Now I can explain, a little more calmly, what I was not telling you about yesterday.
For the last 7 years, Joan and I have been receiving our Social Security checks electronically deposited in our bank in Pozna艅 at the same time on the same day, usually the 3rd of each month. Of course, we use this money to pay our bills and live on. When half of it only comes in, it is a problem, especially when you don't know why and try to find out. Joan's check did not come in.
I tried accessing her account on the SS website, put in her password, but it wouldn't accept it. I tried twice and then hit "Forgot Password". It asked for the answers to 3 questions she answered 7 years ago but she couldn't give the right answers and it blocked her account from access. It said they would mail her a temporary password in 10 days and then it would take another 30 days for a new password to be entered. That means next monrh's check would not come also.
After searching the internet, I found the Department of Federal Benefits Unit in the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw who might be able to help but they only work Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00-12:00. They handle 6 provinces in Poland plus Latvia, Estonia and a few other countries and have a phone number. That is, potentially, a lot of people to deal with. Thankfully, Today is Thursday because the Monday is a holiday.
Promptly at 9:00 I called the number and the recording told me they would answer my call in the order of the line of call-ins. I waited on the phone until 9:40 before someone answered.
I explained my problem to the lady and she said she had had other callers with the same problem. She didn't know why it happened but would first check to see if Joan's benefits had been cancelled because she didn't fill out the last questionnaire from Social Security. She came back and said that was not the problem, Joan's benefits had not been cancelled and maybe it was a problem with the bank posting the benefit on their website. Her suggestion was to wait until Monday to see if the benefit is posted by then, if not, call her back on Tuesday and she will find out why this has happened. It seems like this is the only thing we can do for now.
Przez ostatnie 7 lat Joan i ja otrzymywali艣my nasze czeki z Ubezpieczenia Spo艂ecznego zdeponowane elektronicznie w naszym banku w Poznaniu w tym samym dniu, zwykle 3. ka偶dego miesi膮ca. Oczywi艣cie u偶ywamy tych pieni臋dzy, aby p艂aci膰 nasze rachunki i 偶y膰. Kiedy pojawia si臋 tylko po艂owa kwoty, jest to problem zw艂aszcza, gdy nie wiesz dlaczego i pr贸bujesz si臋 dowiedzie膰. Czek Joan nie wp艂yn膮艂.
Pr贸bowa艂em uzyska膰 dost臋p do jej konta na stronie SS, wprowadzi艂em jej has艂o, ale nie zosta艂o zaakceptowane. Pr贸bowa艂em dwa razy, a nast臋pnie u偶y艂em opcji "Nie pami臋tam has艂a". Poproszono o odpowiedzi na 3 pytania, na kt贸re Joan odpowiedzia艂a 7 lat temu, ale nie mog艂a udzieli膰 prawid艂owych odpowiedzi, co zablokowa艂o jej dost臋p do konta. Podano, 偶e wy艣l膮 jej tymczasowe has艂o w ci膮gu 10 dni, a nast臋pnie wprowadzenie nowego has艂a zajmie kolejne 30 dni. To oznacza, 偶e kolejny, co miesi臋czny czek te偶 nie nadejdzie.
Po przeszukaniu Internetu znalaz艂em Wydzia艂 ds. Federalnych 艢wiadcze艅 w Ambasadzie USA w Warszawie, kt贸ry mo偶e by膰 w stanie pom贸c, ale oni pracuj膮 tylko w poniedzia艂ki, wtorki i czwartki w godzinach 9:00-12:00. Obs艂uguj膮 6 wojew贸dztw w Polsce oraz 艁otw臋, Estoni臋 i kilka innych kraj贸w i maj膮 telefon. Co oznacza, 偶e potencjalnie, maj膮 do za艂atwienia wiele osob贸b. Na szcz臋艣cie dzi艣 jest czwartek, poniewa偶 poniedzia艂ek jest 艣wi臋to.
Natychmiast o 9:00 zadzwoni艂em pod wskazany numer, a nagranie poinformowa艂o mnie, 偶e odpowiedz膮 na m贸j telefon w kolejno艣ci zg艂osze艅. Czeka艂em na telefon do 9:40, zanim kto艣 odpowiedzia艂.
Wyja艣ni艂em m贸j problem a pani powiedzia艂a, 偶e mia艂a innych dzwoni膮cych z tym samym problemem. Nie wiedzia艂a, dlaczego tak si臋 sta艂o, ale najpierw sprawdzi, czy 艣wiadczenia Joanny nie zosta艂y anulowane, poniewa偶 nie wype艂ni艂a ostatniego kwestionariusza z ZUS. Wr贸ci艂a i powiedzia艂a, 偶e to nie problem, 艣wiadczenia Joan nie zosta艂y anulowane, 偶e mo偶e to by艂 problem z ksi臋gowaniem przez bank 艣wiadczenia na ich stronie internetowej. Jej sugesti膮 by艂o poczeka膰 do poniedzia艂ku, aby sprawdzi膰, czy do tego czasu zasi艂ek zostanie wys艂any, je艣li nie, zadzwoni膰 do niej we wtorek, a ona si臋 dowie, dlaczego tak si臋 sta艂o. Wygl膮da na to, 偶e to jedyna rzecz, kt贸r膮 mo偶emy teraz zrobi膰.