Received Brown Envelope Today ? What The F ?

[halos2]

So I filed my claim in 2007 then in 2008 I get a letter denied(the usual) and I sent in a NOD with DRO review 2009 and DENOVO review.

Today I get this denial letter they received a NOD but no response to the election letter. HELLO it was clearly typed on the same!!

My VSO handed it to the VARO, as they walked across the hallway. It is ridiculous reading the SOC. They have my old compensation rate on the letter, and so much info is???? in limbo??

SO the letter states after we receive your appeal we will send your case to the BVA...

Also it is stamped signed by yet another NEW Acting Service Center Manager.

I won't be able to speak with my VSO till monday. What more could they do with my claim?

I guess someone can't read a NOD with DRO DeNovo review , and they can't read what % my compensation is either.

So how do I get these jokers to review my file and see their errors NOW before they try to send it off to BVA?

Do I request a personal hearing with the DRO? Even though the letter states I can request a personal hearing with the traveling board...I am not to be at this level!

Thank goodness they haven't jacked with my % received, as of yet though!

I have more info to send them as my vso said to gather all I could too.

Don't tell me I have to go the BVA route cause they screwed up again...I already have one at BVA. Why is it so obvious to work the claim yet they constantly try to F with us vets. When one has serious mental issues it is so wrong to not follow their own regulations.

Should I get my senator involved? Congressman?

Or wait to see what my VSO says on monday?

Any help/advice/recommendations/hints are very much appreciated. Peace be to all. Halos2. :D

Edited June 28, 2009 by halos2

[evandc]

Call the President...Be too long to wait until Monday.

[vaf]

My suggestion would be to work it on two fronts.

Write a brief but cordial letter explaining the VA's overlooking your request for reconsideration prior to forwarding the NOD to the Board, and send in a copy of the NOD with that part highlighted, and attached to the cover letter. Mail it via certified mail, return receipt requested.

At the same time, call your VSO on Monday, explain what happened, and since he's right across the hall from the VA, ask him to clear up the misunderstanding.

Better to do it twice than trust that it be done once by someone other than yourself.

I don't think this rises to the level - yet - of asking for Congressional assistance, and would only slow it up. I believe in asking for such assistance only as a last resort, when you've run out of options, and have tried all other reasonable means to solve a problem.

Edited June 27, 2009 by vaf

[halos2]

Thanks VAF...

I have had more than my share of getting dissed by my VARO...No Virginia, I am not dead, nor will accept the fact that you(VARO) loose important info, no VARO you can't sever my %/claim, amongst the routes they have put me through(highly condensed version, mind you).

I am still so disrought over the fact they won't stop f ing with my claims!!

My suggestion would be to work it on two fronts.

Write a brief but cordial letter explaining the VA's overlooking your request for reconsideration prior to forwarding the NOD to the Board, and send in a copy of the NOD with that part highlighted, and attached to the cover letter. Mail it via certified mail, return receipt requested.

At the same time, call your VSO on Monday, explain what happened, and since he's right across the hall from the VA, ask him to clear up the misunderstanding.

Better to do it twice than trust that it be done once by someone other than yourself.

I don't think this rises to the level - yet - of asking for Congressional assistance, and would only slow it up. I believe in asking for such assistance only as a last resort, when you've run out of options, and have tried all other reasonable means to solve a problem.

[vaf]

Well, it's easy for me to tell you you need to wear this issue like a loose garment, and not a tourniquet. I don't have PTSD or anger management issues, and in fact, got into doing what I do here because I didn't want my husband going near his own claims because of the stress, anxiety and anger it would cause him.

We have our own horror story that started even before my husband was medically retired after 20 years of service. However, I really have to work at not getting mad, which clouds my thinking and my ability to write an NOD, a brief, or whatever I need to do to accomplish my goal. I get even, and try to hit them every opportunity where it counts -- in their wallet...

[john999]

Go to the VARO and tell them you want a DRO Hearing. You can stop this thing. I did the same thing myself. I asked for a DRO and they were going to send it to the BVA. I sent in a Form 9 and wrote on it I wanted a DRO hearing. Hand deliver the Form 9 to the VA with your request for a DRO Hearing. How far are you from the VARO?

[halos2]

john999, I am just under 160 miles away. It is down town in the city of St Louis. I am terrible to drive in traffic...I become a basket of nerves to say the least. I had to go there a few times before 92004-2007) and left at odd hours of the night and waited for hours. I have to stop and get out of the auto as my lower extremities get numb sitting for long periods of time and the back pain is horrendous too! I have to copy the directions to get there from mapquest, as I find it so traumatizing on the roads there I lose my way. Each year makes it more difficult for me to get there. I am getting nauseated just thinking about having to go down there. A courier service wanted $150.00 each way...no can do, no funds.

I will do what I have to do to avoid BVA though. Do you think my VSO might be able to get me the hearing? I have an email from him stating if they deny my NOD with DRO and DeNovo I could still request a personal hearing, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. I keep my emails from him, and this was in feb he wrote this to me. In it he states the VA has my NOD and will go with the DRO DeNovo...I will fill out a form 9 and fax it to my VSO, but if he thinks he can't get it corrected, then I will have to figure out someway to get down there. I appreciate all the assistance received here. My VSO hand delivered my info to the VARO manager I was ALIVE, and to put me back into the system. So maybe he can do the same here too, I hope at least.

I know my poor dog knows I am a basket case as I yell and scream alot but not at him, just to let it out before I go totally insane with the wrongdoings that the VARO continues to inflict on me. :D

Go to the VARO and tell them you want a DRO Hearing. You can stop this thing. I did the same thing myself. I asked for a DRO and they were going to send it to the BVA. I sent in a Form 9 and wrote on it I wanted a DRO hearing. Hand deliver the Form 9 to the VA with your request for a DRO Hearing. How far are you from the VARO?