Anybody having to deal with Social Security?

[Galileo]

Hi folks, 

Totally non-Oliver and not even travel or trailer related - but wanted to ask if anybody had any tips for getting the Social Security Administration to actually do their job. 

About two years ago Debra contacted a former employer’s pension administrator to claim the pension she had coming for 20 years service. They told her they had no record of her even working there, and would need to obtain a detailed report from SSI to prove she worked there. OK - a bit wired, but not the first time we’ve had something odd happen. (My theory: Debra’s last name starts with two “A”s, so my data processing background tells me that first record in a database often gets pulled in as a column label and lost.) 

Anyway - download, print, fill out the form from SSI online, send it in with the required fee, and wait - up to 120 days. 

120 days - and then some - come and go and no report in the mailbox. Several calls and holding for hours online and the final answer is “we can find your request and we’ll have someone look into it and get back to you.” 

(Guess what happened…)

Several more weeks/months later we have to contact them again - still no record of the request - they DO show the payments received though. 

Fast-forward to a year later after several more phone calls. They send a packet out that says they couldn’t complete the request because they couldn’t find the signed form - so she has to start all over- but - they do send a voucher of sorts showing payment. 

So - she re- mikes the whole thing with the voucher and a new, signed request form - and we wait. 

No reply 150 days later. So the phone calls begin. Again. 

Last week - the person on the phone says “We have no record of your request… we’ll escalate this to a priority level” (which they did twice with the first one.)

So - here we are with a pension we can get because SSI can’t fulfill a fairly routine report of the records the pension custodian needs to do their job. Debra wasn’t even going to pursue it, but I worked for the same company and am receiving a pension. (Different last name.) so I KNOW there’s $$$ on the table. 

Any suggestions besides tearing hair out?!

[Galileo]

AI keeps telling us that the local SSA office CAN print out the report we need IF we can convince them to. But these days you need to make an appointment online and “I’ve tried mailing this and it keeps getting lost” isn’t a choice if the appointment system. 

AI also says if all else fails “Call your Congressman” yeah - if you haven’t had enough of inefficient bureaucracy yet.