Forum handle unavailable after account deletion

a) Some years ago, I created an Adobe account using the email address [abc] and the Adobe forum handle "baroquelute".

b) This past year, I got an academic subscription to Creative Cloud and needed an academic address to validate it, so I associated the account with the email address [xyz].

c) I stopped using the [abc] account, but it was still active when I tried to add "baroquelute" as my forum handle to the account associated with [xyz], I got an error message saying that that handle was in use and so not available.

d) I confirmed, by logging into the [abc] account that THAT was the account using 'baroquelute' as a forum handle.

e) I contacted Adobe support and had them delete the [abc] account. They support person told me that after 30 days, the 'baroquelute' handle would become available for use with my [xyz] account.

So... More than 30 days has passed, but I still get the message that "The selected username is already in use."

Small potatoes, but I use that handle in so many places and want to use it here, as well.

Thoughts?

[message edited by moderator to remove actual email addresses - replaced with abc and xyz]