Complaint Review: Lifewireless - Covington Georgia

Don't waste your time.  This Lifeline cell phone company discriminates against the disabled and the poor and can't provide a usable online application. It wastes an incredible amount of the applicant's time with poor customer service, bad phone connections, incorrect information, and an impossible-to-use application website.  They also don't disclose until the last second that the applicant will need to pay $4.99 via credit card to have a phone shipped.

Lifewireless states that the company proveds free cell phones and cell svc.  It is contracted as a Lifeline cell svc and phone provider with the federal Lifline program and California CPUC LIfeline program to provide free cell service and phones to people receivng public assistance (Medicaid, food stamps, etc).  I wasted weeks trying to get a phone for my 86-year-old husband.  They didn't disclose that they would charge my credit card $4.99 for phone shipment until near the end of the application.  They charged my credit card twice.

The online application is impossible to complete, even with help from the company's application representatives.  In Win 10, after multiple website errors (CSRF token mismatch) using Firefox and Chrome (deleting cache each time), I finally gave up after 2 weeks.  Even the mgr of their SAC (?) dept tried to access my husband's application and got the same error.  She has been submitting these errors to the programmers for weeks.  She said the application website is optimized for cell phones.  I have tremors and can't do this on my cell + I don't have the required documents on my cell for upload.

Discrimination against the disabled and the poor:

1. Many public-assistance recipients do not have bank accounts, debit cards, or credit cards, which must be used to pay for phone shipment.

2. The application MUST be completed through a Lifeline provider in California, so there is no other way to get a Lifeline phone.

3.  The required documents for upload cannot exceed 2 MB in size.  Pictures from a cell phone or from a scan exceed that size.  I found ways to reduce the file size, but I am a tech; many people would not be able to do this.

4. Even applying online, it takes at least 3-4 weeks to be qualified and to continue with the actual California Lifeline administrator.

5. Mailing the application with copies of documents would take much longer.

I am not including the multiple phone disconnections, the company's limited hours, the incorrect information regarding the required documents, and the difficulty arranging for a refund.

Lifewireless should not be allowed to receive government compensation for cell phones and service.  The company is under-funded and cannot provide web access for computer users.  Applying using a phone screen and keyboard (or an Android or iPad tablet) is the only way their application forms can be filled out (per the company reps).  For me, with tremors in my hands and limited vision, this is impossible on my cell phone.

I must add that most of the representatives I spoke with seemed to be caring and competent.  It's the company that should be barred from profiting from government programs for the poor, as they are unwilling to make it possible for a disabled or poor person to apply for Lifeline service.  This company appears to have no regard for the value of an applicant's time.  I wasted about 15 hours with them, and I am still unsure whether or not the documents they told me to upload are sufficient to qualify my husband for a cell phone.