Social Security Administration

It can go fast or you could be there for hours. It’s a crap shoot. The Security Guys are nice and very helpful in guiding you where to go and what to do. Kiosk, etc. Leave your wine openers and pocket knives at home! Metal detector;)

I came here to change my last name and I noticed that the line at the back entrance was noticeably shorter. After security and getting my ticket number, I picked up a form to fill out for a new SS card. I didn’t pre-​fill it since the last social security office I went to (San Leandro) had an average queue time of 1.5 hours. However, as soon as I sat down, I realized that my number was about to be called! The wait time was only 10 minutes. Amazing.

Rudest security ever! I had a baby and was wondering around before finally going back and asking where do I go?! At this time 5 other people who came in after me we’re now ahead because no one told me to check in at a kiosk!

Be prepared to wait! So don’t go there without eating a full meal or take snack with you and hope you get to keep it with you inside. They now only allow 2 people in at a time through the front door and if what you have to handle requires something more in depth you will have to wait even longer to speak with someone in the back offices. We arrived at 1146, was seen at the first counter by 1215 and was escorted to the back office over 2 ½ hours later. You can’t bring food or drink inside but you can talk as loud as you want and for as long as you want on your cell phone. At 3pm on a MONDAY the bathroom had 2 of the 3 stalls out of toilet paper and no towels in the dispenser. I have to give a big shoutout to both of the representatives that help me assist my client. They were very helpful, courteous and professional.

A review for Social Security Administration? Yes, your eyes have not deceived you in the slightest, this review is for the «Card Center» only though.
Once you enter the driveway, there’s an immediate sign that’ll appear on your right hand side that’ll tell you to continue further down for the «Card Center»
My initial thought was that this would take quite some time, I was wrong to even believe this would be an experience similar to our notorious DMV center. Yeah, let’s not explore any further into that.
I came in an hour before closing and there was a short line outside the door, unfortunately in the high winds. Although, I must admit the line was moving much faster then anticipated, nobody wants to wait outside in a line when there’s another ‘line’ waiting for them once they enter.
The security in the front will ask you to place your belongings that could potentially set off the ‘warning’ sound by the scanner. You go through and there’s a machine waiting for you, if you’re going in for a replacement you’ll just have to enter your social security number — it’ll prompt you from there. It’ll print out a ticket on the bottom, make sure to grab that and listen attentively for your number to be called. If you’re not listening as they announce it, you’ll likely miss which window you’ve been assigned to. The screen only displays the letter, for example «B15» won’t be displayed with the corresponding window you’ve got to go to.. At which point, you’re wondering which of the 1 – 20 or so windows you’ve got walk up to.
I am certain that I had window 10 (February 1^st, 2016) and the Asian male at the window was extremely courteous. This came to me as a major shock, simply because this a complete 180 degrees in comparison to the staff at local DMV centers.
The process is very simple and quick, he assured me a new card would be issued within 5 days — 2 weeks. There is no fee for a replacement in my case, if you’ve proven your citizenship, you’ve only got to bring in your driver’s license which is a major plus.
If for any reason I have to go back, I do hope that I cross paths with the same individual.
If by chance you’re reading this, thank you so much for a pleasant experience.

If you’re getting a new social security card, your entrance is going to be at the back of the building. Go through a metal detector, sign up at the kiosk machine for a call number. My whole wait time was less than 15 min. Very fast. This section is open till 4p weekdays. On Wednesday the front area of the building closes at noon. Not the social security card area.

Well, I thought I was going to be in for a long wait in a dingy dirty government office, but I was pleasantly surprised. This place is actually very clean indeed, and it’s well organized from start to finish. The gentleman that took care of me was VERY accommodating and I would like to say thank you to him for that. I was in and out of there in about 15 minutes and less than 5 days later I received my SSC in the mail.

It’s as good as any other government operation. I’ve been here several times to get my social security started and they keep pushing it back because they keep saying they need more stuff. So I might finally get it this month (we started this process 6 months ago). Annoying. They do give back payments though.
Never had any problems with the staff here though sometimes they can be obnoxious with their stupidity. Seems to be common with people who work for shitty government branches. Thankfully the woman who is working my case is not a miserable SOB and actually quite nice.
Parking is random, sometimes it’s packed other times empty. Security never had a problem with them but it’s annoying you have to go through security each time you exit the building.

This review is for the front portion of the building as that is all I have ever visited. I see a number of these comments are for the back part where you get a new card, but not my review which focuses on the portion of the office that deal with issues and problems.
Starting with the positives, I think generally the staff is good there and they work hard. Having started Medicare this year I have visited the office several times in the last few months, plus a few other times in the past. All face-​to-​face discussions with staff on my issues have been dealt with in a professional and positive manner. The lobby is fairly comfortable and the ticket process for determining who’s up next seems to work well.
On the needs improvement area, the parking lot is a bit small, at least in the front where the main entrance is. Also you can wait there a bit before getting your issue solved. But not sure that’s out of the ordinary with other government operations and certainly better than the DMV.
By far my biggest issue with this location is the security guards. Not friendly, they treat you like you were a suspected criminal, they’re always giving orders, and just not customer service oriented in anyway. I recognize with the world today this is a critical function. But it doesn’t have to be done in such a mean spirited way as I see just about every time I’m in that office.

If you are only doing card service (name change, new cards, reissue cards), there is a separate entrance. There are signs to the «Card Center», so follow it to the back of the building. For those of you not directionally challenged, it’s the North West corner of the building. Hours are 9 am to 4 pm. I was worried that the card center would be closed at 12 on Wednesday as some other Unilocalers mentioned, but it looked like the whole building (both sections) were still open when I pulled in. Also, there was plenty of parking available.
I came in on my lunch time, a little after 12:30. Security had a hold up and there was a line out the door. The inside portion was filled and they had us wait outside until it cleared up inside. I got through security with no issue and went to get my ticket from the machine. The machine I went to ran out of paper and my number flashed on the screen for a brief second. I was expecting my number on a paper, so I didn’t pay attention to the number. Dang it! I got in line for the other machine.
I sat around for literally 10 minutes and was called up. There were 9 people ahead of me and from what I could decipher 3 windows open. I handed my pre-​filled paperwork to the nice lady who helped me and she did her thing on the computer and told me 7 – 10 business days to get my new card in the mail.
In and out within 15 minutes. Easiest governmental transaction ever.

Really just reiterating what many previous reviews stated — came for a name change, was in and out in about 30 minutes. The employee who helped me was quick and I was at her window for less than 5 minutes. Make sure you bring the necessary documents and complete the forms ahead of time, and it’ll be a breeze. I had no problem parking, but I visited shortly after they opened, so parking may be more difficult later on. Security was quick, but I could see it being backed up during busier hours.

This place isn’t as bad as it seems. Hours are from 9am to 4pm monday through friday. Protip: get here at 845. At 0845, they open doors so you can get your ticket. If you get here early you can be on your way out early. I got there at 845, went through security, got my ticket and was seen just a couple minutes past 9 o’clock. The lady was nice and friendly and resolved my problem very fast which was just to get a replacement card. I was hoping they could give me a social security card right away but they will mail it to me in a week. The best place about this place is that everything is FREE. America!

FYI you go through a metal detector and then ur purse gets looked through (or your girlfriends) and they are bored, so they go thru it all…
One of the employees behind the glass barrier was an asshole and I explained my number was never called, and people who arrived after me are getting called. I explained I didnt go to the bathroom, step outside and I dont have a book or magazine and there are none in the waiting room, so I have only focused my eyes on the amazing people watching and the number board, He reluctantly helped me. For card replacements the entrance is in the back I wanna say suite B… its cold in there,.

Its funny to give a review for a government agency but I wanted to share that it was not the horrible experience I anticipated.
The wait was very short with no appointment and everyone was helpful and friendly.
Fear not the SSA

I came in, was in and out in 15m. Go to suite b for card replacements.
The man who helped me was quick and efficient. He was friendly & courteous. Didn’t need the application I printed offline. He actually offered to shred it for me. Thank You!!!

I arrived around 1:15pm but couldn’t find parking until about 20min afterward. The prior time I had been to this office, I probably waited about 20min to be seen by a clerk. Well, this time was different. This time I waited for a little over an hour, which isn’t horrible compared to the DMV. The clerk who «helped» was as monotone as any other. She surprisingly snapped at when I told her I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t accept the forms of identification I had. Fast forward to the very end, I asked her to at least provide me proof that I was there. She grabbed my paperwork, sorted through it then returned it back to me. By now I kind of had my head in my hands from the day’s stress. Before leaving, I asked if she made sure to provide that note for me. She said that she had already given it to me, and I «must have not been paying attention». She never showed me the form to begin with. I replied with, «Well, you go waste an hour of your life for nothing and see how you feel». I visited DMV after this appt and I was treated with friendliness there. Who knew?

If I were to give a review about the people who visit this establishment (outside of myself, obviously, haha) I would be generous in giving it one star. But man, this location has the process down pat. Yes, they have a TSA-​like area you must pass through before getting a replacement card, but ya know what? It’s there for your protection. I’m still reeling over the woman who spent the entire time she was there complaining about how she felt ‘violated’ that her purse was checked. First of all, if you don’t have anything to hide then who cares? Secondly, there have been incidents in the past of a bunch of yahoo’s bringing guns and such into institutions such as this. God forbid someone actually try to protect you! But I digress…
Like I said, the place is clean and orderly. Be prepared with the proper documentation needed and you should be in and out in less than 30 minutes.

I have dealt with this one before and it is a good one: they don’t make you wait forever, and the people are fairly knowledgeable.
The hours changed drastically on January 1, 2014. Now, they close at noon on Wednesdays and 3pm every day else. When i started this review, i had only just learned of the new hours, as had several people in the parking lot.
Because they’re still the best SSA office around, they get five stars despite the sudden change in hours.

Like many other married women have mentioned below it is a breeze to change your legal name here. I made an appointment and the wait was not very long at all. Everyone who worked at this facility treated me kindly from the guards at the metal detectors to the man behind the window who processed my new card. The new card came in the mail right away which was also nice. I would highly recommend making an appointment since people who did not appeared to be waiting a long time and getting frustrated. I heard one women exclaim, «this is NOT worth my time!» and just leave. kind of funny.
The one downside of this place is that even though they have quite a large parking lot it was still completely full at the time of my 10:30 appointment. It was one of those situations where you have to follow someone leaving to their spot and then wait with your blinker on in order to park once they pull out. Of course when I did this an elderly lady walked into the spot I had waited 5 minutes for and motioned for her husband (in a car across the parking lot) to come take it. I shrugged at her and after waiting a minute began slowly pulling into the spot until she left. Super rude. but it wasn’t the staff at least.

I still can’t believe that I am actually giving out a 5 star rating to a ‘governmental’ body of business here…
BUT before I do I will say that what I did dislike is that their hours of operation at least for me were impossible to locate AND the phone number listed here on their Unilocal listing does not work; meaning when you call it it states it is a non working number AND I couldn’t locate a working number on Google which was a tad frustrating so I took my chances and showed up at around 8:20am and proceeded to stand in line until 9am when they open the doors.
AND now a note: There are two separate ways into this compound. #1 is through the front door where they handle social security issues such as disability claims and the like. Door #2 is on the left side of the same building and is for issues such as social security cards and name & address changes. I would learn this after standing in line at door #1 until they opened at 9 redirecting those of us who should have been standing at door #2 onward to door #2.
Leaving that irritation behind me once INSIDE of the compound and after clearing security and checking into their über nifty & time saving kiosk which issued me my B92 number, I barely sat down when less than 4 minutes later my number was called.
THE MISSION: To get my beloved maiden name back after receiving the needed docs to finally do that, get a new SS card AND change my physical address on file.
ALL 3 items completed WITHIN 5 minutes. I was stunned in the most wonderful way of course and on my way out.
Nothing like a divorce to bring a person up to speed on the ‘rules’ of governmental offices and I’m a bit of an expert now Soooooo having said that if I would have known what a trip to the bowels of hell and back it would be to get my birth name back I would have kept it to begin with… but yet I digress…
Learned that they will issue for FREE up to 10 replacement/​changed SS cards to a person over their lifetime. Wasn’t aware of this either.
And lastly a heads up on weapons or anything that could be considered one. Leave that shit in the car so you don’t loose your place in line. Now my lil 007 pocket knife that I wear pretty much ²⁴⁄₇ I already thought of BUT my two canisters of pepper spray, tweezers and multiple surgical scissors and clamps that I drag around in my purse for those «just in case» medical urgency’s well I didn’t think of that. Interesting though that I was the only person out of that damn line who had to head back to their car… wonder what that means…
All in all a very pleasant experience and it was refreshing to see my tax dollars at work and working efficiently, timely and effectively.
Final Grade: A