Assurance Wireless

I've been a customer for two years. The first basic phone Assurance Wireless provided me was nothing but cheap junk Hardly kept charged for a day, the signal was poor and I had to almost yell at people so they could hear me. Worst of all it kept overheating when it was charging. And by overheating I mean burning hot! I'd only had the phone a few weeks so I called customer service (because I was afraid it might explode) and they tried to blame me! Only because I said that I had dropped the phone once. Now who hasn't dropped their phone at least one time? I've dropped other phones an never had them get so hot while charging that it nearly burned your hand!

A year later I got newer version of their cheap phone after losing the first one. Just like the first phone it's junk right out of the box. And, just like the previous phone it wont hold a charge for an entire day. The service winks in and out of roaming and the phone opens multiple web pages on it's own. So imagine my surprise when they sent me a notice that my 5gb of internet (which I never use) is gone! This morning when I woke up it had 37 open web pages! I don't even want to bother calling customer service because they are all useless. All they try to do is find a reason to blame you for the problems.

I wouldn't have this service if I didn't need it. This company shouldn't be allowed to treat people this way! How can you call yourself a "life-line" when you can't hardly use the phone? If you are unable to pay for a phone try another company. Better yet get on a family plan with a family member. Don't waste your time with Assurance. You'll be glad you did.

I'm not at all a racist or care about how people make money but I don't know how Assurance and Cal Life Line can go on SCAMMING people. This starts a few months back, I got into a heated conversation with a foreign customer service representative while trying to switch from one Free phone to another. Phone 1 was damaged with a swollen battery, I don't know what can happen if your phone does that, cause I was upset then. Back to what happened. The said I had to wait to be approved and Assurance Wireless would send me another phone, cause the phone i had didn't match the sim card. I was upset I had to wait, but what can I do. I can't afford $50 bucks a month for phone service, I waited. Used my damaged phone just for emergencies. Then I get the new phone, everything is good. I'm looking for a job, handling business over the phone, and looking for a job. Just this morning Assurance cut my service in the middle of looking for a job. I called them this morning asked why, they said I have to call Lifeline.

I talk to The LifeLine representative on Chat and they tell me they have no record of my phone number and that the last number they had on me was a phone a was using a couple months ago. Of course a Social Service Free Phone. Okay, so now Assurance and LifeLine has me going in circles calling back and forth.

The final two Representatives I talked to had an indian accent, just like everyone I talked to today. The first call I made today was with Assurance and I spoke calmly and she kept repeating a short word, can't recall what it was exactly, it was like, huh, or ugh! Over and over again, It seems as if they were trying to get me angry. Now, could this be from when I freaked out over my damaged phone months back? Oh, but wait that wasn't the same company, was it?

They may have me on an $#*! list, but I was angry who knows what could have happened using that phone, and here months later I'm dealing with this "Beautiful and kind lady," So she spoke to me like I'm garbage, free phone user. Usually American based, well in the sanish America, Representatives train you to usually keep calm if you have a difficulty customer or hang up, This makes me thing it's another country.
SO SHE spoke to me like trash, I started getting upset, having being almost scammed by commonly known indian scam about a month ago, We an the Assurance lady are there bickering back and forth like we were a couple. DIVORCE! I'm sure I hung up close to tears like a $#*!! You don't understand I've been working so hard. I think she told me to take it up with LifeLine, and she'll give me 50 minutes free, and she'll let me reapply, 3-5 days for the letter, and then i send it back so at this point I'm beaten.

I cal California LifeLine, almost expecting to talk to someone that at least handle business like an american, and it sounds just like the person I talked to at Assurance. It was even the same background noises. Wow It reminds me of those Youtube Indian Scam Videos, and they may be putting on a performance a bit, but back to the story.

The California LifeLine asked for all my information everything but my Social Security Number, which I'm sure they probably have, but not before she started getting smart with me, and I was talking to her like a wounded animal, but then her stupid attitude and customer service skills FAIL started pissing me off, and we started aguing. DIVORCE again. She finally gets in my account and begins reading the reason why my service was cut off this morning

(Oh Just FYI ever since the SCAM a few weeks back I've been receiving SCAM calls, SCAM job offers, and SCAM emails, and I received a text from a number saying that There is a position for me, just check my email and fill out the information for interview, some-mutha-$#*!in-$#*! like that. I check the email and we figure out it is a scam account. SPAM and SPAM, phone and email and then my phone is cut off.)

And if you are still following, She finally gets in my account and begins reading the reason why my service was cut off this morning, she reads something, that I followed word for word the whole time, and in a summary it basically said that Phone Provider didn't Provide name, or address or something to LifeLine.

I yelled, "AND HOW THE $#*! IS THAT MY FAULT!" and hung up. I'm proud that I didn't stay on the phone.

So, why are we using these people to do customer service for us, and I guess their attitude towards the customers are reflecting how much they are being paid. I shouldn't expect to get something for free and their not be any issues. I just wish they didn't decide to get revenge on me this month, Job searching, it was the wrong or right exact time, could they be listening to my calls? Why would the county associate with a company like this?

(Neg) 5 stars they DO NOT deserve the standard 1 star, I used to like Assurance, and all the different Free phone services, but how are they paying to provide us this? How much does it really cost to connect a phone service? Questions for a better man.

I just know I'm going to have to think twice before continuing with these free cell phones, because I really felt like someone in and indian country, low pay, slave wages, I don't have any job and it really freaked me out. How are they in charge of our California LifeLine service. I'll run a California Customer Care Center 20 and hour, and at least will treat the customers with some dignity. It's sad what our Nation is becoming.
Hope God looks out for some of us!

IF THIS HAPPENED TO YOU RESPOND. MAKE A REDDIT OR ANOTHER THREAD ON ANOTHER POPULAR FORUM. WARN PEOPLE ABOUT THESE PHONES. IT'S NOT WORTH THEM GATHERING DATA ON YOU OR DOING, WHO KNOWS WHAT, really they are just trying to still yours, mine and everyone in America's MONEY! AND THEY ARENT STOPPING.

INVEST IN BOOST MOBILE OR TRACPHONE
I GUESS THE HOMELESS AND PEOPLE THAT REALLY CANT AFFORD A PHONE<- ME RIGHT NOW. Cant make the switch, but the poor don't have anything to steal, so they're wasting their time, or is this some kind of vendetta against me for me flipping out of The damaged phone incident. Who knows are these people this angry, crazy? It really has me thinking.

I guess they can send over information or not, which causes someones "LifeLine" to be cut over that decision. What if It was an emergency and I needed that phone.
I guess I shouldn't be poor!

I paid almost $200 for a reconditioned phone last month. I chose the overnight option at check out & there was an additional fee so I assumed I would get what I paid for but after finishing the transaction I noticed that Assurance Wireless didn't include the overnight delivery that I requested. I called & tried to explain the problem but only got some Indian guy who couldn't understand me & vice versa. When I finally got him to wake his brain for a brief moment he informed me that I was basically screwed! No help at all. But best of all the supervisors refused to even speak with me & hung up! I was immediately charged for the phone & to this day I have yet to even receive a tracking number text or anything! The site clearly says that it would be shipped within 3 business days & as soon as it ships you will get a text with tracking number. And that even with regular delivery it would be no more than seven days! I'm very disgusted that a business like this is aloud to exist here in America! Let alone get away with treating their own customers this way! I smell a boycott coming.

Full on horrible experience. Got the phone and tried after it was activated and approved for EBB after may 12th. I read that these phone were pre installed with malware from China. I called and said I would like to use my own phone. Assurance Wireless said only can use phone they sent and even couldn't buy one from them? So I transferred to SafeLink they mailed me sim and it works with my phone. My phone was still on and activated with assurance even though my lifeline was up and running and active with SafeLink. I called no less the 20 times. They would say my phone was off but my benefits is active with them fro ebb benefit and couldn't be removed are transferred. My unlimited data was having trouble at SafeLink. I called over and over again. They would say my phone off. But my phone was on and even got a call from bill collecter and prison asking for another persons name?. I reported to lifeline universal and made a formal complaint to FCC. They were shocked about the malware being pre installed and they still were using the same phones they suggest I report to a even higher unites states whistleblower company. I did get a call from assurance saying they are following up from FCC complaints. The last said my phone was still active because I didn't take my phone number with me to SafeLink? Crazy? I told her what customer service person said I could move my emergency broad band benefit. She denied that was true and said she apologized I asked about pre installed malware she just says oh we send then another phone. Of same model and company? Anyway she finally disconnected so now my phone is not answering. Finally it was a nightmare and hours no hours of calling there call center with Lange barriers. My account with SafeLink still shows pending emergency broad band data benefit. Because the issue never was resolved with transferring it to them from assurance. Even now ……

My keypad was no longer working, so I had to get a new phone. I had some things on my old phone that I needed for legal purposes. I had to find out how to download that information, so I called customer service. Assurance Wireless didn't know how, but told me that I could have extended time to keep the phone and to call them with the tracking number as soon as I mailed it. On 12/18/2018, they turned off my service even though I was told that I could have extra time to get the information off the old phone. On 12/20/2019, I mailed the phone and called Assurance to tell them that I had mailed it and what the tracking number was. This time I was told that they had to wait until they received the phone before they could restore the service. The phone was received on 12/26/2018, so I had a neighbor call and was told that it would take at least 24 hours to activate my service. Next, I had a friend call, and this time they said that they needed 24 -48 hrs. To process it, but to keep checking my phone to see if it was turned on. All this time, I had been sick with the flu and unable to get medical help, because this phone is my only means of communication. It is now 12/28/2018 and the service was finally turned on, however I cannot set it up. I don't know what network this phone uses and I don't have any information from my old phone that will help with this.
They said this keyboard would be easier for me to use since the keys were larger. Not so. This is exactly the same keyboard I had that I have to use a stylist on to press one key. At this point, I still can't use my phone and think I will look for another company.

I've had nothing but a horrible experience for one year after receiving Lifeline Assistance. Their phone was utterly useless.

The ZTE Quest N817 is absolute bottom of the barrel smartphone one could ever receive. It takes FOREVER to load. God forbid there's an emergency and it just so happens to be turned off, you're gonna have to wait a few minutes and pray it doesn't glitch when bringing up the keypad.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting iPhone quality for something that's issued for free, but my goodness, can Assurance Wireless at least manufacture something moderate? Maybe one that, you know, won't die after an hour of usage? I couldn't even play a simple game of solitaire without the battery draining continuously with airplane mode on.

And why limit the cap to 350 minutes/month? What does that come out to, roughly 6 hours of being able to talk every 30 days? What are they thinking? I couldn't even have a conversation with my own mother in that amount of time without being forced to pay for additional minutes that should be free! At least be a good sport and roll the unused minutes over. Give us a chance to build some of it up.

Whatever you do, do NOT purchase or receive one from a relative or friend. I was planning on replacing the hunk of junk they sent me and swap it with something that actually worked when I wanted it to. Wrong. Even though it was fully compatible as per their website (has to be Sprint CDMA), they still shot it down. I honestly think Assurance does it this way since they make a profit off of giving you their unreliable pieces of horse dung. Anyhow, this is where customer service (or lack thereof) comes in.

I called to see if the phone I was given could be transferred. They said in a very thick, heavy accent that no, the ONLY way you can swap it is if it's purchased off of THEIR website. They want YOU to PAY them if you don't like what you have. I told them absolutely not and disconnected the call. That completely defeats the entire dang purpose of being on Lifeline. So much for trying to make it a little better on my end.

When it came time to recertify, I dropped them like a hot potato. There's other services out there with much better phones. I went with somebody else and the phone they gave me was actually pretty decent with 1,000 minutes every month plus unlimited data! I couldn't believe I was stuck using Assurance's subpar communications device with annoying text reminders to place a call every 30 days.

As much as I hate being in the current financial situation that I'm in, I would rather have a landline than ever contemplate coming back to Assurance Wireless.

Update # 2 (July 16 2021) Wiko game changer magically worked after 25 days of being turned off because it was useless and was not working right. Got a text message and even a letter in the mail asking me to use the cell phone or I
Would lose the service when I turned it back on. Meanwhile since I needed phone service I bought another one with Metro by T-Mobile and that was another adventure. Imagine if it would have been someone who only had that phone and no other service. Really sad. Customer service again is useless. Assurance Wireless sound really happy to help you but are very limited as to what they can do.

Assurance gives free phones with malware and viruses and they know that( the ones that are pictured here). So they send you a phone with the same malware and viruses.
Apps downloaded to the phones without permission and ads like g21news showing up when you need to answer a call.
This info is on the internet.
And they have people in Walmart trying to get new customers with the same kind of phone. Wiko gamechanger and the girl told me it was released February 2021 who knows.
How sad that low income have to be stuck with junk.
Lifeline that is what this program is called and yet to them it is all about the money not the customers.
This service is the only connection some people have and ALL of these companies have the worst ratings.
There was one that was raided in Florida Q-LINK wireless for fraud.

Update # 1 It seems like you cannot cancel the account. Called several times and the said they would cancel it. I called my number number and it goes to voicemail so who knows what it is going on. Since the phone is useless I will just let it go and that is the end of this adventure. T-Mobile owns Assurance Wireless Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint not a good idea.

Jan 22.21 my app. Was sent to assurance wireless by mail. Waited so long to get a response. Later I called the national verification center and was told that my app. Was approved and was given a confirmation number then was instructed to call assurance wireless to have my phone shipped to me. I talked to david( customer service representative ') who confirmed to me that my phone will be shipped to me whitin 10 days. After 15 days no phone arrived. Later I called in and talked to Amy ( customer service representative) who put me on hold for a while then she asked me to file another application. It weird and strange this type of abuse. I explained to her my app. Was filed sent in and approved and I should receive my phone as David told me. She said no, you have to file a new one. I said either David and national verification center laied to me or you laying to me. She said David laied to you. Later I called the national verification center and Assurance Wireless confirmed to me again that my app. Was received and was confirmed and they gave me the confirmation number. Now it over 3 moths and no phone was shipped to me. This act of abuse and misconduct has to be investigated and lawful action should be taken against those taking advantage of innocent sick people...
Sami El filLi

I received a phone that never worked. Would not even power on. So I called and Assurance Wireless said they were sending a new phone along with a self addressed envelope to return the old phone. I received the envelope first which I placed my broken phone in and dropped it into the mailbox just as I was instructed by the customer service to do. When I got the new phone I activated it and recertified my account. The next day the phone wouldn't dial out. I called customer service and spent 45 min telling her that I returned the phone exactly how I was told to but she continues repeating my account is suspended because I failed to return the broken phone, which was returned. After getting me so angry now I'm shouting at her she talks to a supervisor which I've been asking to speak to for 10 min. She gets back on and says their employee made a mistake telling me to put it in the mailbox it should have gone to FedEx. So now I have to send 25$ to them for the phone they never received to get my account unsuspended. Why am I expected to pay for assurance wireless' employees mistake. Im flabbergasted!

Previously, I had Safelink Wireless for 3 years. Suddenly, at the beginning of this year, Assurance Wireless decided to deactivate my phone TWICE in 2 months (for inactivity while I was ACTIVELY using the phone!) forcing me to re-apply. So, I finally canceled them.

So, I decide to try Assurance Wireless. They tell me I need to qualify with Lifeline AGAIN. So, I do that. I call them and they don't have the info. I tell them I have the confirmation number. They tell me that they don't have the confirmation number in their system. They say to call them back in 48 hours. I do so. Still nothing. I was told by Lifeline to just give them the number. But, they don't listen to me. So, all I have is a phone that will dial 911. Nice government program. I always end up talking to someone in India who barely speaks English. And they read a script. I think the Govt is trying to kill this service by making it such a nightmare. Our tax dollars at work - giving someone a job in India. Nice. As if we Americans couldn't do their jobs. But, we won't work for pennies because we can't afford to.

I've been having problems with my phone and my phone service from Assurance almost every day for many weeks already. Lately, Assurance has gotten a lot worse. It's been taking a long time for them to answer my calls and, in the end, my problems are not solved permanently. I appreciate that the representatives are polite and Assurance Wireless have made my anger go away with their apologies and courtesy. But those poor people should not be working for Assurance. Assurance is bad. My husband used to have a phone and service with them until he got fed up with them and now is paying for phone service and his emotional state is better. Except that I have service from Assurance and nowadays he is not able to call me because when he does he receives a message saying that my phone number is not in service. And he's not able to leave me a voice mail on the other occasions when his call goes through. I am now fed up too. Assurance Wireless is bad. I am sorry for those nice representatives who have been courteous with me, but all the time I've wasted calling Assurance and being on hold and explaining things to them and resetting new phones they've sent me after so many calls reporting problems with phones... All the troubles and the problems and time wasted is just not worth it. Assurance is really bad. Assurance Wireless will turn you into a very angry person. I hope you have better luck if you try them.

I hate this phone. This is the worst phone I've ever had the displeasure of owning. Here's a list of everything wrong with it that I have figured out so far.
1 Pre-installed malware that you cannot remove. If you try to disable it it'll just enable again somehow so you get a lockscreen/ad randomly
2. While on a call the phone app will go into the background which stops whoever I'm speaking to from hearing anything I say. I have to unlock the phone, open up the phone app again all while hoping Assurance Wireless don't think the call has dropped and hang up. This happens multiple times while on the phone.
3 it can barely connect to the network to make a phone call. I press call and wait 10 to 15 seconds all while it's trying to connect. Sometimes I have to restart the phone just to get it to connect.
4 since the connection sucks so much I'm also missing important phone calls. The phone doesn't even register that someone called.
5 It freezes multiple times throughout the day no matter what I'm doing. I have to restart it constantly
6 after it crashes I have to have it plugged it for it to even turn on no matter how much battery life it has
7 the screen cracked and I haven't dropped it I have no idea what happened it just just randomly broke.

I hate this phone. I hate everything about this horrible pos phone. When I get a new one I'm going to take a hammer and smash this phone to bits and that will be the most satisfying thing I've ever been able to do on this phone.

I'm scared to get a better name brand "refurbished" phone off their website. Does refurbished mean it will come with the pre-installed ad-ware and malware that came with this phone? Ugh anyway customer service was OK the one time I did have to call them.

Assurance Wireless lifeline service-
Problem is that phone often does not ring when people call in-- sometimes rings; sometimes not. It is inconsistent within the same hour.

WARNING- BEWARE OF USING ASSURANCE WIRELESS for California Lifeline service, Assurance Wireless have a worthless phone system in NorCal.
(It doesn't matter if it is "free" to you, if you don't receive the call when someone calls you.)

Assurance service has not been working reliably for me since at least 08/20/18 (first documented contact of problem) and not resolved during all of 2019.

The problem happens:
When all settings are set correctly,
When volume is turned high,
With MULTIPLE phonesthree different phones of two brandsANS UL40TM and Unimax UMX U683CL,
Whether the phone display is initially turned on or off (asleep),
During most of 2019 and within the same day or hour,
In spite of +10 attempts to work with Assurance CS and Tech Support (TS).

On the Caller's Side, they hear rings on their phone and eventually the call goes through to Voice Mail.

Outgoing Calls could always (usually?) be successfully made out from the phone, even when the problem was occurring!

Sometimes the problem spontaneously "clears" itself, but only temporarily for hours or days.

Sometimes I could get the problem to "clear" itself by doing the following:
(1) turning the phone on (from asleep display), or
(2) going into the settings and just looking around, or
(3) going into the settings and switching some setting On and Off (but making no real change).
However this was always a temporary fix that only lasted between 10 minutes and 2 days.

Because of this "clearing," sometimes the problem could be demonstrated to TS and was documented; sometimes not.

Often the lower-level Assurance CS people would eventually ask for my address, then go on hold to "check the network", and then come back and state that the network in my area was "down"or "being worked on". Or "upgraded"or "extended".
Then they would INSTRUCT ME TO PHONE THEM BACK "after 72 hours". Or "after 3 - 4 days" if the problem still existed.
(Can you believe that! I'm supposed to phone them back, as opposed to their phoning me back and checking on their service. And wait for several DAYS of broken service.)

I did follow their instructions several times. But I doubt the network was ever worked on. This was their "call script" routine on how to evade the issue and end the call.

Assurance was never able to resolve this recurring, intermittent problem.
In Nov 2019, I will try a different Provider.

Assurance wireless has to be the absolute worst cell phone company in existence. I realize I should be grateful that I get a whopping 250 minutes for free every month. But what good is that if the horrible phone Assurance Wireless give you never works? Customer service is completely useless. I've had this phone for 8 months now and have contacted them no less than 25 times. My phone STILL says "not activated". I have done everything they have said and nothing corrects the issue. It doesn't help that each customer service representative contradicts what the last one said. It just comes across as a bunch of people answering the phone for a paycheck that truly have no knowledge about the service or how to troubleshoot. Now, let's talk about the horrible free phone:

I have a Wiko Life 2, this is the absolute worst phone I have ever owned! It doesn't work 99% of the time. For no rhyme or reason, there are times you simply cannot make an outgoing phone call. If you are successful and that's a big IF, be prepared for the fact that your call will eventually be dropped. Also, be aware that the person you are calling will barely be able to hear you as your voice will constantly fade in and out. The battery life is horrible. It says 16 hours talk time, that is completely untrue. You will be lucky to have 6 hours on a full charge if you do nothing else. I had 100% charge this morning, sent 3 very short text messages & am already at 90% charge. The phone is made out of cheap plastic, I'm embarrassed to even take it out. It has 5 annoying ring tones and 4 annoying notifying tones. It will randomly send tones for no reason multiple times a day. I understand now why they gave this phone away for free, no one would want to purchase this.

The purpose of my phone is to have it in case of medical emergencies. I can't count on being able to use this phone during medical emergencies so it is honestly completely useless to me. As useless as Assurance Wireless. It's sad that the government cares so little about people with medical disabilities.

Worst company ever. Assurance Wireless are PROUD of the fact that they seem untouchable but THEY ARE NOT! THEY aremaffiliated with Virgin/Boost mobile (per assurance rep) but V/B won't even acknowledge that. I am on my FIFTH phone (same P. O. S. UMX phone) and it's the same defect EVERY time. FILE A COMPLAINT WITH USAC.GOV, they are the governing body of the lifeline program. I live in Texas and there is also a separate division for my state and registered a complaint with them also. I am ready to SUE THEM FOR BREACH OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACT, anyone want to join in and make it a class action suit? I have been without service for about 3 months of the 8 I have been with them because of either waiting for phone or the phone stops working. I can only make calls using Google assistant now and can't call 911 at all as GA won't do that. I had to call a few days ago, in fact, and had to hunt a neighbor down to do it! Garbage company with reps that lie (I keep hearing that this is the only phone available but on rep slipped up and said there were 2 others so someone is lying to me. Bottom line, for the crappiest equiptment and the crappiest service call assurance wireless where they assure you that you will end up cursing them and hating them

I've had problem after problem with assurance if I told you the details of the issues it would seriously be the length of a novel, but long story short with 2 out of my aprox 20 issues no exaggeration is now for the 2nd time they've suspended my service this time for going on 3 mnths for a problem on their side. Assurance Wireless can't seem to track a return envelope they gave me to send them back, & because I didn't write down the numbers on their envelope before putting in the mailbox ( & I'm mad cuz although not my job I usually do to avoid $#*! like this) but this time I didn't & they mysteriously didn't receive the new phone I sent back because mine started acting right again & thinking back it's suspicious how they kept asking me if I had the tracking number before they would tell me they didn't receive it...& Their acting like I stole it... if that was the case why would I keep the old phone & tell them I sent back the new one when that one was mine to begin with... I swear they don't have a brain between the lot of them because the issue a 3 mnths prior to that is a agent mistakingly put my old phone that they transferred service to while I was waiting on my 3rd phone cuz the other 2 didn't work as the phone that should be returned & they just couldn't get that straight no matter how many times I told them to send my new phone I had already returned their broken phone & each time agent acted like he got it right then I call cuz I still hadn't received my phone & again new agent says cause we're waiting on the 2nd phone! This went on for like 2 mnths... I wanna pull my hair out! I'm in talks with life line the parent company cuz I'm disabled with PTSD from 2 home invasions... with no land line & going on 3 mnths with no service unless I pay for a phone they lost...& Found out from like lifeline they've been getting paid from them even though I've had no service for a total of almost 6 mnths They're horrible. Thinking of a lawsuit as there are many other issues I've had with them

Assurance Wireless is a total joke! These government phones word for the needy to be able to make phone calls in emergency situations just to find out when am I actually emergency happens Assurance Wireless cannot report it because of the constant problems Assurance Wireless has with their service customer service and phones! I have some myself having one of these Assurance government phones and did not realize how much of a problem I was going to have just on a normal daily basis it wasn't until there was an emergency a serious emergency and I go to call 911 and cannot do so because of these problems unfortunately not only myself but to other people also had these Assurance government phones that coincidentally had problems or issues during this emergency what do you do an emergency where you need to call 911 for an ambulance and the phone that was given to you based on the principal that the phone was for the needy to make an emergency phone call just to find out you are not able to do so because of the poor service of the provider it was such an emergency not the person could have passed away due to the fact of these issues with Assurance Wireless

I do not use my phone for internet except occasionally if I need to look up a phone number on Google when I am out. I use my laptop at home for internet. The last phone Assurance Wireless sent me was loaded with spam, and news, and games, and ads, so that I had to hassel with trying to close them out before I could make a simple phone call. I hated it. I mainly just wanted a phone to make phone calls and occasional internet. They shut off my service twice without notice in three months and lied to me and told me it was Lifeline who cut me off, but Lifeline said AW cancelled my service because they failed to send the paperwork to Lifeline so Lifeline could pay them. I can't imagine how they think shutting off service suddenly without notice, and then making a person go through a whole new application process and waiting two weeks or more to get a new phone with a new number would not cause serious problems for people! So I refuse to use them again. The phones are garbage. Lie other people, I also had issues where I could not end the call and I had to ask the person on the other end of the call to hang up, since my phone would not hang up a call. I absolutely hated these android phones, It was like they had a mind of their own and would randomly do weird things and it really made me mad because it was a huge interference when I was trying to get business taken care of. And then when I called customer service they just kept reading from their script telling me I had to reapply... well the problem was THEIR fault and I had to spend all day working with my landlord to get a booster for the internet because I had a weak signal and I need a strong signal to use Google Voice while I find a new service provider and wait two weeks or more for a phone. I had to spend hours getting my printer aligned with my computer so I could scan and upload a document that qualifies me for lifeline, and fortunately I was only able to do that because my landlord provided me with a very expensive internet signal booster. The whole freaking process took 12-14 hours! I had finally figured out how to turn off the freaking news that popped up on my home screen, and I was so excited that maybe I could turn on my phone without a bunch of garbage, and when I woke up in the morning and turned on my phone hoping to see no spam and other garbage, then I found out my service was disconnected. I think the real reason they disconnected my service is because I turned off the ads and the garbage news I don't need, and the weather, etc. that was interfering with my ability to make an important phone call. Major distractions! I hate this company and will never return to them.

I've gone through two of these piece of $#*! phones, the first couldn't handle incoming or outgoing calls. The ring doesn't work about 40% of the time with incoming calls and outgoing calls just drop. All the apps kept crashing, I think due to preinstalled malware, (things are LOADED with $#*!ty games) I had to factory reset it three times, the third time locked me out completely, I called their "Help Line" which is in India and all Assurance Wireless tell you is to reset it, ( one guy literately didn't even know how a Smartphone worked) I said I did and I couldn't get back in, then I was given a number that turned out to be Google Fibre ( which, if you don't know, have nothing whatever to do with Assurance Wireless or phone advice) I was sent another phone. SAME PROBLEMS. It worked for about a week, calls dropped, didn't ring with incoming calls, all the apps kept crashing again, factory reset it twice, got locked out, blah, blah, blah. They're both in a landfill now. Now they're saying "we've upgraded." From the recent reviews on here, it doesn't; t look like it. DON'T-EVEN-BOTHER.

Their coverage in San Diego is very spotty. The phones Assurance Wireless send out are absolutely terrible! Of course the phone broke so I called customer service to get a new one, I was told they had new phones for lifeline. But when I received the new phone it was the same model. The phone was refurbished I'm sure which is fine but it didn't work, they wound up sending me 3 phones before they sent one that worked. Each time I called they said they would send a new model but they never did. When they send out a phone they also provide a return envelope for the defective phone. Each time I returned the phone. But a couple of months later I started to receive phone calls and text messages telling me to return the phones. The phone calls came from their warehouse I believe, spent 50 minutes on hold before I reached someone. That was the third time I called, the previous two times I was on hold for about 10 minutes and gave up. When I finally reached someone I let them know I returned the phones and they said OK. A few weeks later I got a text message saying my service would be shut off if I didn't return the phones. So I called customer service. I could barely understand them. They had no idea what they were talking about so I asked to speak with a supervisor. That wasn't any better. I explained I returned the phones in their envelopes. Their kept telling me if I didn't return the phones my service would be shut off. I finally got them to elevate my problem and she told me they would call me in 48 hours but my service would be shutoff. I asked her how she would call me if my service was shutoff, I don't have another number. She was confused. I spent awhile trying to explain and I thought sue understood and told me my service wouldn't be turned off. At 10:90 that evening I went to make a call and my service was shutoff. I called the next morning and they told me I never called so the person I spoke to never inputted anything into their systems. They told me again to return the phones. Then they told me to track the packages. Now how am I going to do that? I used their envelope with their postage. So I didn't have a tracking number, in hindsight I should have gone to the post office and gotten a tracking number somehow.

I got so fed up with them I just said that I would just go with another company. I was told I couldn't do that. I was told once I was with one company I couldn't change, which I knew was a lie. They told me all sorts of things and everything was a lie. I now have a new phone which is actually not that bad. It has a much larger screen and works quite well. They haven't had any problems with coverage and have 4 times the amount of data. No company gives you much data but I just use it for driving directions and quick things here and there. I don't do social media or surf the web unless I'm I have WiFi.

Moral of this story is they are terrible company that flat out lies to you!

NATIONAL SECURITY WARNING:

I have done some research and testing on handsets U683CL/U693CL sent by Assurancewireless and Assurance Wireless are riddled with Trojans and Malware, not to mention everyone whom has Assurancewireless may more then likely start having with Connections via UPD/TCP Ports being blocked for communications to Google Play Services.
This is urgent information that needs to be known, Malwarebytes and I including many other clients have partaken in this investigation to show and prove that we all have confirmed the issues with Assurancewireless.

Do not use these cell phones from Assurancewireless, you will be a victim of identify theft, there is little to no security and half of the UPD/TCP Ports are blocked, if you have for example the UMXU693CL which is their only available handset during this time; you will not be able to upgrade your firmware and install or update any apps into your phone from Google playstore, or it's services APIs.

They have been completely blocked thus creating a national security vulnerability to all handset owners of this phone under Assuranewireless.

If you have this service please stop and cease usage, remove all your content from phone/back up data, scan your backed up data on a local computer to insure it is clean. Then save it.

Hard reset your phone and send the phone back, stop using the service as you will inquire significant damages financially and all persona information is at risk of being stolen and hijacked off your phone.

You will not be able to protect your self, nor even install any phone protection apps like Malwarebytes or Avast - This condition will affect globally on a national level to all users of Assurancewireless and this is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands to millions of users that use this service.
In the past hundreds of thousands of users had issues with the old UMX U683CL model plagued by trojans and malware by UMX/Assurancewireless:
https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/269302-umxu683cl-hacked-government-phone/ - U683CL
Issues with U693CL
https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/273013-android-unknown-chrome-hijacker/pag...⇄ />
Here is a link to a new post I just made about a new development is functionality and security of the U693CL handset that no longer allow a user to update/install apps/Firmare updates to their phone:
https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/280208-assurancewirelessumxu693cl-google-p...⇄ />
This is still under serious investigation!

Best Regards,
Kai@ PCER LLC

The initial phone was a bare bones minimum cell phone that came with an instruction booklet. I used it only for emergency out calls when I was not at home (at home I use a landline). Deciding to try to do other things with it I could not figure out how, since I lost the booklet. When I called to request another, was told there was no record of me as a customer! It took many calls to straighten it out and I never found out why. Weeks later I was cancelled because I didn't use the phone often enough. Had to apply for a new phone and when I was told the new model was an 'upgrade' asked if it came with instruction booklet also and Assurance Wireless said no. My application was turned down. Letter was vague and I was not able to speak with anyone re my application specifically to learn what I did wrong. Rep at the toll free number was in Phillipines. He could not direct me to an office in my city or state but said I should visit 'any gov't office to look for an assurance wireless booth' in order to re-apply in person/ask questions re my application. My application that was rejected was mailed to a post office in a different city and state and rep did not have contact info for that office.

The base phone that comes free with this assurance wireless scam is by far the least functional and advertisement full piece of garbage device I've ever used. This thing constantly crashes when doing anything from a simple text to swiping a page. I received a newer version of the same model after breaking my first and somehow this updated version performed even worse. When calling their company for a replacement phone none of them speak fluent English, which isn't a problem if their connection wasn't so bad at times that I can't hear a word Assurance Wireless say and they hang up on me. They've hung up on me over 3 times when calling and waiting over 20 minutes at a time to get someone on the line. Most of the time they say I'll put you on hold and then hang up on me just when the connection was fine. I broke my updated phone on purpose because it was so garbage that I couldn't text and I got frustrated and threw it at my door. You can tell they shameless just sell all your personal information to the government or whomever they like, I don't have proof of that but if Google does it then this garbage company that happens to be free surely does. If you try to take off the advertisements that come installed in the phone it literally tells you 'if you disable this feature the phone won't work properly' meaning they sabotage performance if you don't look at their brainwashing and mentally damaging ads. I hope they go bankrupt or something better that is free comes along because the world could definitely go without this. Unless you're literally homeless I do not recommend this product to anyone.

BE CAREFULL WITH THE BOOST MOBILE CUSTOMER SERVICES (Calling Center) IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BECAUSE SELLING YOUR INFORMATION IN YOUR BOOST MOBILE PHONE ACCOUNT:

BE VERY CAREFUL L WITH THE BOOS T MOBILE CUSTOMER SERVICE (Calling Center) IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

To all those who have Boost Mobile, be very careful, because the customer service of Boost Mobile in the Dominican Republic, is using the information in your account of Boost Mobile cell phone(such as the phone numbers at of you call, whom you are sending message, who call you), for other purposes, receiving money from people in the Dominican Republic who want to have your information and the staff of Boost Mobile in the Dominican Republic by money holding this information and selling it.

Be very careful, because this is happening, it to a man from Dominican Republic, living in USA and has problems in Dominican Republic with a woman, and that woman looking and pay a employee of Boost Mobile Customer Service in the Dominican Republic for that would give all the information that man had on the phone and account of Boost Mobile. The women use all this information to do harm time to the man and caused him a many problems. The women confessed that she was paid to an employee of Boost Mobile Customer Services in the Dominican Republic to get all the information that he had in the Boost Mobile cell phone and account.

First a brand new Samsung phone back in March of 2020 have Assurance Wireless had nothing but problems with it from March 2020 till this day including drop calls have to dial numbers multiple times before being connected having problems sending and receiving text messages having problems connecting and staying connected to the internet been calling continuously for the last 16 months. Also been told of tower issues in my area going back to March 6th of 2020 till May 31st of 2021. Pat they told me my phone is compatible with Sprint and T-Mobile from May 6th of 2020 till February 2021 Madison's February 2021 they're telling me my phone is not compatible with T-Mobile and I have to purchase another phone. It's pretty bad when this company has a contract with the United States government and cannot provide and refuse to provide reliable service and yet the United States government is letting this happen. This is the worst experience in my whole life with any phone company I fed a cell phone going back to 1995. Digital representative 10 out understand English they asked you the same questions over and over again. As of June 3rd 2021 I have spent 4 hours total time being on hold not to mention 45 minutes I got to talk to somebody when that person transferred me to a supervisor I was transferred again to take a stupid service from this company company. After all the complaints from thousands of customers I do not understand why the United States government is letting this happen I am not the only customer that's being told that we're being downgraded phones for my 200 300 400 or whatever price we pay for our phones we are being downgraded this is not my problem this is not my fault this has to do with insurance wireless Sprint and T-Mobile nobody wants to resolve these issues. I told to talk to Virgin Mobile Sprint T-Mobile quality One national lifeline administration when I contact these companies they tell me the contact insurance was cuz my account is with the insurance wireless. The United States government needs to pull its contract from insurance works immediately because again they refuse to provide reliable service all they want to do is take the money and not provide service this is completely 100% wrong. You're not at the United States continues to let this happen and we all know the United States government is a joke to start with. I would give this company an overall rating of minus 5,000 but you don't go that low. I've had my phone checking number of times from an authorized Samsung repair center they say there's nothing wrong with my phone but Assurance Wireless tells me my phone is defective it's kind of funny how I can receive 30 some phones from August 2018 till December 1st of 2020 all phones have the same issue, kind of funny how I know over 10 people with different makes and model phones and we all have the same issue the only thing we have in common is Assurance Wireless but still Assurance Wireless insist the phones defective well if that's the case this company has a habit of selling and giving out defective phones because like I said I received 30 over 30 of them in the last 33 months. This company is a 100% joke they are taking advantage of the United States government and the United States taxpayers but yet the United States government is letting this happen.

Who are you really? Assurance Wireless? Virgin Mobile, T-Mobile, Sprint. You change the names of your Company like I change my underwear. The Internet has not works on my phone for the last 4 weekends. It would not even connect to my Wi-Fi. Let me go further continues dropped phone calls and you have to keep calling back, phone shuts down in the middle of your conversation or can you hear me. Can you hear me, static on the line, sometimes it even sounds like a CB radio. Assurance Wireless say they will answer your call in 30 seconds ok they did but why did you have me waiting for 38 mins and 34 sec so I decided to call them on another phone to ask to speak to a Supervisor the customer agent was very reluctant to help. So I explain that I was holding on the other line for just about 40 minutes so the 2nd agent puts me on pause for another 20 minutes then can back and said that her advisor was in a meeting I guest she tipped off her colleague now the colleague finally comes to the phone so I asked her why was I on hold so long she refuse to answer me now she is trying to talk over me all I said you could of been more considerate and keep me posted on the progress. Now she was intimated by my professionalism and made false allegation against me saying that she can discontinue the call if I use profanity I said the customer is always right and I am not using any profanity then I asked are you sick or are you crazy then I said I will sue your company then I hanged up.

Despite tell the rep that my mother is unable to navigate a smart phone, a smart phone was sent out. On receiving the smart phone, I called to remind them that at 96 years old, she is unable to use a smart phone. The customer service rep (who was in the Philippines) was very pleasant and assured me that an exchange would be done. Three weeks later, having not heard from them, I called once more. Again I got a rep based in the Philippines who was very cordial and assured me that this would be taken care of. There did not appear to be any notes as to my request for a simpler phone. She asked how I could be contacted in the event the call disconnected. The call did disconnect but no one called me back.

The Assurance phone system is a nightmare and impossibly frustrating. So after several calls I finally spoke to Manuel in technical services who told me that before the exchange can be arranged the phone has to be activated. I am waiting for that dept to call me to proceed with the activation

I sincerely hope that the Assurance management team read these reviews and put in place procedures and processes to improve their service. For instance, it should be standard practice to ask customers over the age of 80 whether or not Assurance Wireless would like a smart phone. What is the point of sending out a client a Lifeline that they cannot use?

All I want is a phone that works... I've had assurance wireless before Assurance Wireless sent two phones both quit within days of getting them. They refused to honor there warranty either time they refused to put me on with there supervisor they tried twice to get me to give them my debit card info which I refused to do. Then they blocked me from going to another company while charging my insurance as if I have a working phone. For a month i had no phone even though I'm in the worst health of my life ect. I went to safelink which is ok but there phone started acting up like all free phones do. I wanted to ask the safelink tent about there phone replacement or upgrade but I went to what said access wireless instead. I left out where I was in the worst health of my life chest pains and overheating ect. Anyway I look after its too late and I see virgin on there tent, assurance virgin sprint are all the same. I don't want there service i just want a phone that works. I have horrible problems with my health mental health too because of various reasons ie infections that are anti biotic resistant ect.

So far, on Wednesday I happened to see a tent with Assurance Lifeline reps (after trying to find out where Assurance Wireless would be located for two weeks to no avail). They had a sign that read, "Get a Free Phone Today." So, after applying, I'm told it takes 1-3 business days to verify that I'm telling the truth about being 61 and poor with two children on food stamps. I return on Saturday. The rep used the address from my EBT letter since I recently moved, have no car, and can't get to the DMV to change the address (even though they obtain your SSN). After a couple of hours, we leave with the the phone on and working. I used the Lifeline service for two days. About 30 minutes ago (Monday), I receive a text stating, "You are no longer eligible for Lifeline service." So, I called the number and have been hung up on 6 times in a row. Luckily, I read reviews prior to getting the phone and spent half the money I had obtaining a Verizon phone to use during this expected inconvenience. Nothing has changed since Saturday so how was I eligible on Saturday but not the following Monday?

If I could remove stars I would give -10. I was talked into contacting Assurance for a Lifeline phone to help make things easier for appointments. The first flag I ignored was their absolute requirement for a physical building address, even though I did not have a fixed address. Shame on me. About a year later, I finally get a place to allow me to use their address. Got the phone. I'm not big on technology, so didn't use it much, but noticed a few months later that the screen would black out when trying to make a call or check voice mail, and it was a real $#*! to try to get it to come back on. I thought it was just a fluke until it started doing it every single time. So I got the bright idea to call and ask for a replacement. The account verification process was a head-banger, especially since I forgot some of the info from what turns out to be a year and a half ago. 30 minutes later, finally get to the point where Assurance Wireless can order a new phone... and oh, by the way, there is a $5 shipping charge. Um, ok. I guess that's what I've got to do. Color me surprised when I see a $6.39 charge on my bank account they cannot explain. They finally come up with the lame excuse that the IRS collects that...? I'm no idiot, but the IRS DOES NOT COLLECT STATE SALES TAX. And no state anywhere charges a 28% sales tax rate! Multiple requests for an itemized receipt were ignored, messages that were received were patronizingly stupid. Requests for the tracking number that SHOULD have been issued within 3 days of ordering the phone, per the clerk on the other end of the line, were ignored, and phone has yet to be received. After confirming the mailing address twice on the phone, I'm told that they need yet ANOTHER confirmation...

I have a pretty solid case of CPTSD, and this stirs it right up. I have no room for stupidity and dishonesty. Overcharging me and then lying about it equates to theft.

I did NOT get involved with Assurance so that I would have an unnecessary source of stress to deal with. Stay far away from these people. You'll be glad you did.