Editor’s Note: It may be difficult to reach customer service at many companies due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Consumer Action Center recommends using Elliott Advocacy, a free resource, to research contacts but there’s no guarantee that you’ll receive a response. If you need help with a money question, contact the Consumer Action Center here.
If you’re having trouble with an electronic device or an app, you may be able to solve it yourself by reading about the topic in an internet forum. But there are times when that’s not enough: You’ll need to contact someone at one of the big tech companies such as Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Google. But how?
It’s not easy to reach a real person at Apple, Google, Facebook and the like, but it can be done — sometimes. In this article, I’m going to show you how to contact these tech giants when you need customer service.
How to Reach a Real Person at Big Tech Companies
Perhaps your laptop’s battery is draining faster than it should, or maybe you’ve noticed a functionality problem with your smartphone.
Back in the day, you could readily get in touch with the largest companies in the United States by calling any one of their army of customer service reps via phone.
The wait times would often be long or erratic, but you knew you could get in touch with a real person.
But what if you still want to have a conversation with a living, breathing human? We did a little research and here’s what we found.
As recently as mid-2019, you could talk to a human by phone at all the companies listed below. But as of early 2021, that’s no longer the case. Based on the recordings I heard, it’s tough to tell if this is a temporary situation because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Below is the latest contact information I can find.
How to Reach a Real Person at Apple
Apple Phone Number: Call (800) MY-APPLE (800-692-7753), seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. CT.
Wait Time: After about eight minutes, I was connected to a real person at Apple.
Other Ways to Contact Apple
Online Support: To get technical or product support, the company wants you to start your request online.
Live Chat: You can chat with an Apple specialist right here.
Track Orders: To get information on an order you placed, the company also has an Order Status page.
If you need some in-person IT help or your Apple product needs servicing, perhaps someone at a retail store near you can assist. If not, the company lists an Apple Consultants Network to help you find an independent Apple contractor.
How to Reach a Real Person at Facebook
Facebook Phone Number: The number I called previously (650-543-4800) to reach a live person now leads to an automated voice that told me Facebook doesn’t offer customer support via phone “at this time.”
Other Ways to Contact Facebook
Online Support: The company steers people who need assistance to its Help Center.
How to Reach a Real Person at Microsoft
Microsoft Phone Number: The number I called previously to reach a live person at Microsoft (800-642-7676) now leads to an automated voice that says, “Support has moved online.”
Other Ways to Contact Microsoft
Online Support: Microsoft steers customers to its Help.Microsoft.com page for assistance. It also has a Microsoft Store Support page to help you with technical issues.
Live Chat: The company has a”Virtual Agent” you can chat with to resolve your problems.
Track Orders: To track your orders from Microsoft stores, you must log onto to Store Help Page, where you can browse numerous topics for solutions.
How to Reach a Real Person at Google
Google Phone Number: The phone number that I’ve successfully used successfully in the past (855-836-3987) no longer connects to a real person. Once you go through the prompts, in all instances, Google steers you either to its support or recovery options.
I also called 866-2-Google (866-246-6453), which is the Google Ads support phone number. You will need your 10-digit customer ID.
But at the time of this writing, I got an automated voice that said: “Phone support is currently unavailable due to the preventative measures that we’re doing to protect the health of our support specialists in light of COVID-19.”
Here Are Other Ways to Contact Google
Online Support: Depending on the product, Google has several support pages it has for users to post queries. Go to support.google.com and scroll down the page. You’ll see clickable icons for most of Google’s main products.
Google Offices: There is a webpage that lists all of Google’s U.S. locations but curiously, company headquarters in Mountain View, California, does not list a public phone number.
Webmaster Forums: Online is a Webmaster Central forum and blog for folks who run websites. Google bills it as “the fastest way to get help with increasing traffic to your site and see your site’s crawling, indexing and search traffic data.”
Final Thoughts
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way many companies allocate their resources. In the case of the big tech companies, it appears that there are fewer real people at these companies available to interact with consumers.
Unfortunately, that means more of what money expert Clark Howard calls “customer no-service!”
Do you need help with a money question? Call Clark’s free Consumer Action Center at 470-284-7137.
More Customer Service Resources From Clark.com:
- 6 Keys to Getting Great Customer Service Every Time
- How to Reach the Airlines’ Customer Service Representatives
- How to Talk to a Real Person at Equifax, TransUnion and Experian
