Sunday, November 23, 2014

Where Do The People Who Work For The Social Security Administration Come From?

I changed my checking account a few months ago. This account is the account that our Social Security Payments are deposited into each month.
Since this is the first time that anyone in the entire history of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has ever changed their depository checking account, I was in deep trouble because the SSA apparently did not know how to handle such a “complicated” changeover.
Here are some of the things that happened to me because I challenged the SSA to change my Checking Account...
  • My most honest estimate is there have been about 20 phone calls to the SSA.
  • Calls to the National SSA Office are unbelievably time consuming, the people I talked to did not listen very well to what I had to say, they were often times rude & I did not get my problem resolved.
  • Calls to my Country SSA Office did not take nearly as much time, the persons I talked to listened to what I had to say, they were very polite but I did not get my problem resolved till after I had called about 6 times & made 1 in-person visit to their office.
  • On 2 calls to the National Office I had to wait an hour listening to the worst sounding music ever written &, at the end of the hour, I was cut off & I had to call back.
  • On 2 calls to the National Office I was offered the option to receive a call back. This meant I did not have to hold the phone listening to the worst sounding music ever written but at the end of the hour I was cut off & I had to call back.
  • On 9/1 I went into our Online SS Accounts & updated our deposit bank to the correct Routing & Account Numbers. At that time I was trying to get our August SS Deposits which had missed their deposit due dates. I called the National SS Office & told them my situation. I was berated for going in & updating my account information on my own. I was told that, since I had done that, my August deposits were going to be delayed 60 to 90 days to allow for processing.
  • I hung up & immediately called back & told a different agent my story & he said I would have my money in my account in 3 days & my deposit was in my account on the third day as promised on 9/4.
  • It was not that easy for my wife’s deposit. After several more phone calls, her money was deposited on 10/9.
  • The last remaining problem was we did not get our September Deposits on the 9/24 due date. We had already gotten our 10/22 deposits made on schedule. We eventually got our 9/24 deposits on 11/18.
  • In the midst of all of the calls trying to get the 9/24 deposits, I was told twice that, since we had gotten our 10/22 checks in October, it was against the law to get our 9/24 deposits in October because that would mean we would have gotten 2 checks in the same month & we cannot get 2 checks in the same month. Stop & think about this logic for a moment.
  • The deposit of the 9/24 checks got handled unbelievably fast only after I told my SSA contact that I was in the process of contacting my Congressman.
I could go on but I am certain you are tired of this by now & half of you have decided that I made all of this foolishness up.
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The story below was copied from the SSA’s own web site. If you wanna check me out, click here: http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html
Social Security Cards Issued by Woolworth
The most misused SSN of all time was (078-05-1120). In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher.
The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen" written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda's number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN "issued by Woolworth."
Mrs. Whitcher recalled coming back from lunch one day to find her fellow workers teasing her about her new-found fame. They were singing the refrain from a popular song of the day: "Here comes the million-dollar baby from the five and ten cent store."
Although the snafu gave her a measure of fame, it was mostly a nuisance. The FBI even showed up at her door to ask her about the widespread use of her number. In later years she observed: "They started using the number. They thought it was their own. I can't understand how people can be so stupid. I can't understand that."



Remember the subject of this blog? If not, I repeat, “Where Do The People Who Work For The Social Security Administration Come From?”
Based on my dealings with the SSA in the last few months, I have determined what happened to the Mental Midgets who used the Specimen Card as their own... The Social Society Administration Hired Them.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
(1151)
Lagniappe: If you remember the bullet points above, you will understand my agony. The agony just came back. Three days after our 9/24 checks were deposited on 11/18 we received 2 letters from SSA telling us it looks like they have overpaid us & they are going to take the 2 checks back.
Lagniappe More: They said nothing about sending us to jail because they paid us double but that may come in the next 2 letters.
I sure hope I can continue to Blog from my jail cell & I know you do too... Or do u?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

They were fired from the VA.

Anonymous said...

Holy Cow.......what a nightmare.....maybe you should sent this posting to your Congressman and Senator. I truly believe there is not one single branch/dept/etc. of our government that functions properly. Nothing is managed properly in fact there in NO management at all. We are in deep trouble as a nation and growing to be more like a third world country everyday.