Your Call Cannot Be Completed At This Time – Probable Causes, Working Fixes

Many Verizon, Cricket, AT&T, IRS, and even EDD users have complained about getting the “your call cannot be completed at this time” call intercept message when trying to call a specific phone number and in some cases when trying to make any phone calls on their devices.

Since it’s an issue that users having different carriers have to deal with, we thought that it’ll be great to put together a guide that will help. In the past, carriers use very easy-to-understand intercept messages, but something like “your call cannot be completed at this time” makes it hard to know what is particularly wrong; so this article tries to explore a couple of different possible meanings and fixes when you receive this intercept message.

What causes the “Your Call Cannot Be Completed at This Time” intercept message?

Most times, when a user gets the “your call cannot be completed at this time” call intercept message, it has to do with the phone network, the receiver’s phone or plan, or the caller’s phone or plan. In other cases, it would even be caused when an incorrect number is dialed.

Let’s try to examine a couple of reasons why users receive the “your call cannot be completed at this time” call intercept message as it often gives you an idea of what to look for if things aren’t working fine.

One of the most popular causes of this call intercept message is an issue with the receiver’s phone provider or phone systems. If you’re getting this when trying to call a landline, you might try getting a phone number and see if things will work.
Another reason why you’d get the “your call cannot be completed at this time” call intercept message is if the phone network is overloaded. Many carriers have a limit on how much load they can take on calls from a specific area, when the lines are very busy, it’s fairly common to get this intercept message. If this is the case, you might just wait for a few minutes or hours and try redialing the number.

You also want to confirm that you have the correct number. The “your call cannot be completed at this time please try again later” call intercept message will come up if the number you’re trying to call has one or two digits missing and swapped. If the recipient is on another call, you’d also be getting this intercept message.
If the phone number is correct, then just maybe your phone needs a reset. For many issues on your phone, rebooting the phone is the best way to troubleshoot things. So turn your phone OFF and leave it for around 10 minutes before turning it back ON and see if the issue is fixed.
We also can’t take away the fact that this intercept message could be the case if the recipient has been cut off or if their plan with their service provider has expired. Generally, when someone’s phone number goes out of service and becomes inactive, any calls to the number will return this call intercept message.
If you’re trying to call an unknown number that might have called when you were not available, then you’re likely getting the “your call cannot be completed at this time please try again later” call intercept message because the phone number was spoofed, and you wouldn’t be able to call it back. Spoofed phones are often used by robocalls, telemarketers, and fraudsters.
Not adding a country or area calling code when trying to call a number would likely not let the call go through, resulting in the “your call cannot be completed at this time please try again later”, “your call cannot be completed as dialed please try again later” or similar call intercept messages. So confirm that you have the correct area calling code and retry the number.

How to Fix the “Your Call Cannot Be Completed At This Time” Intercept Message?

Fix 1: Isolate the carrier

This is one of the first things we noticed with these issues. If you’re able to call the said number from a number on another carrier, chances are that this call intercept message is carrier-specific and you’d be able to get it resolved by just giving it time and contacting your carrier if it doesn’t get resolved after a while.

Fix 2: Check if they are blocked or you are blocked

If you are trying to call someone who has you on their blocklist, then you will be getting the “your call cannot be completed at this time please try again later” call intercept message. So you want to confirm that you have not mistakenly blocked them and check to be sure they haven’t blocked you. This will be the case if the said phone number is the only one returning the message.

Fix 3: Remove ISD codes

If you save your numbers with ISD codes, some of them might return this intercept message whenever you’re calling them. A normal phone number would look like this => 988… or +91988 a number with ISD codes will look like this => 00988. Removing the ISD code solves this issue for many users, so we recommend it.

Fix 4: Delete the contact

Look for the contact on your phone and delete it (this is even more important if you have multiple entries of the number stored) >> reboot your phone >> dial the number straight into the dialer of your phone and try placing the call (if other contacts on your phone show up while dialing this number, you’d want to delete those also) >> if the call goes through, try having the number saved and redialed.

Fix 5: Contact your customer support

Since many people who are having this “your call cannot be completed at this time please try again later” intercept message are AT&T subscribers, we generally recommend calling customer support to request an investigation and resolution of the said issue. To contact AT&T support, click here.

John Adebimitan

John follows everything happening in the tech industry, from the latest gadget launches to some of the big-name moves in the industry. He covers opinionated pieces and writes on some of the biggest names in the industry. John is also a freelance writer, so he shares articles on freelancing every now and then. email: john@tekpip.com Learn more about tekpip and the team here on our about us page.