Assurance Wireless

The phone itself is awful! So slow every time I try to use it, I have to wait at least a whole minute for the countless ads that pop up just upon opening the phone. I have to close out at least three ads which all will take an extensive amount of time before I can be able to access anything on my phone. It even a problem when I receive a phone call, when I try to answer it I have to deal with closing the ads before I'm able to accept the call but by the time I get through the ads and pop ups I've already missed the call. On top of all that, I've also reviewed the time I spend on the phone upon being cut off by the end of the month with an option to purchase additional minutes being I'm not the only customer to run out of service before the end date when the phone isn't even in use. Seems the phones use up their own data and minutes even while turned off as to encourage customers that they need to purchase more time per month to be able to use their plan. I highly recommend against this service and their cellphones.

Worse cell phone service to have. Definitely do not recommended to anyone. DO NOT GO WITH THEM they take your money and then they won't refund you the money after they tell you to return the two broken cell phones that I got. I got a cell phone from them cause my old one was broken they told me I needed to pay for the new I did and they sent me one that didn't even turn call them up they sent me another and the same thing it would NOT turn on. Call them up and spoke to rep and they told me I would get a refund back and now we are into three weeks and no refund. Call them and they tell me I'm not getting my money, just like that. This service is a BIG SCAM DO NOT GO WITH THEM OR EVER GIVE THEM ANY MONEY.

THE GUY TOLD ME TO SHUT THE $#*! UP. I HAVE HAD TWO DEFECTIVE PHONES FROM THEM. LAST WEEK THE PERSON ON THE OTHER END SAID SHE HAD NEVER HEARD OF ANY COMPLAINTS. TODAY I WAS TOLD THEY HAVE HAD MANY. I CAN BARLEY UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE SAYING. DONT SIGN UPO WITH THEM - I AM IN THE PROCESS OF SWITCHING.

From my experience, my first phone would not keep a charge and randomly power off and the replacement phone was even worse. These may be refurbished phones but I use that word lightly because it seems they are just given a quick check. When I had to contact customer support again for an updated phone, I made it a point to ask if I could just purchase one of their approved phones. The rep assured me that a new phone would be sent as I am not able to use my phone (it's dead). After a couple letters stating they would be switching from the Spring 3G network and saying that I needed to respond, I called back to renew the application process and mail in the requested information (sensitive information) with their provided envelope. I still get letters claiming I need to respond and have made my last attempt at contacting them regarding the application status. I might get the phone or not but my main concern is where my information is going as they never follow up with anything and the call centers are not local so some reps are very difficult to understand.

Based on my experience, I wouldn't recommend anyone on a fixed income or short-term financial disadvantage attempt to apply for this service. If you need something for work or emergencies (ie: family, etc), it is better to find a cheap TracFone or similar and keep track of your minutes.

I bought a replacement phone over a month ago and could not program it due to some baloney about it being locked. I phoned the company no less than 20 times and each time a rep assured me, my phone would be on in the next hour. " I guarantee you Miss... your phone will be unlocked and working". What lies.

Today I was told I could not get refunded for my replacement phone because the phone had been activated. I told them the phone was LOCKED and unusable. They also told me to take out the old sim from the first phone and put it in the new, then another rep said to switch the SIMS back to original phones. Another told me it was my problem I did not send the phone back in the return envelope. I told him there was no return envelope. Another said I could get a refund without the tax included and today a rep told me I cannot get a refund.

One rep even told me I could not get refunded because I was upset!

So, it was round and round the mulberry bush. I told them I intend to complain to the FTC for fraud. What a bunch of liars and fraudsters. Everything they told me was a lie and they even tried to get me to stay with them when I made it clear, I went with a different carrier and want nothing further to do with Assurance.

They constantly send out old phones that have been reprogrammed. The phones constantly has problems intentionally just so you'll have to call them to fix the issue just for them to tell you that you need a replacement phone so they can collect $25 off of you. They know the phones are jacked up and they're just gaining money off the government and off of YOU. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, I've had to the have so many phones replaced through them due to junk phones they keep sending ANYONE that needs a replacement phone and they as well expect you to pay for JUNK.

I've been sent two Schok phones that don't work, drop calls and are JUNK phones. Years ago if you signed up for Lifeline at least you got a phone that would work. It may not have been the BEST phone but they worked. Now, they are just sending JUNK phones to people, collecting government money that is supposed to be helping struggling Americans and burning off with the money, leaving people who desperately need a phone number with crap phones and stuck without service when, not IF, the phones quit working. I am so disgusted at what these supposed "Lifeline" providers are doing to already hurting people. And yes, I am doing everything I can to try and help myself. Thanks to this company, I may or may not get much needed calls from potential job applications. To top it off, all the customer service jobs are outsourced to foreign countries so when you do call customer service you can't even understand what they are saying and they DON'T CARE anyway. They are making a buck off of our tax dollars and a program that is supposed to be helping Americans who need it.

Contact the FCC complaint site about this company. This needs to stop. https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

I was given a very poor working android phone that began to fail after an android update. I was given an android phone that works well. I informed Assurance wireless of the problem and that I needed to just move the sim over to a better phone & they denied my request to make my sim available to move to a better phone, They then stated that my phone was out of warranty and that I needed to pay them $65 for a new phone. I then explained to them that I didn't need to pay them to send me a new version of the same phone that they gave me. They then hung up on me after I attempted to discuss this matter with someone in their management. DO NOT use this company! Considering that they are giving you free service, what good is that service if the phone doesn't work and they want you to pay for another phone that will fail, especially considering that the customers are individuals who are using their services as a result of being limited on disposable income needed to have a paid plan. If there is any other option, do the research on the company, and if they are slightly better, use them. Do not waste your time or taxpayers money with this company.