If you ever get your social security number mixed up at one of the credit card companies, you are in for a ride.

It recently happened to my daughter. The credit card companies somehow had my elder daughter’s SSN on the my younger daughter’s record. In order to clear the mix up they wanted us to get a certification from Social Security Administration. Easy said than done!

When you call the Social Security Administration, they have no idea what you are talking about. It seems government offices have no idea about anything anyway. But that is another story.

So we called the credit card company back that Social Security Administration has no idea what ‘certification’ you are talking about. The credit card company said, to get on the Social Security Administration letterhead saying that the SSN belongs to you. Simple, right? Wrong!

First, getting through to somebody on the phone at Social Security Administration is like climbing a mountain. Have a lot of energy and patience. And drink plenty of water to keep you cool!

After I get through, it is the same answer ‘we don’t know what you are talking about. If you come down we can see what we can do!’ Now that is a HEROIC task!

I don’t even know where my closest Social Security Administration office is. So I ask for location and rattle off very quickly. I don’t know why government office people are always in a rush. They are not doing much work anyway. The attitude is very poor and it seems to say ‘why are you bothering me, go AWAY!!’.

I get down to the Social Security Office and you have to take a number and goes without saying there is room full of people with a long wait. You sulk and you sit down because there is no choice. My turn comes. I ask for something on their letterhead verifying my daughter’s SSN number. My daughter is with me so they verify her identity, which I have no problem. But they still cannot give on their letterhead because of some rule. They affix Social Security Office stamp on a blank piece of paper and verify my daughter’s SSN.

I give it to my credit card company.  No they want me to correct it on the credit file. So here I go again trying to chase down the 3 credit bureaus. If you have ever tried getting through to any of the credit bureaus on phone, it is virtually impossible. They have shielded themselves so well that even if you go through their phone maze, you are going to be hard pressed to find a live human being to talk. Unable to reach anyone, I have no choice but to mail my request.

I get a credit report in the mail which shows correct SSN. So we think finally it is all done. A few days later we get a letter from the credit card company saying the SSN still does not match and they are closing the card. Here we go again!