A recent message from a colleague:
Does anybody answer the phone at the **** OHO anymore?
We could not reach a person this afternoon, and apparently no one received the message I left.
Some gentleman called this morning saying he had a telephone hearing today, but he was late and when he tried to call the OHO no one answered or returned his call.
By the time of this post it was either the weekend when he called or 6 am on a Monday. OHO does a lot, but we don’t offer 24-hour concierge service.
ReplyDeleteYeah this is definitely what happened. Staff doesn’t stick around into the night for claimants who don’t call into their hearings on time.
DeleteThey're busy answering the 1-800 number and telling people to just bring in a birth certificate or a picture of their kid and we'll print them up a Social Security card on the spot.
ReplyDeleteEveryone still teleworks in oho
ReplyDeleteWrong. And the offices are always staffed during core hours and times when hearings are scheduled. This one is on the claimant who thought they could save their butt by calling in at night after missing the hearing.
DeleteNot that telework is even relevant since they removed all physical phones from offices so that OHO can pay the Jeff Bezos monopoly for phone service instead.
DeleteThis sums up the current administration…nobody’s home.
ReplyDeleteThey are probably assigned to answer the 800# instead.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never seen anything like that. Sounds like whoever was assigned to the front desk line dropped the ball. Or there’s more to this anecdote that you weren’t told.
ReplyDeleteThey've been dribbling the ball for a bit now, not surprised they dropped it. The question is, will they pick it back up in time to slam dunk it? My confidence is waning on that one.
DeleteNothing to see here since the stats prove we’re doing a remarkable job in answering the phones.
ReplyDeleteHe should have been on time for his hearing.
ReplyDeleteLife happens. Rides fall through or they are delayed in traffic....there is a million reasons why someone could be late. Myself, I'm 15 minutes early for everything, and when I'm late I panic. I'd have been panic calling them....BUT life does happen which causes delays. Airlines for instance, how often are they on time during a life/weather problem?
DeleteTo be honest, its pretty rude that OHO didnt take into account of the fact this person is not working and probably really busy. I mean seriously why cant OHO just be more reasonable?
DeleteOHO here. Management has the ability to both answer and route calls in their local office. If office calls are not routed and answered in an efficient manner that works for your particular office, speak up to your Managers. It can be changed.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense and goes with what I have observed. Every once in a while I get a no answer/no chance to leave a message experience on calling an OHO office. I send a fax and an ERE message when that occurs, mentioning the problem. It usually changes once the issue is pointed out.
DeleteIf it was a legitimate reason for not showing up, the ALJ will send a NTSC. If the claimant frequently misses hearings, they may be trying to con SSA. The phones roll over to management if they arent answering. So I don’t believe anything.
ReplyDeleteExactly. They roll to management then voicemail if management doesn’t pick up. This person is simply mistaken (or lying)
DeleteThis may have been caused by the numerous phone system changes made in the past 18 months, many of which were unannounced to frontline staff until weeks after they were made thanks to leadership’s boundless incompetence.
ReplyDelete