Sara S.
Tired of the run around....feel I have been scammed....devestated child
Let me tell you about our pinwheel experience. I did a lot of research to find just the right phone where my daughter could feel she fit in and we could rest assured she was safe. After much research, we decided on Pinwheel. We purchased the first phone weeks before our vacation. We wanted her to be able to take pictures on her vacation and to have a way to reach us in an emergency. We ordered the phone with intentions of setting it up with our phone provider, but quickly learned that would not be possible (our provider, not Pinwheel’s issue). Before the phone shipped I tried to change our plan to include their service. In order to do so, we had to order and pay for a second phone / plan and could return the first after we received it for a refund. So, we have now paid double and immediately returned the first phone (it has now been two weeks and no refund in sight). Set up was fairly easy. My daughter was ecstatic to have her own phone and went on and on and on about taking pictures during our upcoming vacation to Alaska. Only to have her excitement quickly curbed when we found the camera did not work. I reached out to support with the issue. Initially, I was very pleased with customer support. They are typically very quick to respond. We tried some trouble shooting to no avail. This was seven days ago, at which time, and every day thereafter, I have stressed that we purchased this phone for vacation for the camera and the software and that we needed a resolution or replacement before the trip. Every day for seven days (going on 100 e-mails), we have gone back and forth. Try this, try that, follow these steps. I’ve sent videos showing how the camera does not work. After a couple of days they needed to do a factory reset to try the camera without the Pinwheel software to see if the software was causing the issue. For THREE DAYS they tried to reset it remotely but found their software isn’t connecting to the phone so they can’t reset it. By day four, I learn we could have just gone into the settings to do the reset. Something that could have saved four days and countless hours of time. I was then required to set the phone up as a normal android and set up a google account for my child that I never wanted them to have. This led to confirmation that the phone is in fact damaged. We are now 24 hours away from our trip, still have a defective phone, and the Pinwheel software is not installed nor can they seem to reinstall said software. So, we purchased a phone for our daughter prior to vacation for the purpose of having peace of mind and a camera. We paid for TWO phones. We still have not received a refund. We do not have a camera, and now we do not have a phone with any software and she cannot use the phone. Would I recommend Pinwheel? Absolutely not.
Response from Pinwheel Kids PhonesJun 6, 2025
Hello Sara, we’re really sorry to hear how stressful this experience was, especially as you were preparing for your family vacation. We definitely don't want any of our families to go through such an ordeal. We’ve looked into your case and are glad to confirm that the defective device was replaced in time for your vacation, and that your refund was processed promptly once we were made aware it hadn’t gone through. While situations like this are rare, we know how important it is to get things right the first time, and we’re actively working to improve how we handle issues like this. We appreciate your patience through it all, and we're here if you need anything else.