Social Security Admin. vent

[mrsbornkuntry]

I am so frustrated and angry right now. My ds has been on SSI for years in various states (moving with the military) and never have I encountered the incompetence that I have found here in North Carolina. I called them as soon as we moved here, in Sept of 2008. At the time we were living with my MIL while we house hunted so I gave them her address. As soon as we got our own house and DH got a job I called and gave them the new info., Oct. 2008. They were having trouble putting his income into their system, something to do with him being in the National Guard now instead of active duty so she told me to send a letter to our local office so I did that. They contacted me and I thought it was all set. I also have sent two letters and made 3 phone calls to update our address.

This spring (2009) they called again and wanted Dh's pay stubs from back to Nov. 2007. I told him that I didn't have all of them available to me and he argued that I could get them off the computer, but I can't because Dh is no longer active. I mailed him what I had, he never mailed them back. So now, Saturday I recieved a letter telling me that I have an appt. in their office on Tuesday and to bring all of the paystubs back to Nov 2007 . The letter says if I can't make the appt. to call. Well, today I tried to call repeatedly and left 4 voicemail messages because a recording kept telling me no one was available. I can go to the appt. tomorrow, but it's an hour away and I have to bring all 5 kids so I wanted to ask them if I could just mail what I have or if they needed something else. Now I have to go to the appt. because I couldn't talk to anyone and it's at 9am, when they open, and I have to leave here at 8.

ETA: The letter I got about the appt. was also addressed to MIL's house and forwarded to me, that's why I only had one day to call them.

I'm sorry this is so long, but I'm so upset. I want to just say forget it all, but this actually makes a big difference in our income and quite frankly we need it. I'm not scamming anyone, ds meets all of the eligibility requirements and I'm willing to give them everything they ask for, but it's ridiculous that they keep asking for the same paperwork and the guy on the phone had a really difficult time understanding why our income dropped so much (DH came home from Iraq then got out of the Army) despite me explaining it to him repeatedly. Should I try to speak to a supervisor tomorrow?

 

[lucigo]

Good luck tomorrow! Take everything you think they might possibly want and hope for the best! If you can't get anywhere, I would definitely ask for a supervisor, you don't want to drive that far for nothing.

 

[NotJustAMommy]

I know you are frustrated right now, but in all honesty, the SS offices are like that everywhere. They're not going to take your child off of SSI if you don't have every paycheck stub. I would bring what I had and your tax papers as well.

 

[Mauldita]

It is WORSE! They will not return phone calls. It is pitiful. I feel sorry for you...I know how bad it can be. Good luck to you!!!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Thanks for the support. I know they're overworked, but it's just so hard to be patient with them, especially when it's this big of an inconvenience. I wouldn't be this upset if I could just mail the stuff to them. We lived here before 4 years ago and had these same kinds of issues and the person that had our case ended up getting fired (not because of us, that I know of) and it was a huge mess. I never had any problems with them when we lived in Washington state and only had to actually go to the office once for a review of his medical condition because I had to sign papers and stuff, and it was much closer to home there.

I guess I'll just divide his monthly payment by the hours I spend driving and in the office and consider that my pay, lol.

 

[mikehn]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. But I mean, did you expect anything different from a govt run program? And to think they want to run our healthcare program, good gravy.

 

[marlynnp]

Is it possible for your two oldest to take care of the younger kids for a couple of hours so you don't have to take 5 kids with you.

And a tip for the future ~ When dealing with this kind of stuff make yourself a complete set of copies of everything you send, send it certified return receipt, and then staple the receipt to your packet when it comes back and keep everything in one file. It makes it easy to handle when you have to resend the info they lose!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Unfortunately the problems are in part due to the current issue at hand and SS is working only with what they have: Too many claims and not enough workers.

I hate that you are having this much trouble, but believe me, you aren't the only one. I hope someone more knowledgeable will be helping you tomorrow and if you feel they aren't, ask fro a Supervisor, you are well within your rights.

Suzanne