Sunday, July 16, 2017

Using the same powerful weapon.

There is a thing called ePublic being used by the Local Authority where I used to work. It is a program where members of the public submit their complaints to the Local Authority online at the comfort of their homes. The program started when I was still working.

Being a man who love computers I enjoyed handling this program although a few of my friends did not. My friends' unhappiness was mainly because other staff including our bosses could read the submitted complaints too. So it was sort of an exposure of their weaknesses. But to me it was a question of being transparent in doing our jobs.

So the ePublic is a powerful weapon that keeps the Local Authority staff on their toes. So it is only natural that when I retired from work and become a member of the public I used it to make complaints against my former employers. I don't care if this is tantamount to biting the fingers that once fed me.

There was a time when one of my neighbours came to me with a complaint about one of the Local Authority's services. So I taught him how to submit the complaint via ePublic. But after doing so with no results after a few months he came to me again. This time I made my own ePublic complaint about his complaint. Only then the Local Authority took action.

More than three months ago I submitted a medical traveling claim to my former employers and after one month another similar claim. As a Local Authority retiree, I must submit my medical claims to the same government department although my pensions are paid by the Federal Government.

I knew something was amiss about my applications when the man in charge asked me where did I obtain my claim forms because not only he did not have them in stock but he did not know how or where to obtain them. So after hearing nothing after three months, I made a big decision. To get things done from this Local Authority I must use the ePublic.

So after a few days of submitting my ePublic complaint, I received a call from a lady. She said she had taken over the job of the former man who had now been transferred to a different department. She asked me to see her because I have to fill a banking form.

When I met her she spoke of her disappointment that I had to use the ePublic to see that my claims are looked after. I simply replied if I had not done that my applications will be in cold storage, just like for the past three months.   

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