Download or read book Please Try Your Call Again Later written by James Baca and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-11-03 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Please Try Your Call Again Later is my story of fighting like hell for assistance that was allegedly available to everyone during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Like many people, COVID-19 impacted my income severely, and brought my work as a consumer advocate to a standstill. Stimulus money, PPP loans, and child tax credits kept many afloat during this time. Amended rules allowed me to apply for unemployment benefits. More than 18 months later, I am at a stalemate to be fully approved. I have called over a thousand times to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) just to be hung up on. According to media reports, The State of New Mexico at one point was only answering 6% of calls! The three times I connected with an associate only led to additional issues to my application. Help has never seemed so far away. The experience I have endured has eerie parallels to the customer service ineptitude of the banking industry, which I worked in for 13 years. I explain that while we applauded companies for stepping up customer service during the first part of COVID-19, the foot is definitely off the gas pedal now. This book details every insane step made by me asking for help, as well as every insane misstep made by the state. I share my stories of interacting with an outdated website, and an overworked, overwhelmed apathetic staff at NMDWS. I also discuss how this experience has shown me how the less fortunate are left behind and ridiculed for asking for help, which in turn has changed my mindset to be a person who gives back to the community that gave me success. I also get personal and discuss the health and financial hurdles NMDWS has thrown my way by screwing up my case and the cases of others. It's a story you never believe can happen to you...Until it happens to you. If the state doesn't want to pay me the money rightfully available to me by law, then, what the hell? Let's write a book about how awful they have been to me and others, sell it for a fair price, make that money back, and give some of it to great causes as a unique way of sticking it to the man! 15% of all net proceeds from this book will go to benefit a couple of non-profit organizations. Please follow my Twitter account @bankbetterguy for more info.