Social Security Administration

These people are fabulous. This is NOT your normal governmental agency experience.
My Social Security quest began by calling the national 800 number. It was an eternal hold. But if you put them on speaker phone it’s not nearly as bad.
The woman who took my call was extremely friendly & helpful. She spent a lot of time researching my exact situation. Then she input all my information & set up an appointment for me to take my supporting documents to the local office. It was about 6 weeks wait. But it was well worth it.
When I entered the parking lot, almost 30 minutes before my appointment time, I expected the worst. The parking lot was packed, as was the inside seating. I expected a DMV experience.
You check in on a touch screen when you enter. If you have an appointment you so designate. I immediately noticed that a very few people were called by their name. The rest were numbers.
At my exact appointment time my name was called. Mr. Johnson, who helped me, was amazing. He explained things that I had never known. He advised me regarding timing of future actions. He gave me paperwork documentation on everything & even wrote his extension number, should I have any questions.
I left with the feeling that the Social Security Administration truly cared about me as a person. I am still aglow with that feeling tonight.

Ok… a little bizarre to review a government agency… but hey, that is what we do, right?
OK, well… first off, unless you have an appointment, bring a book, and a good one! But with the current economy they do the best with what they have. I am not too trusting with mailing important documents so I feel most secure taking them into the office and they are very patient with getting them turned in efficiently and also have a drop box outside if you don’t have the time to wait, just make sure everything is properly labeled.
The staff have all been very polite, never fussy, and considering what they do… that is nothing short of amazing! So, give them a break on the time management, most of the people they serve are elderly and can be as slow as molasses up hill in the winter… ;-)