Safelink Wireless

Called the company several times to speak to a customer service to resolve issue. I was told that my phone would be up and running again to turn the phone off then on, and to no avail that issue was not resolved. I had to call back 6 times and sometimes I would get a rep, that person would try to transfer me to another Dept only to get disconnected on the call several times. I would call back in and the phone would automatically disconnect whenever I tried to press one of the options to get to Tech Support or Customer Service.

It was not until the 7th call that I actually got another rep to assist. I advised her that I am totally frustrated with this process and my service has been affected with noone able to explain to me why and how this happened. This is a huge disappointment because I have had Safelink for years, but I am not sure if they have merged with another company because when you call in it will say thanks for calling in to have a Straight Talk experience and then also have Tracfone in its auto messaging but then when you speak with a rep that person says thanks for calling Safelink Wireless.

I am just confused all the way around and very frustrated with the level of service that I have had to experience. I used to be able to call in and have my issues resolved under 5 minutes when talking to Customer Service, now it takes several call-ins to rectify any situation and you have to be persistent and be an advocate for yourself to get anything done on these calls. The Management team needs to really do some upgrades in Customer Service training and create better self-service options to be more efficient. If you have call-backs as an option then it should put your number in queue and actually get a call back -- not disconnect your call. I am really considering moving to another Wireless company at this point!

First they would transfer me to the enrollment department and the connection would hang up. Then they said "call this number and it will put you through an automated system to fix the issue". I call the number and it goes dead right away. Then one of them was straight up trolling me. They would make me repeat long numbers 5x in a row, with the excuse that their system keeps erasing it. One told me my phone wasn't compatible with 4g (a lie); they would say they're sending an authentication email which I would never get.

I tell them there's something wrong with their system because for months they've never been able to send me an auth email to gmail (I confirmed the correct email and I get other emails from them). I said they need to pass this on to their IT department since there's clearly major problems with their system (erasing info, not finding my number, not sending auth emails). They completely ignore it and repeat some irrelevant information.

They avoid/ignore most of my questions & concerns, and simply repeat unrelated & irrelevant information. I also have a verification pin. The person lied and said they need more than that. They asked for the "most frequently dialed number in the past month". An absurd request. There's no way to sort call history by "most frequently dialed".

They told me ridiculous things like "restart your PC/phone to get your email working then call us back." Told me there's no supervisor to speak to. These people kept me on the phone for more than 2 hours and my phone still isn't working. I now have to try to switch to another lifeline provider since these people are straight up trolling me. These people should not be getting Gov money.

So I call them again run down the whole thing again and I get transferred but before being transferred I was told I qualify for a free sim card. Ok so I'm transferred explained everything again just to be told that their policy doesn't replace lost,/stolen phones. So I'm so mad at this point. So I ask them to send me the sim card. And guess what. Turns out I'm supposed to use the 1 that never worked. I'm so mad this whole time. I have literally missed out on so many jobs due to them never being able to fix the issues and I'm supposed to put it in another phone .. Yeah right. These people are liars which leaves the staff clueless on what to say or do. Stay away from this company.

The de-enrollment in turn, deactivated my Lifeline eligibility, so Net 10 could not help me online this time, forcing me to make the now-familiar trek down to the local Verizon retailer to call a Verizon-Safelink rep again, who informed me that my only option was to submit a new Safelink application so I could be enrolled again with a new account & enrollment ID. But for the interim during the new application process, my service was reactivated as a "courtesy"! To be continued....

Original Review: I truly apologize for this lengthy complaint, but what I've been thorough was much harder! I've been dealing with Safelink service nightmares since upgrading my phone based on the Jan. 2022 5g deadline & worse, since the Verizon takeover kicked-in. As a disabled adult on a fixed income using the free EBB program (now called the Affordable Connectivity Program or ACP) under Lifeline, after upgrading my phone in January, I had to get a new T-Mobile GSM sim, & the service itself was fine. However, Safelink deactivated my service 2 out of the first 3 months instead of "auto-refreshing" it under my free data service & requested I pay for more data. With no email or live chat available both times, I had to drive to the nearest area Safelink dealer that only sells data & use their phone to contact Safelink tech to reactivate.

When I got the new free Verizon CDMA-Only sim, I intentionally waited 2 weeks before switching out the T-Mobile sim anticipating trouble, & was I ever right! First, the online "DIY activation process" as stated in the sim kit doesn't work for Safelink customers, one must call them using the working sim so tech can activate the new Verizon sim on their end via porting the service & cell number (if you wish to keep it), then the phone must be turned off to swap out the deactivated sim for the Verizon, then the phone booted back on; unfortunately, after doing this process, mine didn't work.

After 3 days of no service I had to visit a Safelink data retailer a few blocks from my place to contact Safelink, only to learn that tech could not port my number via their system, it had to be manually ported, so after 3 days the Verizon sim was finally activated but the service kept cutting off then once again, was deactivated. I made a 2nd trip to the Safelink retailer & call, where I learned my Verizon sim was defective so the auto-refreshing of my free service by tech wouldn't go through; they ordered a replacement sim for me.

Nearly 2 weeks went by with nothing mailed, thus no working phone either; so now I make a 3rd trip & call to the Safelink retailer, where I was informed the order never went through (despite my having & giving them the order conf. number!). So this time they expedited a mailed Verizon replacement sim, & yes, I had to make a 4th trip to the retailer in order to call & have the replacement sim activated.

Even with a so-called "working sim" & a Verizon dealer only a few blocks away from my residence, the Verizon mobile coverage is still spotty & I rely on my T1 WiFi service to do most of the work, with no self APN configuring available based on the CDMA network. Many of the text messages I got from friends during the time I couldn't use the phone are currently bottlenecked & cannot download, even with all of the suggested tips utilized to clear the texting app's data & cache. And if all of this wasn't enough, Safelink then not only deactivated, but cancelled my service instead of auto-refreshing, even though my Lifeline eligibility is extended another year, with my enrollment eligibility clearly shown on my Safelink account!

This time, out of sheer stubborn will, I was ABLE to find live online chat support by using Safelink co-owner Net 10, & the rep reactivated my service. But by NO means does this guarantee any future issues are over; "Free is free" is what I must keep reminding myself, & is what Verizon agreed to continue covering for those in need, prior to approval of the Safelink takeover; but they should NOT be making "Free" such a hassle, here.

Eventually, the CS said she would speak to her supervisor to see if there is something they can do and get back to me the next day at noon. Come the day of, an hour past noon and I received no call back. So I called CS a third time and was told that unfortunately there was nothing they could do as all phones they have are Verizon phones and they can not send me another phone as I already have a new one, even if I sent it back. It was suggested again that I go buy a new phone or try selling it. I asked the agent why on earth would they send a customer a phone that does not work in the customer's area? Why would they not check this first before sending out the phone? Why are all phones Verizon phones when not everyone has Verizon towers in their area? She could not answer me, only repeating how "sorry" she was and that it would be looked into.

Now I am left with a phone that doesnt work, no phone, and I will be unenrolled from the program because I am not able to make any calls or text messages. I wasted so much time calling CS hoping they would resolve the issue they caused but instead was left very disappointed. Nothing was resolved. I will never use nor recommend Safelink or Tracfone to anyone. They may be cheap and affordable, even free for some, but their customer service, ethics and values are very lacking. What a horrible company!

Finally I was told that to activate my new Lifeline service I would need to first deactivate my current carrier and then call Safelink back so that they could port my phone number to the new service. Only problem is, if you deactivate service with a current carrier you cannot after that port the number to the new carrier. And this is exactly what I was told by my existing carrier. They confirmed to me that if I deactivated the service, or allowed it to expire without first porting the number, the number would be lost. When I called Safelink tech service to explain this, I was told that their system gave a message that I first needed to deactivate service with my old carrier. Mind you, Safelink's own website states clearly that your current service must be ACTIVE for the number to be ported. Bottomline is, save yourself a huge amount of aggravation and stress - find another carrier!

1st time, it took 7 hrs in total and over 15 callbacks to get my service back on. Then it was good for a few months and then consecutively every month thereafter, it would be turned off. Each of those times took an average of 3 or more hrs and a min of 8 calls. Do yourself a favor, do not sign up with this company or TracFone. if you're already signed up and desperate to get out... I went with Airtalk Wireless. I've been with them for just over a month and so far so good. They use AT&T towers. PS: I have the Lifeline benefit and ACP from the feds.

In this case, all I wanted/needed to know was my Assurance account number. Your account number does not appear on Assurance's website once you log in, and you do not receive statements from them if you have Lifeline, so you cannot possibly find out on your own what is your account number. It took me over 40 minutes to get my account number from them today. I needed the account number so that Safelink could use it, and my Assurance PIN, to port my number at Assurance to my new Safelink phone. Next, with a great sense of trepidation and DREAD, I had to contact Safelink again re porting the number.

I ended up on the phone with Safelink several times, twice today alone. This morning I was told they requested release of my Assurance number, and my service should be active in roughly 3 hours. That phone call this morning with Safelink took over an hour, and I had to speak to two agents. In the meantime, they turned off my Safelink service whilst they awaited release of my number, so I had no service all day.

Five hours later, still no service. I had to ring them again. This time, I had to speak to THREE different people. I was told the request was being sent again and that my number should be ported and my service working in another FOUR HOURS. This means I will have had no service at all since Sunday (two days ago), and I am skeptical that this will be sorted out in another four hours. As inept as their customer service agents seem to be, I am justifiably worried that I may have to contact them back today at least twice more, and if this is not resolved today, I will be on the phone with them again tomorrow. Heaven only knows which day this really will be resolved. My blood pressure is through the roof, and my stomach has been in knots since last Friday dealing with Assurance and Safelink.

No one should have to spend this much time on the phone with Lifelink providers such as Assurance and Safelink over something as basic as this. I am leaving this review to let others know that these providers rake in millions of dollars per year via Lifeline beneficiaries, yet they do not provide even half decent customer service. It is an absolute disgrace. My dog is smarter than the people I have dealt with at these companies, and I do not say this in jest. It is true! My dog can figure something out faster than this.

I now have filed complaints with the BBB against both Safelink and their parent company Tracfone. I also filed complaints against Assurance Wireless, and I filed complaints with both their states' attorney general's offices for consumer protection. The more complaints that go on file, the longer the record of criminally bad customer service becomes. I hope that some day a good attorney will file a class action suit against these providers for the disgraceful way they do business and win a massive verdict against them. They deserve it.

In April 2021, after thorough online research and many lengthy phone conversations with SafeLink and Tracfone I decided to purchase a Samsung cell phone with an updated operating system that's compatible with California Lifeline and SafeLink and would allow me to use apps on my cell phone and stay enrolled in the California Lifeline program. A simple process of porting my benefits and phone number from the old cell phone to the new one became an impossible task. I was on the phone with different individuals, many days, and many lengthy hours. For instance, one time I was talking to different agents from various departments for three days and a minimum of 8 hours each day.

At some point I came close to returning my newly purchased cell phone because the representatives kept telling me that my new cell phone is not compatible despite the fact that the compatibility of the cell phone had been verified through numerous sources prior to the purchase. I finally managed to talk to a supervisor in the technical support department and that individual ported my number and transferred my California Lifeline services. The new cell phone was much faster than the cheap Alcatel phone I previously struggled with. I was able to use apps and was very happy with my purchase.

A few months passed and this is where the real nightmare with SafeLink begins. Every month, for one reason or another, my service would become inactive. At times I would manage to reactivate the service by calling the enrollment or technical support department. This was seldom a brief phone call and usually entailed a lengthy process of being on the phone for hours, placed on hold, transferred from person to person, repeat required information, and many times get disconnected. When calling SafeLink to reactivate your cell phone you get directed to a pre-recorded menu that tells you to pay for minutes.

Most individuals would settle for this option and get coerced into buying minutes instead of using the free minutes they were promised when enrolled in the Lifeline program. Most of the time I was told that my California Lifeline has been canceled and I have to apply again, and once approved and enrolled by California Lifeline I will have to call SafeLink back to reactivate my cell phone. This meant that I would be without a phone for ten days or more and had to be on the phone for hours afterwards to fix the issue. I have experienced this problem at least ten times and finally this April when my service was disconnected again I decided that I had enough of Safelink’s fraudulent practices and started looking for another company to use the California Lifeline program with.

The Lifeline program is called Lifeline for a reason. It is meant to provide a necessary service to disadvantaged individuals. A cell phone and internet service that they would have to do without or make great sacrifices to be able to afford due to the great gap between earning wages and cost of living especially in areas such as California where seventy percent of an individual's income is consumed by unreasonable housing expenses.

Based on many online reviews from valid sources such as consumer affairs it has become a common practice for Safelink to cheat consumers out of the cell phone plan promised to them when they enroll in the Lifeline program. This is a calculated strategy to force individuals into purchasing a plan from Tracfone. Tracfone continues to receive the benefits of operating as a government supported program that is funded by taxpayers in the form of universal service fee. Article published by CNN business on October 16, 2012 explains it in detail.

So now I had to pay $21, their cheapest plan, to keep my phone # running. Now I have to start over, as if I were a brand new customer, and wait about 3 weeks to get my Lifeline phone service approved again. I'm still confused and in shock on why this happened. Also..the actual gov't. Lifeline agent said "It's not just you, I've already dealt with TEN customers like you today!!!!" That was on a random Tuesday morning.

Having to tell them over and over that the phone hasn't arrived in 2 weeks. She kept saying "it takes 7-10 days" to get the phone. I asked her when the account was confirmed and she gave me a date for next month. Really? She kept asking for the phone number. I told her repeatedly that "I HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE PHONE YET!" And she'd asked for the phone number 2 more times again. When I asked to speak to a manager, she placed me on hold and hung up. What a rip off of government funds. So the process starts over

This is typical of all these fraudulent wireless companies that are providing "Obama phones" at taxpayer expense. They are charging American taxpayer like $500 a phone and $100/mo for service when the phone is worth less than 10 bucks and breaks within a month if it's not broken when you receive it. Service is trash, even when the phone works. Total Scam. These people should be in jail.

I do not want your service. TAKE ME OFF YOUR SAFELINK UNDEPENDABLE UNAFFORDABLE PLAN? KILL THE NUMBER CAUSE SIM CARD IS GOING IN TRASH!! After spending 5hrs today on phone it might be done?? Bad service, reps that hang up on you, rude, ask impossible questions (my sim card number for my T-Mobile line I've had same SIM for 13yrs and why that SIM CARD?), And after begging them and getting nowhere this company sucks as a whole. DO NOT GET PHONE FROM THIS COMPANY.

This morning, in a UPS package, I received my new SIM card. YAY! Uh-OH-, I spoke too soon. I called Safelink to Activate. Well my old phone number is in there, but I still can't use it. Now, I cannot get through to any agent at all to really Activate my phone. All I am getting is recordings. I need someone to answer me, Because, IT'S STILL NOT ACTIVATED! I thought this was an American Government Phone and Service. Is It? I don't know, given that I am always speaking to people of foreign nations.

However, that morning I received a text message saying my voicemail (which I never set up) password had been changed - but didn't say to what. I also got a text saying I now have 1000 minutes/month (not unlimited as promised), but when I 'check balance', everything is zero - 0 text minutes, 0 call minutes, 0 data minutes remaining. I actually haven't used the phone at all. Two weeks after receiving the phone, I still can't use it and can't reach the company.