universal credit staff members hanging up on you when you phone

[masterofdoomv1]

hi i phoned universal credit three times the other day as im due a reassessment as im in the limited for work group i asked when my year was up as i hadnt been notified and when id likely be re assessed the first twice i asked this i was cut off after the first few seconds of getting through to somebody the third time somebody did speak to me but with an attitude after i had said that i wasnt happy i had been cut off the previous twice she had claimed there must be a problem with phone lines but seems strange nothing happend that time so im just wondering is it a comon occurance for the staff to hang up on people as i believe thats what happened

To route you through to the correct team.

Yeah. Imagine claiming UC AND expecting to have feelings or an opinion.

Idiot.

This ^

I have a friend on UC and they have also experienced people hanging up whilst trying to sort something out with their health evidence (terminal cancer has moved them from job seekers to UC). Whether it’s the handler or their system I don't know but my friend also experienced some pretty shitty call handlers during the process too. This was about 3 months ago, was escalated to complaint before my friends issue was finally resolved.

@DenholmElliot1 your attitude is utterly abhorrent.

Reassessments are on hold at the moment , so there's nothing to chase up. You will be contacted when they start again.

The only time I have ever been hung up on was when I asked for the advisors surname as she had been extremely rude.

In my experience of having to make a lot of calls for clients as part of my job, I have generally found Uc to be the best. ESA advisors are a bloody nightmare. PIP and Attendance Allowance usually very pleasant.

On a funny note and on the subject of poor advisors I had an advisor the other day and I needed to order some forms. Without being rude, he could not speak great english and when my forms arrived they were addressed to Mrs S Bag, which is absolutely nothing remotely like my surname ! Maybe he thought I was a shit bag or an old bag or something 😂

They're not allowed to give surnames out,but they should have just explained that, not hung up on you.

No one appreciates it. But it's not the person on the phone's fault! It was because she hadn't hung up on you that you were able to be rude to her. If the phones were playing up that day she'll be dealing with extra bullshit from people

Reassessments are on hold at the moment , so there's nothing to chase up. You will be contacted when they start again.

i obviously wasnt aware of that use some comon sense

No one appreciates it. But it's not the person on the phone's fault! It was because she hadn't hung up on you that you were able to be rude to her. If the phones were playing up that day she'll be dealing with extra bullshit from people

oh well we all have bullshit to deal with i find it strange when uc screw up people leap to theyre defence like they have done on this board and when somebody reacts theyre the asshole oh how id love for you guys to be on universal credit for a few months to get a real taste of how uc treats people

Ffs. How much do you think they get paid? Many of them will be on UC themselves. God are people so thick really?

You're wanting sympathy for your situation while making someone on minimum wages life a nightmare, and saying "we all get bullshit". Babysitting assholes is not their job.

I don't work for UC, but I work on the phones for a similar services. We don't get paid enough to put up with cuntiness.

My daughter who is extremely polite ,articulate and non confrontational has had exactly the same problems over a few weeks. Her journal has been ignored and she is feeling completely dehumanised by the response from UC agents …the system needs a huge shake up TBH !

She is an idiot for wondering why you'd start a conversation being rude to someone who had nothing to do with your problem?

No. The people on the phone probably speak to 50 People a day for not much more than minimum wage. They will probably work from home and have to use a VPN which can go out and cause problems.

Not one of the people who answer the phone are responsible for any of that though. But 50 people a day acting shirty and having a chip on their shoulder will break them down. If you want service be kind to the person you're asking for help. It's the same in any industry. I bet the OP regularly gets her food spat in

Oh and importantly if they're understaffed that's also not the fault of the person answering the phone. They're just having to work harder and with angrier customers.

It's the fault of people who continually vote for worse services and less money to go around.

I'm currently still on tax credits and absolutely dreading when I get changed over to UC and have to deal with DWP again . My local council is awful to deal with too but I just have to decipher the letters. Rarely ever have to actually speak to anyone. I still feel the frustration of having to deal with them the 1st time around

On Universal credit you do not have to ring up for lots of things though. You can report changes on your journal, update things, ask questions. yes sometimes messages don't get answered and you need to ring but a lot can be dealt with on the journal.

I know nothing about universal credit other than the horror stories I've read in the Guardian.

But I agree with what you say and you shouldn't have to feel grateful or lucky to be claiming it. It's far from ideal, adequate or fair, universal credit.

Currently I dont have to deal with anything at all. I don't remember ever having to communicate with HMRC apart from making the initial claim then starting a new job but that was 3 years ago. From what I've heard journal posts rarely if ever get answered

‘I bet the OP regularly gets her food spat in.’

You seem totally fine and normal.

A posters just given you some useful information. They made no other remark, and you're still rude to them.

My thoughts exactly. It seems very clear now who has the attitude problem.

I agree so rude to someone just giving her useful information.