Oops! We encountered an unexpected error while contacting you.

Question

Oops! We encountered an unexpected error while contacting you.

Laith Tech 0

Hi, our other account domain has only 1 admin and this admin lost the mfa, when we reset the password we have access to both email and phone number but when we send the code to the email we receive it it asks us to use a second method and when we use our phone we get this message Oops! We encountered an unexpected error while contacting you. .. I am tired of this there is nothing we didnt try and even called your support which is only a robot and leads no where eventually asks me to go back to the support page, and now our subscription is on hold and we are paying money in vain. we need a solution for that so please either contact us on the email that we HAVE ACCESS TO and still not being able to access the admin using it .

[Moderator note: Personally Identifiable Information removed] @grcgravity.com

0 comments

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi @Laith Tech

Based on your description, this appears to be a tenant lockout scenario where the only administrator can no longer complete MFA. As far as I know, in this situation you will need to work with the Microsoft Data Protection Team, who can verify ownership of the tenant, revoke the existing MFA methods if appropriate, and allow you to register new MFA methods. Normally, you can contact them either by calling Microsoft Support or by creating a temporary Microsoft 365 trial tenant and using it to submit a support request.

I understand that you have already tried contacting support by phone and were routed through the automated voice response system. Unfortunately, this step generally cannot be skipped, and you will need to navigate through it in order to reach a live support agent. You could try this method again and use the script below when responding to the automated phone system. In many similar cases, providing clear and specific answers helps route the call to the appropriate support team more quickly.

You may find the appropriate support number for your region here: Contact Microsoft Support

When calling the support number, you may first hear a recorded message lasting approximately 30 seconds (for example, suggesting that you visit an online support page). You can simply wait for the menu options to be presented. Typically, selecting "1" for business users and then "1" again for technical support will guide you to the appropriate support flow.

What kind of problem are you experiencing?

Answer: Authenticator

What product are you using?

Answer: Office 365 for business

Is this for an education or company account?

Answer: For companies

Are you an administrator?

Answer: Yes

Are there any other administrators in your organization?

Answer: No. I am the only administrator in the tenant.

Do you need a Service Request?

Answer: Yes. I need to open a support ticket. Please transfer me to the Data Protection team.

Please note that this team is always overwhelmed, so you might need to wait for them to call you, this should take 3-10 working days.

In case the phone support line is unavailable or unable to assist, you could consider to create a separate Microsoft 365 trial tenant and use it solely for submitting a support request.

Here's how you can do it:

Go to Microsoft 365 Business Plans & Pricing | Microsoft 365 (select "Try for free" in an enterprise subscription).

Follow the instructions provided to create a trial tenant.

Once the new tenant is created, go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Help and Support to submit a support ticket, requesting to speak with the Data Protection Team on behalf of your original tenant.

In the ticket description, you'll need to clearly explain that you're trying to regain access to your previous Microsoft 365 tenant as a single admin and that you need help from the Data Protection team.

Note:

This new trial tenant will not give you access to any data or settings from your original locked-down tenant. It only serves as a temporary means of contacting Microsoft support.

Remember to cancel the trial subscription of the new tenant once the issue with the original account is resolved, to avoid unwanted charges. Cancel your Microsoft business subscription in the Microsoft 365 admin center | Microsoft Learn.

I hope this information helps you successfully escalate your request and regain access to your tenant. If you have any updates or additional questions, please feel free to reply to this thread. I will be happy to continue assisting you.

Answer 2

Because the only Global Administrator is locked out by MFA, create a temporary Microsoft 365 trial tenant and use its Admin Center to open a support case requesting sole Global Administrator tenant recovery through the Data Protection/Tenant Recovery team.^1^

Submit the recovery request from a temporary tenant

Since resetting the password and contacting automated support have not resolved this, do not repeat those steps:

Create a temporary Microsoft 365 Business trial tenant using a new administrative account.
Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center for that temporary tenant.
Select Help & support.
If Support Assistant appears, turn it off.
Enter contact support, select Contact support, and choose Phone or Email.^2^
State clearly that the request concerns a different, existing tenant, not the temporary tenant.
Ask for the case to be transferred to the Data Protection/Tenant Recovery team.

Use wording such as:

The sole Global Administrator of our existing Microsoft 365 tenant is locked out because the registered MFA phone method fails with “Oops! We encountered an unexpected error while contacting you.” Password reset succeeds, but sign-in still requires a second method. There is no other administrator who can reset the authentication methods. Please open a tenant-lockout recovery case and route it to the Data Protection/Tenant Recovery team. We can verify subscription, billing, domain ownership, and registered contact information.

Microsoft uses a high-assurance process to validate tenant ownership before restoring access to the existing tenant.^3^

Have these details ready, but provide them only through the private support case:

The affected administrator sign-in name
The tenant’s *.onmicrosoft.com domain and custom domain
Subscription, invoice, order, and billing details
Access to the registered contact email and phone
Ability to prove domain ownership through DNS
Company registration or other ownership documentation
The exact error text and approximate time of the latest failure

Cancel the temporary trial after the recovery case is established or completed to prevent renewal charges.^4^

If the temporary-tenant route is unavailable

Call the current Microsoft business-support number for your country and explicitly request a tenant lockout / sole Global Administrator MFA recovery case. Microsoft documents phone support as the portal-independent route when a tenant is locked out.^3^ The current regional numbers are published on the Microsoft support page.^5^

Do not ask the agent merely for another verification code. Ask them to create the case under the affected tenant and transfer it for tenant ownership verification and MFA recovery.

About the phone error

Microsoft documents this exact message as occurring when the telephone number stored for verification cannot be used or is incorrect; the normal resolution is for an administrator to update the telephone number.^6^ Because this account is the only administrator and cannot reach the admin portals, that correction must be handled through tenant recovery rather than through another password reset.

After access is restored, create at least one additional emergency Global Administrator account with an independent authentication method to avoid another single-admin lockout.^7^

References