Useless, inflexible JobCentrePlus

sickofusernames

Adereterial wrote: »

OP - why did you not advise the JCP before the appointment that you were going to be late?

Funnily enough, I forgot to think of it while trying to get a 6 month and 2 yr old ready to take to the hospital.

They can be extremely busy and if you turn up on the hoof you'll get put to the back of the queue. I doubt the person you were due to see was on lunch, more likely they had 3-4 other people in the queue before them and you were asked to wait your turn.

No, there were 4 people sitting down and a couple standing, not busy at all - it's a large JCP also, with two floors for sign-ons.

Next time, call them first and get a time to attend, don't just miss your appointment and turn up when you're done expecting to be seen immediately. That way you'll be seen more promptly when you arrive.

Well I was 'told' to just turn up and i'd be able to sign on with someone, not that i'd have to wait for MY advisor to come back off lunch - what if the advisor had only just gone to lunch, would I have had to wait an hour?

clb776

What time did you go in? my JCP used to make you come back at 2 and wait for the next available advisor! (I once went to sign on and they were running late because the computers were down - didnt get this personally as I have only seen them use paper!). I waited for half an hour after my sign on time and couldnt wait any longerso I went and explained, and they told me to come back at 2 and wait, which I did! Oh, and I hardly ever saw the 'same' advisor, normally it was a different one.

Zoetoes

After trying to get some help for my 17 year old son at our local job centre I did feel annoyed that there were useless, unhelpful idiots working there and doing very little to help the people they are supposed to be helping!

One woman was just sat there so we went over to enquire about some jobs we'd seen on the machine and she says 'have you got an appointment?', she wasn't doing anything and that's what she's supposed to be there for.

I also rang to make an appointment to see the under 18's adviser and was told 'you need to come in', I said 'yes that's why I'm ringing, to make n appointment to come in', 'no, you need to come in to make it, we don't make them over the phone', 'so you want me to come in to make the appointment, go away then come back again for it?', 'yes'.

I realise that's a load of waffle but I feel slightly better now!

Adereterial

sickofusernames wrote: »

Funnily enough, I forgot to think of it while trying to get a 6 month and 2 yr old ready to take to the hospital.



No, there were 4 people sitting down and a couple standing, not busy at all - it's a large JCP also, with two floors for sign-ons.



Well I was 'told' to just turn up and i'd be able to sign on with someone, not that i'd have to wait for MY advisor to come back off lunch - what if the advisor had only just gone to lunch, would I have had to wait an hour?

The day before, or the day before that perhaps? You clearly had known about the appointment for some time and hadn't bothered to tell them.

Whether it's large or not you don't know how busy people are - why should you jump the queue because you missed an appointment? More importantly the staff there ARE entitled (by law) to a lunch break, and will often have no choice as to when to take it, as it will be scheduled in.

And yes, if the advisor had just gone on lunch you'd have been asked to wait until someone was available, or to go away and return. You're asked to attend once a fortnight for 10 minutes max, it's not an onerous requirement and being asked to wait a short amount of time if you fail to attend your original appointment on time is perfectly reasonable. Count yourself lucky that they could give you an estimate, as the JCP I used to work at you'd have been lucky if you were seen within an hour due to the number of people signing.

sickofusernames

Adereterial wrote: »

The day before, or the day before that perhaps? You clearly had known about the appointment for some time and hadn't bothered to tell them.

Well for a start, when did I say it was an appointment?

Please, lets draw the assumptions on my circumstance to a close - clearly some staff / rules within the JobCentre need to be evaluated.

SingleSue

But 20 minutes is not that long to wait! It would have saved you so much grief to have just waited the time out.....

red_devil

people dont want to wait in general these days. I have witnessed so much moaning in the queues in the shops and post office etc its so boring.

people think they are the only ones wanting service etc. Its better to keep calm and wait. There is no point getting upset. Its quite normal to wait at the doctors and hospitals etc.

too much moaning about waiting in my opinion.