attempted to assist an elderly neighbour recently to contact the benefits agency. First of all the on hold music is awful and it is on such a short cycle you are listening to it then there are the options, you really have to have great hearing to listen to them as they aren’t very clear.
Once you do get to speak with someone they are very specific in what they will deal with, they all promise to type up the notes so that you never need to speak to them again, yet when you call a few days later that person is not known , nor have they written up notes. In the meantime the claimant has little or no income and no empathy is shown towards them.
The operative suggests they recall another number for assistance, the whole process has to start over again and even then you aren’t guaranteed of a result. How anyone who is elderly and infirm or has difficulty with hearing is supposed to cope with this system is beyond me!
Comeragh 