Pinwheel Kids PhonesReviews of pinwheel.com

Me and my son are enjoying Pinwheel. Sometimes it could be confusing due that I personally don’t use android phones, and there’s a lot of restrictions going on with settings. But I know this was the whole sense of the service. Also the people on the customer service are nice.

The support staff has been awesome, personal, and very prompt. While I never found any phone support option, there seemed to always be somebody available for a quick (typically within seconds) and knowledgeable response. The product itself (the Pinwheel platform to regulate and guide your child's use of technology) is still in the earlier stages and is evolving. In the 5 months that we used their platform (if that is the right technological term), there were some frustrations with some of the growing pains associated with any new and growing company. Ultimately, we decided to move away from the platform as we didn't feel that our child needed the amount of restriction required through the platform in it's current state. If that need is there for your child, Pinwheel's platform is great. Would recommend for anybody cautious about guiding their child into a respectful use of technology.

We joined the Pinwheel family in October 2020. I am so happy to have found a safe option for my very impulsive 14 yr old. We did have some hiccups, but the customer service is unlike anything my husband and I have ever experienced. They are so responsive, available, and friendly! We ended up getting pinwheel phones for our 10 and 12 yr olds in December, We like that Pinwheel offers the ability to communicate safely with friends and family, listen to music, explore a few kid friendly sites. Thank you for creating a safe step towards independence.

Was not able to solve the issue, but they did explain why it was unsolvable, and what the issue was. Very fast communication, and very friendly.

Had questions about the Days & Modes feature. Sam M. quickly and concisely explained what I needed to know.

Great phone for my child. Helps him gain some independence but with great limits that help him learn digital citizenship and self-control. I'm so happy we did this for him - I was dreading the start of 'phone life' but this has been an all positive experience. And great customer service.

I ordered a phone for my 14-year-old daughter to replace her "calculator" as she calls it. My experience with Pinwheel has been somewhat unique but I will outline the highlights: - The Caregiver Admin portal, where one manages the child's phone, is easy to use and understand. - Customer service is unmatched. Replies are speedy and always helpful. - The phone is a great way to introduce your children to smartphones without having unfettered access to the internet. - The routines allow children to structure their day and are highly customizable. The only issue I have had is trying to get her service through our current provider, Google Fi. Through Pinwheel's strict app testing, the Fi app is not yet available as it allows for too much freedom for the child to potentially access the internet, so they have blocked it for the time being. Thus I have to set her up on another new service, which is fine as I was already using a separate one (Twigby - which, by the way, is NOT compatible). Overall I am happy with the service Pinwheel provides and will be using it for my son when he is old enough for his own phone.

I have several issues with Pinwheel. 1- There is no way to disable the wifi hotspot on the phone. 2-The password management on the caregiver portal is very poor. I changed what I thought was the caregiver password, but when I tried to login, it tells me I am using the phones credentials . What a screwy experience! Now I am locked out of the caregiver portal. 3- there is no way to delete modes or days. Pinwheel had an issue where they created 10 to 20 duplicates of every day and mode in the data base. Now I cant delete the duplicates. This is adding stress to a very tense situation at home. Updated after response from Pinwheel: 4. We did not know we were beta-testers. That was not mentioned or advertised on your website nor mentioned on any calls. That is shady and deceitful. Regarding issue #2, I literally changed the caregiver password and when I tried to login using the caregiver password it told me I was logging in with the phone credentials. I need you to trust me that you had a bug. Regarding issue 3, how can I clean up the modes and days you duplicated? And back to issue #1. You sold me a "Pinwheel phone" not a Tmobile or Verizon phone, nor an Android phone. You have the ability to disable apps and functions, but do not acknowledge that you can disable the wifi hotspot with your sdk. Do a google search and you will see multiple solutions how you do this via code. On a positive note, customer service did call to help us resolve the password issue. Dont beta test with my kids life on the line.