So I am no longer a part of the service organization that was supposed to assist me. I am at a crossroad of how and where I will take my case. Let me begin by letting you know what occurred this morning.
I called them to inquire about my case today. I first spoke with my assigned advocate and he immediately asked if I had submitted any paperwork to him regarding my claim. I responded and told he didn’t tell me which paperwork to submit. He then let me know that I had a claim pending and some exam setup. I asked him what claim was pending. Apparently there is a claim pending but with whom? The VA has verified that there is no claim pending with me anywhere. He followed up and said that if I had proof he would appreciate a copy of my knowledge of no pending claim. I told him the VA said there is no pending claim nor was there any CNP (Compensation & Pension) exam. Mind you, I never went out of my way to gather this knowledge the VA sought me out and provided this information on their own. The VA also called this service organization and verified this.
He then forwarded my call to his boss. The very moment he got on the phone he was clearly upset and yelling at me. I told him to stop and to talk to me professionally and not to yell at me. He said he was frustrated at me for not understanding what was being told to me. He fired off a few other questions pertaining to filing any paperwork with them. I told him that if my advocate had advised me on what to send I would have done so. I didn’t know what forms to submit to him. He asked if I had any doctor’s letters that state that my condition has gotten worse. I said no because I didn’t know I needed any letters or anything further. As far as I knew, I was all set. As this went on he was still blaming me for not filing paperwork that I had no clue about. He conceded no blame that his employee had messed up. His employee told me multiple times that it was being adjudicated. In fact a month ago he told me to call him by the 18th of September because his system showed that a decision would be made by then. I swear on my children this is what I was told. I have no reason to make this bigger or worse than what it truly is.
I asked him if I could ask a question. He stopped for a second and I simply asked, if my case is in adjudication? He said no. I then asked why his employee told me that it was. He paused, asked me to hold on and I did. He came back after a minute and said that there is a certain screen that shows my case is in that status. I thought for a minute, ok maybe my guy was just getting bad info. Then this guy began to blame me for not providing any request, more evidence, etc. I told him I have sent every thing that I have been told to send. As far as I know my advocate was suppose to guide me and provide any paperwork that pertained to my case and see it to fruition. I stressed that I am not to blame here and that his employee is either not informed or was unaware himself. That should not constitute the blame on my part by any means.
I began to sense that no matter what, whether it was a glitch in their system or whatever, that it would be perceived that I didn’t do enough. I tell you, more than anything; I want my case to get properly evaluated. I take great offense in thinking that I am to feel bad for any of this. This National Service Officer made me feel like I was to blame. Wrong, wrong and wrong.
Towards the end this NSO became belligerent and more unprofessional in his usage of words and tone. He told me that he has made over 18 million dollars for veterans and as much as I appreciate that fact, I couldn’t get over how everything he was saying was seemingly my fault. He said what I needed to do was get a letter from my doctor that showed proof that my problems are worse. I told him that I didn’t want his employee to be my advocate if that were the case. He said fine and told me who to attention it to. I did begin to ask about this letter but before I could finish he snapped at me and said I could just revoke the POA and find another organization. The question I was trying to ask was the purpose of the letter. Meaning, the VA doctors had already diagnosed me once. I am arbitrating their previous evaluation. If he’d let me finish I was going to ask if I should go back to the VA or a private doctor?
He cut me off mid sentence and said that I could simply revoke the POA immediately and find another organization. I shook my head and told him to just pull it. I had been told I could revoke the POA 4 times during that conversation.
*click*
He hung up on me and that was that.
So my claim went no where with them, I approached them in May. A glitch in the system, bad communication and a very unprofessional advocate tarnished my perception of this organization. I will keep it unnamed because it truly is a fine organization, it just won’t be mine. My recourse will be to find a new one.
So that is the end of that chapter. I don’t mean to make anything more dramatic than it needs to be but this one was an unfortunate circumstance. It proves just how frustrating it can be with organizations that are in place to help you.
