ArcaMax

In last week's column, I shared the results of a survey I conducted with my readers in which I asked you to rate the service you got from the Social Security Administration using the ubiquitous star system: 5 stars for good service down to 1 star for poor service. I got more than 200 responses. And your responses averaged out to 4.5 stars.

Many of you included comments. Thank you so much for that. There is just no way I can include all those comments, but here are a few that I hope are representative:

"5 stars. I applied over the phone and it went just great. I was very impressed with the knowledge and professionalism of the lady I spoke with."

"5 stars. When my wife applied for Social Security benefits prior to her full retirement age, the in-person SSA representative completely explained all of her options. When I retired at my full retirement age, my online application was quick, easy, and accurate. Subsequently, when we called the SSA with questions, representatives have always provided great friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable customer service. Even though I was disappointed with the long wait times, I was still highly satisfied!"

"5 stars. This is based on how easy it was for my wife to get her own benefits, how easy it was to get mine, and how easy it was to convert my wife's benefit to spousal benefits when I started receiving mine. In fact, we were personally contacted by an agent who had a conference call with us to go over the details, and what can be expected. And it all went as explained and expected, complete with follow-up correspondence."

"5 stars. My wife and I visited our local Social Security office three times over the years and the service was outstanding. I was scared by all the horror stories, but the service couldn't have been better. We dealt with SSA offices in both Pennsylvania and South Carolina and there was no difference -- both top shelf service."

"5 stars. We went in person to our local Social Security office to apply. The place was packed. We stated why we were there and were told to take a seat. Thinking we would be there for hours, our names were called in a matter of minutes. We followed the person through a door and it became a whole different environment! It was very calm and peaceful. We were seated with a very lovely lady that made us feel like we were her only client of the day. What a pleasant surprise! She answered all of our questions and treated us as if we were her friends. It was a very positive experience."

"4 stars. I note importantly that we did extensive research about our options before contacting the SSA, so I relied on them for just executing transactions. No advice or consulting, as that seems to be a thing of the past when dealing with front desks. We used online processing and only called when we had to. Why not 5 stars? Mostly the long delays on the phone, usually 1-3 hours on hold. They did not offer a call-back option."

"4 stars. I found the online system excellent and the in-person support somewhat lacking in expertise but my problem was ultimately resolved, so pretty good overall."

And I was surprised how sometimes the ratings people gave seemed to contradict one another. Here is an example.

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