Received Telephone Call From Regional Office On Weekend?

[georgiapapa]

I tried to post this topic under "Regional Offices" but I received a message in that forum which stated "you can not start new topic."

When I got home today I had a message on my answering machine from a lady who identified herself and stated she was calling from the Veterans Administration Regional Office in Atlanta. She stated she was working on my claim and wanted to let me know she had received my C & P exam report and the VA now had everything they needed to rate my claim. She stated no additional information is required and I would be receiving a letter in the near future. I checked the last number called on my caller ID and the call was from a telephone number in the Atlanta area.

Do the regional offices actually work on the weekend?

Is this unusual for a veteran to receive this type of telephone call?

Any thoughts or comments regarding this phone call would be appreciated. It has only been ten days since my C & P exam and I really find it hard to beleive they are about to rate my claim.

I was trying to decide whether to send in a new claim now or wait until they decided my pending claim. After receiving this phone call, I think I will wait a little while longer before filing my new claim. I am waiting for my cardiologist to call and tell me she has my DBQ filled out for a new claim I am about to file for IHD.

Georgiapapa...

[deanbrt]

I would call it back. If it is like it always was with me you will get a message that directs you to Peggy. On the other hand, if that is really a true number at your RO I would save it like it is gold.

I

[MarkInTexas]

I've personally had VA contractors call me on the weekend to schedule a C&P examination. The contractor was Veterans Evaluation Services out of Houston, which was weird because the number was from a Tennessee area code.

The call was legitimate though. Never had the actual VA call me on the weekend, but it does makes sense.

Mark

[carlie]

I tried to post this topic under "Regional Offices" but I received a message in that forum which stated "you can not start new topic."

When I got home today I had a message on my answering machine from a lady who identified herself and stated she was calling from the Veterans Administration Regional Office in Atlanta. She stated she was working on my claim and wanted to let me know she had received my C & P exam report and the VA now had everything they needed to rate my claim. She stated no additional information is required and I would be receiving a letter in the near future. I checked the last number called on my caller ID and the call was from a telephone number in the Atlanta area.

Do the regional offices actually work on the weekend?

Papa - Yes some of them do - it depends on funding for overtime.

Is this unusual for a veteran to receive this type of telephone call?

Papa - It has been happening more often, especially this last year.

Any thoughts or comments regarding this phone call would be appreciated. It has only been ten days since my C & P exam and I really find it hard to beleive they are about to rate my claim.

Papa - I'd say the phone call is legit.

I was trying to decide whether to send in a new claim now or wait until they decided my pending claim. After receiving this phone call, I think I will wait a little while longer before filing my new claim. I am waiting for my cardiologist to call and tell me she has my DBQ filled out for a new claim I am about to file for IHD.

Papa - I sure would NOT send in ANYTHING AT ALL for now - unless requested

to do so. Some may disagree, but IMO you risk throwing the brakes on everything

that's happening right now. I would at least give it 4 to 6 weeks. - JMHO - carlie

Georgiapapa...

[georgiapapa]

Carlie,

Thanks for the input. I will definitely hold off on filing my IHD claim.

Georgiapapa...

[broncovet]

Im not quite ready to declare this phone call "legit" without knowing more.

Remember there are many scamsters, and an unlisted phone number on your caller ID is a red flag.

Identitiy theft is one of the most common of all. And these hackers sometimes prey on Veterans. If you give out your account number and routing number to a hacker, dont expect the VA to reimburse your money due to someone pretending to be the VA.

Still there is some information the RO will have that a hacker wont have. Before I would have given out MY private information, I would have "tripped up" the hacker. Something like this:

"Great. You are from the Regional Office? By the way, is Tammy Duckworth still the vscm manager there? She is a neat lady. " (Of course, Tammy is not the VSCM there...she is running for office and is no longer with the VA)

You can also trip up the hacker by asking if the RO is in ..........name of city or ............name of city still. Fill in two cities where the RO is NOT located. If the person says, no, I am from the Detroit RO, and your RO is in ST Pete, find out why they transferred your file to Detroit.

If your caller says, "yes, Tammy is the manager" then this caller is a fraud. Tammy Duckworth is no longer with the VA and she was never a VSCM.

There are other ways too, to find out if this caller is a fraud.

I would send an IRIS email, identify the time called, and see if they respond in the affirmitive that this was, indeed, someone from the RO, if there was any doubt in your mind about the authenticity of the callers identitity.

Edited September 24, 2012 by broncovet

[iceturkee]

In 6 years I received two calls from my RO. Both within a day of each other and certainly not on a weekend. I take it back. I had one more. From a coach. It started out " I hear you have been in contact with Sen. ______ and VA Washington..." Two days later I was awarded TDIU..

Working on a weekend. Sure. Making phone calls to vets with claims on a weekend. Let's take a poll. How many people reading this have received a call from their RO on a weekend?

Better yet, how many can even find a phone number that they can call their RO? The ROs try their best to stifle any direct contact with the veteran.

i received a call from my RO 9/17 about my pending claim. she asked if i had new evidence to submit, which i didn't. she told me she would send it back to the rating board and i should have a decision in 2 to 3 weeks. i checked ebenefits about an hour after the call and saw they had updated it.