The customer is always right... in the US Embassy

Today I had to go to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. After numerous delays, it was finally a good time to give in the applications for a social security card for my 16 month old daughter.

Social Security services do not require an appointment, so it should have been easy. I checked the website to confirm the times I could walk in and give in the form. I confirmed the paperwork I needed to bring along, and considering the stars were properly aligned and I had everything in order it looked like today would finally be "the day".

I clear my pockets in advance, taking nothing with me but the papers I needed for the Embassy and some money for taxis (and some just in case there was a fee I did not expect).

I walk in, breezing through the line like never before. they swab my hands to look for dangerous chemicals or gunpowder or whatever they look for, and suddenly I am in the room. The lady at the entrance to the room asks what I am there for and directs me to the social security services window.

I am sitting there waiting, with a few people before me in line, and suddenly she comes over and apologizes. It turns out that they recently changed the times for walk in to social security, and Thursday is no longer a walk in day. Thursday is now only for telephone inquiries (for social security). So she apologizes and tells us we should all leave and come back a different day.

We all get noticeably upset - people took off work, traveled from various parts of the country, wasted time and money, and it is all because they did not update the website or the phone message with the new schedule (NOTE: the new schedule is already ten days old, so they have had plenty of time to update their information).

She says she will see what she can do, but the lady for social security is running a little late so we have to wait until she gets there before we can find out what will be.

We wait something like 20 minutes until she shows up. There is some discussion in the back and she agrees to see us. We process all the papers and go on the way. I thank her for being so amenable.

U.S. Bureaucracy is just as bad as Israeli bureaucracy... the only thing better about it is the attitude that the customer is always right. That means they found us a solution, despite the bureaucracy. And they are courteous rather than gruff.

One more embassy tip I can offer is to bring photocopies of everything. And I mean everything! I brought all the papers - originals and copies- the website told me I need to bring, and she still made me go photocopy some documents that I had not photocopied because the website did not say I needed to.. so photocopy everything in advance.

And in case you do not photocopy everything in advance, they have a photocopy machine on site that you can use. The machine charges 50ag. for every photocopy and does not give change. Of course, I brought no small change along, and nobody else did either. All I had was a 10 shekel coin form the change from my taxi. So I spent 10 shekel on two photocopies that should have cost me 1 shekel...and the guy after me will get a few free photocopies. So, bring small change along with you as well, just in case.