Calling Social Security
From the
Hartford Courant:
There comes a time in every baby boomer's life when he or she must
deal with the Social Security Administration. This is not cause for
alarm.
Once you get to speak to a representative, you will find
them pleasant and helpful. The trick is getting to a representative. I
don't mean to be discouraging, but it is easier to get Barack on the
line. ...
There was a time in a bureaucratic galaxy far, far away when you
could dial up your local Social Security office and speak to a local
human being. Not anymore.
Now, all calls are automatically
switched to a central location where an annoying micro-chippie does
everything in her power to keep you from speaking with an actual person.
To
begin the process you must select a language, be made aware there is a
website, and understand that your call may be recorded for training
purposes (um, training purposes)?
Does this mean recorded calls
are being used to train the computer generated beings answering the
phone? I've rather suspected this was the case for a while now. I mean,
has anyone else noticed how the micro-chippies are quicker to cop an
attitude these days, and even get a little huffy when you swear at them?
Anyway,
after the virtual representative is finished aggravating you, she
passes you along to another virtual representative who tells you the
wait time for a human representative is 15 minutes, or you can call back
(this is where the swearing comes in.) ...
Suddenly, there is a real person on the line who will be glad to help
but first has a few questions to make sure you are who you say you are.
Age? Address? Social Security number?
How much does your mother-in-law weigh?
What brand of whiskey did your third grade teacher drink at recess? ...
17 comments:
yea cause it's the agency's fault they can't hire more humans.....
yea cause identifying and proving identity is a crazy idea...
dumb article.
^^^^ this.
As soon as people are willing to pay more in taxes or receive less in benefits, service is not going to get any better, it will probably get worse because the agency isn't hiring and the number of people seeking benefits is increasing.
The good news is that if you are seeking benefits, you are probably retired or disabled, therefore, the long wait shouldn't really be that inconvenient...it's not like you are going to be late for work! Just be patient and when you finally do get to talk to someone, think about how overworked that person is.
The dumb part is when you spend ten minutes inputting your information only to have every single piece of information repeated back to you (you January 1, 1955 as your birthday, press one if this is correct...), then once a live person gets on the line you do the same thing again. How many times do they need the same information? Just remember you are dealing with SSA and you should remember that pointless repetition is the name of the game.
Just a part of the grand plan. If you make it harder, make it feel broken at every turn, you can scare the American Idol crowd into believing all of it is broken, they will never see a check, and that thier high school education is enough for them to handle all thier retirement planning and future healthcare on thier own. Or at a price with the big banks and investment firms.
I am not surprised. In fact, I expect the worst is yet to come, we still have some more senseless fear to stir.
What do you want the system to do, pull a CR or some other FO/DO employee away from his or her endless appointments and paperwork a million times a day to answer some idiot's simple question (that could quickly be answered had they spent two seconds on the website)?
I get that it's annoying to have to deal with the automation and wait for a live person, but that system actually has benefits. People may not know that what they want to do or find out is easily available on the website (shocker!). I get that some people don't have the capacity, internet access, etc. to DIY, and that many people have complicated issues that require human help, but from the little I know about customer service phone lines, all manner of idiots (with a computer and internet access and enough brain power to manage the task) call about very simple things they could quickly find out if they just went to a website and spent 10 seconds looking.
You seem to forget that most of the people they are dealing with grew up without computers and may still not have them or know how to use them. Internet access cost 40-50 each month and that is a lot to someone on a fixed income or no income and this is not the kind of thing one wants to do on a public/library computer. Most have paid for the service for 40-50years. How about less money overseas and more taking care of our own people??
"most have paid for the service 40-50 years"
That's rich. I'd love to see data on how many SSI-only claims--folks who by not having Title II insurability obviously haven't paid that much (or any) into the program--are clogging up appointments, the phone lines, etc.
Man, I see a lot of vitriol on here all the time for SSI-only claimants. Having worked with claimants for the past 5 years, I understand where it comes from and I understand how much time working on their claims takes up. I realize that A LOT of resources (time, money, manpower) could be freed up if we just did away with it altogether, but my question is...
What would you have those folks do in the absence of this lifeline?
I'm not trying to spark a debate on all the fraud often brought up on here or "welfare queens," I honestly want to hear how people would envision this country without SSI to help out those who cannot help themselves.
Thoughts?
What did they do before SSI?
Probably the same thing they did before SSI. Obviously, that didn't include working. They made it somehow before they got approved.
I am always surprised at the naiveté of some people when I ask the ID questions; just the other day a woman got mad at me "Why are you asking me all of these questions?" Hello, it's to protect *your* privacy!
Hey a few years ago the agency had 70,000 employees. Now we are down to 61,000. I can't wait to read the article in two years when we have lost another 9,000 and services continue to slide. These days now are the glory days compared to what is coming.....enjoy
Are they calling the 800 number? I'd recomend calling the local DO. Maybe that isn't an option in some locations, I don't know.
Here is SC the phone situation to the DO has gotten much much better over the last several years. A few years ago I would routinely spend 15 minutes on hold, it would finally ring, and then you would be disconnected. Now I'm getting much shorter wait times and very rarely get dropped.
Props to Greenville and Spartanburg DO workers!
Justin
Some DOs have their phones automatically routed to the 800#. Very frustrating when I need to deal with a specific DO employee about a specific matter -- 15 minutes at least with the 800# (as described above) and then can only leave a message for a call-back.
They recently set up the DO phones to automatically route to the 800# if all employees are busy rather than give a busy signal.
I agree that the automated 'service' is irritating and time consuming. Babbles on about things that are entirely irrelevant for the caller. I 'think' that you can dial '00' and it will by-pass the 'babble' and put you in the queue to talk to a person. . . though you may be waiting a good while (like calling to talk to your anti-virus company). Even the automated 'service' for the Field Office has a priority that is reverse of what most callers need. In my lowly view, the first thing that it should say (after You have reached Social Security Administration) is "Do you know the extension number or name of the party that you are trying to reach?" Instead it 'babbles' on for a time before it gives that option. Ah well, we can't seem to reach those 'on high' with such minor suggestions. >>> No one is more dissatisified with telephone and other systems than the Field Office employeees. Just have to work with what is provided.
As to SSI. . . . I am not sure that gov't programs should be in the business of paying people money who are so severely impaired in mental/emotional areas that they cannot find or hold a job. Doesn't such a severe mental impairment indicate that they are (generally) so impaired that they cannot be reasonably expected to handle money in a reasonable, effective manner. Yes, the is the Representaitve Payee process. . . . but that puts the staff in the middle of rows between the beneficiary (who always complains that their Rep Payee is misusing their money, and not giving it to them) and the Rep Payee is is often not much more capable than the mentally impaired person. (Something to do with the gene pool, and 'social' factors). 'Disabled children': ADD, ADHD, oppositional defiant, slow learners, etc. . . Well, I doubt that the government should be in that business at all. Then most of those 'disabled' children, upon attainment of age 18, are then told that they are no longer disabled. . . . Meesy, messy stuff. Time consuming and difficult to administer program. SSI badly in need of SIMPLIFICATION.'
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