What Fresh Hell Is This?

Although the RI Department of Labor's unemployment voice mail system is impenetrable, apparently someone actually reads emails! As a result of my electronic rants early last week, on Wednesday, Feb. 17, I received a lengthy, heavily-accented voice mail, which, while largely incomprehensible, did let me know that I could call the Tele-Serve line on the upcoming Sunday to request payment for that week. This left the first two weeks of the month still unresolved, a problem that could be handled by filling out something I'd get in the mail, according to my tentative interpretation of the recorded message.

Surprise! On Thursday, I received not one, not two, not three, but FOUR envelopes from the Department of Labor and Training! Eagerly, I slit the envelopes and extracted the contents. The first missive comprised two sheets of printed instructions on the use of the Tele-Serve Automated Payment System, with a large yellow sticky note clinging to the front. Referencing the previous day's voice mail, the note read:

Karen,
I have tried to call you on ###-#### no answer. You will recieve [sic] paperwork on BYE 11. You are to put that paperwork in a folder till you return to work and earn at least 592.00. Until then remain collecting on BYE 10.
Call this Sunday on BYE 10.
Fill out payment questionares [sic] in seperate [sic] mailing for weeks you have missed.
Mail Back for payment.

A bit snarky, I thought, particularly the accusatory no answer. Apparently I was to wait hopefully by the phone for the call that I should have expected, rather than running around who knows where. Oh, well. . . I moved on to the other envelopes. Two of them were, as the sticky note warned, questionnaires. One referenced the weeks ending 2/06/10 and 2/13/10, and the other, oddly, referenced the week ending 2/20/10, for which I was to call the Tele-Serve line. Oooooookay . . .

The final envelope held the promised/threatened paperwork for BYE 11, and it was a jolt. Four sheets total, including a Work Search Policy (get out there and pound the pavement, and be prepared to prove it!) and a questionnaire headed KEEP THIS FORM UNTIL YOU RETURN TO WORK FULL TIME (a modified version of the weekly questions regarding work search and back-to-work status - seems to be an exit questionnaire). The other two documents are the problem - an apparent Catch-22 that says I've earned enough money to qualify for unemployment benefits until January 2011 (Feb. 15 Benefit Rate Decision), but denying me those benefits until I have returned to work and earned at least $592 (Feb. 16 Claimant Decision, and the sticky note cited above).

Logic tells me that I wouldn't be filing for unemployment if I had returned to work - isn't this about the fact that I haven't returned to work??? So how am I supposed to earn $592? And if I were back in the ranks of the employed, wouldn't I have filled out the exit questionnaire in the packet and gone about my business?

Twelve percent of Rhode Island's population is out of work - one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. That means that 12% of the population is at least as confused and frustrated as I am, and certainly explains why it's not possible to speak to a human being in under 90 minutes after having redialed over 40 times. I've just gotten through, only to learn that no one is available to take my call, since it's just past noon on Wednesday, when the call center closes down. So I'll just copy this rant into another email and see what happens.

Here's a suggestion, O great and powerful Oz - uh, Department of Labor and Training! You should consider hiring some of the highly skilled tech workers (like me) who are suffering out here in the void. Then you can send some call center functionaries out to experience what they've created - oh wait, they have a union.

The Black Hole Gets Deeper

Another hours-long nightmare!

Words fail me. So I took multiple screenshots, which is the only advantage of "filing" (hahaha) online. Instead of waiting almost 2 hours to get blown off by the system, it's much quicker and easier to document via my blog posts at Miz Perception's iSight

Just how broken is this system? I will continue to document this travesty publicly, on behalf of all of us benighted victims of this hideous dysfunction, until a human contacts me and answers my questions directly. This could be really unsavory. Is a class action in the offing? Stay tuned!

Best regards,

Karen

Karen M. Nash, CSSBB
Certified Lean Sensei

Dear UI Claims Office:

I have to vent my frustration, which is ENORMOUS.

At 1:20 pm today, I called 243-9100 about my extended benefits claim, which I put in on Feb. 2, and has not yet been processed. I was promised a mere 90-minute wait. My call was actually answered at 3:15 pm (I'll do the math for you - 115 minutes ).  

The representative took my SSN, looked up my claim, and informed me that my existing claim (with the expired BYE) still had credits, so had been reinstated  (when was somebody going to tell me???). Paperwork had been mailed today, Feb. 15. She expressed doubt that I would actually get it any time soon (why???), and offered to fax it to me, but I was so rattled I couldn't find my e-Fax number. At any rate, she told me that I could call Teleserve today between 3:00 pm and 6:30 pm to request payment for the week ending 2/13/2010.

Fine.

After the call ended, since it was after 3:00 pm, I called 243-9600 as always, and entered all the required data, including my BYE, which the representative had assured me was reinstated. At the end of all this, a recorded voice informed me that I cannot file using Teleserve, and would have to speak to a representative. But wait - it gets worse! The call transferred automatically, presumably to another representative - and another recorded voice said it was just too damn busy to take my call. 

At the end of my rope, I screamed bloody murder, scaring the wits out of my dog, the trash collectors, and the guys working on the house across the street.

Then I logged into Teleserve online. Way too long story short, the "Online Weekly Payment Certification" page blew me off with this message:

"Your claim cannot be processed using Teleserve. You must speak with a Claims Office Representative.
Please contact the Call Center at 401-243-9100. Select option 2 for the Call Center, and then option 2 again to transfer to a Claims Representative."

Hoping against all hope, I called. Do I really have to tell you that I was once again told there'd be a 90-minute wait? Would you be surprised that I declined, and opted to write this email? Of course, I don't expect a response from this either, at least not any time soon. I'll probably have had a stroke and died by then, if I haven't starved while waiting on hold for a Claims Office Representative.

Best regards,


Karen


Karen M. Nash, CSSBB
Certified Lean Sensei