Well, my husband has been dead for nearly 3 years. As money became tight, I decided to call the social security office in SLO and check to see if I was eligible for any benefits. I had the good fortune of speaking w Deb. She said I should have been receiving money since his death. She told me to bring marriage certificate in (she already had other data). She took care of it. She was kind and considerate. Finding her was life-altering. read more

Security Guard is non approachable and rude!!! Needs to learn customer service skills! This is the first time for some people and people have different levels of education of understanding. Slow down and appreciate your job! Be more helpful!!! read more

It's hard to understand why the security guard behind the desk would find a need to be so rude. I'm not sure what he thinks he is accomplishing by his attitude, but it does not reflect well at all upon this office. Ironic, how much nicer the people at DMV are, when that's the public organization that we seem to love to hate. By the way, would it hurt so bad to have some spare envelopes for those of us who forgot to bring one and want to put something in the dropbox? read more

This review is for the Santa Maria office. I met the most pleasant and real professional at window#8. Thank you very much. I arrived at 8:30 am on Thursday. I was 2nd in line outside the building. The door opened at 9 am. My check-in timestamp was 9:02 am. The security guard asked for my purpose and showed me the line to the check-in kiosk. I was called soon enough. The lady at window#8 went thru her questions very nicely. She has the best manners. I was back in my car by 9:22 am. This place is really great. Thanks to their admin for making my visit very pleasant. read more

The security guard could not have been a bigger.... (pick your choice of negative word). He clearly hates his life and job. And I must have interrupted his movie viewing or video game, who knows. Thankfully someone else mentioned on here that there was a dropbox but you had to have a letter sized envelope. So, I took one of those and was able to use that. Not sure why he feels the need to be such a ... but apparently he does. I will also say at 10am the drop box was pretty stuffed. There were probably 15-20 ppl waiting and 2 windows open. Wait time was estimated to be over an hour. The SS employees may be great, I didn't interact with them, but the environment was very uncomfortable. Here's hoping I never have to return. read more

Overall a pretty good experience "at the office." Their website is another story... what a Train Wreck. Terrible to navigate, slow, kept booting us off, etc. The gentleman at the office was very helpful and scheduled a follow up call 2 weeks out. read more

That have been a great help to me and friendly. They can Not change the way things are and they do Not make the rules however they will help you through the mess read more

The representative was super helpful. I'm still waiting on my card though, hopefully arrives soon.

I just went in for just a name change and I'm pretty anal about having correct paperwork before I go places & went at 2pm on a Thursday. That being said the wait was only a few minutes & the gentleman who helped me was super nice & we were done in 10 mins. It's times like this I'm reminded how much easier things like government offices are in smaller towns compared to major cities like I'm used to. read more

I heard about the guy with no arms who got turned down from getting Social Security benefits. Seriously guys..? What's wrong with you? Did somebody else fill out the form for him, or did he do it with his feet? Either way, it's disgusting to blatantly decline someone with that kind of issue. For me, I'm trying to get registered for Social Security benefits because I happen to have an emotional/mental learning problem, which is ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome. It has given me endless issues in the past, and it still does while I'm working at my job. Somehow with both of these, they still sent me a notice of disapproval. They said very clearly on their forms that people with (And I quote) "emotional or learning problems" are eligible for Social Security benefits. So now I'm filling out an appeal form, not knowing what to do for literally 95% if it, because these d*ck-holes told me to take a hike. I cannot comprehend the unrelentingly vague and stupid questions these forms are asking me. I'm certain it's not JUST my learning disability here, but rather the blatant vagueness in each intentionally confusing question, designed to make people with disabilities give up on applying. You guys want to make this about money, right? Well how about the fact that MY taxes are flowing towards this crap!? Yet you imbeciles still deviate from doing your jobs! What a waste of time, space, potential, productivity, and yes, even money, which I know you guys are so concerned about, rather than the people who actually need help. read more

When you arrive to this place you have to take a ticket. Takes a little while to get thru door if you get there first thing in morning. make sure you take everything in you need. they will not hold your spot you so have to take another ticket. the lady we had can't remember her name was very very nice read more

I filed an online appeal regarding the reduction in my Social Security benefits on December 26, 2021. By March of 2022, I had not gotten a response so I called SSA and was told there was no record of my online appeal nor the supplemental documents that I mailed to the SLO SSA office. This was despite me having a copy of the online appeal showing that it was accepted electronically. The person I spoke to on the phone emailed me instruction for filing an appeal a second time so I did on March 31, 2022. As of this writing, June 30, 2022, I have yet to receive an acknowledgement or response from SSA in SLO. Needless to say...very frustrating. I now plan on writing my congressman in hopes of getting some response to my appeal. read more

I went into the SLO office today because the online medicare application rejected me. The woman who helped me couldn't have been more helpful. She not only successfully got the application filed, but then went out of her way to advise me what I needed to do next. I was very pleasantly surprised with the encounter. Keep up the good work! read more

Stars don't really reflect what the possibilities are here. If you arrive only 15 minutes after opening hours (without an appt I guess), you may wait for what may feel like an eternity. But, and here's the big qualifying Question, what and how does Eternity feel like to you? This is your chance, a rare chance nowadays, to experience a bit of eternity. There will be soft muzac playing (may it channel Brian Eno intentions for you), you will be surrounded by many tribes and nations and not many tongues (this is slo after all, though it is quiet of conversation in the morning). There will be Chinese, Butanese, Scandinavia, Nashville, Porterville, and Oceano. There will be old white men, their wives, infants, a tattoo artist, a baby-booming hippy, a Mexican family or two, Terry Savalas, and a rare slo black person who maybe wonders what he's doing in this town. Some would describe this place as Communist Russia, though I've never been; here i am, the seats are nearly full, each 'customer' takes about 15-20 min average while at the window booth, and they only have 2 out of their 4 windows open. feels a bit 3rd world, tho without the runs. I guess you could treat it like a faraway travel experience, especially if you've never been to a totalitarian nation (though our country has those tendencies). A little like this, though with less clean walls. You wonder why they don't hire another person or five. Only 2 windows open (at times only 1 window) in a full room? i'm no bureaucratic solution-expert, but in our oft time-deprived society this is costly to the individual, to many-all of us. People have lives and other people depending on them, come on putos y putas! ¡Vamanos, let's get to it, i know that we can do it! At any rate, and as slow as that rate is, try to pray and meditate during this experience that you hopefully won't have to endure for a while. It might even bring you closer to God and your fellow man. Go in peace. read more

Such a depressing place. Multiple people held up the line because they didn't speak/understand English. If you're in the USA, learn our language por favor!! (Just like if I lived in France, I'd learn French!) After sitting on a cold, metal, prison-like bench for 60 minutes, I was tired and cranky. My time finally came (after an hour), my number was called and BAM I was done w/the clerk in like 5 minutes. That's because I was prepared and spoke/understood English. (It's politically incorrect to say that--the truth--but that's how it was.) The mousy-haired, middle-aged clerk who helped me was cordial but as slow as molasses as she sauntered her way from her desk to the copy machine, then back again. Must be nice to be a government worker. Plus there are about 4-5 windows but only 2 were open. Ugh. So, if you're looking for a sad office to kill some hours and enjoy gazing up at two large awkward North Korea-like portraits of our former Dear Leaders Obama and Biden...the SSA's the place to be! And don't let the ARMED (gun or pepper spray? hard to tell) security guard intimidate you. He's like 75 years old and was slumped in a chair, half asleep the whole time. What a gravy train job he has!! Oh, and check out the Big Brother-like running loop of government public service announcements on the TV. Weird messages like "Report fraud!" and "Did you know it's a crime not to file your taxes?" bombard you while your bottom goes numb on those spartan benches, just waiting for your number to be called. read more

I had a really pleasant experience here. I arrived without an appointment and was in and out of the office in half of an hour. Computerized check-in and a lovely, helpful agent helped me process my documents. I did go online before and have all my paperwork beforehand, but all in all it was a great experience. read more

A few weeks ago, I had to go to SLO to the SSA office. I had no appointment and arrived before they opened. By the time the doors were unlocked, there were about 15 people behind me. They took people with appointments first, then started calling numbers. I probably waited about 20 minutes before getting called to a window. My business was a bit complicated and took time (about 45 minutes). I had the most competent, nicest woman assisting me. She had lived in Long Beach, I had lived in LA. I found everyone there from the guard to other staff very helpful. Overall, a much better experience than what I was expecting. read more

Each time I have visited the SLO Social Security office I have received the assistance I needed. The personnel has been professional, kind and patient. read more

I recently had a problem with my mother's medicare that only social security could help with. I went into the office without an appointment and after a very short wait, I received the help I needed by a friendly agent. I am still in the midst of Medicare red tape, but I appreciated the help given to me by SLO Social Security and I am sure it will work out. read more

Visiting from out of town I needed something to be taken care of. In and out for 20 minutes and the staff is super friendly.

Please, if you can do whatever you need to do online, do it! But if, like me, you need to go there for something in particular, come as early as you can, before they open, because otherwise you will have to wait for at least 1 hour. Trust me, you do not want to be here longer than you have to: sad people with terrible stories and bitter employees whose job stinks and that are seeing their hours cut... Very sad place. When I started this review, it was only negative, I had been there waiting and had to come back the next day because I did not bring the right document, so I was pretty mad. But after following my own advice and getting there early, I was the second person to be served (yes, there was already someone in line, wise woman!) and I got the same gentleman who helped me the day before, he was actually very nice and we even had a small conversation while he was processing my information, my first impression had been that he was bitter or just a mad looking dude, but I even got a couple smiles out of him. The whole thing took less than 10 minutes and it was very straight forward. The reason this place sucks is not the workers, but the fact that they cave cut hours and that, sadly, a lot of people depend on SS. read more

When I called to make a simple inquiry, I was made to feel like I was wasting the woman's time. She was dismissive and it was obvious she was NOT interested in helping me at all. She gave me some info I later found out was incorrect. She is there to help people but is NOT doing that. SHE SHOULD BE FIRED so another competent person who is willing to assist us can be put on the payroll. read more

I have no idea what happened to make other people give this office such low ratings. My wife and I were able to do what we needed to do by phone and both of us had a great experience. I'm very pleased with the service we got first try. read more

I called the office today. After reading the reviews, I was a bit apprehensive, but was pleasantly surprised. I used their callback feature, so I didn't have to wait on hold for an indefinite period. I received an automated callback 45 minutes later, as promised. I waited less than a minute for a representative (Anita? couldn't understand her name). Anyway, she was helpful, courteous and professional. Very happy with my experience. And I was especially glad I didn't have to go in person, which could have been a different experience. read more

Although some people might not believe it, I had a perfectly fine experience here at the social security administration. The people were very helpful to me. As it was my first time to arrive during business hours. I made couple false starts earlier in the month and came at the wrong hours. I checked in at the little computer, got my number and waited in line. Well 15 minutes later I was called, and told I had done everything perfectly online. My sign up was complete, and I delivered our marriage certificate for their records. Subsequently I was told of additional benefits my wife could sign up for now that I will be receiving benefits. How nice. Like I said pleasant people, nice visit, easy. read more

Been to 4 different social security office.but the one in San Luis Obispo is fast and friendly.in and out with in a hour.

I had a very pleasant experience at the San Luis office. I got there a bit early, as another reviewer suggested, and I was about 10th in line, When the doors were opened, the security guard, who was very friendly and professional, assisted each person checking in at a computer near the door. I waited about 30 minutes before my number was called. The person that helped me was very competent, friendly, and efficient. The time at the window was about 20 minutes taking care of business. I didn't see it as a sad place, as stated in another review. For me it was a great experience. So maybe you won't go in there expecting the worse. But I do suggest going in 30 minutes before opening time. read more

Ugghhh.. the waiting and waiting and waiting. I finally decide to try to get my name changed online. What a hassle. Form gets submitted, then returned. Then re-submitted then returned. All this for a simple name change after getting married. They sure dont make it easy read more

Terrible. The wait on the phone was 50 minutes, and finally I gave up. Government is so incompetent. One wonders how it ever functions at all. Only our military is competent. The rest of government is a total wasteland! read more

Such a pleasant experience despite other reviews! Came here at 11:30 am to get my name changed (yes, newlywed) and I got in and out in about an hour. The security guard was one of the nicest I've ever met, such a gentleman! The lady who helped me, I believe her name was Molly, was really sweet and finished my name change in ten minutes. The only reason it took so long was because of a customer ahead of me who needed a translator. Besides that, I was really grateful for these kind people I encountered and am happy that I came here! :) read more

The SSI supervisor and the SSI case workers are incompetent. They will give you wrong information every time and if you question it they become defensive and verbally abusive. They do not care at all about the disabled clients and will treat them with complete disdain even though they would not have their cushiony wages and pensions when they retire if they did not have disabled clients to serve. If they weren't protected as civil employees they would have been fired in a private sector job. read more

Wow! Long lines and wait time. I waited over an hour just for a simple name change. The female employee attempted to tell me I needed to change my name to my maiden name in order to change my name to my court order name of choice. I was informed I only needed my certified court document and license. She gave me grief about my current license and social being in my maiden name but not in their system and needed to check with a manager. Needless to say the manager said go ahead with the name change seeing as it was in my maiden name on my license and social that I have on my person. Please know how to do your job efficiently, it'll make your already long lines move quicker. On a side note I had a lady that smelled of BO and piss sit next to me lord I wanted to vomit so badly and all other seats were taken. Please shower and help the other patrons not suffer with you for your lack in hygiene :/ I shan't be changing my name again so in the end the experience was a one time deal not to be repeated read more

This office is a complete joke. Rude people. A very annoying cop. Two windows out of four were manned some of the time. I asked a woman with real short curly hair to make a copy of the document she wanted me to leave with her. She refused to do it. She would not help me at all with my issue. I had a letter with another clerks name on it and she would not address my issue at all. Treated me like pond scum. Terrible, terrible experience. That lady I dealt with was so rude and so dismissive. Govt. workers at their worse. read more

Worst social security office ever! The front desk women are mostly nice and do try to help. However the receptionist is very rude, very lazy and would have been fired if she didn't work for the government. The internal areas are constantly screwing things up and lying about what happened, they refuse to make appointments for reviewing problem cases and refuse to allow you to speak to the supervisors. They constantly change things on files without sending documentation or paperwork notifying recipients. There's never notes put in to help identify when you've called or what's being processed, and the only way to get anything figured out or taken care of is by sitting in the waiting room all day. It's absolutely ridiculousness things these employees can get away with and the tax payers and recipients have zero recourse or way to complain or ask for any resolution, outside of speaking to the same people causing and dismissing the problems you need help with. read more