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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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.
The thing is, if it's something that originates on your end ( how your computer is set up, any anti virus programs you have running, certificates, VPNs, that sort of thing), they're just going to politely blow you off with a more nicely phrased "Not our problem." Well, at least I hope they're polite.
If you're open to going the AI route, this is something that most likely can be fixed using the free tiers of ChatGPT, Grok, or Claude.
I grew up with computers and have dealt with all kinds of tech over my life and I lean on these routinely to help me get past roadblocks when I don't have the time, patience, or money for professionals.
I don't know how much experience you have with these, but they are very user friendly. You just tell it in a conversational way what the problem is you're having, what you need it to do, etc.
It will ask you for whatever info it needs along the way.
I've found that if I tell it I'm a complete newbie at tech and ask it to walk me through in baby steps, I get the help I need to bust through whatever roadblock I'm facing.
Another big help is to work with two devices, both logged into the same account. Say a laptop and a phone or two phones. You need to be able to take pics with one. You can also do this with screengrabs on one device if it has the ability, but for people who don't use tech much, using the camera option on a 2nd device often seems easier for them. There are some sites that won't let you do screengrabs, for privacy concerns. Usually anything that has to do with medical records and banking will have screengrabs disabled. There's a good chance SS websites might block them as well.
What you do is that at each stage (or whenever the AI asks for it), you take a pic of your screen where you're working on the site. You upload it to whatever account you're using (use the same AI account for all devices. Just log into the same account on both devices and open the same chat. You'll have to manually refresh the chat comversation if you're using two devices to get the most recent post to show on both).
The AI can look at pics of your computer screen, at what you're typing/clicking/what page you're on and instantly tell you what you need to do next.
It sounds a whole lot more complicated than it actually is. And you don't have to worry about the AI mocking you or judging you. It just does the job.
VERY IMPORTANT: Whenever you're done, be sure to delete the pics and/or screengrabs you take off of your phones/laptop. And delete the conversation with the AI as well. Helps keep your info private.