I wish they would do something about that darn line holding music too....people here put their mobiles on speaker and play it loudly !

http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/2011/01/17/jobcentre-plus-call-centre-staff-are-set-to-strike-51140-279 If that doesnt work then go to http://www.nebusiness.co.uk and search for the article.

ha ha ha they tried that one about two signings ago.....the PA said to me you didnt apply for the four jobs you were given last August? Eh and my mouth dropped open....... I said I dont recall being given those jobs....................well you were she said by a Mr D.......and pointed to the guy quite dramatically like a little school kid......I was living in a hostel at the time and the job centre knew it.......in fact this MrD......told me not to worry about applying for jobs and just go through the motions BECAUSE I was in a hostel and he knew I couldnt work because of the hostel rules about paying your own 300 quid a week rent. It was so OBVIOUS she was looking for a sanction!!And got her eye wiped.....she didnt succeed when she saw my job log... The dirty tricks these people will stoop to, to give you a sanction because I would have said ok then give me a form for a Tribunal and I will submit this job log to the Tribunal for this weeks signing and your petty little backdated sanction effort is going to look quite ridiculous in court when they see this evidence...waving the job log in her face............I mean you CANT just rake up jobs you were offered three months ago.....talk about grasping at straws.............

Just a heads up on a job centre call centre workers 48 hour strike on Thursday and Friday this week! I hope nobody gets their benefits sanction or refused or anything else or they will be waiting forever to speak to someone about it.....its bad enough trying to get through normally! http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business...1140-27998199/

yes its all about looking for a sanction opportunity. If your job log is up to date and proof of job searching application and phone calls for their criteria then they have no grounds for any sanctions. I know Im speculating here but it could possibly have been my old JC was trying to engineer a situation (with all the PAs they were referring me to every signing) hoping I would lose it and throw a wobbler so that I could be given a sanction because they couldnt get me on the job logs etc.....and lets face it thats all they had left but to do a little bit of bullying and harassment. NOBODY should be shouted at over the desk in any way and if you are, put a complaint in. So how to avoid a sanction:- Complete their criteria and prove it(take your paperwork with you). Never fail to turn up for an appointment that they make for you Never Never make an appointment voluntarily unless your 100% sure youre going to turn up for it. Be polite and respectful even if they are not(remember your being polite for your own dignity not for them) Produce your job log. Show them it. Ask them do they want to look through it or even photocopy it? You will find they will not have the time and decline. Produce evidence youre looking for work Even if they mess you about and really annoy you do not rise to the bait they are just desk monkeys looking to sanction you. Always be willing, look willing. and act willing to the point of brown nosing even if you are not interested or dont want to for whatever they suggest. Or make alternative suggestions to satisfy them.

Im taking the attitude if Im fulfilling my side of the contract and doing x2 x2 x2 then there is nothing they can do about it. If they stop my benefits and there is no reason other than what they personally think I should be doing then I will just bang another Tribunal in. Or complaint in. They dont like Tribunals. Especially my old JC since its a pilot scheme and they are meeting their targets - yeah they are meeting their targets all right in the Tribunal Offices! I got my papers through for my first Tribunal. My Advocate contacted me and said the Secretary of State has not send the correct paperwork out to him.....yawn whats new? its a wonder these idiots can find their way to the toilet on time.... My Tribunal was lodged in August of last year and its not due to be heard until July this year because there is a HUGE backlog of cases to be heard...I wonder why? . They are supposed to treat you with respect as it says in the complaints booklet. They just make appointments and you have to go to them or you get your benefits stopped. I cancelled an appointment with my last JC three times. One the day before. Once on the phone and once in person and they still suspended my benefits and said I failed to turn up.

Of course that crossed my mind how the are you supposed to cook this stuff if you're got no money to pay for gas and elec and you use a card meter? Why are the British allowing this government to push through these measures? If this was another country they would be out on the streets protesting and really giving the Gov a hard time.....I bet a black market will develop around these food vouchers too....what a total disgrace in this modern day and age to have queues of hungry people waiting for food handouts what the hell is going on here?

Yes DAD! As it happens Ive not long arrived here in the UK and have not long moved so I do not even know my neighbours let alone what to do where to go.....thanks for the personalised lecture but I dont need it ta!

With all the legal action Ive read about KM since I returned to the UK five years on why is this organisation still allowed to continue to trade? Why do we have to get our MPs on our side and other legal bods just to stop this organisation from bulldozing through court proceedings and taking peoples homes? They seem to soldier on regardless. Regardless as to the fines theyve had to pay out regardless of the constant admin they must be having to produce. I had no idea my remortgage would be with them until I got informed by Prestige Finance and at the time I had no idea they were so bad! I was a sitting duck. In Spain if a company has had a complaint about them they have to display that complaint in the shop window (if its a shop of course) I think it would be wise to make businesses do this here. Ok perhaps I should have researched KM on the internet at the time but I trusted them and I don't know how long they've been trading but there didn't appear to be much around about them at that time!

hahahhah yeah I might look out for one......good stuff!

Thanks so much for this info and really hope you win your case......as I said before there is just no stopping these people they seem to just be able to push things through and get away with it. Nasty pieces of work with no human face....just out to get their grubby hands on your property.

not looking good is it? Back to the soup kitchens!

I think you have to ask for them at your local job centre. Im not sure exactly what is happening regarding food vouchers. Maybe phone the benefits line and ask them too.

Im absolutely astonished at the difference in this new job centre................as soon as I walked in the atmosphere was not one of aggression and nastiness but very nice and pleasant. I have had my claim transferred with no problems whatsoever. Ive had my actions reduced to x2x2x2 instead of x3x3x3....even the girl commented that x3 was very harsh. I have one personal advisor that works with me throughout until I get a job. She was very nice and I have renewed vigour to look for a job and the anxiety has abated.....a change is as good as a rest! Ok I still have to go through the motions but Im not full of fear anxiety stress and depression at the though of signing on at the hands of the old job centre but I intend putting a stinking complaint in to the old one and asking them how they justified my treatment? Why was I assigned all those PAs etc etc etc youve read it on the thread. Ive decided to stick with JSA for now. My new PA came up with lots of useful information that the other place didnt give me and also she showed me her marking off my actions on computer which the other JC didnt do. The old JC never looked at any of my job logs or asked me who Id applied to and so where not marking me as having done anything on computer. So basically I would keep showing up as having done nothing which left me wide open to being sanctioned. I feel supported now I am dealing with one person and not a several headed monster threatening to eat me every time I go there if I have done this or that or just because it feels like it on the day!

Like I said my mortgage was 37,000 and rose to owing them 45,000. Smith79 can you post the details of who you complained to at the FSA I might see if I can get any compo for my situation 5 years ago as I still have a lot of documentation.

thanks for your support I will let you know the outcome but Im going to blast them and blame them.....actually your right about they dont like a 'stink' because when I pointed out to a PA last time I saw one that I was suffering from extreme anxiety and felt like vomiting everytime I come to sign on she was clearly taken aback and said oh we dont want to be the cause of youre mental illness....thats when she suggested I go to another JC and went to see my doc about ESA...

Ive just received the first of my two Tribunals papers so its shouldnt be to long one is the two habitual residency tests I was given and the other is an accusation that I didnt sign on when I did. If Im ok with this new job centre tomorrow although there is no reason why I shouldnt be able to sign on there as its my choice to travel to it. For what its worth I will be putting in a written complaint to the old job centre using their complaints system with dates and actions by them to let them know that it has not gone unnoticed by one or two other organisations that I have been 'singled out' by them to give me a hard time every time I sign on. I will ask them to justify a personal advisor and a three quarter of an hour wait every time I go to sign on and why Im being sent to see a PA when Ive not been informed Im seeing one..Im just 'SPRUNG' when I attend. I will ask them to justify 5 PAs in one month. .It says in that leaflet that nobody will be 'singled out' if they make a complaint...well I certainly have and all my friends think I certainly have and all the organisations Ive been in touch with think I certainly have and I will let them also know that this treatment has now set me back and seriously affected my ability to look for work...in that Ive had to go and see my doctor for chronic stress and anxiety...to see what kind of reply I get back...if Im not satisfied I will take it further..... Ever since Ive come back to the UK all I have done is fight the system ...my whole existence since I arrived has been a battle........every day every week there's a envelope through my door either from the crisis loan or the job centre containing something I have to deal with....earlier last year I was all for getting work now I feel Im unable to work because my levels of anxiety have risen......

Its something I need to consider carefully then. I had an interview with a temping agency which I couldnt go to this week but I might consider it as I cant take any more of this benefits business.

The stress has built up since I came back from Istanbul but then again Ive been relentlessly beaten over the head by the job centre for the last six months.....not normally stressed in all situations only the job centre situation.

Saw the doctor and told all...she said I needed a breather from this job seeking business because Im suffering from severe stress and anxiety and has signed me off for 2 weeks.She said relax and take some time out and come back. She made an appointment for 1st Feb when she will review me again...The reason why Im getting the treatment I am is that I look like Im capable of working. Im not sure what Im supposed to do now do I got down to the job centre and take the doctors note? What do I do?

When I went to court they got me there anyway and the CAB were about as useful as a chocolate fireguard they just sat there and said nothing. The Judge said during the proceedings if I dont give this lady a repossession order then Kensington Mortgages wont pay me..yes honestly thats what he said.............I wasnt even allowed to present my case. It was just a straight in and out and an order for repossession....so be warned. Something weird is going on who the hell are these people and how much power do they actually have?

You are so lucky JSA12 every time I go to sign on Im sent to see a sanction sniffer. Im seeing my doctor today to discuss what I can do about my anxiety. And of course I will be going to the new more lenient job centre on Thursday. Im dong everything I can to find work as my job logs testify to that end and still they're riding around on my back like a monkey rucksack. Why do they think they need to bully a 57 year old woman to find a job? Ive worked all my life since I was 15 and I was working in Istanbul....Ive tried so hard not to take all this personally and to remind myself Im just a number but my records show otherwise. My PA said the other day 'looking for work is a full time job in itself' well ok if thats the case most of my time is taken up with proving Im looking for full time work for example writing CVs sending them off via the library email phoning employers going to the library to print out emails and other job evidence attending job points to print out jobs as evidence Im actually looking at jobs...then how the hell do I find the time to ACTUALLY look for work? Chasing benefit payments.....chasing crisis loans....attending useless personal advisor interviews on your non signing days. Duuhhhhh!

Went to sign on last Thursday. My signing was 3pm. Three quarters of an hour later my signing card was passed to yet another PERSONAL ADVISOR. So I went and sat down and the guy (different PA every time) said why are you getting giros? So I said Ive no idea I was about to ask yoiu the same question? We dont appear to have your bank details he said....oh well thats odd because Ive given them several times. Do you have them with you he asked..(probably hoping I havent so that will really fook up my payments)....like oh yes I was prepared for this! As it happened I had my bank card on me and he took my details. Normally I get a giro on a Monday. He never even looked at my job log or asked me anything if Id applied for the jobs theyd given me to apply for he just handed me my card and I signed it and went. Why do I NEVER have a normal signing???.....WHY am I seeing a Personal Advisor every time I sign on?? Why is my card passed from pillar to post when I go to sign on.........................by the time I got seen to my blood pressure was through the roof.....I looked back on my records and I do keep them of everything that gets done and said at that JC and Ive had contact with at least 5 PAs in a month.....if this is not victimisation then I dont know what to call it. Checked my bank today no payment.......meanwhile last Friday unknown to me Id had a community grant award that I applied for in November put in my bank account. Ive had so much victimisation from this JC I wondered if they knew about the award which incidentally does not affect benefits and it crossed my mind that they would try and make me live on that. So I had to go home and check that I hadnt had a giro first then I had to come back to the JC and phone and tell them I hadnt been paid. I got told that I will be paid tomorrow.Tuesday....my last benefit payment was 23 December and now its the 10th January its a good job I had that award in my bank because I dont know what would have done today for food. Speaking of food this JC is now giving out food vouchers but I dont know in what context. I made a mistake when I said the next 3 weeks in my thread....I actually have 5 weekly signings. After being fooked about today with my benefits Ive got an appointment to transfer my claim to another JC which is not using the same measures as this one. Ok eventually they all will but I have been on the receiving end of some very harsh treatment from this JC and Ive had enough. The way I see it they are using all kinds of ways to trip me up and mess with my benefits but because I have my job log they cant do this so they are resorting to sanction sniffers which is my name for the PAs.

I saw the film Dune.....yes I love SCI FI..always have my kids think Im mad......I used to like Babylon 5 and all those kind of things. Im watching a load of Stargate now and Ive got some old Star Trek DVDS...8)

Good luck with the comedy act........I see your a Star Trek fan as well....me too and Stargate..