So my wife has been trying to get help with soc. sec. and medicare. She has tried multiple times to log into her online accounts . For some reason the "system" recognizes all of her info, takes her through all sorts of steps and rig-a-marol , and at the last step it says that it doesn't recognize the info that she just gave them and that they have been using all along!! We have tried talking to soc sec on line, on the phone, and apparently no one can help us. We even tried to set up an appointment to see someone in person, at our closest office. Good luck with that. They make you go through all sorts of questions and then determine that you do not need an appointment ! We "walked in " to the office this morning and sat for hours waiting to be helped. Meanwhile most of the folks who were helped were obviously illegal's or deadbeats. We could not get anyone to help us ! I am completely disgusted , and have lost all hope for America. We have worked hard our whole lives. Followed "the rules" And thought that we would be able to get help in our old age. What a fucked up system we live in. I thought the DMV was bad ! I wish I knew who to talk to to get help with this. Apparently every non American has someone advocating for them, helping them maneuver through this bureaucracy. But us multi generational white folks can suck it. Who advocates for us? ** UPDATE** : THANK GOD ! After waiting , online, for a video call from an ID Me rep, For 3.5 hours !, They fixed what ever the problem was and my wife was able to log in to Soc Sec and do her thing. I think we have lost a year of our lives from the stress. Thank you all for you prayers and advise !!
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Not being denied, cannot even get into the login steps . Everything is computerized and has multiple steps and layers of emails and phone calls and redundancy. We can get all the way through to the very last step and then it says "we do not recognize"...all of the phone numbers and emails that we just used to get you to the end. Really stupid stuff.
Ah, I see. So she's trying to request these benefits bc she's now eligible but attempting to do so online has led to this dead end. Do I have that right? If so, how long have you two been at this? Has it been this way for week/months? Sounds like it could be a glitch in the system. Is there an email address to contact? My guess is that if its happening to you, probably happening to other users as well. Might be a tech support type issue.
I still might consider contacting a lawyer. The media too. If you're in a red region/state, they might report on the issue and give it more attention. This is denial of service to a senior. Most people don't take kindly to seniors being bullied or discarded.
Correct , she is turning 65 and getting ready to retire. So she started a couple months ago and keep hitting dead ends. There is definitely some sort of glitch somewhere in the program as it recognizes the info at all points along the way until the last step. When we call and talk to folks they verify that they see all her correct info but cannot help us log on. We really need a tech person to figure this out I think, We are in a blue state , much to my dread, and we have a few more steps to take before lawyers, but media might actually be a good idea if our reps do not help.
Is there a tech savvy person you trust to come help you guide you through working with the system online? Friends, family, former co-workers, anyone?
I'm sincerely not trying to be rude when I say this, but I'm guessing you and your wife aren't extremely experienced with using a lot of the online services that have come to replace actual human expertise?
There could be all sorts of low level things that aren't apparent to people who don't spend much time on these sites but are common place that people who work with it regularly will know to check.
Sort of a slightly more elaborate "Did you turn it off and back on?" tech help.
I spent 3 hours trying to figure out why I couldn't get into my portal to my apartment complex to pay my rent the other month and it turned out to be the portal website blocking me because I was using a VPN saying i was in China (randomly connects to places around the globe) . Go figure. But it REALLY didn't want to allow access to someone in China.
Anyway, if you know a tech savvy person in the physical world who can come over and see what is actually happening first hand, I'm confident that this all can be fixed.
And if they can't come to your house physically, if either you or your wife could Facetime or Skype with them while you went through the system, and they could see literally the same thing you're seeing and what exactly it is you're doing, that would be a very close second.
And again, obviously only do any of this with someone you trust completely.
Ya that is why we were hoping to get a one on one with a soc sec person. Maybe kill two birds so to speak. Someone who knows the bureaucracy and paper work and also can see if the computer has a glitch or that we are doing something wrong.
yea, try the media. They might be able to get you some traction by reporting on it using the "inhumane treatment of seniors" angle. Good luck to you. If you wouldn't mind, keep us posted once you get it resolved. Your experience (as unfortunate as it is), might be very helpful to fellow frens.
Will do, Thanks
NEVER I REPEAT NEVER do it online. That is how it started my nightmare.
Go to your local office.
They have to take you.
Because of this thread/conversation, I went to SSA.gov. I'm 20 years away from SS eligibility but I did create an online account years ago to track my SS earnings. When I tried to log in a little while ago, thru ID.me, it was asking for all this biometric info. Is that what made it a nightmare for you? This seems like it should be such an easy thing to do online but of course......
We tried that today. They would not talk to us with out an appointment but we do not know how to get an appointment, as we have tried several times and it won't take us. They gave us a number and we sat there for hours waiting for help. We went up to one of the windows and they told us to wait our turn, which never came! Worse than DMV ever thought of being !
I had a SSA login that I had to completely abandon because I changed my email address and it was a hassle to set up the new one, but it worked. That might help.