HOW NOT TO APPLY FOR CALIFORNIA LIFELINE PHONE SERVICE In California, telephones are recognized as a necessity. They are needed for emergencies, as well as basic social needs. Lifeline service is offered to provide a minimal service for those who cannot afford it, or so I thought. I called Cal Lifeline to get help with my telephone discount (Lifeline Service). I had received a notice saying my application was missing my signature, 4 digits of my SSN, date of birth and my printed full name. I didn’t understand this, having supplied it already when I applied online. After a rather lengthy conversation with an office droid I found out that I had applied online, which was fine, but when I sent in my income documents I had included the application form, and since the system cannot reconcile both online and written applications, it kicked my application out as incomplete. I had sent in my hard copy of my application because it had case numbers on it which I thought were needed, and having already supplied information online and received a confirmation number for it, I thought I was good. But I wasn’t. If you send in your paper application, do not also apply online, because the system will confuse itself and render you impotent. Also, when you send your income docs in, which are required in order to qualify for this benefit, DO NOT SEND IN YOUR PAPER APPLICATION with the docs or they system will get neurotic and think you are an incomplete application. I asked the droid if we shouldn’t be told not to send in the app with our docs if we have applied online; after some fumbling we determined there was no place on the application or the instructions where it tells us not to send in the application with our income proof. Too bad for me! Then I asked if I could get an extension on the mailing date as it was only two days from now (my bad). He said no, because it was my 2nd application. He suggested I send 3 months worth of pay stubs, and I replied I didn’t have them because I have been off work for more than a year. He suggested I send my tax return in with proof of income, but as I explained, it was a few hundred dollars over the program’s limit (15 months ago) and I wouldn’t qualify based on income from a year and a half ago. I said I could send in the payment I’d received this year for some meetings I’d attended, in the amount of $138. He said that was good, and he’d need 3 months’ paystubs. I again explained I didn’t have them, that I had absolutely no income. At this point he explained that this was a program for people with low income, not no income. I asked, “You mean since telephone service is regarded as necessary and people who cannot afford it are offered subsistence phone service, it is for people who have income but not for people who do not have income?” “yes.” “May I please speak with a supervisor?” After some silence, he said “someone will call you in the next 24 hours. What is your phone number?” I had told him my number already, and he had my account up on his computer screen, and had told me he could see my app online and all the info he had needed was there online. I was just that I had sent in my app cover page with my proof of income, which was a few hundred dollars all in all. BTW, neither I nor the droid ever raised our voices. Why do I call him a droid? Because his voice was without human inflection and his ground of being was not only uncaring, he did not seem to register that theres a problem that needs to be attended to. Instead, we went in circles, as droids do when they get new input for which they have not been programmed. I can’t wait for the call.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 23:14:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015