Initial Frustration

13th July 2005
Andrew Moller
2 Lachlan Drive
Dinsdale
Hamilton

Work and Income
Stephen Faifai, Service Manager
Dinsdale Service Centre
Hamilton


Dear Stephen

I am not happy with the professionalism, ethics, personality and/or attitude of my case officer in Dinsdale, Amy. Instead of giving me "support" Amy seems to be hell-bent on humiliating and making me jump through needless hoops. I would like to be having meaningful conversations with my case manager and get details like how would part time or contractual work affect my entitlement, instead we finish every meeting negatively with me sent off on some meaningless errand to find duplicate information for her.

4th or 5th May:
On my first appointment, Amy had no record on her computer I had attended the pre-seminar. Yet I could identify the room and person who took it, according to my records it would have been 21st April 9:15. She said it didn’t matter anyway.

I believed at this point I had all the appropriate details to meet what was requested on the forms from the pre-seminar, with the forms all filled in and signed.

However Amy wouldn't accept a recently expired passport or my drivers license as ID, both with photo ID on them, I was told to go to the District Court and get an affidavit to declare that I was who I claimed to be.

Amy wouldn't accept my final pay notice from Wintec as detailed enough. It didn't show how the severance was split, whether any was holiday pay. I was told to go back to Wintec and get the payroll officer to fill in one of your department forms. I believed this was unnecessary since you were going to stand me down for the maximum time anyway.

Amy wouldn't accept my details about a rental property and told me to go to my accountant and get a Net Equity statement of the property. My accountant has all my legal and other relevant documents, so to contact and interrupt his normal process of filling my tax return would be incurring additional professional expenses for me, when I am unemployed.

10th May:
On my second appointment, Amy wouldn't accept the Court Affidavit as proof and told me I had one month to get a birth certificate or passport!

Amy wouldn't accept the way the payroll department at Wintec had filled in her form and told me to go back and ask for a different breakdown. I told her no, I wasn't going to wander around Wintec asking for a breakdown, if she had another form for me to ask them to fill in I'd do that. She didn't have a different form, so it suddenly became unnecessary.

Amy wouldn't accept the statement from the accountant, because she said it could have been done by one of my friends!! Even though the statement had their business letter head and his personal signature.

11th May:
Amy phoned me and told me my entitlement would begin on 1st August, and that I had one month to produce a passport.

I presumed reason had finally prevailed.

21st May:
I opened a letter from you, Stephen Faifai dated 10th May, and it told me I was not getting the benefit because I hadn't replied to a request for information? I hadn't opened it earlier because of Amy's phone call that everything was sorted and my entitlement was starting 1st August.

23rd May:
Because of the letter received, I phoned the Department 0800 number and they emailed Amy to contact me.

I got no word from Amy so at 3:30 I phoned and made an appointment to see her.

24th May:
Amy phones and tells me it was nothing to worry about it just meant the system only keeps a record open for 5 working days!
I still needed to produce a passport or birth certificate.

25th May:
I finished this interview requesting Amy makes an appointment for me with her supervisor regarding the additional details requested about the rental property. Amy said that person was away on holiday and she would arrange it when she returned.

I am very disappointed in Amy's attitude here, she was insistent on me returning a number of details I could see no valid reason for other than to once again humiliate and make me jump through unnecessary hoops. It didn't seem right that the department was asking me to incur additional professional fees from my accountant when all the details needed had been supplied, Bank Statements showing the loan balance with my monthly instalment and Property Manager Statements showing the rental received and a Net Equity Statement from my accountant.

No word from Amy

10th June:
Friday, I phoned Amy and left a message, asking when the appointment could be, considering it was supposed to be last week. Amy phoned back and left a message on my answer phone that she would be busy next Monday and would phone me Tuesday with an appointment time - that never happened.

12th July:
I got sick of waiting and just went down to the office.

This meeting started with Amy asking if I had bought in the required documents, I said I had a passport and that she already had my bank statement account number to pay the entitlement into. Amy also asked for the rental property documents. To which I said at the last meeting Amy or her supervisor was going to show me where in the system it said I had to do that. Amy then said she had made a phone call to me about this and left a message on my answer phone. And because I had not returned the call she hadn't done anything about it. I said that was not correct. What had happened was on Friday I had phoned her wondering when it was happening that I had been sitting around all week waiting and that I'd be coming in on Monday to see her. Her message, on my answer phone, that day in reply said she wasn't going to be available on Monday and Tuesday she would be calling me regarding an appointment - this never happened. Amy said it did, I said if it did then her system would have a recording of this, because there was no such message on my machine at home. If Amy did make it that would have been Tuesday 14th June, I never received it.

Her entire attitude is one of I don’t have to do anything you have to do everything.

During this last appointment Amy bought Janet Oldfield into the picture, I assumed this was an accountant or someone who could understand the bank statements.

Looking through the documents Amy had on file there was no copy of the real estates statement I had produced at the earlier meeting. It was very suspicious and I noted Amy photocopied mine again and this time date stamped and signed it - that is not the first copy I had produced for her.

At this point of the meeting I believed Amy had lied to me about her phone call and purposefully lost documentation.

After a lengthy search and conversation with someone on the phone Janet found a web page related to rental properties, but this did not read to me as meaning “in every situation this is what must be produced” e.g. it had repairs expenses listed. To me it read as a guideline the purpose was - certain expenses could be used to validate there is no personal income.

This is what I don't understand, the bank statements had already proven there is no income from the rental property these show that shows the mortgage is $165,000 plus. From this any one with a calculator could prove $240 per week rent doesn't even cover interest alone, so why is it necessary to produce another break-down of the current loan into principal and interest. The expenses, interest alone, are already proven to be greater than the income. If it is not just a ruse to once again humiliate me and make me jump through any hoop she chooses to give me.


I have been a taxpayer all my life now I am just expecting work and income support from my local service centre not harassment and humiliation.



Faithfully



Andrew Moller, BIT, CCNA


CC
Neville Williams