then get everything sorted via customer support.

Not the most ethical move, but for all i know he shagged ur misses

It's just that I've read some other peoples cases and one of the threads mentioned that when he was trying to log in to his bought account and he contacted a GM asking why he couldn't, he apparently was told that the original owner had retrieved the account?

I do have my ID that I registered the account under and everything else necessary to retrieve the account, just the part I mention above is bothering me somewhat.

[azuro]

It's just that I've read some other peoples cases and one of the threads mentioned that when he was trying to log in to his bought account and he contacted a GM asking why he couldn't, he apparently was told that the original owner had retrieved the account?

I do have my ID that I registered the account under and everything else necessary to retrieve the account, just the part I mention above is bothering me somewhat.

yeah maybe they will tell him that if he keeps pestering them on chat and phone, its not sensitive information i would think.

[Ashoran]

And even if he does he can't do much about it. Claim account got hacked back then and that'll be it.

[superxdude]

He may not even play anymore...i say go for it.