Question:
Jim, Thank you for your service. VA notified me that decision has been made. Advised to to to E-Benefits. Went through a painful time to open an account and couldn’t open one, Called the help number and was advised I need a DEERS account and this is turns out to be impossible. Completed a three minute survey and then put on a non ending ringing phone. This is a presumptive claim and the VA could have advised approved. Said mail takes 7-10 days and local mail from VA takes 5-6 days to travel five miles. Why the run around?
Jim's Reply:
"Why the run around?" The first thought that came to my mind while reading your message was, "You're not from around here are you?"
What you've experienced is perfectly normal and routine for your Department of Veterans Affairs. Losing documents, endlessly ringing phones, blank stares, voice mailboxes that are always full, never ending transfers from one department or person to the next, misinformation on top of misinformation, promises made and promises broken, abject incompetence...well, these are just a few of the many things that VA has developed into a science and an art designed to frustrate and entertain you.
To work effectively with your VA, whether on your own benefits or those of others, you must develop the patience of a saint and a lasting respect for the power of a deeply entrenched bureaucracy and the career civil servants within those walls. You must accept that the day to day business of the VA isn't run by DC politicians, it's run by the minions who work there for 30 years.
The VA, like most government agencies today, operates with hopelessly outdated computer systems. Have you ever noticed that to sign in to an on-line VA service often takes you to 6 different pages, each one telling you that you're going to another domain? This patchwork of connections is typically the reason that on-line access stinks and is unreliable. You try to perform when you're running an old copy of Windows 7 on a Dell with a CRT.
I could go on about the failings of VA but that would be piling on what's already written a thousand times over so no need for more of that. If VA is ever to function as it should that will be up to Congress so we know how much hope to hold out.
Working with VA isn't all that hard. Over the years as an advocate I've learned that if you keep your expectations very very low, VA will come through for you every time.
Patience and an endless cup of coffee may help.