Shopsmith Forums

Last week I finally got an email back from VA stating that I was verified as a Vet and could now proceed to actually requesting the card. (2 months of digging through their garbage dump).
I tried following their instructions today to do the final request and now I get a message that they can no longer find my records that they had a week ago.
This is government incompetence at a new level. The entire VA organization needs to be shut down and started over with new personel. Apparently nobody there knows what they are doing.

garys wrote:Last week I finally got an email back from VA stating that I was verified as a Vet and could now proceed to actually requesting the card. (2 months of digging through their garbage dump).
I tried following their instructions today to do the final request and now I get a message that they can no longer find my records that they had a week ago.
This is government incompetence at a new level. The entire VA organization needs to be shut down and started over with new personel. Apparently nobody there knows what they are doing.

Maybe you should consider moving to Utah. John reports that the VA there is the best ever.

dusty wrote:

garys wrote:Last week I finally got an email back from VA stating that I was verified as a Vet and could now proceed to actually requesting the card. (2 months of digging through their garbage dump).
I tried following their instructions today to do the final request and now I get a message that they can no longer find my records that they had a week ago.
This is government incompetence at a new level. The entire VA organization needs to be shut down and started over with new personel. Apparently nobody there knows what they are doing.

Maybe you should consider moving to Utah. John reports that the VA there is the best ever.

My BIL touts Tampa as well.

Here is their response to my email. They are admitting that the site doesn't work. But, any Vet applying for the printed ID card already knew that. VA had almost 2 years to get this working and can't do it.


"Thank you for contacting us. We have received your message and will follow up with you soon.

If you received an error message that your records could not be found or your eligibility could not be determined, we are working on an enhancement to the application that will allow you to proceed with your request and will contact you when it's available.

VIC Program Office"

That mean they are 'enhancing' so that it 'works'? That sounds like bug fixing to me.

wrmnfzy wrote:

jsburger wrote:

wrmnfzy wrote:I've been trying since November to get mine and have gotten bounced from one place to another. Currently I have been sent to DEERS since they did not verify my service and from there I have been sent to IRIS who have now told me they will be back in touch with me in five business days but not to expect to hear from them for 2 to 3 weeks due to the volume they are receiving.

I assume you mean the IRS. I have no idea why the IRS would have anything to do with your status as a Vet. DEERS is where your veteran status is verified. That is a DOD data base. I assume that is what VA uses to verify your status. If you are not in DEERS that is not the VA's problem. It is a DOD issue.

I would contact Deers again. It should be a simple as sending them a copy of your DD-214.

Nope, it is IRIS.

Have done that, sent DD214 and DD 215 and a copy of my SS card and am (allegedly) now in DEERS. After again contacting help desk they tell me my ticket is still open and they are working on it.

One thing I think everyone should keep in mind is that DEERS is not a VA data base. It is a DOD data base used by the VA and others, i.e. Tricare health benefits, to verify eligibility. So if ones DEERS record is incorrect it is not the VA's fault. I know that does not help but is is not fair to blame the VA if the problem is ones DEERS records.

A little side note on retired military and VA medical ID cards. TSA will accept them as a identifying document. The sign at the TSA podium states you must have a government issued photo ID that has an expiration date. On one of my recent trips I decided to test the theory and gave them my VA card along with my boarding pass and it took the TSA officer a moment to think about it and then accepted it and passed me along.
Paul

jsburger wrote:One thing I think everyone should keep in mind is that DEERS is not a VA data base. It is a DOD data base used by the VA and others, i.e. Tricare health benefits, to verify eligibility. So if ones DEERS record is incorrect it is not the VA's fault. I know that does not help but is is not fair to blame the VA if the problem is ones DEERS records.

Yes, that may all be correct but please remember this: The member has the responsibility of keeping DEERS up to date.

dusty wrote:

jsburger wrote:One thing I think everyone should keep in mind is that DEERS is not a VA data base. It is a DOD data base used by the VA and others, i.e. Tricare health benefits, to verify eligibility. So if ones DEERS record is incorrect it is not the VA's fault. I know that does not help but is is not fair to blame the VA if the problem is ones DEERS records.

Yes, that may all be correct but please remember this: The member has the responsibility of keeping DEERS up to date.

That is absolutely correct. I suspect that some that are having trouble have had missing or incorrect DEERS records since they were discharged and never knew it because this is the first time they have done anything that accessed their DEERS record.

It is also the same problem some have had getting qualified to shop the Exchange on line site. All of the Exchanges use DEERS to verify eligibility.