I replied in the other thread as well but its not bot specific and has nothing to do with being a new user just simply a new conversation started through a standalone IRC. The user could have had his account for 5 years but if you’ve never whispered him before then the conversation is a new conversation and must be started through the browser to work which is the whole problem.
I don’t think it will be of any use but in case it helps my username that I test this under is: dunkbot