Incompetent Fools
On 17 May this year I tried a little experiment. I sent an email to my local job centre to see just how long it would take for them to respond to it. Here we are a month later and yesterday not only did I get that response, I also got irrefutable evidence that as the title of this blog says they are incompetent fools and liars.
Let’s go back to the start. I had waited three months to see my so called ‘disabled advisor’. My appointment was on 5 June, and I still had the letter and appointment card with the date and time on both. If you miss one appointment your benefits are sanctioned (that means cut in half), for a month as a kind of punishment for wasting their time. If you miss a second three months and a third three years. I am not making this up, I have a friend who this has happened to.
I waited until a week before my appointment and went to the Job Centre and asked for a copy of the email I had sent on the 17th. “We don’t have an email address” I was told as the security guards doubled in numbers and crowded round waiting for me to kick off. “I think you do it’s called ‘gov.uk’” I said to him. “Um ah there are lots of false emails online, you must have sent it to one of those” he came back at me with. “No my friend” I said, “it’s the real site” and got out my laptop and showed him. He then disappeared upstairs for half an hour and came back down saying a letter had been sent out and I should wait for it to arrive. That was on 29 May.
Skip forward to 2 June and I receive a phone call from the Job Centre telling me my appointment on the following Monday has had to be cancelled because my advisor had to attend a meeting. “Sorry but no” I said “I have waited three months and I am coming to see her”. Once again they phoned me on the Monday as I was walking to the Job Centre to try and put me off, and put me in an even greater mood. I arrived ten minutes early had a quick shout at the security doctors I mean guards and staggered up the stairs to see her. I then sat for an hour waiting while she dealt with a young lady with depression who wanted to go back and finish her degree.
I saw my advisor and we talked for an hour and she sent me on my way with another appointment on 27 July, this time a phone interview. Wonder why?
Yesterday I received a letter from Belfast with photocopies of the evidence my advisor had sent them regarding my claim. Now think back, the reason this all started was because for five years my records stated I had depression and they had messed me about sending me to work placement groups, A4E and Job Club
One of the photocopies, not in my handwriting, was all about my depression and how I wanted to go back and finish my degree. I know how this mistake happened and it was a genuine mistake, you see Sandra my advisor is partially sighted and mistakenly sent that with mine. I knew that but the Job Centre didn’t.
Off I went again to the Job Centre after sending another email on 14 June asking why I still hadn't received anything, and clutching the photocopies I had been sent.
“Ah Mr Ryan, Clive here is just writing to you now in response to your email a couple of days ago” I was told. Could I also finally get a copy of the response from the first email I sent? I asked and with a smarmy grin on his face he said “Yes I can print you that right now Mr Ryan”.
I then asked if I could have a copy of my original email ”Ah um that has been deleted because it’s been dealt with now” he said. “Sorry” I said “I would like to speak to a manager about this please”. I was then left to sit there for another hour while he went off to get him.
Donavan the Manager, in his tailor made shirt, wearing a really nice watch, then spent the next ten minutes while waiting for the ancient computer to boot up, explaining to me that Belfast had made the mistake and these are photocopies of what Sandra had sent minus the one about depression.
“Liar” I said and then went on to explain how I sat there while the young lady wrote it, and how I saw it myself sitting at Sandra's desk on 5 of June.
"Um ah well what do you expect from this meeting?" I was then asked. “I would really like to be stopped lying to” I said. On my way out Clive called me over to give me the copy of the response he had personally sent to me on 18 May. I took one look and said to him “This is an original copy of that letter”. “Yes” he said “It clearly says that at the top”. “Yes it does” I said, “written in handwriting, but if you look at the date 16th June, that’s today”.
So Job Centre, little bit of advice. We are not all idiots if you are going to try to pull the wool over our eyes. At least get your facts straight.
You just gave me proof that you have no idea what you’re doing. If you don’t know how to send emails or search for them you might consider coming to one of my classes I run to learn how. And you might want to double check what you give people before handing it to them.
Sean Ryan
Let’s go back to the start. I had waited three months to see my so called ‘disabled advisor’. My appointment was on 5 June, and I still had the letter and appointment card with the date and time on both. If you miss one appointment your benefits are sanctioned (that means cut in half), for a month as a kind of punishment for wasting their time. If you miss a second three months and a third three years. I am not making this up, I have a friend who this has happened to.
I waited until a week before my appointment and went to the Job Centre and asked for a copy of the email I had sent on the 17th. “We don’t have an email address” I was told as the security guards doubled in numbers and crowded round waiting for me to kick off. “I think you do it’s called ‘gov.uk’” I said to him. “Um ah there are lots of false emails online, you must have sent it to one of those” he came back at me with. “No my friend” I said, “it’s the real site” and got out my laptop and showed him. He then disappeared upstairs for half an hour and came back down saying a letter had been sent out and I should wait for it to arrive. That was on 29 May.
Skip forward to 2 June and I receive a phone call from the Job Centre telling me my appointment on the following Monday has had to be cancelled because my advisor had to attend a meeting. “Sorry but no” I said “I have waited three months and I am coming to see her”. Once again they phoned me on the Monday as I was walking to the Job Centre to try and put me off, and put me in an even greater mood. I arrived ten minutes early had a quick shout at the security doctors I mean guards and staggered up the stairs to see her. I then sat for an hour waiting while she dealt with a young lady with depression who wanted to go back and finish her degree.
I saw my advisor and we talked for an hour and she sent me on my way with another appointment on 27 July, this time a phone interview. Wonder why?
Yesterday I received a letter from Belfast with photocopies of the evidence my advisor had sent them regarding my claim. Now think back, the reason this all started was because for five years my records stated I had depression and they had messed me about sending me to work placement groups, A4E and Job Club
One of the photocopies, not in my handwriting, was all about my depression and how I wanted to go back and finish my degree. I know how this mistake happened and it was a genuine mistake, you see Sandra my advisor is partially sighted and mistakenly sent that with mine. I knew that but the Job Centre didn’t.
Off I went again to the Job Centre after sending another email on 14 June asking why I still hadn't received anything, and clutching the photocopies I had been sent.
“Ah Mr Ryan, Clive here is just writing to you now in response to your email a couple of days ago” I was told. Could I also finally get a copy of the response from the first email I sent? I asked and with a smarmy grin on his face he said “Yes I can print you that right now Mr Ryan”.
I then asked if I could have a copy of my original email ”Ah um that has been deleted because it’s been dealt with now” he said. “Sorry” I said “I would like to speak to a manager about this please”. I was then left to sit there for another hour while he went off to get him.
Donavan the Manager, in his tailor made shirt, wearing a really nice watch, then spent the next ten minutes while waiting for the ancient computer to boot up, explaining to me that Belfast had made the mistake and these are photocopies of what Sandra had sent minus the one about depression.
“Liar” I said and then went on to explain how I sat there while the young lady wrote it, and how I saw it myself sitting at Sandra's desk on 5 of June.
"Um ah well what do you expect from this meeting?" I was then asked. “I would really like to be stopped lying to” I said. On my way out Clive called me over to give me the copy of the response he had personally sent to me on 18 May. I took one look and said to him “This is an original copy of that letter”. “Yes” he said “It clearly says that at the top”. “Yes it does” I said, “written in handwriting, but if you look at the date 16th June, that’s today”.
So Job Centre, little bit of advice. We are not all idiots if you are going to try to pull the wool over our eyes. At least get your facts straight.
You just gave me proof that you have no idea what you’re doing. If you don’t know how to send emails or search for them you might consider coming to one of my classes I run to learn how. And you might want to double check what you give people before handing it to them.
Sean Ryan
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