Calling Straight Talk is a very frustrating process. I had a very simple question, but it took forever to get an answer. Interestingly enough, this number doesn't actually lead you to Straight Talk either. Instead, the very first directory is a long list of cell phone companies. They must all be owned by one large parent company, and it's curious that you have to actually choose Straight Talk before getting transferred to their system. I never got to a real person, but was able to get an answer to my question.
A word of caution though. If you wait too long to press a button, the automated assistant will hang up on you. That happened to me because there were a lot of options and I was attempting to decide which one to take. Apparently, the system didn't appreciate that, and told me it didn't recognize my entry. It said I should visit their website for more help and hung up on me. That was aggravating, so be sure to pay attention to make the process quicker.
My father uses Straight Talk, and he wanted to think about switching to another company but didn't want to waste his monthly payment. He didn't know when his billing period started and ended, so he asked me to call and figure it out. That was my one mission. When I first called, there was no introduction, the system just gave me the following list: "For Straight Talk, press 1. For Tracfone, press 2. For Safe link, press 3. For Walmart family mobile, press 4. For Simple Mobile, press 5. For Net10, press 6. For Total by Horizon, press 7. For more brands, press 8."
I pressed 1, which led to a different automated voice that said, "Thank you for calling Straight Talk. This call may be recorded for quality assurance." The system then launched a new set of directions. This is the list where I didn't choose fast enough and got hung up on, so I advise anyone calling to choose an option fast here. It said, "To refill your service or add a plan from your reserve, press 1. To activate your device, press 2. To add a line to an existing account, press 3. To enroll in auto refill, press 4. To change your phone number, press 5. For technical support, press 6. To purchase a sim or accessories, press 7. For any other service, press 8."
None of these options really fit so I chose 8 when I called back and got to that point again. Then I was asked if I was calling for home internet service or something else. I chose something else, and it asked me to say my phone number. Finally, an AI voice assistant said, "How can I help you today." I replied "What's my billing date," and it gave me a full-sentence answer which was all I needed. So while it took me some time, and I never did talk to anyone, I got an answer from the system.