Social Security Administration

Coming to the SSA Office can already be stressful, and yes I understand the employees probably have a hard time with the people that come in, however they don’t have to be so DAMN RUDE!!! I even talked to the manager or so called manager and she was an even bigger you know what they everybody else. Don’t get me wrong there are some maybe like 2 lol employees there that are helpful. And another thing is that there are signs that say you can not be on your phones, but the security guards in the front be on their phones all day. What the hell!!! Aren’t they suppose to be «guarding» the people instead of talking on your phone?!? And they are just as rude. I don’t know maybe it is a job requirement to work here who knows.

I know, 5 stars. We have had nothing but excellent service at this office. We use to live far enough away from this office that their computer system wanted us to go to the Berkeley office. No way! This is my office on Garrity Way. Now we live close enough that it’s not a question.
The office is generally very clean. Parking lot is small, so be prepared to go searching for parking. The staff are very efficient, really on their game. I needed to change my last name after being recently married. The intake was quick and so was the interview.
Very good service from very nice and knowledgeable government workers.

I came in on a Tuesday around 9:30 am with no appointment and there was already a lot of people there. I thought it was gonna take me a couple hours to change my last name but it actually went by really fast. I was in and out in about 45 minutes! I recommend coming in before they open and just wait for them to open the doors if you’re pressed for time. Overall, a good experience!

Recently got married and came in to change my last name. I was in & out of here in less than 20 minutes! Everyone was so nice and helped me even though my license was expired they made an exception because they didn’t want me to have to pay to renew my license and then pay again to change my name on my license. How nice! Btw I came on a Tuesday around 11 am :)

The first time I went to this office I spent almost 4 hours. They forgot to call my name. I wasn’t real happy. I had to return again (same problem) and have only good things to report. The guards were polite — thank you for keeping us safe — the check in was simple and quick and within 40 minutes I was finished and out the door. A special shout out to David (great shirt!) who helped me with my request. As a side note, I spent over 40 minutes on telephone hold 2 weeks ago. Bureaucracies are frustrating. This visit was not! Thank you folks for the work you do.

It was surprisingly easy and didn’t have to wait for a long time. Recently got married so I decided to fully embrace it and change my name! The staff were friendly and efficient. Make sure you have all of your documents on hand unlike me, who forgot to bring my passport since I felt that I didn’t have to but for some reason, my citizenship status was never updated since I became a US citizen. I only live 5 minutes away so I went home and came right back and was in & out of there! They close at 4pm so as long as you make it in before, you’re good. I never knew this was right next to the Marriott Courtyard hotel and it’s funny because we stayed the night there the night of my wedding and seen this office right outside of the hotel window. Glad I didn’t have to go far and wait hella long!

I never had any issues there, every time in and out 15 – 20 mins and receptionist always helpful to me or maybe I’m just Lucky
Yes one security guard was not that professional.

Okay people I don’t know why so many bad reviews here! I have to say one thing! If you get up early enough, you’ll be out of here in 15 – 20 minutes.
I’ve been here twice for two different reasons. The two times I can I was there 45 minutes before they opened. I was the first one in line! The place does get busy pretty fast but if you get there super early you’ll get out fast too!
People inside were super nice and helpful. The two guards at the entry though were a bit too rude. That is why I didn’t give them 5 stars. They were rude to me!!! However, I saw them being super rude to a few other people (including elders) and that wasn’t cool. Yes they didn’t heard well what they said and asked them to do BUT we are talking about older people so it wasn’t cool they were so rude!
Anyways if you go to this office, my biggest advises: 1. Be there early
2. Try not to get on the way of the officers at the entry. For some reason, they act like they are working for like FBI or CIA lol but hey you need to get things done so what can you do.
3. Be respectful and pay attention to the instructions and you’ll be fine and out of there in no time!

The two guards in the front are A$$hole. They think they are the law and does not respect people. Especially the older one. Last week I was there and the younger guard told the gentlemen in front of us to go in the metal detector and my 70 years old father mis heard and thought he meant to tell him to come in. So he stepped in the door and they gave him attitude. I said sorry, we heard you said to come in and the older guard look at us and say «you heard nothing. We didn’t call you to come in and back up» with an disrespectful attitude. I noticed that they’re nice to all the African American «ladies»… I guess they’re men at the end of the day. Lol their professionalism are great with the P
Ps
You’re ONLY working at an ssa place… Not the FPI or court house.

This place does not even deserve a star… I went yesterday and I waited for 3 hours for a 5 minute service. If you have all the time in the world and would like to wait forever until they close then this is the place for you. Other than that, you’ll be able to save time going to other ssa office.

This place is very slow and unorganized. I hope I never have to come here again. It’s worse than DMV! And I sit as people who came in after me get help! WTF!!!

Well what can you say about government operated offices?
They aren’t the greatest but they aren’t the worst. This particular office is pretty efficient (depending on which day and time you arrive) gets you helped in a decent manner. If you get here on a busy day, you will be for a couple of hours (unless you have an appointment), The staff aren’t necessarily happy about their job, but there are some that will treat you nicely, smile and tell you to have a good rest of your day. The waiting room area itself is clean, organized and plenty of chairs to sit (unless its super packed), the bathrooms are also nice. Ladies, you will get asked by the security guard to get your bag checked and you will walk through a metal detector for any fire arms. The security here is generally pretty nice and always explain things to you if you don’t understand and generally don’t give people a hard time. Which is the last thing people need when they are in here. Times of operations could be better, but that will come with better funding.

I was able to get in and out of this place within half an hour which was surprisingly fast for a place like this. My number was called within ten minutes of my arrival but was asked to sit back down to wait for another employee that can help me with my paperwork. That took another twenty minutes or so and that is also the reason why I only gave this place for stars.

Very unhelpful office. My wife and I submitted a name-​change request after we got married. Mailed January 12, 2012, was received Jan 17^th, 2012.
April 5 I called as we had heard nothing. On the SS website, it says to expect a response in 3 – 6 weeks. April 5 put us at nearly 3 months! So I called.
I first called the national phone line, where the rep told me that she had no record of a change being filed. She gave me the local phone number. After negotiating their automated answering service, I finally got through to a person. She also saw no record of the change in the computer. So she went to go ask around to her coworkers. Seriously? After being on hold for a few minutes, she told me she had found the form — we needed to include ID, not just the marriage certificate. I’ll note that my wife would be without ID for 3 – 6 weeks if we had submitted it. Lesson learned: go in person to do your name change.
She said she would mail us the marriage certificate back and that it would hopefully get to us within 10 days. 10 days? I soon realized after some more conversation that this particular employee didn’t want to overpromise and risk under-​delivering.
I asked her how long it might take if we re-​submit the paperwork by mail, and mentioned the 3 – 6 weeks figure stated on the SSA website. She just said, «Well, it’s been nearly 3 months and you haven’t even gotten a letter back about the first form you submitted …» so I guess I can expect even slower service if they actually had to do something!
Since then I decided to head in person to the office, I asked her how long we could expect to wait, if there are better days than others, and she would not give me any answers! Just «Every day is different, you can’t tell what it’s going to be like, you just have to come in.»
What a waste. I’m going to try another office because this one is lame!

Hard to believe that I am giving a four star rating to a governmental agency, but SSA certainly deserves it!
Since my father passed away a few weeks ago, I have been helping my stepmother wind her way through the myriad of items that need our attention — pension, insurance, medical insurance, social security payments and the like. The people are SSA were just about the easiest ones to deal with.
When we called them to report his death, they already had a copy of the death certified (thank you, efficient funeral director) and proceeded to ask my stepmother a ton of questions. Fortunately for us, an eligibility counselor was available to process a claim and we were switched right over to the counselor. Again, we were asked a ton of questions, but it was a smooth and efficient process. At the end of the call they told us exactly what my stepmother would begin to receive in terms of payments and death benefits.
We had to send in their marriage certificate and sign some papers, and it was done. She’s already received the death benefit — 7 days after the call.
This is proof that the system does occasionally work!
Thanks, SSA!