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In FEBRUARY of 2009 my husband received his backdated money. 4 MONTHS living on my basic part time salary. The biggest insult of all was when I got a letter asking me to attend the Jokecentre plus office where my husband made his claim. When I attended I was told that, as I only worked part time, I would be required to start looking for a full time job! I kid you not!!! I informed the idiot behind the desk, in a loud enough voice for all to hear, that I would not be seeking full time employment and that perhaps if they did their jobs and got the long term unemployed, scrounging, benefit leeches out of their tracksuits and into jobs they would have more time to educate themselves on how to assist people who needed help, rather than those who choose the benefit system as a career choice. On leaving the benefit office that day I approached a short, fat creation on the reception desk. Instead of asking if he could help me he leant on the counter and looked at me, he stayed in this position for a few seconds before saying “And…..?”. I asked him “Do you have a complaints form please?” he replied “Yes thanks” laughed along with another uneducated plank pretending to hard and imposing (and failing miserably) and walked away. Needless to say the subsequent argument that ensued could not be repeated on these pages. As I then waited for the manager I took out my mobile to ring my boss. Another of the irritating creatures approached me, pointed to a ‘No Mobile Phones’ sign and said “Can you read?”. As I was, by this point, past caring I responded by saying “Yes, thats why Im not a security guard in a Jobcentre!”. I was asked to leave.

My husband eventually had his operation and began looking for work. He did find a job that was perfectly suited to his qualifications, he was a perfect candidate for the job. When he enquired as to how to apply for the job he was told that he couldnt as he hadn’t been unemployed long enough!! Where is the sense in stopping a person who wants to work applying for a job?? The next time he signed on the same job was still being advertised. he still didnt qualify. He eventually contacted the company himself, where he now works.

And as for the supposed assistance with mortgage payments….rubbish. My claim was made in December 2008 and I am yet to receive a penny. I am currently 3 months in arrears to my bank.

Jobcentre Plus Gateshead, you, your staff and those irritating plebs who try to flex their ‘muscles’ whilst pretending to be security guards but possessing the brains of a pot plant, should all be sacked. It took a complaint to the regional Manager for my problems to be looked at. they are a complete joke.

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i have had just about enough of them,i have always taken people as i have found them but have once read that jobcentre staff are “untrained,inept and incompetent”,sadly this is ringing more and more true,it comes a no surprise they choose to ignore complaints which are serious,abuse within this organisation appears to be “institutional”.

the last straw came for me when i was bullied into taking a vacancy some distance away,on finding the correct vacancy details it states

Work Pattern
Days , Evenings , Nights , Weekends

also it states an early finish time,i dont even have my own transport,they have wasted my time my money a companies time submitting me for a vacancy i cannot get to for these night shifts,this isnt even on the job seekers agreement.there is no confidentiality in that environment and every member close by stares as if its a jobseekers fault that it looks as if they are refusing employment when jobs are shown tens of miles away with absolutely no chance of getting there for any of these jobs.

it would take a case such as here

http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Bottom/Contact/

to bring these people to there senses,something which should have happened a long time ago,its unfair unjust and feckless their attitude to citizens of this country and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Well-loved. Like or Dislike: 4  0

Dear Mel

I am writing to you following my less than successful efforts in having my complaint issues properly heard or considered by the PlymouthExeter JCP District Manager via her good office of the Devon and Cornwall Communications Team. In balance – some of the issues I raised have been addressed – but in my view the most serious complaint – regarding my allegation of a cultural predisposition existing and thriving within the JCP Organization has not been considered or treated with transparency, openness or proper regard. It has been my first-hand experience (which includes involvement with claims of Incapacity, DLA, Severe Disability Premium, Income Support, Surestart Grant, Child Benefit, Housing and Council Tax, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit) – that there is a cultural propensity which encourages unfavourable treatment of claimants –that is perceived as permission by some JCP personnel – to discriminate unfairly against those who are already significantly disadvantaged and socially excluded.

The attitude of some JCP personnel and the treatment exhibited toward the claimant (or complainants) may be characterized by a type of professional arrogance – which manifests as an arrogance born of indifference.

I am asking that my viewpoint – formed from vocational experience – be at least deserving of simple inquiry, peer review or a functional analysis study to provide Managers with a reasonable indication of the level of substance behind this subjective notion.

I am merely asking that this matter be considered in a pragmatic manner from the perspective of the claimant? I am content to provide the background documentation to this matter – or of course you may prefer to obtain them from James ****** – who has professionally navigated matters thus far?

My preferred method of communication is by email or phone – and I am delighted (if not somewhat surprised) to be able to communicate directly and electronically with you as CEO of JCP. I do hope to hear from you shortly.
Yours truly

RD

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The council has a 6-week turnaround so I STILL have not received any help with my council tax or rent. So here I am, about to have to pay my FOURTH monthly rent & council tax, which will put me thousands in debt with hundreds in bank charges, all because of their mistakes (oh, there were others).

They really are one of the most incompetent and lazy organisations I have had the misfortune to deal with (and I used to work for HMRC).

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job centre plus should be renamed the department of benefit fraud (their own)

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anyone on this program soon finds they are dealing with nasty two faced scheming individuals’ running this that have no liking for unemployed people this is exhibited in their continued bigotry however stupid they sound and look in front of others,they will keep mentioning incidents where thay say they have caught people out no attending job interviews/making interviews up using this as excuse to treat others badly,even when you do go along and dont get the job dont be surprised if they continually let you know about it in their attitudes.

people like this are not worth bothering with.

there are executives and personality disorders/drug dealers rubbing shoulder to shoulder on it with atrocious conditions,although this appears a day in day out story it shows the reality of what these companies are all about.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2339847/a4e_manchester_incident_2008/

if farm animals suffered overcrowding they would receive support from the rspca and the like,the unemployed receive no support for these traumatic experiences for no reason except being jobless.

as for cotribution/income based benefits just say for example emma harrison became unemployed tomorrow if shes paid enough national insurance during the tax year she will qualify for contribution based jobseekers allowance,this doesnt take into account someones wealth and as such they have to pay for eye tests/prescriptions coucil tax dependant on savings exe.

however this runs for approximately six months then the claim ends,then as she is a multi millionaire she wouldnt count for the next class.

income based,this has to be reclaimed if savings are under a set amount i think around £16,000 but there is a sliding scale as this affects the amount received,those with savings under £3000 qualify for full amount and because this is income based pay no prescriptions/council tax exe.

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I would like to comment on 2 areas you raised:

1) There is a reason why you rarely see the same person each week. This is because Jobcentre management thinks if staff are too friendly and get to know you a little bit they will do you an injustice and wont be providing you the best service.

It is down to EO (Employment officers) who sign you on are differently assigned to a New Deal advisor. NDPA’s (New Deal Personal Adviser) have a different task of being more “focused” while an Employment Officer sole task pretty much is finding ways to terminate claims.

One Jobcentre manager even sacks people who get too friendly with Jobseekers – this is seen like some traitor corruption.

2) Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA (IB)) is for people who are poor. They get free health and legal aid etc. Contribution based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA(C)) is for those who have considerable capital who become unemployed where you can claim for up to 6 months. This 6 months you get paid is effectively “earned” by contributing over the years whereas JSA (IB) is not.

I understand your logic but the system doesn’t discriminate whether you have ever paid in or not. When you pay taxes and N.I. that money gets paid out the same year for the NHS and pensions etc. – Everyone doesn’t like paying for someone elses benefits but I don’t think people even realise they pay peoples pensions too… I mean there isn’t some large state pension pot which collects over 20+ years, entitlement is done by computer records and the allocation is worked out at the annual Budget.

Have you made sure you are claiming the right benefit? If you don’t have any capital etc. or not much then you might be able to claim income based. Just because you have worked and contributed doesn’t mean you wont be entitled to JSA (IB) however I am unaware of your circumstances to be able to advise further.

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