Microsoft Home & Business 2021 Support & Help with Excel

Dear Glenn, You have really been a big help, I think that most likely I will be fine to just ask my questions in this forum and not try to contact Microsoft directly, but understanding how to ask for the help was a big issue and you have answered that one.

Take care!

My pleasure, PamAudasSmith. Glad to be of service.

At any rate, I’ll go ahead then and close this thread of yours for now. If we may be of further help with any of your Microsoft products, please do not hesitate to start a new thread here in the community because it’s always our goal to help you get the most out of our products.

By the way, we do value your feedback, so please click Yes or No to help us improve the support experience. Voting responses “HELPFUL” and marking it as “ANSWER” will also be beneficial to more Community members reading here.

Thanks again for choosing Microsoft! We’re here when you need us.

Respectfully,

Glenn Rue

Consumer M365 Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community

I would understand about paying for the "after 60 days", what has confused me is that I can't call DIRECTLY to the support line, as indicated by the Microsoft sales team that took my initial order.

Thanks so much for helping understand the product I have purchased and am learning to use.

Take care!

Hi PamAudasSmith,

I've been Microsoft for close to a decade now and I even used to be with our Office phone support teams. So I'm familiar with the direct line you've mentioned. In fact, when I was with the team it was indeed 1-800-642-7676 that was our direct number more or less.

However, in the past few years changes were implement by the powers that be which made the 1-800-642-7676 number exclusively for all Microsoft products except for Office. The new way to get to in touch with an Office expert is the method I mentioned in my previous post above.

I should also point out that if you do get in touch with a phone or chat representative they do offer real-time help and if needed and with your permission remotely access your computer to solve the issue on the spot so to speak.

Respectfully,

Glenn Rue

Consumer M365 Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community

To the best of my knowledge Directly support is online only. They actually intercept questions sent to these forums in the form of "independent advisors". I have not seen any mention that they provide phone support.

It's another example of MS's totally unsubtle way of bludgeoning users to switching to the 365 "cash cow" license scam.

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If you want to talk to MS Support after 60 days you have to pay more (in the long term) for 365 subscriptions.

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Or you can come here and ask us specific questions. The unpaid volunteers here often know as much, and often more, than paid "official" MS Support.

Hi PamAudasSmith,

We’re glad that you reached out to the community for support on this issue of yours.  We’ve already responded to your query, however, we have not heard a reply from you in the last 48 hours confirming if any of our suggestions have been helpful or not.

I personally understand that finding time to work on this matter can be a little difficult to manage.  So please accept my sincerest gratitude for even entertaining this follow-up of mine.

At any rate, please post on the same thread if you need further help.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Respectfully,

Glenn Rue

Consumer M365 Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community

I purchased Home & Business 2021 from a Microsoft Expert over the week-end and was told that it came with 60 days of support. I am now learning by calling the 800-642-7676, that all support is online, but I don't even understand how to CHAT with a support person or ask a question about Excel? So how do I get help for a suite of products since I was using Office 2009 and now have H&B 2021?

Hi PamAudasSmith,

First and foremost, thanks for reaching out to our Microsoft Community Forum and please accept our sincerest hope that all is well.

So the 1-800-642-7676 is now actually for all Microsoft products except for Office. Instead if you want to contact our phone or chat teams for an issue with Office, you can do so by visiting https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/expcontact?AppVer=smcexp1&ContactUsExperienceEntryPointAssetId=Bing and (1) then start with providing a brief description of your issue and clicking on Get Help; (2) click on Contact Support at the bottom of the results that appear; (3) Click on Confirm after making sure what product you're having a problem with**;** and (4) finally you will get the option to connect with an Office chat representative or to be called by an Office phone representative. Screenshot below for reference.

Do take note though that our hours of operations for our phone team are (All U.S. Pacific Time): * Monday to Friday: 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM & * Saturday to Sunday: 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM while the chat team is 24/7.

Respectfully,

Glenn Rue

Consumer M365 Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community