I figure I must be doing something right when I get back-to-back emails from readers criticizing me for allegedly voicing diametrically opposite viewpoints. First, there was this little gem.
Q: You just think the Social Security Administration is perfect in every way, donβt you? I just want you to know that there is a lot of bad information out there. Recently, I applied for widowβs benefits, and I wonβt even get into what they put me through.
The first young gal I talked to was clueless. Then she called an old bat for backup, and this bat was criticizing me for waiting too long to file. She finally backed down. I just want you to know I read your column for laughs, not for information.
And then the next email I opened β and Iβm not exaggerating, it really was the very next email β went like this.
Q: What I want to know is this: Why are you always so critical of an agency you spent most of your life working for? I think you should know that when I signed up for my retirement benefits recently, the local Social Security office people were very efficient and courteous.
The young woman who took care of me was professional in every way. The entire process was smooth and simple. Please publish the good news about SSA and stop highlighting the few bad apples.
Interesting isnβt it? So who is right? Well, in a way, they both are. Iβve been writing this column for about 18 years. And in more than a few columns, I took SSA reps to task for not doing their jobs. On the other hand, Iβve also written quite a few columns commending the agency and its employees for the work they do.
In other words, when the SSA deserves praise, I give it. When it doesnβt, I let the SSA know.
I will say this: I do think that overall service at local Social Security offices has gone downhill since I left the agency 13 years ago. When I worked for SSA, we were focused on one-to-one customer service. But that has gone the way of gas stations offering green stamps or doctors making house calls.
In the 21st century, the focus is on the internet and other forms of electronic communication. From an efficiency standpoint, that has its pluses. But from the standpoint of someone trying to deal with the oftentimes complex Social Security rules and regulations, it has its drawbacks.
Some readers may remember a customer service survey column I wrote about a year ago. I was getting lots of emails from readers critical of SSAβs services or of the allegedly bad advice they were getting from the agencyβs representatives. As a still-proud retired SSA-er, I didnβt get too alarmed. I figured that people were more likely to write and complain about bad service than they were to praise good service. Thatβs just human nature, I guess.
But I tested my theory by conducting a survey of my readers. I got hundreds of responses. And long story short: the vast majority β almost 90 percent β of respondents said they were happy and satisfied with the service they got from the SSA.
But there was another side to that coin. Fortunately, most of us have rather routine experiences with Social Security. We turn 62 or 66 and want to file for retirement benefits and thatβs that. Itβs all rather simple and cut and dried.
But if your Social Security situation is not quite routine, then, sadly, SSA reps all too often fall down on the job. For example, if someone wants to employ one of the Social Security maximizing strategies, or if a woman has a choice between taking widowβs benefits or her own retirement benefits, she sometimes get bad or conflicting advice from the Social Security representatives.
And I think a lot of this has to do with training. When I started working for the SSA in 1973, I went to a highly intensive and vigorous three-month class that was taught by expert trainers β front-line supervisory people who had been with the agency for decades. And they passed all this knowledge on to us neophytes β comprehensive facts and information that carried us through our careers.
Regrettably, thatβs not the way things work anymore. Today, new SSA hires get about six weeks of mostly online training. Thatβs just not the way to teach raw recruits about complicated Social Security rules and regulations.
So if you are John Q. or Jane Q. Public, what are you supposed to do if you are pushing Social Security age and are about to deal with the Social Security Administration for the first time?
If youβve got a Social Security case with a few wrinkles β having a spouse eligible for Social Security benefits at the same time; possibly being eligible for benefits on two different accounts (usually your own and a living or deceased or divorced husband or wife); wanting to use one of the maximizing strategies discussed countless times in past columns β well, then I recommend you talk to someone. And I suggest you do so at your local Social Security office, as opposed to dealing with a faceless clerk over the phone.
You still would have to call SSA at 800-772-1213 to set up an in-house appointment. And insist on the appointment. They may try to talk you into a phone interview. But seeing someone face-to-face is the best way to go. And when that happens, you are usually going to get someone who is competent and knows what he or she is doing.
