Part 3 OOOOHHHH GURL'S ABOUT TO GET GHETTO UP IN THIS BIATCH!!

I'm back in Georgia, and my best friend has to go into the hospital.  :(  I'm not happy at all about this, she's had to have surgery before for the problem that she's in the hospital for now.  It's dangerous and I am scared for her.
 
I finally got a bank account opened down here so I can just deposit the child support checks that my kiddos dad sends every month.  I called The VA to get my direct deposit changed from the bank I had been using to this new one.......(I believe this is the start of the newest problem that has prompted me to write this blog).

I called the VA.  To speak to someone regarding direct deposit, it would seem you don't have to schedule a call back appointment, I got someone right away.  I began my spiel about my name is this and you have that on file, yaddayaddayadda.  He says that yes, he can see that, but he takes my new bank information and says that my September 1st payment will go to my new bank.  Well, turns out that September 1st, is a federal holiday.  Labor day!  Lets celebrate, and I get paid on Friday the 29th.... Ooops, getting a little ahead of myself, let me get back on track.  On the 16th of August, Jennifer Sullivan receives a letter from the VA.  I know that the letter is mine, so it's not tampering with mail, etc. nothing illegal going on.  I open it, and my heart drops to my stomach.  Tears start welling up in my eyes and the stress multiplies.  This letter states that the Social Security Administration has notified the VA that MY SSN does not match what they have on file for Jennifer R. Sullivan, and I need to send proof that MY SSN is indeed Jennifer R. Sullivan's SSN.  Well, here is the WHOLE PROBLEM!  MY SSN IS NOT JENNIFER R. SULLIVAN'S SSN!  With my heart in my stomach and tears in my eyes, I schedule my phone call for the next Tuesday because I have to work on Monday.  I know this is going to now affect my pay AGAIN!  I waited for my phone call, quite impatiently I might say.  I was talking to my mom about getting a lawyer to sue them if this messed my pay up.  I spoke to a man (yes I got his name) and I apologized in advance for any crying or yelling that may happen.  He said he wanted to read up on my case first.  I could hear him shake his head as he "hmmmnd and  nnnt nnt nnt'd".  I stated my worries, and he said first off, that the birthdate is correct.  Finally, some progress, and yes, my pay is supposed to go to my new bank, and he's going to print this off and see if his supervisor can make a call to the regional office.....He can't help me "at his level" other than this. 

Today is the 29th of August.  I've been FREAKING out over this pay period.  As a rule, with my other bank, I got my disability compensation a week early.  I realize this is a new bank and I need to wait until today.  I checked my bank account after 5 p.m. last night because the funds should have been deposited before today... Nothing... I've checked my bank account at 1 a.m., after midnight, because the funds should have been deposited by now...Nothing....I called the VA to schedule my phone call appointment to find out what's going on, luckily, if by the time they call me at 10:15, my money has made it to my account, I will simply be able to ask for an update on my name issue and my daughter issue.  If not, I will be updating with another post to this blog and links to it sending it to my friends and asking their help to make this go as viral as possible because I'm VERY tired of being screwed by the VA when I worked my ass off for those 8 years that I served, and 1 person's fuck up has screwed me for too long!  Hopefully now I can get some sleep.  I have a kiddo to get ready for school in the morning.

Part 2 Georgia on my mind....

I moved to Georgia around the end of April.  I promptly called the VA to notify them that I had moved, and I had faxed the paperwork necessary to add my daughter back onto my case.  I scheduled my call back appointment like the nice lady said to do.  I waited by the phone for my call, and low and behold, it rang!  Wow, this is awesome, they call me!  I make one phone call, push some buttons, and they call me!!!  I love this!  So I speak to a man (I got his name) and I tell him, the situation.  My name is this, although, there's a problem with it in the system, so it's under that....  He looks, and says "I see where the notes were made, but I don't see an inquiry"  I'll forward this to the regional office, but there's nothing I can do about it at my level except to actually get the inquiry going"  Like I said, I got HIS name.  I even got the date of the phone call, and the inquiry number!  Go me, I'm tired of being screwed like this, I need numbers and names for possible future calls regarding this, because apparently the problem isn't going away!! He says to check back in a month or so and see where we stand.  I receive a couple of letters telling me that the VA is happy to work on my case, but that there is a heavy back log and it may take up to 11 months.  These letters are addressed to Jennifer R. Sullivan.  I do not answer to Jennifer.... ANYONE who knows me knows this... Jennifer is not my name, I was born JENNY LEE, not JENNIFER! 

So, I'm with the kiddo out in Washington because her dad has leave and he wants to see his girl.  Washington is roughly halfway between Georgia and Alaska, so we're out there.  I have a few minutes free one day so the night before I schedule a phone call appointment, and heehee, my phone rings.... Boy do I love that appointment scheduled phone call!  I answer the phone, and speak to someone ( no name, I don't need it, I just want a status update).  he says that everything is processing, both the paperwork to put my kiddo back on my case, and the inquiry for my name issue!  Great, thanks.  We enjoy our trip to Washington and fly back to GA.

Where to start.....The Beginning

I joined the Army while still in high school.  I served my country for 8 years with no complaints.  I was the chipper morning person, who sang every morning "Hi, how ya doin, isn't it a beautiful day, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky".  People wanted to kill me...I would want to kill me now, and I'm still a morning person (after I've had a chance to wake up that is).  After my time in the Army ended, I went to the Department of Veteran's Affairs, more commonly known as The VA, and received a monthly compensation stipend for injuries sustained while in the Army.  Not a lot by any means, but enough that I could survive if I had to without a job.  I was married, and I received additional monies for being married.  I had a child, and received additional monies for her as well.   I failed to fill out a form to re-verify my dependency status after I don't know, 7 or 8 years of receiving said benefits, and The VA decided that I had no husband and I had no child.  I had indeed divorced said husband, however, The VA took ALL monies I had EVER received for him, and my daughter in one lump sum totaling over 4000 dollars, I did not receive ANY money for over a year and a half!  Talk about putting a cramp in one's style!  I called and called and called and called the VA.  Finally, one day someone explained what had happened, and I accepted it, but I needed to remedy the situation, please send me the forms I need to get this problem fixed.  The person I spoke to said that he would indeed get these forms sent out to me.....(I would learn that I should have gotten his name). I never received said forms.  I tried contacting The VA again...I called and called and called and called and called and called and called and called for over a year, actually, almost 2 years!  Then finally, one day near the beginning of this year, I want to say in February or March, I got a person instead of a machine that repeated "we are experiencing heavier than normal call volume please try again at a later time".  The heavens opened up, and the angels sang their wonderful tune "aaaaahhhh"  Little did I know then that it was more like a scream of exasperation.  A very nice lady (whose name I did not get, again I would learn very shortly that it was necessary to do this) told me that in order to talk to a person, I should wait until AFTER the offices are closed and call, then I'll be prompted to schedule a call back appointment!   She listened to my situation and said after all of my story, "Wow, I'm sorry that happened to you, can you give me your Social Security Number and tell me what your full name, birthdate, and what branch of service were you in", I told her my name, my SSN, and birthdate, and stated that I was in the Army.  She said "What is your Social again" I told her, she then said "and your name".  I told her that she MIGHT have my name under my married name, although, I couldn't believe that because I had had that taken off my case quite some time ago.  She said "I don't show that name either, give me your birthdate again" so I did, she placed me on hold...... Great, I'm on hold while this lady checks into something that's messed up, maybe she typed a number in wrong....  "Ma'am", I answer yes, she said "I'm not sure what happened, but I had to look back in your file.  Your name and birthdate do not match our records"..  WHAT??!!!  "Yes, when I looked back in your file, I saw that your name had been Dufore at one time, but now it's under Sullivan"  I never even met a Sullivan before and had said so, also, apparently my date of birth had been changed in my file, as well as my first name!  It's Jennifer and my middle name now apparently starts with an R!  So she says she's going to submit an inquiry to find out what went wrong.  She will send me the papers to get my daughter put back on my case and get my monies back that were taken from me.  I gave her my address and promptly received said papers.  I filled them out and then moved to GA before sending them off.