Took the Day off work... - Real Mum story on MoM

10 Comments

So I have had to take the day off work because I am in dire straights with a few things and have to try and solve a few problems. I have a my gov account but can’t access the Centrelink side of it, so I decide to call. I have now been waiting for 25 minutes. The story is even worse if you go in there, which I rarely get to do as I work full time and full time single parent. They send messages to say I have a new letter, but how the heck am I supposed to access it. I suppose then they will cut the minute amounts I get off them off because I didn’t respond. Where I live they have moved Centrelink to a place that’s very hard for the elderly and disabled to access and dumped Medicare inside of Centrelink. There is very little places to park and the fees aren’t great and the time limit is low. Don’t worry though when you get in there you can expect to be greater by somebody with an iPad who still can’t answer your query and seats you next to somebody or a group of people who have very poor hygiene and the smell makes you want to throw up. Rant over

Posted anonymously, 2nd February 2015

10 Comments

- - mom113055 said
  - 03 Oct 2015
    7:12 pm
took thhe day off work

- - mom81879 said
  - 20 Sep 2015
    11:50 am
Often the wait times on the phone can be as long as 90 minutes. If you’re lucky, a recorded message asks for your details and they call you back. It’s a pain in the butt!

- - mom94125 said
  - 05 Mar 2015
    4:32 pm
when you ring them up, if you tell them (the computer) your details, customer number etc, it should give you an option of avoiding the queue by letting them ring you back when they can.

- - Kelly said
  - 22 Feb 2015
    4:25 pm
I am so glad that i dont have to deal with centrelink anymore, im sure in total i wasted about 1 whole week of my life waiting on the phone to them.

- - christial said
  - 16 Feb 2015
    8:28 pm
I avoid Centrelink at all costs for all those reasons!

- - mom93821 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    5:09 am
Unfortunately; a lot of the online services do not deal with all situations; even though the push is for more of these services to be in place. Often you do need a ‘real’ person to talk to about your situation. I have had no success with these online services. It can be a waste of precious time.

- - jenniw said
  - 03 Feb 2015
    1:56 pm
Not that I go very much but our Centrelink is the same. Medicare used to be a nice place to go into (quick, polite staff etc) but now they have moved to Centrelink building all that has gone. Not happy!

- - mom93821 said
  - 03 Feb 2015
    5:05 am
I was surprised when I went to my local Medicare office and found it closed with a piece of paper on the door advising of the move! With great difficulty the new location was found and it is less than ideal with limited parking and very difficult for people to access that need to use public transport. Difficult to understand the logic of the move. Hope you managed to get your business sorted.

- - BellaB said
  - 02 Feb 2015
    11:52 am
Yes, Centrelink provides very poor customer service.
- hopefullyheidi replied
  
  02 Feb 2015 , 9:02 pm
  Ours is in a fantastic location – directly across a double laned main road in direct view and in close proximity of a xxx entertainment venue, with a rather terrible name.