Bypass Phone Menu Hell

Here's how to reach a real person if your credit card is stolen or you need help with a financial emergency.

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If your credit card is stolen or you need help with some other financial emergency, you need to reach an actual person, not wade through a maze of automated voice prompts. Saying “customer service” or punching 0 are worth a shot, but you don’t have to guess.

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For a surefire fix, try GetHuman.com, a gateway to real people at 8,000 companies, including such hard-to-crack firms as Verizon, Bank of America and United Airlines. Type your chosen company into the search box to pull up a phone number, a tip sheet and the average wait time.

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Better yet, skip the wait entirely by having the company call you. Just enter your phone number for a call-back. Smart-phone users can use the free Get­Human app (available for iPhone and Android).

This article first appeared in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. For more help with your personal finances and investments, please subscribe to the magazine. It might be the best investment you ever make.

John Miley
John Miley
Senior Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter

John Miley is a Senior Associate Editor at The Kiplinger Letter. He mainly covers AI, technology, telecom and education, but will jump on other business topics as needed. In his role, he provides timely forecasts about emerging technologies, business trends and government regulations. He also edits stories for the weekly publication and has written and edited email newsletters.

He holds a BA from Bates College and a master’s degree in magazine journalism from Northwestern University, where he specialized in business reporting. An avid runner and a former decathlete, he has written about fitness and competed in triathlons.