Phone number requested NOT for 2FA??

If I am putting in my phone number to create a new account, and not for 2FA like normal people assume, then your app needs to SAY SO in BIG LETTERS like these. Your "cutesy" UI is condescending and confusing, ESPECIALLY when problems like this occur. It has taken me a week to figure out what happened, and at least 3-4 lost ​hours of trawling help documents like this.

Second of all, why does your app even remove phone numbers from accounts at all in the first place? I had no warning that I was about to inconvenience myself and no notice that my phone number was going to be removed. Yet now when I try to fix the problem myself by deleting the old account and putting the number back, your system now puts up all kinds of warnings and preventions. WTF?

If anyone human sees this, it would be nice to know how long I have to wait until I can use my phone number again. Not that I am expecting it. "thanks"