SF 3-1-1 Customer Service Center

Wow.
1) you get a «live» person (even on sunday morning)
2) knowledgeable
3) helpful
4) and nice! (you are reading that correctly. they are nice and professional)

WOW! something works in our city government,…nice people and actual results we have seen!
Maybe we should have them run our govt agencies, very efficient and friendly staff. Always thank them. SUPER!

I moved away from San Francisco over two years ago, and STILL I miss 3−1−1. The customer service representatives are always super-​friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. Want to know when the next bus will be at your stop? 3−1−1. Want to find out if you’re even at the right bus stop? 3−1−1. Want to know about a business that closed over 50 years ago but don’t know where to look? 3−1−1. Want to know what to do about your stinky neighbor and his smoking ways? 3−1−1. And wait times? Please. It’s like they’re just waiting for me to call. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten along in SF without them. *Sigh.*

This service is one of the coolest and most practical easy to use public service the City offers. It’s amazing. If you want to go anywhere from anywhere and you don’t even know where you are, they can get you home and tell you good eats on the way. The call center people are amazingly nice, helpful and efficient. It reminds me that government can still sometimes get things right. Once you’ve tried it, you’re hooked, so proceed with caution! :)

The phone representatives are incredibly nice and helpful. You simply cannot ask them for more. This is one thing the city and county of San Francisco gets right.

A government bureaucracy filled with nice, friendly people who answer the phones and give you info?
Clearly, I’m dreaming.

311 is amazing, 5 glowing stars! (take a page out this book, 911) Thank you to ALL at 311 who help make our great city of SF even better! OXOX.
I’ve been using this service for about a year and they deserve every cent of my tax dollars — I hope the Supervisors don’t concoct something crazy to mess with this great service while we try to untangle ourselves from the current budget crisis. (I wish I could call 311 to fix the budget crisis, but I know it doesn’t work that way. So don’t do it posses and tangle up the line). Anyway, 311 doesn’t disappoint — and that’s no lie.
They deserve all their 5 stars and a write up, after all the complaints I keep reporting (and I hate to complain, seriously). I finally used their Twitter interface to pick up some debris — someone left like 5 boxes of clothes (alternative: recycle at Community Thrift, Valencia St) and misc stuff, and, of course, someone else rumages through it and makes a big, fat mess. The street is narrow with that mess all up in your way, so it forces you to walk onto the street against on-​coming traffic with full headlights — total hazard. Try doing that at night with a baby stroller (I don’t have one, but I’ve seen parents try it — just scary!). 311 got their crew out there in like 30 min! I would’ve offered oatmeal raisin cookies (my fave) or something, if I only knew they would be coming so soon.
Oh, on Twitter, just type ‘d sf311’ + (your message) to make it a direct message (vs a public one). You have to permit them to follow you, so they can open up a 2-​way communication.

This is one place I’m HAPPY my taxes go to (besides in my pocket). I constantly harass the workers about when the bus is coming (90 minutes?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?). Some of them know me by now, I swear to God.
I call them when I’m lost.
I cal them when this stupid bitch dumps ALL her life belonging in the bus stop trash can reserved for litter.
I call them when I want to find the closest post office.
I call them when I want to complain about those undercover cops that trap people into tickets on Geary.
I call them when the tree the city planted in front of my house had an infestation of bugs.
I call them when I need to take a dump.
…
practically.

I love 311!
Seriously, this number has helped me out so many times! Just random questions and complaints. This is a great use of my taxes! Nothing like a help and information and complaint line to make me feel powerful and in control!

They trimmed all the dangerously dangling dead limbs off the trees on my street. Because I asked them to.
They told a city employee that if he wants to continue to drive that city truck, he may not flick his lit cig into a pile of pine needles in front of a grammar school. Because I asked them to.
I am drunk with power.

The trash can at McAllister and Leavenworth is a biohazard, IMHO. So, on September 4^th, I made my first call to «3−1−1»:
The person that answered the phone was VERY helpful, polite — wonderful, really.
The City will steam clean the area around the trash can within 12 – 24 hrs — service request #275 876.
The City will review the removal of the trash can, and either reject or remove within 20 days — service request #275 878.
To date, nothing has happened. If steam cleaning has happened, the urine, vomit, and oooze coming out of the can is back. I don’t think any cleaning happened, as I walk by there every day. Fingers crossed that the city removes the offensive health hazard!
9÷15÷08 — called today to check on the service request. The only information that the service representative, Nicole, could offer was that a request had been sent to DPW to clean the area. No confirmation was available (ie. did it actually get cleaned). The service request, #275 876, has been reissued.

3−1−1 Thank you for:
— Saving me from the sketchy guy headed my way
— Constantly reminding me whether I am headed inbound or outbound
— Telling me my bus will be arriving in 30 secs
— Directing me toward the nearest bus stop
— Laughing at my lame jokes
— Putting up with my mumbling at 3am
— And assuring me that I cannot walk from Pacific Heights to The Castro
These people would probably give you restaurant recommendations and offer to book you a table. Great customer service from pleasant people. Thanks again 3−1−1, we’ll chat again soon!

If you are with in the city limits of San Francisco just dial 311! Its free and you can figure out how to get or how long it will take to get anywhere on public transit! That could be the commercial!
This is pretty much the best thing ever created in my opinion. I call it on a daily basis to find out when the next muni is coming, if there is another route I can take, why there are delays and when they will be fixed. if I were a depressed crazy person I would even call it to chat with the operators (they’re that nice!) thankfully I am mostly normal and not depressed.
Call it! You will see!

Wow! I wanna meet each and every person who has answered my calls. They have ALL been really nice and helpful. One guy even gave me alternative bus info ‘cuz mine wasn’t coming for another twenty-​five minutes.
I’ve only called for bus schedules, but from reading other reviews, 311 seems to have useful answers for everything City related. I guess it’s time to finally change the contact on my phone from MUNI to 311…

«Hi, I’m at Division and Rhode Island, when’s the next 19 coming by going towards the Navy Yard…»
«Hi, I’m at Stockton and Filbert and I need to get to Cole Valley around Cole and Carl. Can you tell me the best bus or buses to take to get there???»
311 operators: they’re polite, they know the bus schedule, they know the bus route, they’re real people on the line. Yes folks, 311 is a fantastic service for anyone trying to get from here to there in San Francisco. I’ve never waited longer then 3 minutes for someone to come on the line, and they’ve always answered my questions politely and with patience.
(I hear they help with other questions as well but so far my problems have been confined to transportation issues.)

I lost my wallet on the 47 tonight, and once I knew it was gone, I was convinced I’d never get it back. My one hope — 311. I called them, and the best dispatcher ever, April, took my info and told me they’d contact all the 47s and have them do a search. Five minutes later, I got a call back from April telling me they found it! She even was able to tell me when the next 47 was coming to get me down to the Caltrain station where they were holding my wallet. I couldn’t believe it — you found my wallet AND provided NextMuni info. Awesome.
When I finally got it back, cash was gone, but everything else, the credit cards, work ID, muni pass, etc was all there, the stuff that would have taken so much time to replace. I am very, very grateful for the service and April’s help. Tremendous job.
One more note — about a month ago, I found a wallet on the 33, and turned it into the police station, hoping for a little pay it forward karma. Tonight that paid off in spades.

I went to the Marin Headlands yesterday but the bus that heads up there on weekends didn’t show up at the designated time. Since the bus stop did not have one of those nifty electronic signs indicating when the next bus would arrive, I made a quick call (3−1−1 if your phone is based in SF), which put me through with little wait. The operator was friendly & very knowledgeable & even used GPS to determine when the bus would arrive.
And thanks to 3−1−1, I caught the bus & made it there & back with time to spare! I’ll call again when I need ya.

OK, I will say that have called 311 about 10 times in the past year. Mostly due to garbage that accumulates in front of my office door. We are located in an alley in SoMa (not 11Th and Folsom SoMa, more 3^rd and Bryant SoMa) and after a weekend there tends to be remnants of people’s inner city camping trips. Things I have found in the past include a washer, chair, couch, boxes of documents, microwave, bed, person and bags of persons «yucky stuff». Oh, also glass, crates, wood pallets and a few assorted Christmas tree ornaments.
So what I do? Call SF Customer Service, that’s what! You always get a very helpful person on the line in a short amount of time and they always are quick about filing the request. IN the past I have had a few instances where the couch was used again and again and again, because they never came. But last weekend, there was more trash outside than I thought even possible and they came within the hour.
I think i might be a 311 Elite member…

This is the best thing to happen in San Francisco since the Giants moved here in 1957. Some jerk dumped a bunch of dirty, nasty furniture on the sidewalk in front of my office yesterday. I called 311, a nice professional person answered the phone, took my complaint, in a competent manner, and today the furniture is gone.
After 15 years of living or working in San Francisco this was by far my easiest interaction with this City’s bureaucracy. I am not a huge fan of Newsom but this system alone might get me to vote for him.

I’m in love with 311. The phone number that is! That’s right, I even have them on my speed-​dial. Woohoo!
Alright, all my city problems have been slightly alleviated by this amazing 3 number combination, dialed by my phone and used on every occasion needed.
Bus is late?! Dial 311.
In a hurry? Dial 311.
Trash all over the sidewalk? Dial 311.
Vandalism problems? Dial 311.
Bus is late? Dial 311.
Bus is late? Dial 311.
Bus is late? 311. You get the gist!
311 is the answer. I love it, it’s satisfying, especially when you are pissed off. They are like your counselors when you are in crisis in the city! The city pisses you off, you have someone to unload all your problems. It’s great!
Here are first hand experiences:
1. They pick up. You will rarely be on hold (That is until everyone in SF find out about this)
2. They are kind and friendly.
3. They actually try to help.
4. They try to do whatever they can.
5. They actually have helped on several occasions.
6. They will not rush you and they actually care to converse.
7. Dial 311, and then press 1 for English.
8. They speak English (and 145 other languages).
9. They officially take your complaints and let the appropriate department know of the problem.
10. They will chat with you and keep you company as you wait for that lame bus that is 20 minutes late!
11. They don’t mind being nagged! (I have started calling them every time I am on my way to a bus stop, every time!!!)
I love 311, I almost want to marry them!