Yekaterinburg Entrepreneurs Cite Problems Due to WhatsApp Blocking

Businesses in Yekaterinburg have encountered problems due to restrictions on WhatsApp (owned by Meta Corporation – an extremist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation). Companies from various sectors have had to urgently seek other ways to communicate with clients. Due to the messenger«s malfunctions, some firms are receiving negative reviews, and some are even losing money.

«We always used WhatsApp to communicate with clients because everyone had it: both the adult and younger audiences. We built our booking system on it. Now we are moving it to Telegram. Financially, nothing will change for us, but we will lose part of our audience: on Telegram, despite its popularity, fewer people are active,» said Dmitry Khomutov, creator of the bistro «Unknown».

He added that after losing WhatsApp, older generation guests have started simply calling the establishment.

«As for the messenger MAX, I haven»t heard that it has the technical capability to integrate with work applications,« added Dmitry Khomutov.

The same difficulty in companies transitioning to MAX was mentioned by Alexey Romanov, owner of the Bright Fit fitness club chain.

«We are still waiting for technical solutions to integrate the MAX messenger for communication with clients,» replied the businessman.

The restaurant «Pashtet» (Pâté) shared that they now use Telegram and MAX to send payment links and confirm orders to their guests. According to company representatives, few clients have switched to MAX so far, and on Telegram, many users have private accounts, making it hard to find everyone.

«Therefore, we are using a time-tested method – the telephone. We call guests to confirm delivery orders and to confirm table reservations. Moreover, we remind about table reservations by phone as well, just as we did 5–7 years ago,» added the restaurant.

Another forgotten method of communication that entrepreneurs might soon have to use again is SMS messages. For example, a manicurist from Yekaterinburg named Daria plans to use them to remind clients about appointments.

Alexey Zinoviev, owner of the massage studios «Rails-Rails, Sleepers-Sleepers» (a phrase from a children«s rhyme), said he has encountered issues due to using WhatsApp, which is still working but with errors.

A solution to the problem could be a cascading message sending system.

«Now various services offer a three-step cascading system: that is, if a message doesn»t send from WhatsApp, it goes to Telegram, and then to MAX,« added the entrepreneur.

He stated that, despite mixed reviews about the new messenger, businesses will still have to use it.

«As entrepreneurs, we see this as an opportunity to earn. If we can»t send messages on WhatsApp, we will simply lose money because our service declines and we can«t communicate with clients in any way,» summarized Alexey Zinoviev.

Read a useful guide on how to prepare for the complete blocking of WhatsApp. Before that happens, residents of the Urals told what they will do when the messenger finally stops working.

Also find out where to call family and colleagues when everything is being blocked.