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jessie0054

Question

My husband went to see a VSO today about filing an increase in his PTSD and trying to get a couple more issues connected to his SC PTSD [ Heart & Sleep Apnea].

The SO came off as a real B____.

He first told my husband that the next bump up was to 60%. [ I knew this was wrong, But i kept my month shut]

He then told my husband not to file for the other issues as they couldn't be connected to the PTSD and would first need to go see his therapist and if he could connect them then he would file for them but not until then! He never let my husband explain that he had already talked about it to his Therapist. and his pcp

My husband was getting really red about the neck as this guy was really making him mad and said " well i can see your having a bad day" he left.

This is the same SO who had filed his claim before,And had been really nice at that time. So do we have to use him again or can we go to another SO??

Thanks, Jessie

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Hi Jessie,

I think everyone here has given great advice here. I use a SO if I really need to. I look at it this way. Most SOs are not payed or trained well and have tons of cases to handle. I always looked at my VA claims as it was my job to get it done and they could help if need be. I remember going to DAV in 2000 and asking for help with getting my DDD service connected. My first medical evidence appeared in 1997 and I got out in 1995. I had only one visit in service for back pain. The SO looked at me and said your never going to get that connected it's been too long. Well I ended up getting my surgeon to write a direct nexus letter and then had a podiatrist to try go secondary to my sc feet. I ended up getting service connected in 2001. The examiner actually stated he thought I should be directly connected based on training in the Marines.

They can piss you off when it comes to service connections. I think we are all emotionally tied to our issues and when we here someone shoot us down we feel belittled. Like you said earlier you helped your son get 70%. You know what to do. Use these guys only when needed. By the way after a bad hearing with DAV and a DRO that shot down 5 increases I cut DAV loose. I now use American Legion and think the SO is great. Again I make sure the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed. Good luck.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Forgot to add that my DAV VSO told me not to file for half of the things that I wanted to, and to file for them one at a time. He said if I did it otherwise, it would take years to get rated. Needless to say, I used the shotgun approach and filed about 12 claims at one time. I went from 30% to 90% in about 10 months. Moreover, I never went back to see him. I did it all on my own using hadit as a guide. If you are able, just do these claims on your own. You will be much better off, and more satisfied in the end.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

I have a different view. We can be politically correct and be nice to him. Personally If he gave me bad advice I would be nice until I got the POA letter to revoke turned in. Then I would call him and tell him he is fired for giving bad advice.

It is not his job to quote percentages. It is his job to assist a Veteran seeking an increase. It is not his job to discourage anyone seeking assistance.

How can you trust anyone like that to handle something as important as a persons livlyhood.

I have 2 initials for you AL.

J

Edited by jbasser
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Maybe he was just having a bad day-

then again when my former DAV rep acted negatively to me and my evidence I realised this was his lifestyle approach with widows-

he changed his tune when I filed a lawsuit against him.

The POAs I then got were worse!

If he seems to continue to be unresponsive-as someone suggested -ask for another rep there- every vet org has some wonderful reps-

but they are the ones overworked all the time.

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I've said it before, it is not the organization but the "individual" VSO. There are some excellent VSO girls/guys who are very dedicated to the vets they represent and the claims they help to submit. Then again, we have all met the ego/horses---, who should be reprimanded or fired from the organization employed by. When a Vet goes into a VSO office with a problem needing help, the last thing she/he needs is a problem with the VSO. *I think all VSO's could benefit by looking up the words "empathy" and "apathy" in the dictionary. Also, there is a poem/quotation titled "The Other Side of the Desk" which I will post if I can obtain a copy. Any one out there familiar with it or have it??

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