Mistreated at job centre - filing a complaint.

Incyder

Yes I think it was about 3k I had come to think of it, certainly no more than 4 anyway.
I kept this in my safe so it would not show up anywhere in any computer system and cause me a headache.
Cash is king when you are on the dole. Sure, you lose out on a bit of interest but that is far outweighed by the benefits. I would never suggest keeping a large amount of cash in the home unless you have a safe, screwed down to a concrete floor.
£200 will get you a good one.
See saferunner.co.uk

bluetownbarry

Incyder wrote: »

Yes I think it was about 3k I had come to think of it, certainly no more than 4 anyway.
I kept this in my safe so it would not show up anywhere in any computer system and cause me a headache.
Cash is king when you are on the dole. Sure, you lose out on a bit of interest but that is far outweighed by the benefits. I would never suggest keeping a large amount of cash in the home unless you have a safe, screwed down to a concrete floor.
£200 will get you a good one.
See saferunner.co.uk

Personally, I could never live like this, but no doubt you'll get a fair amount of abuse from the Daily Mail brigade.

I bet though you are one of the more interesting people to know. Sounds like you learned a lot on your time out of the system so in the long run, the 'system' is better off for it!

Incyder

Thanks bluetownbarry, I learnt a lot. But mainly that you can not achieve anything by being long term unemployed. There becomes a time when the new lazy lifestyle becomes your norm and that is when the mental rot sets in. Luckily for me I somehow retained enough motivation so I was able to leave it behind forever when the time was right. I have remained self employed since 2001, through this recession, and aim to stay that way.
I am not proud of my previous 8 yrs on the dole or how I handled it, but no-one died so I have no regrets.

donnajunkie

Heart_Shaped_Diamond wrote: »

Hi everyone, hope you are well. Unfortunately I am not.

I had an appointment for signing on exactly an hour ago and I am not long back. I returned home in tears.
When I was called up to the desk the 'lady' behind it was extreamerly condecending and rude. She interrogated me and made me well up to the point where I was trying not to cry. She asked me where all the details of my job search were on the 'diary' I have to fill out. They were right under her nose - with dates.

Her: You're not doing very much. I don't see any information on the sheet.

Me: It's right here (I then pointed to the page) It's over the back aswell because there wasn't enough space.

Her: It doesn't look like very much. (There were six 'logs' if you like, that's what is asked of me every fortnight, and that is what I gave).

Me: What more can I do, i've wrote everything that i've done to try and find a job that I am asked. I wouldn't put any lies down, that's honestly everything I've done.

Her: I am not asking you to tell a lie. I'm just telling you it doesn't look like anything. What date was this? (She says pointing to a seven week old 'log'. It was actually my first one, so I didn't realise you needed precise dates at the time. I had just given an approxamte.)

Me: I don't remember, sorry. It was my first one I didn't realise I had to put them in at the time.

Her: You will definitely need to do more from what I can see. What date does that say? What papers do you look in? What websites do you go on? If you've actually been looking for a job you'd know.

I tried to answer her questions to my best but I felt really crap. She made me out to be a liar and it was frustrating, especially as I have been trying.

Me: I was on Dobbies when they were recruiting but they needed managerial positions only. I was on the Lipsy website to get a number to call in store personally. I handed in a CV but they told me they had everyone they needed at the time. I went to see a careers advisor and we were on Diret Gov together looking.

Her: If you don't do more this will affect your benefit claim.

Is that her threatening me despite the fact that I can't do more. I am scared because I need the money. After that she didn't even help to print out any vaccancy's for me. How am I supposed to apply for jobs when I don't have any to apply to - that's her job, she's supposed to help me with that! And she says I don't do enough and will have my benefit's taken away! Cheek. I even explained that I got a letter from a company saying they would like to keep my application for future vacancy's. I was pleased to hear that. But she in all honestly, rolled her eyes off of me. I don't see how much more I can prove to her I have been trying. The sheet even had things on it about me looking into working at the NHS. My aunt works for the NHS and said she would help me fill in applications and gave me the website.

I can't believe she made me feel that small after all i've done. Her tone wasn't even a pleasant one - it was very harsh. Quite nasty and definitely condecending. I sat there trying not the cry more than anything else. She didn't even let me see the computer screen to look at open vacany's. She basically sat me down, told me my benefits would be taken away if I did not do more and then told me to leave. Infact her lasts words to me were "That's it". And I left muttering thank you.

When my dad saw me as I came in the door he was alarmed and some what angry that I was upset. He phoned the job centre on my behalf to complain about the way that I had been spoken whilst looking for help and signing on.

I just felt like !!!!!! on her shoe. I am 19 and have suffered from depression and anorexia in the past. I already have low self esteem. Looking for a job is depressing as it is, without bats like her around. Her whole purpose is to encourage me to find work. I nearly told her to shove her sheet and her benefits up her hole. But obviously need the money badly - plus isn't that what she wants me to do.

I am waiting on someone to call back so they can speak to me directly. And I am really nervous.

you have my sympathy. if you are genuinely looking for work you have nothing to feel guilty about. if they are saying what you do is not enough and you cant do anymore for whatever reason then you should consider exaggerating. just tell them what they want to hear.
people may say you cant do that, its fraud. i say to them look at it this way if someone is doing what their jobseekers agreement requires them to do and they are getting grief and possibly even refered to a decision maker for a possible sanction. why should they have to go through all that stress due to someones incompetence.

why do you take several months worth of evidence with you when you sign on? you just need to take what you have done for the past fortnight.

donnajunkie

MrRedundant wrote: »

Feel free to tell us why only 6 actions a fortnight is reasonable or why you cant record these properly.

you can consider 6 actions to not be enough. however from the point of view of a persons jsa claim, it is enough if that is all that is required of them in their jobseekers agreement. if a person is fulfilling their jobseekers agreement then no-one at the jobcentre has the right to threaten them with loss of benefit.

donnajunkie

Heart_Shaped_Diamond wrote: »

How many jobs are there for someone with little or no qualifications and no experience. Where there are no retail jobs because of the time of season. Even the supervisor from the job centre agreed with me on that. I am being offered admin jobs on print outs but am probably not as likely to get call backs because of my lack of experience, as I previously pointed out. I also have previous illness that is known about.

I'm doing what I can. It's not that easy.

whenever they print off a job for you always apply for it no matter what. even if you cant get there or are not qualified. even if the jobcentre person says you dont have to apply for it if it turns out to be not suitable. still always apply. if you dont you could get sanctioned. if a company contacts about an application you made(through the jobcentre) for a job that isnt suitable then that is when you explain to them the issue. if its a good reason then they wont try and get you into trouble with the jobcentre.

donnajunkie

i am going through sh*t at the moment thanks to a little hitler at the jobcentre. on 6th december i was refered for a job. i told them that depending on the location i may not be able to get there. i just knew the town as it was an agency job. as i rely on public transport i can only get to certain locations for the usual start time of 8am. the jobcentre worker said i should look it up and if i cant get there then i dont have to apply for it. when i got home and looked up the location i noticed that the start time for the job was 7am. it is impossible to get there in time for a 7am start so i did not apply. while signing on on the 20th december i got asked if i had applied for it. i said no and explained why. nothing more was said about it. now today i got a letter from the dwp saying there is a doubt on my claim because i didnt apply for the job. i had to fill in the back of the letter and send it back. so now thanks to some incompetent so'n'so i have to spend the next couple of weeks worrying whether i am going to get my money stopped.
the person trying to get me sanctioned does look and act like a policeman. i wonder if i have grounds to complain against him because obviously he should have just accepted my explaination and left it at that.
if they dont accept my explaination then i will be contacting my union to get free legal representation for my appeal.

from now on i am going to apply for everything they give me, even if i cant get there or i am not qualified. if the company contacts me i will just explain i am here because the jobcentre sent me and sorry for wasting their time.

dmg24

donnajunkie wrote: »

you can consider 6 actions to not be enough. however from the point of view of a persons jsa claim, it is enough if that is all that is required of them in their jobseekers agreement. if a person is fulfilling their jobseekers agreement then no-one at the jobcentre has the right to threaten them with loss of benefit.

Have you ever considered that this is why you are long term unemployed?

There is a glaring difference between those on JSA and those who are financially independent on this thread. The former seem to dwell in self pity and find endless barriers for their unemployment. The latter have found ways to overcome barriers and to keep moving upwards.

Being on JSA is demoralising, but you make your own destiny. If you are only unwilling to think for yourself and go beyond what is in your JSAgreement, you will be attending the JCP for a long time yet.

Incyder

dmg24 wrote: »

Being on JSA is demoralising, but you make your own destiny. If you are only unwilling to think for yourself and go beyond what is in your JSAgreement, you will be attending the JCP for a long time yet.

Yep, that about sums it up.

loobie-lou_2

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the JC. I have been signing on for the past 6 months and can honestly say that the only staff that actually treat people with respect are either the security - who have been nothing short of courteous as I needed to go in the staff lift owing to being on crutches - and one gentleman who I had to see every week for 6 weeks. The rest of the advisors are rude and abrupt. I can understand that a certain stereotype is placed on people who have to receive JSA, or maybe that's just in Leeds, but not all of us are out to play a system of receiving 'free' money! I graduated in July 2010 and haven't had any luck with jobs or anything because of my knee injury, which required surgery in November.

I hope you get somewhere xx