Oh boy… Just had my first run in with the pension office.
I was advised by the Seekasse, my provider, to make an appointment with the nearby pension office to which I got a number.
Of course it is automated:
First you are taken through a recorded voice telling you “things” for five minutes that are of no relevance to my call WHAT SO EVER!
Then you get the press one for “yadda yadda” press two for this and press three for that; by the time the voice got to “press nine” without giving me any option that I was looking for I was glowing dark red.
So I pressed “4” as it was of all options the closest.
Then!
Press one for beboop, two for lalala, three for peepee, four for poopoo.
Glow gets brighter…
Pressed 4.
The usual "this call can be monitored "
By the way the automated voice spoke… very…very…slooooowly.
“Your estimated waiting time is roughly 10 minutes”
Finally after 12 minutes, a human voice, sounds like it is at the bottom of a well, and some heavy eastern European illegible accent. But a human voice.
I tell her what I want.
“That is not my department, you have to press one, aufwiederhören.”
Klick.
By now I am incandescent.
I call again with the same voice spooling the same text and press one.
Where I get the same lot of useless prechewed information, only no human and get told by the machine if I want to hear the options again.
It was at that point that I wished I had an old rotary phone that you could slam into the cradle.
many voice menus work without having to listen to the whole thing. try pressing one a few seconds into the call.
Interesting, never did one of those. Does not sound very professional, you probably are wasting your time listening to some bullshit. What exactly are you expecting from a “Rentenberatung”? I sometimes feel the whole retirement system could come to me for a “Rentenberatung”…
Did. Wasnt interested.
Isn’t there an AI agent that you can unleash onto the call system? If nothing else, it can map out all the menus…
Oh the callbot is quite good, it…just..takes..a..looooooooooong…and infuriating time in a sloooooooooow voice to give you the options.
I feel your pain, Slammer.
I’m trying to apply for my US Soc Sec while resident abroad. Now in my third month of trying.
Dante has nothing on these levels of hell.
Last time I went to the Rentenberatung to Kick this Show Off, this was two years ago, I spoke with a Person.
Now I have to use the reluctant callbot to make an online appointment.
Can you just show up and maybe organise the appointment in person if they can’t talk to you immediately?
I tried that when my Aufenthaltsgenehmigung ran out and did Not get past the Gatekeeper.
All appointments must be made online via the Portal for the Landkreis.
You seem to misunderstand that it was you your pension.
It was about theirs.
Not sure I understand your Post.