Social Security Administration

"We were in and out in one hour. The representative was extremely pleasant and helpful. Perhaps a lot of the negative reviewers are chronic complainers??"

"Be prepared to wait which is sadly expected for this agency. The office is horrible understaffed. I went got to the Madison office at 8:20, 40 minutes before they opened because I knew there would be a line out the door before the 9am opening. You have to do e-check-in to get a number. The numbers called aren't in order, which is also stated on the ticket. The system still does not make any sense. I give 3 stars because the Security guard was super friendly and let us all in to start checking in 10 minutes before opening. I also got lucky with the agent lady that helped me today. She was super nice and helpful! Another thing that was annoying is that when your turn to talk to someone (after waiting 1-2+ hours), there are two panels of plexiglass between you and the agent. I could barely hear a word that the agent was saying. Why not just have 1 glass? So dumb!!!"

"They only had one person working and wait times over two hours. I tried to schedule an appointment but couldnt find a way to do so online and every time I called the phone number, I never got to speak to anyone. Every phone call has been a 20 min wait, after which recording told me it would try again to connect me to a rep, then after ringing for a few min, it would say the phone number is no longer in service and hang up."

"BE PREPARED. After waiting on hold on the phone 40 minutes, they told me I couldn't make an appointment, I just needed to come in and expect to wait 2-3 hours. Go to the kiosk immediately to get a ticket - I got ticket #98 and they were calling #50 when I got there. Don't try to leave and come back later - I saw multiple people do this and then miss their chance. You have to start over if you miss your chance. They do not have wifi; plan accordingly. Also, the waiting room was full (it has about 50 chairs but some people had brought kids) so a few people were standing, sitting on the floor, or had brought in their own lawn chairs. You are not guaranteed to be sitting near an electrical outlet, so charge your phone in advance. Given the impossible task of helping all these people with such little staff, it was very well run - the security guard keeps the waiting room in check; it was nearly silent for the 2 hours I was there. Very orderly process given the immense waiting times and the backlog the staff are dealing with all day, every day."

"Excellent experience with the agent Elliott. He was patient, knowledgeable, understanding, and very helpful. Much appreciated! We got there at 7:40 AM so were first in line when they opened at 9 AM. Less waiting around inside with people not wearing masks that way."