Social Security Phone Number

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.