Does Social Security offer 24 hour customer service?
A:Not at this number; hours here are Mon-Fri 7am-7pm EST.The least busy day is Wednesday, and the most busy day is Monday.If the call center is closed, you can schedule a call.
Q:
How long will I wait on hold?
A:The average hold time is 19 minutes and 32 seconds.The longest hold times are on Monday, and the shortest are on Friday.You can skip the hold time for free.
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 7am-7pm EST · This is the number for the Social Security Administration ID Theft/Fraud Reporting · Fraud Hotline - Received a call from someone, press 1. Report identity theft, press 2. Report Medicare or Medicaid fraud, press 3. Need help with social security benefits, press 4. To report social security fraud, press 5. · Free tools available: Talk for me, Skip the wait, Schedule my call
How do I get through the phone menu to a live person?
Consider using our free service that calls and talks to customer service for you, then sends you a report. Or use our free service that waits on hold and tells you when a human rep is on the line. But if those options don't appeal to you, our team has also documented the phone menu for Social Security below.
Our AI powered phone can dial, navigate the phone menu, wait on hold, and even talk to customer service for you, for free. You don't even need to learn about the path through the various phone options.
That same, free GetHuman Phone can call and navigate the menus and wait on hold for you, but you can opt to do all the talking. We notify you when a rep is on the line and ready to talk, so no need to worry about changing menu options and weaving your way through the maze.
Of course, we completely understand if you prefer to do all the dialing, waiting, and talking yourself. All of these free tools are optional.
GetHuman researchers routinely call this Social Security phone number to document the phone system.
Here is how our research team describes the way the Social Security phone system greets you: How can I help you today?
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest:Press 0 then 1 then 2 then 1, then 0# then 1
Below are some clips we've found from Social Security's phone menus and tips that help give an idea of what you will encounter when you call. We've highlighted why they are important as well:
Heard when the phone system first answers
"Thank you for calling Social Security.
Our website, w w w dot s s a dot g o v, is the best way to get help.
Please be of individuals impersonating Social Security employees over the phone.
If you suspect you have received a scam call, you should report details of the call to the office of the inspector general online at w w w dot o I g dot s s a dot gov slash report.
To ensure quality, your call may be monitored or recorded.
At the conclusion of your call, we would like you to participate in a short survey and tell us about your experience.
If you would like to participate in the survey, please stay on the line after the agent hangs up.
The twenty twenty four cost of living adjustment or COLA for Social Security and Security Income or SSI beneficiaries will be three point two percent.
Changes in payment amount resulting from the COLA will be included in the SSI payments dated December twenty ninth twenty twenty three, and the Security payments dated January twenty twenty four.
If you opted to receive messages in message center through your My Social Security account, we will send email or text when your colon notice is available."
Excerpt from a call with Social Security
Sunday, January 21, 2024 6:42 AM
They may ask you to say or enter information
"Thank you for calling Social Security.
To ensure quality, your call may be monitored or recorded.
Please be aware of individuals impersonating social Security employees over the phone.
If you suspect you have received a scam call, you should report the details of the call to the office of the inspector general online at o I g dot s s a dot g o v forward slash report.
You can find the Social Security Administration online at w w w dot social security dot g o v.
Just so you're aware, our offices are currently closed, but I can help you.
If you need to speak with someone, please call back during our regular office hours Monday through Friday, eight AM to seven PM.
How can I
I need
Let's try again?
You can say claim status or press one."
Excerpt from a call with Social Security
Saturday, March 16, 2024 5:26 PM
What are the hours and when should I call?
Social Security operates the call center for this 800-772-1213 phone number Mon-Fri 7am-7pm ET.The short answer is that you should call on a Friday.This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 781 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).
When you use our free AI-powered phone to call and talk, wait on hold, or navigate for you, it will automatically wait until the Social Security call center opens before trying to call. It will ask your permission before it places the call, so you can also further delay that scheduled call until you are ready. But that means you can "set it and forget it" ahead of time.
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this Social Security phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like Social Security staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.
The least busy time to call
The least busy day to call Social Security is Wednesday.The most busy day to call is Monday, which averages 64% more phone calls by comparison.Again, this is based on a sample of 781 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.
Mon
Busiest
Tue
Wed
Quietest
Thu
Fri
The shortest wait on hold
We measured the shortest hold times to be on Friday.The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Monday, which is 200% longer than the minimum.As you can see, there is more fluctuation in hold time over the course of the week than there is in call volume.
In summation, the best day to call Social Security is Friday.It isn't the least busy day, but the fact that hold times are shortest combined with it being on the busy side tells us that Social Security staffs up on Friday to handle the higher call volume, and that makes it the best time to call.
I have been putting off calling Social Security to change my name after my marriage because I knew that the phone lines would probably be ridiculous. The Social Security office is known for being backed up, and the service is notoriously bad. Some of this is probably not their fault, but they have to deal with so many different things, from SSI to Medicare to Social Security cards for every single person in the US. That probably means they have more people who need help than people who work there.
For this reason, I was delighted to get through the call in under ten minutes. This is largely because it turns out that I didn't need to talk to someone to finish my name request. This in itself was actually a delight. I would rather use an automated system than sit for hours waiting to talk to someone who will tell me the same thing. Therefore, in the end, it turns out that calling Social Security is not as bad as I thought it would be.
When I first called, they said, "Thank you for calling Social Security." This part was annoying because I had to listen to many messages that had nothing to do with my phone call. I had to listen to a speech about some type of COLA product, and I don't even know what that is. Then, I had to listen to them announce the 2024 Medicare premium amount, which again was unrelated to my request. I also learned that I could sign up for benefit updates via text, but since I don't have Medicare, this was useless information.
The next lecture was a warning that people impersonate Social Security workers online. Then, I was told to go online to access a lot of information. Finally, the automated voice assistant said, "How can I help you? You can say things like update my personal information or find a social security office near you." I told it I needed to update my personal info, and then I got this list: "You can say name, or press 1. Address or phone number, or press 2. Bank account details, press 3. Or for something else, press 4."
I chose name, and then it told me, "There is no charge to correct or change your information." Then I got a lot of information about how I had to get a certain form and fill it out. In addition, people not born in the US have to do more work. After that, it gave me more options, which included: "Get an application form. Get help fling out a form. Get information about supporting offices. Or find an office." I chose to get a form, and it walked me through how to get it mailed to me. It took a few minutes to work through the system and give out my address, but now I have to worry about the form arriving in my mailbox, and I can finish the task.
Christian has been writing about long hold times and customer service call center experiences since 2010. He's been featured in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.
Why Customers Call Social Security
If you have time to do a bit of reading before you call Social Security, we recommend you read over some of our problem-specific articles.
For information on the status of your pending Social Security disability claim, you can contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) directly. It is crucial to note that the Toms River, NJ branch office does not have access to individuals' specific claim details. To inquire about your claim's status, you can call SSA's toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213 or visit their website at www.ssa.gov. With your Social Security number and other relevant information, you can check your claim's status online through the SSA's secure portal. Additionally, the Toms River branch office representatives can provide general guidance and assistance to better understand the disability claims process but cannot offer specific updates on individual claims.
Whether you lost your Social Security card, it was destroyed, or you need to replace your old card with a new one due to a name change or other change, in most cases you can submit an application for a replacement card online. When you do not meet the eligibility criteria to apply for a replacement online, you will have to visit your local Social Security Administration office to submit a replacement application.
Click the link above to get answers to just about any Social Security customer service question, including step by step guides for the most complex issues. You can also detail a new issue and get answers instantly.
Below is a sample of recent calls to Social Security, and their purpose. Are any of these similar to the reason you are trying to call?
Check appeal status: "I'm trying to check the status of my appeal for an overpayment of benefits."
- From a call lasting 204m 17s , Dec 17, 2024 8:06 PM
Check appeal status: "I'm just looking to check the status of an appeal I filed regarding an overpayment of benefits."
- From a call lasting 6m 6s , Dec 17, 2024 7:46 PM
Information about why customers call Social Security is extracted from issues that customers have reported to GetHuman.
As a last, sometimes only, resort- Social Security customer service can be accessed through their website. This can entail digging through help articles before finding a form and "being allowed" to submit a problem to their team, and rarely leads to a real-time conversation, which is why GetHuman does not recommend this unless it's the only way.
Conclusion and closing notes
This is Social Security's best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a Social Security agent. This phone number is Social Security's best phone number because 212,472 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 800-772-1213 include Report Fraud, Missing Payment, Question About Benefits, Update Account Info, Can't Login and other customer service issues. The Social Security call center that you call into has employees from Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and is open Mon-Fri 7am-7pm ET according to customers. In total, Social Security has 3 phone numbers. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to Social Security representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.
GetHuman does not provide call center services or customer support operations for Social Security. The two organizations are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information to help customers of companies like Social Security. For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line to get a live human rep. We continue to work on these tools to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service. As long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.
