Local Social Security Office Phones Unanswered

Posted on July 21, 2008 by Dory Sutker

Frustrated with not being able to reach your local social security office by telephone? You are not alone. Recently the U.S. Senate held a hearing on the service the local SSA’s provide. Not surprisingly, testimony revealed that there are a huge number of telephone calls that go unanswered.  

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigated 21 field offices and some of their findings are appalling. It’s true staffing has been reduced. And it’s also true that despite the reduction in staff, thanks to increased productivity by the remaining workers, most of the demands have been met. But, in order to meet demands, very important work has been sacrificed.

The staffing reductions have resulted in unanswered phone calls, longer waiting times, and uncompleted work.

Unanswered phone calls: Staff at 13 of the 21 field offices investigated by the GAO acknowledged that their phone service was inadequate. Two offices revealed that phones were not answered at all!

A survey conducted in 2006 found that 51% of customer calls to 48 randomly selected field offices went unanswered. The actual number is most likely higher because the results were based only on those customers who ultimately got through. And, let’s not forget, that staff has been reduced since 2006.

No wonder it seems impossible to reach the field office.

Longer waiting times: Waiting times for persons visiting their field office increased by 40% between the years 2002 and 2006. In 2007, about 3 million people waited more than one hour. More than 400,00 people waited more than 2 hours for service. 

Uncompleted work: Field offices triage their work. The focus is on “core” workloads such as processing new claims and issuing Social Security cars. Other workloads have been put on a lower priority or deferred. This includes changes of address and changes to direct deposit information. No wonder SSA never seems to send notices to the correct address!

 Source: NOSSCR, Social Security Forum, Vol. 30, No 5, May-Jun

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