JMC proved beyond exemplary and knowledgeable. He patiently reviewed our issue, and provided reasonable solutions to move forward. This visit was surprisingly informative and productive. We are grateful for the services and assistance provided by this outstanding associate. Your office is fortunate to have such a talented, considerate and supportive individual working with the general public. The help he provides to the lost by guiding them and navigating the nuances and intricacies of SS - is priceless. Thank you. read more

made an appointment on their website and was taken in the moment i got there, while the other folks had to wait 20-30+ min for their turn. the staff were very nice and the whole appointment took around 20min. seriously, why don't people make appointments online instead of calling the place or walking in? unless it's an emergency, there's no reason to put yourself through that. read more

I couldn't find the page for SLO,CA but the guard was rude there and for them to cut someone's money for going $5.99 over the resource limit is not only ridiculous but lacks compassion. They're supposed to be there to help not make you feel beneath them. SSD was my only income, I am unable to work but I guess that's not their problem read more

Social Security - the amount I went over and they cut me off. - Public Services & Government Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

I have been by this office with my children, and for myself, and have always received kind, thoughtful, and valuable assistance from the analysts and staff. On the other hand, I have watched endless dramatic abuse of those same employees by an amazing number of entitled, rude customers. Given what I have seen, I make every effort to be unassuming, forthcoming and appreciative. Just because they are our "civil servants" doesn't mean they can solve every problem without information, or that they should provide you an opportunity to dump your feelings by abusing them! Just be nice, and don't go in mad. These people are here to help their fellow Santa Barbara residents. But they receive enough abuse that they actually have bouncers! Don't be surprised if you get a rude reaction if you go in screaming. read more

I waited for over an hour, was prepared with my documents, got up to the window and they said they were too busy with appointments and that I had to come back another day. Andrew was incredibly rude and unhelpful! The "policy" they have in place is completely ridiculous and not user friendly at all!!! Too bad there is not another option for service. read more

The office only has a small parking lot in the back that is always full, but there is parking around the neighborhood. Masks were still required and they had some there. The security officer was very friendly and helpful. He greeted me as I walked in and directed me where to go to get my number. The check in process was very easy using the digital kiosk. The waiting room was clean and well maintained as were the bathrooms. At 10am I waited about 40 minutes until my number was called. There were 8 numbers before me. The agent that was helping me was very dull and didn't seem to want to be at his job that day, but none the less, he took care of my name change in about 2 minutes and then I was out of there. Sadly I parked in front of the office at the only time you can't: Thursday morning when the street sweeper comes by. So I had a $50 parking ticket to pay :/ read more

It's amazing to me how hard the Social Security administration makes it just to get a replacement card. It's ridiculous. They give you a 24 seven number and the person answers, obviously a recording, this says no one's here to help you. That makes no freaking sense. read more

Social Security Administration office, love that they comply with Covid guidelines by limiting occupancy w/masking to limit exposures. read more

Social Security - Social Security Administration office, love that they comply with Covid guidelines by limiting occupancy w/masking to limit exposures. - Public Services & Government Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

I been calling for weeks to schedule an appointment and they don't answer the phone!! Is there only one person working there??

Bad and rude experience here. I received letter from Soc Sec that reminded me to sign up for the soc sec payments. The letter said go online, or go to your local office. After 1 1/2 hours struggling without success to work the on line system, I went to this office. I waited an hour ( no problem, reasonable and expected). My number was called, I went to the booth with a big smile and said I want to arrange to receive my payments. I had all documents, ready to go. The lady takes some info about me, then walks away to talk to her manager and comes back and says "no, we don't have time for this, you will have to do it by telephone." Then she said that " We can't do that at this office; this office is not set up to do this request, p" and I will have to do it on a phone call later. I did not want to wait (I am close to my due date to sign up) and did not want to schedule a phone call. I said " I want to do it now, in person. I am here, you are here, I waited an hour, let's just get it done.". After some back and forth, with my becoming indignant but never rude, I said that as a taxpaying citizen, this is just not acceptable and I want this complaint to go to the manager. . I swear to you, it was with a SMIRK that she said with a curled lip, " I'll be sure to tell her that.". What HORRIBLE "service.". I had to wait weeks to get an appointment on the phone, which did happen, from the same local office, ( so her saying that this office was not setup to do this request was a lie), and which was excellent and took ten minutes only to complete the task. But when I had gone in person to the office for the request, they were "too busy" and " not able" take care of the ten-minute job. read more

Just got back from the S.S office, which by the way moved to Figueroa street , no longer at Paseo Nuevo. Always dreading bureaucratic , official business, I went in with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised with the nice clean office, and private booths . Most of all the service and help from Ms. Connie Morris was exceptional; pleasant, patient, polite, ..she's a gem . All city/ county/state/federal employees could take a lesson from her . Too bad you can' t request her; it's on a first come basis. read more

Bottom Line: This entire office looks like a fly-by-night used car lot. Honestly, it looks as if 5th graders had to put an 'office' together the night before as a school project and they were aiming for C-. Who manages these places? Who looks around this waiting area and goes "...oh yeah, people will love this room!" This is a room that humans can survive in for a period of time - that's about all. Walk into a CPA's office, insurance office, AAA office - or pretty much any other private office and note the differences - they care because they HAVE to care. They took an hour to process me for 3 minutes worth of work. By comparison the last time I was at AAA, it took them 15 minutes to greet me, scan my card, process the three things I needed from them and get back to the parking lot. Everyone was friendly and professional and their office was a much nicer place to be. I had to visit this office as I had misplaced my card and the job I was about to start asked me to bring my SS card or a printout from them. I went down there on my lunch break to try and sort this out....ummm, I think this just needs a pros and cons list.... lets start with pros why dont we. Pros - they were open - there were chairs available so I didn't have to stand - they took about an hour to process 4 people Cons: - they took about an hour to process 4 people - office hard to find - their office is comically dated and not a particularly comfortable place to be - do you really need a PA system for a room so small you can hear people texting? - aggressive security guard - non existent customer service Trying to find this place was hard enough. Park three blocks away, walk in - where on earth are the offices? There aren't any signs anywhere - I finally stumbled on the open door that looks like a fire escape and went up stairs to find the comically 70's, push-in letter sign that says "Social Security office to the left" which is literally the only way there is to go. Once you get there, you need to take a number from the computer automated check in device which is angled into the corner for some reason, so you have to walk all the way around it. Once you have a number you can find an uncomfortable seat, among the uncomfortable people. Banners are tacked or taped up, the vinyl siding on the walls is separating, the room is small but they still insist on yelling names and numbers through their PA system even though you can listen to people breathing. The security guards' chair has a brown paper bag with a white piece of paper attached with a binder clip to keep people from sitting in his chair. After 50 minutes of waiting, I finally get called up and the man behind the counter asks me what I need and sets to work when a lady comes by and interrupts us with a question. The gentleman that was helping just walks off with the lady - no excuse me, no explanation or anything. So I'm just sitting there on my own. - here is the biggest difference between government service and private sector service. If this were to have happened in a paint store, restaurant, or any other private business, nobody would ever go back...but of course you have zero choice in the matter as far as these things go. As the customer service manager for a small company, I cant tell you how hard I work to make sure that our customers and clients are satisfied with the service they have received. Bottom line is they don't care because they dont have to care - ... as I'm pondering private sector practices the security guard gets right up next to me and says "MULTITOOL" a little startled, I say excuse me? "Multitool! Is that a multitool?" and he points at my pocket "yeah, this is a leatherman" then he disappears. A little dazed, the original agent I was working with re-appears, updates my address and prints out a sheet that says that I requested a new card and that it would take two weeks to arrive. He stood up before I could ask any questions, so I quickly asked him about getting an official printout and he interrupted me and literally said "thats all I can do" and walked away. The service I received was curt at best and at worst a little rude. First of all, why is this office some place so difficult to access in the middle of downtown? Their rent must be astronomical. Why not take a more normal office in a normal office area and use the money you saved to create a professional environment for all of the people that are PAYING for said office instead of having an office in the most expensive part of town? I'm not sure that this office visit could have been more predictable. the only reason they dont get one star is because they actually processed me in exactly one hour. read more

If you like mean and condescending people then the Social Security of Santa Barbara is just the place for you. If I could choose never to return I would, but unfortunately there's no competing business for social security. Though we actually pay for this service through our taxes I felt like I was asking for something that my client didn't deserve. The only resonable people I came in contact with was the officer in the waiting area and 2 women that open the door to the back room that were kind enough to answer questions with respect and decency. As far as the gentleman and supervisor my client and I met with, they were about the rudest people I have ever met. Disclosure; this text is organic and may have typos, punctuation and grammar challenges. read more

I come here every time I need help from Social Security as the 800 number consistently gives me contradictory information.in this office they have been able to deal with every problem you could imagine. When you arrive at this government office in the classy Paseo Nuevo it's quite a shock. As you step in there is a security guard just a yard to your left. Behind you is a machine that assigns you a number like the DMV. You will wait in those small, hard plastic chairs that dip in the middle. The wait has been five minutes to two and a half hours; generally only one or two of the windows are open. Once at the window, you generally get apt one on one attention. This is the payoff for waiting so long. I recommend bring some form of electric device. I've spent many hours with Angry Birds here read more

I was injured by a security guard at the SSA in another location. I wanted to make sure I sent my claim form into the right place and the conversation was pretty annoying. The guy at the window AND the supervisor both kept telling me they didn't know, that I wasn't collecting benefits (duh!), and that I should hire a lawyer to do that for me, and asked if they could see the form. They asked if that was to sue the government and said again that I should hire a lawyer for that, And I was like, no, you can't see the form because I'm not here to argue about it, you can find blank one online, that I wasn't here about benefits and knew I wasn't collecting or expecting benefits, that I don't need a lawyer to turn in the form, and that telling me I ought to get a lawyer is also legal advice, and that I hadn't yet decided whether or not I would have to sue, but wanted to preserve my rights. I didn't come to argue. They finally came up with a solution between the two of them and I got the information I needed. But, really, I don't think it's up to them to tell me what to do. I ask, and they ought to supply the information. I honestly did my BEST to be as pleasant as possible. Oh, and the security guard was so bored he was making paper cranes. And letting people use their cell phones. I probably could have taken a photo of whatever I wanted and really wanted to take one of him. Bossy and mean, too, the way he told me how to go out, or that another lady couldn't bring in her dog. I mean, where is the sign?? How do we KNOW that dogs aren't allowed? It doesn't say anywhere. Maybe it's just his opinion rather than federal law. They give him a gun to go with his paper cranes. Unbelievable! read more

1000 Times less painful than going to the DMV. Not the most fun one can have in SB but good times. Security guard looks bored out of his mind but is super friendly. read more

This phone number is not the local number. I called and waited for 1 hour at this number and they gave me the actual local office phone number and it is 866-695-6285. read more

you know you're in a small town when you get the fastest most efficient service ever at a government location. i was seriously in and out within 30 minutes, which in the bay area is friggin unheard of. the field office manager was so nice too and we had a nice little chat. it took me forever to find though, i walked around the entire mall just drenched under the sb sun when i finally found it tucked quietly across from the foot locker. even had time to check out gap before the free 75 min of parking was up. read more

Got burned my employee who was short with me and rude, HE didn't follow through by forwarding a necessary letter to the main headquarters. As a result, there was a 2 month delay of being reinstated. Be very careful and document everything. There is a lot more to the story but I'll just say the whole organization disfunctional. read more

The location of this place is very tricky, because it doesn't have its own building, you have to find the store named Angl (I guess it was that, or some other store starting with A), entrance to SSA is to the left of this store. There are no signs or indicators of any kind in Paseo Nuevo to any of the stores, including SSA. I would recommend you to ask a security personnel wandering around (there are plenty of them too). As every SS office, you might have to wait around 30-60 minutes if you get there after 12 noon. Service is OK, location is not. read more

Have only been receiving benefits a short while and the Administration is worse than I've heard, worse than I anticipated! When you go into the local office, you get who you get, unless you have an appt., and it's impossible to get an appointment because you wait on the phone for an hour as I just did and within two minutes of talking to a rep, was cut off. I have four local phone numbers (per websites) and not one is truly local. I've talked to offices all over the state. There's something very wrong here, in general. Specifically, I filed an appeal in late August, directed it to the SB office and still have had no response. I was encouraged to file the appeal by local SS reps. Ha! No one acknowledges them, once they're sent to them. I am told one thing by one person and another thing by another person when I do go there. It's unending, which is why there's an hour wait when one calls or goes. They have no trouble docking your benefit when they think it's necessary. They leave it up to you to tell them they're wrong/have made a mistake. In the meantime, they continue to dock you and make it nearly impossible to tell them there's a problem. I give up. read more