Need help re: gmail account

[JAB 67]

Hi: Several weeks ago my wife thought she had successfully created a gmail account, but never really tested it. Her username is unique and not something that anyone else would likely use. Today I tried to test it by sending her an email from my gmail account, and got the message 'account does not exist.' However, when I go to 'create an account' on gmail, it tells me the username is not available. Help! How do I fix this?

 

[Abe21599]

does it contain any weird symbols or characters? can she actually log into that email?

 

[JAB 67]

No weird characters. No, she can't log in.

 

[JAB 67]

Problem appears to be related to the VPN on my wife's computer.